Please Stand By

"Atlas..."

"Yessum?"

"Why're we out here again?"

Standing on top of a broken Highwayman car, was a man, he was a glorious looking wastelander, decked out in blackened combat armor with a trench coat over it all. A flash of blue was on his left wrist, a Pipboy that played a soft tune. He held the undamaged part of some binoculars up to his eye, scanning the snowy landscape area below him along with his merry band of misfits.

He turned to his companion, a woman dressed in a blue Vault suit, it had been modified however with leather straps and some shoulder pads. "I told you before Sarah," He gestured to the frozen hellscape in front of them where several buildings and hulks of metal were half buried in the snow, he grinned. "This place was used by the military way back when! So there's bound to be some sweet gear here somewhere." He hopped down from the car he was standing on, causing it to slide down the hill it was precariously sitting on.

Sarah sighed, shaking her head as she rubbed her arms. "So you had us travel... what... five hundred something miles to a frozen hell so you could find some gear?!" She asked him in disbelieving tone, facepalming.

Behind her, a ghoul dressed in a black trench coat and a neat looking suit grunted as his coat billowed in the winds, he tipping his fedora slightly to block out the winds as the cold air nipped at his charred flesh. "Doesn't look like much is here Atlas." He remarked, looking around the battlefield.

"That's why we gotta go inside! I doubt anything is still functional out here, I mean, the cold air has probably eaten away at the good stuff." Atlas replied, turning to the rest of his crew who stood nearby. "Let's go check out that large building to the north, I know that used to be the command center." Turning around with a smile, he trudged through the snow, his many companions following close behind him through the snowy wastes. The area they had traveled to was a well known one, Colorado, specifically near Cheyenne Mountain.

Why was he and his crew of misfits headed there?

Why not?

Atlas led the way, his coat keeping him warm from the elements surrounding him. Inside his coat, snug as a bug in a rug, was Little Tim. To some, most would assume Little Tim to be a child, or maybe a tiny robot... nope...

He's a Radroach, a large Radroach with black wings.

Atlas kept him in his coat, making sure to keep his buggy companion warm from the cold air. The area around them was covered in snow, dead trees and destroyed military vehicles, most of which Atlas saw were humvees, sherman tanks and even a few frozen power armor units. No doubt encased within are the soldiers who died for nothing. He made a mental note to try and pull them out and get the armor.

Free armor~ He chuckled as the group made their way to the mountain, closing in on the road that led to the tunnel inside.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Meanwhile, in Fluttershy's backyard.

"What a lovely day~" A draconius hummed as he floated through the air, several animals dodging the creature as he snapped his fingers, causing several flowers around him to come to life and spit large peas at the animals.

"Now now Discord," A butter yellow pony named Fluttershy scolded as she watched the plants shoot peas around the yard. "You turn them back this instant!"

"But Fluttershy darling~" Discord whined, conjuring up a chair and sitting upon it with a top hat on his head. "They're sapient now aren't that? Wouldn't turning them back to their normal state be cruel?" He asked as one of the plants looked at Fluttershy, its eyes misting over.

Fluttershy bit her lip, looking down at the creature with a sad frown. Discord, you're so... ugh! She sighed, shaking her head and turning around to go feed her chickens, leaving Discord to continue lounging in her backyard. She walked with the grace of a dancer, her steps guided and with purpose as she maneuvered to her chicken pen. Several of the flowers followed her - somehow - and watched her as she went about her day.

Fluttershy might not admit it - yet - but she found the flowers to be quite adorable.

Maybe they're not so bad. She mused, smiling.

Fluttershy saw her chickens were a pecking at the ground, some sat nearby with small hatchlings. A few curious chicks bounded over to the pegasus, flapping their tiny wings and chirping inquisitively at her. A giggle escaped her as she petted a few of them on the head with the tips of her wings, letting them nip at her wingtips and run around her legs. Some may assume Fluttershy, being as fragile as she looks, her wings would be in the same shape, but that was a wrong assumption. Her wings were strong, not that she would boast about it.

She kept to herself, most of the time anyways when she wasn't called to fight some dastardly evil or purify some poor sod... that is.

A smile graced her features as she went over and grabbed some chicken feed, lugging it over and ripping it open before tossing some onto the ground for them to eat.

Discord, (The Sneaky Fuck) meanwhile was combing his fingers through his goatee, looking up at the sky which had started to darken for some strange odd totally not alien reason. He plucked one of his eyeballs out of his socket, stretching it to a great length before aiming it skyward, enhancing his vision several times. He saw the clouds overhