Chapter 5

It's them or us!

Raider parties, as Twilight Sparkle learned, were generally very undisciplined, which explained why Vault security officers were able to get rid of them quite quickly.

In fact, if there had been less raiders when the guards executed their revenge attack (or if more Vault inhabitants had joined), the casualties would not have been so bad for the latter party back then. Even a civilian, if properly trained to use weapons and cover (and preferably given some protection) could stand on equal ground against a raider one-on-one with a little bit of luck. (Point Blank still advised sneak attacks and backstabbing, though. "If they can't see you, and you can see them, it means they can't hit you before you snuff them out - provided you are a decent shot and not a baboon with a gun", he said.)

Twilight herself was a living example of that. She did not come out without a wound, granted, but the raider that shot her had very bad aim: the bullet, as it turned out, "simply" scratched her. Most important part was that she survived.

Unfortunately, raiders had one factor that played for them, and that was intimidation. Not many had the courage to stand against these dregs of post-apocalyptic society, especially if they had witnessed their brutality first-hand. Many people from Vault 75 did not have any connections to police or armed forces where one could learn to withstand this element of psychological warfare. This severely limited the number of those who stood actively against them (aside from the guards).

Point Blank refused to tell Twilight and Sunset what examples of brutality he had seen. He only said that several Vault Village inhabitants did not come originally from Vault 75.

He also mentioned that all of them were in civilian militia.

The attack which nearly spelled doom for Twilight, Sunset and Spike left one house burnt to the ground (the villagers were very lucky that no other buildings caught fire) and nineteen villagers dead, four of the militiamen included. Security officers lost seven of their own to raiders in the beginning; after that, the undisciplined attackers quickly broke to do what they wanted, which left them in groups of two or three - easy prey for the rest. Three officers received light wounds, and one suffered a wound that would keep him out of commission for three months, but Redblood said he would live.

Sunset's wounds were very easy to treat. Having made sure that the young woman had no broken bones that could pierce vital organs, the medic cleared up her wounds and gave her a small icepack for the bruise under her eye.

Twilight's bullet wound required more time. The anaesthetic wore off soon after the battle, which nearly sent her into pain shock. Redblood gave her another dose of painkiller and also gave her an injection of medical substance he called "RegenStim".

When asked by the ever-curious girl what that was, he answered:

"RegenStim is a pre-war military combat medication, designed to stimulate regeneration of tissues and accelerate recovery from bullet wounds. It was largely used by the UFE army during the war, in order to get wounded soldiers back to action as soon as possible, but it was also used by civilians in some cases. It is not really a cheap thing to buy now in the Wastelands, but even travelling merchants sometimes have some to sell, thanks to the fact that many agencies wanted to store up as much RegenStim as they could. Do not confuse it with combat stims, though. RegenStim only helps in recovery, while combat stimulators are designed to grant more strength, speed, stamina and so on."

"What kind of combat stims exist?" Twilight asked.

"You'd really do better not to get into situation that requires those, but... well, to make you more prepared..." Redblood thought for a moment, and said, "there's Med-X. It is a potent cocktail of morphine and other painkillers along with some regenerating meds that greatly reduce perception of pain and "stiffen" the organism, for the lack of better word. But morphine there is addictive; be careful, and do not abuse Med-X. Another drug is "Mentats", this is a neural stimulant meant to augment brain activity. When someone uses that, they think faster and clearer, and are more perceptive - but you overdo that, and you die from brain haemorrage. "Buffout" is a steroid, meant to make you stronger physically, but it's very addictive, and using too much buffout causes cardiac arrest, or even death. "Jet" is a combat drug designed for granting quick reaction and maintaining aggression, but yet again, it's highly addictive."

"Is RegenStim addictive?" Sunset asked, worried.

"There have been no recorded cases, no. But if you use too much RegenStim, your body will regenerate slower at its natural pace. So don't get wounded," Redblood said sternly. "And maybe both of you should train with me on how to give first aid."

"That's a great idea!" Twilight beamed.

"Sounds good," Sunset replied.

"Good, then see me at 13:00 tomorrow. For now, you need to rest. This has been an eventful day."

Understatement of a millenium, Twilight thought.

"Twilight, you need to take care that you do not disturb your wound, got it?" Redblood said, about to take his leave. As the Princess of Friendship nodded, he said, "Now, good night, everyone."

"Good night," two girls said, almost in unison. The medic left their house.

Silence reigned for a few moments. Twilight broke the silence first:

"Sunset... are you really OK?"

"Well," the fiery-haired girl replied, "this "make-up" the raiders gave me does not make me any prettier, but that's..."

"I do not mean physically," the lavender-skinned girl interrupted, "I mean internally. I mean, I already apologized for arguing with you and calling you... names, but..."

"Twilight," Sunset took over the conversation, "everyone makes mistakes. You had the guts to admit it and apologize, and that's what matters. True, I was hurt by the word "she-demon", but I also let my emotions get to me, and that was a mistake of mine, for which I also had said sorry."

"I think," Spike decided to add his two bits worth, "that given what we're dealing with, we should always stay together and watch over each other. We've separated once, and look what happened - all of us came very close to dying."

"You are right, Spike," Twilight petted her favourite assistant, "standing together as friends always helped us. We should not forget that, even if we are in another world."

"Hear, hear," Sunset agreed. "And now, let's follow the doctor's advice and get some rest."

"Sounds good," everyone agreed.

The next day came with a somber reminder that not all was over yet.

First, Twilight, Spike and Sunset witnessed the burial of deceased villagers. It was an unpleasant thing to watch, with friends and relatives of the dead ones crying either quietly or very loudly.

The overwhelming sadness in the atmosphere weighed down heavily on Twilight, and she shed some tears of her own. Sunset had wet eyes, too.

Security officers did not cry.

"They cannot afford that," Sunset explained to Twilight. "They are saddened, too, but they need to stay strong to protect those that are still alive."

"They cry on the inside?" Twilight asked, remembering what Pinkie Pie had said about Applejack once.

"You can say that."

After the funeral, Twilight asked Swift Sentinel about the raiders' bodies. He replied nonchalantly:

"Raiders? We just dumped them into trash pit."

Twilight felt indignant at treating dead bodies like that, before her eyes landed on Sunset, who still sported a bruise. She wisely decided to let the matter slide.

Another reminder of their situation was the gathering of security officers and civilian militiamen that Swift Sentinel held. Both girls were invited to join - Sunset had already been in the militia, and Twilight gained a spot by helping to save Vault Village twice and gathering a body count of two raiders.

As Point Blank explained to her later, "everyone who actually kills a raider and lives to tell a tale is already a part of militia - that's an unspoken rule".

Swift Sentinel spoke about the necessity of stopping raider attacks once and for all. Twilight was surprised to find out that raiders not only bothered the village, but also threatened merchants that wanted to trade with the villagers. As it turned out, Vault Village had a device known as "water chip" which could purify irradiated water - and after the Day of Burning, pure water became a rare commodity.

It also became a great thing for export. Vault Village did not sell too much water, of course, but it still brought a steady income. In return for water, villagers could repair their weapons and armour and buy extra ammunition. There was no such thing as "too much ammo" in the Canterlot Wastelands.

Unfortunately, raiders wanted purified water too, and did their best to take away the water from merchants - or Vault Village.

Twilight listened very attentively to what Swift Sentinel said. He spoke:

"It is clear to all of us, I believe, that such attacks can no longer be tolerated. They threaten the lives of those we are sworn to protect, the lives of those that depend on pure water we supply, the very existence of Vault Village! Once we drove them out, one could hope that they would not bother us anymore, but now it is obvious that the raiders are not going to relent until one side totally obliterates the other."

Many people exchanged uneasy looks. The prospect of local total war did not sit well with anyone present.

"We have taken casualties," Swift continued, "but they have taken casualties, too. In our attack on this village, we killed many of them, making them pay for the death of our Overseer," he gestured to a black-and-white photo of a man in his mid-fifties, which had a black ribbon in lower right corner over it, "and our compatriots. And subsequent raids have cost them more than us - that is, in terms of combat-capable personnel."

The last words were spoken morosely.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked Sunset quietly.

"It means that if you compare casualties of combatants of both sides, our side has the lower number," Sunset explained. "However, if you add non-combatants..."

"It is higher?" Twilight guessed.

Sunset only nodded.

"Oh no."

"It is bad enough that we take casualties from mutated beasts," Swift continued, "we can't afford to lose more people, guards or civilians. If it goes on like that, the enemy is likely to bleed us out and take the village back."

A lot of "boo" sounds erupted once Swift Sentinel said that. There were even a few shouts of "like hell they will!" and "let the bastards try!"

"Fortunately, as I've said, the raiders have also lost quite a number of their own people already. They cannot replenish their numbers, as far as we know; thus, they are in an "all or nothing" situation. However, we do not know how they will react in that. They may try to dig themselves in, or they may try an all-out attack. And this may not be an undisciplined band, either."

"So what we are going to do now, sir?" one of the guards asked.

"We need to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which implies that all of surviving raiders will try to take the village back. Their base is located north-east from this village, so we may expect an attack from there, but we should not focus all of our forces there. For all we know, they may try an attack from another angle."

"Sir," Point Blank spoke up, "I am afraid that security force cannot cover all possible attack vectors by itself. There are too few combat-capable officers now. If we are to do as you suggest, we need to involve civilian militia."

"How many people?" Swift Sentinel asked.

"All of them," Point spoke bluntly.

This piece of news caused a mixed reaction. Some of the militiamen accepted the news calmly, others gasped quite loudly. Point Blank rolled his eyes and went on:

"We estimate that there are what, forty or so raiders remaining?" At Swift's nod, he continued, "We, however, have only nine officers that are fully combat-capable. Sixteen have some wounds that do not prevent them from fighting, but do not let them fight at full strength. There are four more officers that are out of commission but can be given a role of last-line defenders of sort, but they can't be on the frontlines. This makes only twenty-five guards against at least forty raiders. If we spread thin, the main attack force, wherever it is located, will simply crush us with sheer numbers. Remember that we believe the impending attack to be more disciplined than those last raiding parties."

"But how can we help?" one of the more nervous militiamen asked.

"If we are to include our newest member who already racked up a body count of two raiders, one radscorpion and two mole rats in a course of several days," Point Blank gestured towards Twilight, who felt uncomfortable with the praise for killing others, "we have forty-three militiamen. Combined with twenty-five guards, that's sixty-eight fighters. That gives us numerical superiority, at least. Of course, around a dozen or so are chickens, and six are still under-experienced, but even if you take away those, we have around fifty fighters versus forty... provided that there are forty raiders and not fifty."

"I have to agree with Point Blank," Swift Sentinel replied, "I myself wanted to involve the militia, although it feels risky to involve all of combat-capable villagers now. But in situation like this one? I believe it's all or nothing for us as well as for raiders. We must defeat them, to get rid of at least one threat to our village!" the last words were spoken loudly.

"So let's do it!" Sunset shouted, to surprise of everyone.

"Yeah!" shouted a militiaman. "They will not pass!"

"Let's take revenge on them for our dead!"

"No blood for raiders!"

"For our home! For Vault Village!"

Various shouts lifted the spirits of all defenders, even those who were called "chickens" previously.

"Thank you," the de facto leader replied. "My plan is as follows: ten guards and fifteen militiamen will defend the north-eastern border as one of the most likely positions to be attacked. Groups of five guards will take the north-western, south-western and south-eastern borders. Groups of nine militiamen will join the groups on the north-west and south-west, and ten remaining will join the south-eastern group. I will be in charge of the north-eastern defense line; Point Blank, you take south-east; Wide Shot, south-west; Steadfast, you are on north-west. Pick your soldiers and start creating barricades!"

After his speech, the aforementioned officers and their subordinates started picking out militiamen for themselves. Point Blank went up to Twilight and Sunset and told them:

"You two; you are with me."

"Really?" Twilight asked. She still did not truly like her "drill sergeant", but if she were to pick someone to be a commander, she would have preferred his familiar face.

"Yes, really. Currently, you are not needed, so report at south-eastern border at 14:00. Got it?"

"We got it, sir!" Sunset accompanied her words by a military-like salute.

"Dismissed."

"Come on," Sunset said to Twilight, "let's go find Redblood. We still have time for that first-aid training course..."

Almost an hour later, once Redblood gave Twilight some quick training on giving first aid like making bandages (and stopping bleeding overall), giving injections, using medical tourniquet, making splint (in case of broken bones), he surprised the girls (and Spike, too) by joining them.

"You never know when one might need a medic," he explained.

The trio (dragon-turned-dog not included) made their way to south-eastern barricade, where Point Blank was giving (more like shouting) orders at everyone already present. Twilight was surprised to see sand bags thrown into piles everywhere.

"Those are meant to stop bullets," Sunset explained. "Surprisingly, they work well enough against small arms."

"So this is cover?" Twilight inquired.

"Yes, essentially. Bullets are capable of penetrating wood sometimes, and since some defense positions are most likely stationary, house walls will not make adequate cover."

Once she said that, both girls noticed Point Blank coming up to them.

"You two are here, good," he said. "We had to bust open our arsenal to improve the survivability of everyone present." He gestured to the table where among other stuff two armour vests similar to those worn by Vault guards lay and said, "Those are yours; put them on and get back to me. And quick."

Twilight and Sunset went there.

"Wow, this is serious. Security is not too keen on giving this kind of protection usually," the fiery-haired girl remarked.

"This seems counterproductive somewhat. I mean, they could have reduced casualties among militiamen before, right?" Twilight asked, watching Sunset put her armour vest on.

"The armour cannot withstand tons of bullets," Sunset replied, helping her friend to put on the armour. "Each hit reduces protection the armour gives. And repairing armour is tough and costs bottle caps. Plus, usually it is trained professionals that can wear armour well enough. For barely trained militiamen, this can be more of a hindrance. Do you notice that this vest is not really light?"

"I do," came the answer. Both girls went back to Point Blank, preparing their weapons on the way. Twilight's newly acquired hunting rifle turned out to be quite shoddy (apparently, raiders did not know how to properly maintain their weapons), and Sunset had had to share some of her spare parts for her own rifle so that Twilight would not have to deal with weapon jams all the time.

"You ready? Good," the head of defensive line said. "You two will be hiding behind those stacks of sandbags," he showed the direction with a finger, which turned out to be two windows of a first floor of a house closest to the defense line, "and your objective is to try and prevent as many of the raiders coming too close as possible. Shoot them with hunting rifles from afar. If they approach too close, use your pistols," he showed to another table and said, "On that table we have some ammo for the weapons everyone will use and some meds. Take your share and get into position!"

"Yes, sir!" both girls said in unison, and proceeded to do as ordered.

"Redblood, you stay with me. I want you close in case my guys need some help," they heard Point Blank say to the doctor.

Meanwhile...

"Boss, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Fast Grabber, the leader of the raider group, was sorely tempted to shoot the guy who asked this question. Sixth time I'm being asked that.

"Yes. The deaths of those that attacked this Vault Village before don't matter. These idiots were barely worth to act as cannon fodder. The villagers are likely to expect that we would be like them. They're going to be very surprised once they find out the opposite."

"But the villagers outnumber us, do they not?"

One more question like that, and I'll shoot the fucker, Fast Grabber vowed silently.

"These fucking sissies? You're scared of them? Are you shitting me? They don't know how to shoot a gun. And we should outnumber the guards now. The beasts were nice enough to thin their numbers for us."

"But civilian militia..."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! Militia? They're sissies as well. You kill all the guards, and they'll fucking scatter! Now don't bother me anymore, or I swear to fates I will SHOOT you!" the lead raider got seriously pissed off now.

The irritant proved to be somewhat intelligent by turning tail and running away. Probably scared him shitless, Fast Grabber thought.

He mused on the surprise attack that these Vault inhabitants had organized when he butchered their Overseer. The fact that someone dared to challenge his authority and managed to cost him his base of operations still caused anger. It didn't help that many of his best fighters perished in the onslaught.

Out of one hundred and twenty-two people who practically ruled this sector close to the remains of Baltimare, only forty-nine now remained, himself excluded. Of those, only fifteen could be considered as good fighters.

Fast Grabber initially thought that they should dig in at their alternate location (where his forces were amassing) and expect Vault guards to try and dig them out. But weeks passed, and no attack came. The raider leader concluded that the numbers of his enemies were lower than he had previously estimated, and tried sending his more expendable people to do some damage.

They all perished, of course, but they still made Vault Village bleed.

However, the defenders proved more resilient. Civilian militia, while undertrained, was quite willing to defend their own home, and when they were added to the mix, the guards (who were the biggest threat) took lesser casualties.

His "expendables" were almost depleted; plus, others caught on that he did not really care for them. That could mean backstabbing him in order to get into leading position. And Fast Grabber did not want it.

So he decided to do an all-out attack. But he added a little twist.

Vault 75 security force surely knew by now where his reserve base was. If they assumed he was as stupid as others, they would expect him to attack from north-west.

But he did not want to do that. Of course, he would need a distraction, so twenty of his people would attack from the north-east with heaviest weaponry they had, drawing the bulk of defense forces.

The main force, however, would attack from the other direction, in order to hit defenders from behind. And he would lead them personally.

With the defenders decimated, the villagers would panic and run. And the village will be theirs again. The perspectives looked good.

Fast Grabber smirked...

"Bo-o-ori-i-ing," Sunset Shimmer complained.

They have been sitting inside the building for two hours and twenty minutes already. Nothing of notice has happened. Twilight and Sunset were taking turns in looking into the field, trying to see if someone was approaching the village.

No one has tried to do so yet. Others did not see a raider either.

Point Blank, however, refused to let anyone go, and ordered to maintain vigilance.

Thus, both girls and Spike, who was ordered to bark in case raiders breached the house, had to sit inside.

"Trust me, Sunset, I would prefer this boredom to fear and adrenaline of fighting any day," Twilight replied, giving a glance to her IFF screen. Predictably, it showed nothing.

"The thing is, Twilight, that boredom can dull one's senses and lead to vulnerability. I'd rather not be vulnerable right now. We can't afford weakness, especially now."

"Wastelands do not forgive weakness; did I guess?" Twilight replied, looking out of the window again. Sunset told her to avoid sticking her head out, so she only raised her eyes above sand bags.

"Yep."

The conversation ended, and silence reigned once again.

Fifteen minutes later, Twilight groaned and said:

"You know, Sunset, I'm starting to understand how frustrating it is - to be forced to wait for Celestia-knows-what. You don't think Swift Sentinel and the others would stop this, do you?"

"No. If the raiders take too long, then maybe he will divide everyone to shifts, but the barricades will still be here. If there's no activity at all, there could be a chance he would order to attack the raiders first, but that would require splitting up our forces - too much of a risk."

Twilight groaned again.

"You know, I have never tried to use radio on this Pip-Boy," she mentioned. "Maybe I should try it?"

"Try, if you wish, but there are only two signals that the receiver catches: Enclave radio, which is full of patriotic music and some stupid propagandistic speeches and which nobody (myself included) wants to listen, and CWN."

"What is CWN?"

"Short for Canterlot Wastelands News. This is a pirate station, which supposedly tells the news about what's going on in the Wastelands now. I've never actually tried to listen to it; in fact, I don't use Pip-Boy radio at all. Try CWN, if you want. Maybe it will help against the boredom."

Twilight turned to her Pip-Boy again. After pushing the right button and putting the switch into the "Radio" position, she turned the wheel until the cursor set on the words "Canterlot Wastelands News".

She pushed the wheel.

An unfamiliar female voice, somewhat distorted by Pip-Boy's speakers, filled the room:

"...wrong thing to do. Also, I am being told that Vault Village has suffered an attack again. But this time, it was not mutated not-quite-friends of a man, but bad men, AKA raiders. The villagers successfully defended themselves, again. The raiders never learn, do they? Then again, who said they had brains in the first place? Trouble is, I think that Fast Grabber, the guy who leads the raiders in that area, may try something very bad. Where are the Regulators when you need them so much? Anyway, if any armed wanderers want to lend a hand to our friends from Vault 75, give them a hand..."

Twilight turned off the radio.

"Just how does that person know that we had suffered an attack?"

"Beats me," Sunset replied, surprised. "Maybe she's got informants here. Or surveillance network of sorts. Although I barely have an idea how is it possible - there are no drones in this area, as far as I know..."

"Drones?"

"Robots; machines controlled by humans that can do certain tasks. UFE army and police used them widely, primarily to keep eyes on what was happening."

"Oh..." Those things could become quite useful in Equestria, Twilight thought. "And what about these "Regulators"? Do you know anything about them?"

"First time I heard about them, Twilight, honestly," Sunset replied. "From what I've heard, they may be an anti-raider group. Or mercenaries."

"Mercenaries? But why..."

"Hush, Twilight! Something's moving there!"

"Where?" Twilight quickly picked up her rifle and started aiming in the direction where they expected raiders to come from. Along with that, she glanced at her Pip-Boy - and realised she forgot to switch back to her IFF system.

"Snap!" she quickly corrected her mistake (but still saw no marks) and looked through the iron sights again.

Nothing moved at all.

"Uh... Sunset, could that be..?"

The violet-haired girl was interrupted by an echo of what unmistakably sounded like a rifle shot.

"Open fire!" they heard Point Blank shout. Immediately, they heard BOOM and Bra-ta-ta-tat of the guns of the defenders.

At whom? Twilight thought. I can't even see...

But before she could finish her thought, a group of raiders became visible to her.

She felt as if a brick fell into her stomach.

BOOM!

The sound of Sunset's hunting rifle was deafening ("Ow, my ears!" - Spike complained) - and galvanizing as well.

Twilight aimed at one of the closest raiders and pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

Her ears started ringing from the sound of her rifle going off. She did not even register that she wounded one of the raiders.

Ohhhh... earmuffs would be perfect right now...

That's a lot of raiders, Point Blank mused.

He could see a dozen of them approaching his position.

He released a burst of bullets from his sub-machine gun. A feeling of accomplishment floored him when he saw a raider fall, spray of blood visible in the distance.

"AAAARRGH!"

"Medic!"

"I'm on my way!"

"Get him to cover!"

The guard did not turn around. He knew well enough from the voices that one of the militiamen just received a wound, apparently not fatal.

Suddenly, he felt something wet land on his face - right cheek, to be exact - and his helmet. This time he could not resist turning.

Another militiaman was lying beside him, shot into the throat.

Carotid artery damage. Fatal. No need to call for Redblood even.

He took aim at another raider, releasing four bullets. Shots went wide.

The raider fired at him in turn, but was too late - Point Blank already hid himself behind sand bags.

The cry of pain, followed by a loud "NO!" informed him that another militiaman just met a grim fate.

Eight against eleven or more. Bad odds indeed.

He rised a little bit to shoot at another raider - only to see the head of his target explode.

Who stole my kill?

Another rifle shot from the left - and a raider fell, clutching his stomach.

Even if he's not dead, he's surely out of commission. Well, those two are doing a decent job at least...

As soon as he thought that, he heard another cry of pain. He saw with peripheral vision that one of the guards fell.

Seven against nine or more - scratch that, eight or more. Nice shot, girls. Still bad odds, though.

Well, let's see if the raiders like one little surprise...

"Twilight, don't let them approach!"

"I'm trying!"

BOOM!

The words were barely audible through all the ringing, shots and cries of pain. Twilight marveled at the thought that she could actually hear something.

Another BOOM and Sunset's "Gotcha!" informed her that yet another raider met a bad fate.

She stuck out and quickly aimed at another raider. He was standing pretty close; aiming at his head was not truly difficult.

BOOM!

The raider's head cracked into splinters, splattering blood and brains around. Twilight had trouble fighting the gag reflex; even if she no longer thought raiders worthy of compassion, the grisly sights still did not sit well with her. the only thing that prevented her from regurgitating her lunch (if MRE's are to be considered lunch) was the stubborn thought that she was defending innocents, Spike, and Sunset.

"Reloading!" she shouted, dashing behind cover.

BOOM!

"Another one bites the dust - and I'm out, too!" Sunset said, hiding herself.

Streams of bullets soared through the window, hitting the ceiling or sandbags. Some bullets tore through the wooden panels where both girls were standing moments ago.

"I really hope Swift Sentinel and others are doing fine right now!" the fiery-haired girl shouted. "If this is what we get, I fear to imagine how bad it is for them now!"

"And you complained about boredom," Twilight grumbled.

"Don't let them come close!" Swift Sentinel bellowed.

The raiders were more heavily armed than he had believed. They had left behind a good arsenal in the village, that meant they were well-armed for a gang; but to see two of them now with light machine guns?

That was not on today's agenda.

Three of the guards and four of the militiamen already died, and two guards were wounded. The combat medic tried to return them into combat, but his efforts only could keep the unlucky pair alive.

The head of security took a grenade and threw it in raiders' direction. An explosion followed, joined by cries of pain.

Two red marks dropped from IFF screen.

He raised himself a bit, giving a long burst into the approaching line. His bullets hit another raider, sending him to the ground with a shot torso and left arm.

Hopefully the bastard bleeds out.

Swift Sentinel ducked behind snad bags, reloading his rifle, when suddenly -

BOOM!

Riiiiiinnnnng!

Deaf for a few moments, he still was able to see two of the guards and two militiamen lying dead, bloodied, while another of armed civilians was lying on earth, his face a grimace and hands covering his ears.

Just where did the fuckers get a freaking grenade launcher?!

Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer heard that bullets stopped hitting their cover. Risking their heads, they looked out of the window and saw the last of the raiders they could see trying to run back - only to receive a burst of case-shot from Point Blank's shotgun which made havoc of his back.

"Gross," Twilight said, "I'll never get used to that."

"Pray that you never will," Sunset replied. "The violence in the Wastelands is so... well... common, that one day a person may start accepting it as something natural."

"But it isn't!" The lavender-skinned girl protested, reloading her rifle.

"It isn't, but humans are very adaptable. You'd be surprised."

"Hey, Sunset... is it just my IFF glitching, or yours shows a lot of red marks too?"

"What?!" Sunset quickly glanced at her own IFF screen - and nearly sat down, as her legs refused to support her. "M-mine does, too..."

Both girls looked out of the windows, rifles raised...

...only to be met with a sight of nearly twenty more raiders (Twilight was able to make a quick head count and realized there were eighteen of them) appearing closer to them than the first party had managed from the grass.

In the sea of red marks, there were only five green ones remaining.

SIX VERSUS EIGHTEEN?!!!

Twilight could not hold it anymore. The stress of coming close to death yet again was released in a form unbecoming of a Princess of Friendship - she swore loudly:

"Ponyfeathers!!!"

Fast Grabber smiled. He could see only three defenders in front of him. Two young women were noticed in the house on the right, and the last person was standing on the tower.

The losses were greater than he had imagined, but now, he could finally smite away the defenders and burst into village.

He screamed:

"CHARGE!"

"What do you mean, you can't send anyone?!" Point Blank was shouting into his radio.

"I mean what I say, Point! The enemies brought heavy weapons, I'm down to four guards and six militiamen! If more come and I divert anyone, we'll lose the position!"

"Point, this is Wide Shot," another voice came out of the radio, "I'll send two guards and two militiamen your way, they'll try and outflank the raiders. Can't spare more, sorry."

"Hurry, damn it! I can hear their leader screaming "Charge!" right now!" the guard turned his attention to survivors. "This is it, boys and girls! Hold this position, and we'll save the village! Show no mercy for the raiders!"

The roar of charging raiders almost sucked all the fighting spirit from survivors. Point Blank, however, fired a round from his shotgun and covered the roar with his own scream:

"FIRE!"

BOOM!

BOOM!

Twilight hid behind the sandbags, moved the bolt, and fired again.

Sunset tried to do the same, but was forced to get down by enemy fire.

Seeing that the enemy was distracted, Twilight fired another shot.

A red mark disappeared from IFF screen. There were fifteen left.

And four green ones. One of their own has already fallen to enemy fire. Five remained, including Twilight herself.

The girl saw two of raiders aiming at her and had to throw herself on the floor. She landed wrong, air expelled from her lungs.

Bra-ta-tat, bra-ta-ta-ta-tat.

Bullets broke wooden panels where she stood moments ago.

Suddenly, they heard an explosion and cries of pain.

There were fourteen enemies remaining.

KA-BOOM!

"ARGH!"

Thirteen.

Both girls decided to risk it and aimed at the enemies. Two shots rang out. Two raiders, caught by surprise, fell down, one with a hole in his head, another one with a torn throat. Another one took a step forward - and an explosion erupted from underneath him, killing him instantly.

Land mine! Twilight's mind recognized the weapon.

One of the raiders who recovered faster fired at Twilight from his pistol. The girl was unable to hide quick enough, and the bullet hit her armour vest.

Twilight felt as if a small but very powerful hammer hit her upper chest, painfully but she did not feel her skin tearing, or the flow of blood.

The armour vest worked as advertised.

She ducked down to recover for a moment, and heard Sunset fire another shot.

"Blast, I missed! No more ammo for my rifle!" the fiery-haired girl swore.

"Take mine," Twilight threw her a clip of five ammo, "and hit them! I don't have any more!"

Suddenly, they heard Spike barking.

The raiders breached the house!

"Spike, get over here!" Twilight screamed, and everyone heard another explosion on the ground floor.

She spared a quick glance at her IFF screen. There were only two green marks left now, against seven red ones.

"Ponyfeathers," she heard Sunset swear. "That booby trap was our last line of defense. Now it's close quarters combat now. Take a pistol, the rifle is too unwieldy," the girl proceeded to heed her own advice.

Twilight loaded her own pistol. Both girls crouched behind improvised barricades located behind the entrance to the second floor and covered the entry point.

"Three left against seven," Sunset muttered. "Bad odds indeed. It was a pleasure to know you, Twilight Sparkle."

Fast Grabber entered the house with three of his bodyguards.

"Be careful and check for traps!" he barked. "I don't want anyone else to suffer the same fate as these two idiots did!" he waved towards lacerated corpses.

Everyone proceeded carefully, checking the first floor. They did not know whether their enemy would hide on the first floor.

They were interrupted, however...

"Grabber! Grabber!" another raider ran into the room. "The attack failed! The main line held, I'm the only survivor! They sent me away shortly before they were killed!"

"Fuck!" Fast Grabber swore. "OK, back to the base, now! If we hurry, we will be able to prepare our defenses..."

BOOM! Bra-ta-ta-ta! BANG!

"What the..."

Every raider ran out - and saw one guard and two militiamen firing at two raiders who hid behind the very positions the defenders used. There was another corpse of a guard that had not been present before.

The combined fire of five raiders quickly mowed down the trio, but not before one of them managed to get a lucky shot to the throat of one of Fast Grabber's bodyguards and another killed one of the hiding duo.

"Let's move, now!" the leader ordered his five people remaining.

"Are they... leaving?" Twilight could not believe her eyes.

The red marks on IFF were moving away.

"They are," Sunset confirmed. "Come on, grab your rifle. Maybe we will get several lucky shots."

Both girls rushed to the windows. Indeed, six raiders were trying to escape.

BOOM! BOOM!

One of the raiders fell, two bullets finishing his life.

The remaining five turned around at fired at them. Twilight and Sunset hid themselves behind cover, and the bandits used their hesitation to start running again.

Once the fire stopped, they fired again, but their bullets did not hit anyone.

"To Tartarus with them!" Sunset shouted. "Let's see who survived!"

The girls ran out. They encountered a very grim sight.

Dead bodies were lying everywhere. Blood was flowing from the wounds, colouring nearly the whole defense line in various tones of red colour.

The wounds were different. Bullet holes were present almost everywhere. The raiders that got themselves blown up on mines had some parts of their legs torn off.

Twilight emitted a gasp when she saw Redblood lying dead, a hole in the middle of his forehead. She already felt a bond of friendship with the doctor, and now it was torn.

Then she saw another familiar corpse. One of the armed civilians was the woman whose daughter Twilight had saved previously. The lavender-skinned girl was surprised to find out that the woman could fire a gun, and was helpless against the radscorpion only because she did not have a gun on her person that day.

Tears of painful sorrow and helpless rage poured from Twilight's eyes. She slumped down, adrenaline flowing away from her system, legs not being able to support her.

"Hey... Hey, you two!" she heard a familiar voice.

The tears stood like a curtain, but once Twilight wiped them away, she saw Point Blank coming towards them, combat shotgun in one hand, another hand covering his stomach and coated in blood.

Twilight gasped.

"You are hurt!"

"I'll live," the guard snapped. "But I really can't run. Listen, you two, I hate to ask you this, but you need to intercept the remaining raiders. Don't let them go! Or they'll fortify themselves, and we won't be able to dig them out," he panted, barely able to breathe. "Take my guns," he gave his shotgun to Sunset, then pulled his SMG and gave it to Twilight, "and ammo," he gave them shotgun shells and several clips for SMG, "and stop them!"

Both girls tucked the newly-acquired weapons and ammunition.

"Twilight, drop the rifle," Sunset said, throwing away her own, "we're too low on ammo and there's no time to get more. Grab a helmet from a dead guard and let's go!"

Minutes later, both girls (and Spike) went after the raiders.

Their enemies were quite fast. When the girls arrived at the outskirts of what looked like raider holdout, they saw their enemy running to the entrance into their base - which was located inside a cave, apparently.

"Spike," Twilight told her assistant, putting him to ground, "go ahead stealthily, and we go after you. Warn us if anyone appears."

"Will do, Twilight," Spike agreed, and proceeded forward. Both girls lay down and started crawling, trying not to disturb the grass too much.

After ten minutes of crawling, they finally came up to the entrance. They encountered nobody, which meant the enemy was holed inside.

"This stinks of a trap," Sunset muttered. "Spike, you need to scout ahead. Be careful."

"Will do," and the light-purple dog disappeared inside the cave.

"Why did you send him ahead of us?" Twilight asked quietly.

"Because inside the cave, we may have to use our Pip-Boy screens like flashlights, and that will give us away. Spike's vision in the dark is better than ours. If there are no trip-wires with grenades, he'll tell us and we won't need to use the lights."

"OK... tell me, Sunset, are you scared?"

"Of what?"

"Just... we had other people back there to support us. Now, it's only two of us and Spike."

"If we are to try and find my magic books, you'll have to get used to it, Twilight. Three of us against the world, I mean," the fiery-haired girl turned away, shotgun trained at the entrance. "But... to be honest? I'm scared too. You mention it to anyone else, though, and I'll deny it."

"OK."

"Hey, you two," Spike said quietly, coming up to them, "the passage is clear. After fifty meters, there are lights, and no booby-traps on the way."

"Oh, good," Sunset beamed. "Let's go hunting, then."

The infiltration into the cave went smoothly. The trio quietly made their way, careful not to raise too much noise, hoping to quickly dispose of the remaining raiders.

The raider base turned out to be a mini-town, small houses built from iron pieces. Empty spaces between the lanes formed "streets".

There were also chains and hooks everywhere. On several of them, one could see skeletons.

One already dead human was hanging in a twisted pose, his body stuck on a bloodied hook. At this sight, Twilight muttered, "Sweet Celestia", Sunset cussed, and Spike growled quietly. Everyone of them silently, without words, agreed to ambush the raiders in their own habitat and kill them all.

The plan, however, did not survive contact with the enemy. As usual.

When one of the raiders came at them from around the corner, Sunset fired at him on pure reflex. the shot tore away his stomach, making his guts spill ("Ewww!" Spike remarked), but that quickly alerted the remaining raiders to their presence.

Twilight's IFF showed three raiders around the corner. The cave took a turn to the right in that place, which prevented outflanking, so the only option was a head-on fight.

Sunset changed her shotgun for a pistol temporarily and told Twilight to open fire at raiders with her on count of three. Twilight nodded.

Boths girls fired; Sunset crouched, and Twilight stood.

Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta. Bang, bang, bang, bang.

One of the raiders was cut down by their fire. The other two did not plan to surrender, and fired at the girls, but their weapons ran out of ammo.

"Reloading!" one screamed, but too loudly. Sensing weakness, both girls fired at him from their cover. Many of their shots went wide, but the raider did not cover himself properly and paid for that with his life.

"Fuck this!" the last one shouted. "I'm not dying here!" and turned away to run.

However, once he made several steps, an explosion occurred, sending him tumbling to the ground, still alive, but incapable of moving.

Twilight, Spike and Sunset quickly but carefully approached the wounded raider. While falling, he lost his SMG and now tried to get it back.

Sunset exchanged her pistol for a combat shotgun again and prevented him from taking any more actions by firing once.

The raider's hand twitched and moved no more.

"Only one remains. Their leader, Fast Grabber," Sunset remarked. "Let's go get him."

The trio made their way ahead. However, there was a nasty surprise ahead.

When they were approaching the place that looked like Fast Grabber's office, they had to go through a relatively narrow passage with high wooden walls. When they were going through it, an explosion took away the top of one wall. Wooden parts started falling down

Sunset pushed Twilight forward, but was unable to get out of dangerous zone in time. Her legs were buried under the pile in aftermath. Hard as she tried, the girl couldn't get out.

"Sunset!" Twilight exclaimed. She and Spike (who was running ahead and did not suffer at all).

"I'm fine," Sunset replied, "these blocks haven't broken anything. Fast Grabber is really desperate if he relies on such crappy defenses."

Anger bubbled within Twilight. The lead raider tried to hurt and kill her friend. And his underlings have caused untold suffering among Vault Village inhabitants and who knows whom else.

Twilight felt as she had felt when Tirek destroyed her Golden Oak Library. She was fully prepared to cause him pain then.

Now, she planned to do the same with Fast Grabber.

One thought was on her mind.

Revenge.

"Spike, stay here and guard Sunset. I'll deal with the creep myself."

"You need my shotgun?" Sunset asked.

"No, I'll manage," the Princess of Friendship replied, taking after the lead bandit.

"Wait!" Spike said, but Twilight paid him no attention.

The cave turned to the left, coming to the dead end. There, Twilight Sparkle found the "home" of Fast Grabber.

The front of the house was very close to the turn, so Twilight was able to crouch behind rocks first, and then near the front wall.

Assuming that frontal assault was a stupid thing to do, she decided to crouch below the windows in order to find the backdoor entrance.

She turned out to be right. Another door was located on the back side. Twilight quietly opened it a bit and, having made sure that no booby traps were placed near it, entered.

Her IFF screen showed a red mark in front and to the left of her. Fast Grabber was in a room that probably served as his bedroom, or office, or both. The walls were not of wood, but of concrete, apparently.

Twilight approached the entrance as stealthily as she could. The fight was getting to her; her heartbeat appeared traitorously loud, and she was breathing heavily.

She stopped. She did not know how to use a grenade, and even if she knew, she did not have one.

Plus, Fast Grabber could throw it back to her and she wouldn't be able to get away in time.

What do I do?

Her sight fell upon a standing coat-hanger with several jumpsuit on it. She quietly went to it and took one, then went back.

She assumed that Fast Grabber was aiming at the entrance, ready to cut down anyone that comes out. His nerves would be strained now, and if he was trigger-happy, he would fire if he saw anything to come at him.

She threw the coat.

BA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!

A stream of bullets tore into the jumpsuit that served as distraction.

A mocking laugh came out from inside.

"Oh very clever, very clever. I applaud you. But I am not out of ammo yet, and I won't fall for the same trick twice."

Twilight remained silent.

"Why aren't you saying anything? You already gave away your position. You are lucky that these walls can't be pierced by my bullets, or you would've been a corpse right now."

Horseapples! Twilight cussed internally.

"So you thought about taking me on? You think you are the paragon of justice or something?" the mocking tone did not go anywhere. "Ironic, isn't it? I lived in the village, with my friends and underlings, like a king! I had my own kingdom. But now seeing that you are here, I am left alone. And others rule the village, my village, now."

"Nobody rules the village, and it was never yours," Twilight snapped, her patience run out. "People used to live there. Then something happened there, and your merry gang took it. And when other people wanted to co-exist peacefully, you slaughtered their emissaries. Your gangsters were sowing sorrow and despair, and now all of them are dead."

"Never mine? Foolish girl. You thought we took this village away from someone? It was our village originally. Those you call "raiders" now, myself included, are from there. During the Day of Burning, radioactive cloud from nuclear explosions went away from it, making it a good enough place to live in post-apocalyptic world."

"Then why did you stand against those who came from Vault 75? Why rob an kill at all?!" Twilight's voice raised.

Something's got to make sense in all this butchery!

"And here I thought you were smart. If you ask this, you are a cretin squared. Have you never heard about the maxim "survival of the strongest"? The strongest ones prevail, while those weaker perish! The strongest remain free, to use everything they can, to do everything they want! We were the strongest here, but even we needed resources. Do you think the strong ask politely? They take what's rightfully theirs! That's the way it works in animal world, and humans are no different! We took what was rightfully ours, by the right of the strongest!"

"And if someone proved to be stronger than you?" Twilight challenged.

"Then they would gain the rights to everything... but if you think I'll just roll over and die because you villagers defeated my forces, you're sadly mistaken. If you want to prove you're stronger, I'll make you work for it."

Challenge accepted.

Twilight looked around, trying to find a way inside.

If I had a grenade and knew how to use one, I would have tried to flush him out of his cover. But what can I do?

Her gaze wandered around the room. One table close to her had weapons on it: two land mines and a grenade, but it did not have a detonator in it.

The mines had the words "Anti-personnel" written, and one of the switches present on them had an arrow and words "arm".

Kekeke.

Fast Grabber was tensed, every muscle wound up like a spring. He was ready to fire as soon as the stupid bitch would try and attack him.

The girl was smart enough not to stick out like a sore thumb, but sooner or later, she would snap, he was sure of that.

"What, you admit my superiority? Coward!" he cried mockingly in an attempt to provoke her.

I bet she wouldn't dare to attack me alone now.

He heard no answer, but several moments later a round object landed in the room.

Fuck! Grenade!

He saw that the metal object was too far away to try and throw it back, and he dashed out of the room.

Bleep-bleep-bleep!

"What the..?"

KA-BOOM!

Agony.

Twilight was hiding behind the sturdy sofa when she heard an explosion. She stood, taking in the result of her actions.

Her trap worked perfectly. Fast Grabber, too nervous already, snapped and ran out, not noticing that the grenade did not have a detonator - straight into the trap, too close to the armed mines.

The mines, however, proved to be lower in power than she thought. Fast Grabber, while wounded in the legs and lying down, was still alive.

And aiming an assault rifle of unfamiliar design towards her.

Twilight ducked quickly, moving to the right edge. Bullets soared above her.

She leaned out. Fast Grabber was already standing on bleeding legs.

She fired a burst, hitting his torso. He jerked from the impact, and several wounds started bleeding, but he still did not keel over.

Must have a vest of sorts.

Twilight ducked back and flattened herself on the floor, as bullets tore apart the back of the sofa. They were whizzing close, but Fast Grabber did not think to aim his assault rifle lower, which saved the girl's life.

She crawled to another edge, careful not to expose herself, then rolled on her back, raised a bit and fired blindly from cover.

Click. Her SMG ran out of ammo. The scream of pain and a clank indicated that the raider dropped his weapon.

She opted not to reload, drawing her pistol instead and sticking out to fire.

She did not expect him to be very close to her, however. Fast Grabber hit her in her left cheek, which was not protected by a transparent face shield, and she fell, losing her balance.

Her hand flew upwards and released the pistol while she was falling. The weapon flew towards a small locker, landed on its surface, slid and fell behind it.

Twilight landed on her face. The face shield on her helmet prevented heavy damage, but it cracked upon impact, and one of fasteners came loose.

She tore away the now-useless plate and tried to scram away from Fast Grabber who now jumped over the sofa and tried to stomp her.

He missed, and once he landed, Twilight managed to punch him into his right cheek. Her punch was quite weak, however - the raider's head only turned around, and he didn't fall.

Realizing that unarmed combat was not her forte, Twilight tried to get away from him, but he caught up to her, grabbed her right forearm and tried to deliver a kick to the face.

However, Twilight jumped to the side, closer to him, and his foot missed. Instead, he hit her with his shin into upper chest, which was protected by her armor. The girl did not feel any pain, but lost her balance again and landed onto the floor, hitting her coccyx.

Ouch! That's unpleasant.

The human monster tried to get himself above her, but Twilight managed to raise both her legs and use them to make Fast Grabber tumble head first into the floor. Not expecting that, he hit his head hard.

Twilight stood up and hurriedly tried to get to her pistol. However, she was not lucky: the locker did not have enough space near the floor to push a hand through there, and from the left, the pistol was too far. On the right, there was a wardrobe which prevented access.

The roar of the wounded but still moving human made her abandon her search. The man was standing now, and was aimimng her SMG at her.

"DIE!" he roared, and pulled the trigger.

Click.

He tried again.

Click.

Twilight grinned evilly at him.

"You really think I wouldn't have tried to grab that thing if I still had ammo there?" she taunted.

Quicker than she would have expected, Fast Grabber charged her and hit her head with her own weapon.

Twilight saw stars, but managed to hold her balance. She started withdrawing.

Something started flowing down into her right eye. She understood that the raider tore away some parts of her skin.

The enraged man caught her hand and turned her back to his face. The lavender-skinned girl raised her leg and tried to kick him.

She hit him straight between the legs.

"AAAARRRRRGH!!!"

Surprisingly, the man still managed to maintain his hold. However, he punched Twilight into her left cheekbone a moment later and threw her away to the side. His hands flew to his "wounded pride".

The Princess of Friendship landed on her back, hard. The helmet kept her head safe, but she did not feel like standing up.

She couldn't even bring herself to move now. Her whole body was in pain. She could only lie and breathe, trying to gather enough will to continue the fight.

What wouldn't I give for a painkiller shot right now.

"You'll die for that, bitch! Painfully!"

Fast Grabber's screams made Twilight raise her head, despite the pain and overall tiredness. She saw the raider try and push the locker away.

He's after my pistol!

In a panic, Twilight tried to look around. To her right, she saw Grabber's assault rifle.

She tried to stand, but her body refused to listen. She twisted and started crawling.

She moved a bit.

Fast Grabber moaned. His rage was no longer effective at dulling his pain, and he felt his wounds draining his strength. The locker creaked a bit.

Twilight thrust her left hand forward and pulled herself.

She heard the raider groan.

Right hand and another crawl.

Left hand. Crawl.

"Just a little... more..." she heard her enemy say.

Blast! Move it, Sparkle! Move it!

Her right hand landed on assault rifle's butt. She pulled the weapon to herself and rolled to her back.

"Got it!"

Fast Grabber got the pistol.

Twilight realigned the weapon, pushing the butt against her shoulder. She looked through the iron sights.

The raider straightened, aiming towards his nemesis with mostly violet hair.

"BA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!"

Click.

The kickback was stronger than Twilight thought, and the muzzle flare almost blinded her. Once the rifle ran out of ammo, she was fully able to see what happened.

Fast Grabber's upper chest and throat turned into a bloody mess, red liquid flowing quickly.

His eyes were no longer focused, as if staring at something in the distance instead.

His body was sliding down the wall, leaving a bloody trail there.

The hand was no longer aiming the pistol at her.

Fast Grabber was dead.

Twilight wanted to feel something, anything, but her body simply refused to work anymore. She simply registered the raider's death, and then saw black creeping into her vision, and felt her head go down.

She lost consciousness.

Level Up!

New Perk (Twilight Sparkle):

Intense Training (Rank 1): Allows to add one point to one of your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes.

Chosen attribute: Endurance (5)

New Perk (Sunset Shimmer):

Marksmanship (Rank 1): You have gained some experience in firing various types of guns. You gain permanent +2% bonus to your accuracy, no matter what weapon you use.

Canterlot Wastelands Survival Guide Entry

AP-79 TODC assault rifle

Cheap, reliable and easy in maintenance, this assault rifle model became very widespread among armed forces of TransOceanic Defense Coalition before and during the war against United Federation of Equestria. The performance of this model was so great that AP-79 became a coveted trophy among UFE soldiers, and many assault rifles made their way into UFE territory via various ways. While this rifle is harder to find than R91 assault rifle, it inflicts higher damage and is more durable with proper maintenance, but finding spare parts for it is tough (if you do not want to deal with traders, that is).

Weapon stats:

DMG: 36 (if 100% CND)
WG: 3.5 kg
VAL: 500 caps (if 100% CND)

Ammo type: 5.56mm rounds
Ammo capacity: 30

Author's Note

Me: OK, Pinkie, what's the number of the words in this chapter?

Pinkie Pie: It's... it's OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND!

Me: What? Nine thousand? There's no way that can be right, can it?

Pinkie Pie: I think it's right. *shows me the word counter*

Me: Wait a minute, why am I even talking to you? You aren't supposed to be here! Go back to the story!

Pinkie Pie: Okie-dokie-lokie! *disappears*

Lame DBZ and 4th wall jokes aside, it really was a monstrous chapter. I don't write such long chapters usually, so unless my writing style changes, I'm unlikely to repeat such a feat.

I also apologize for holding up. Recent events prevented me from writing for a few days. My life is upheaved somewhat now, plus I need a small creative rest, so instead of 3-7 days of waiting for next chapter, it will be from 5 to 10 days.

This chapter is the first "large-scale conflict" chapter. Therefore, as with previous one, I'd like to hear your comments/advice/criticism on it, so I can deliver better chapters in the future.

Canterlot Wastelands Survival Guide Entries will pop up from time to time, in case I describe an item that is different somehow from Fallout universe. For instance, TODC assault rifle replaces Chinese assault rifle in this fic, as the human world here differs from the one in Fallout or our real world.

As you've probably guessed, this is the assault rifle Fast Grabber used. If you are interested in how it looks like, find a picture of Russian AK-74 assault rifle, and imagine it having 5.56mm caliber barrel and box magazine for 5.56mm rounds instead of those designed in real life (5.45mm).

Stay tuned!

IMPORTANT P. S. In case someone asks: no, the fact that AP-79 is based on AK-74 does not allude to hypothetical military conflict between Russia and the USA. United Federation of Equestria is not simply United States under a different name in this story (although you are likely to find similarities between UFE and USA). It is a different country with a different history before the Day of Burning. Later chapters will give you snippets of that history.

Please refrain from comments on political situation, so as not to start an arguement. Thank you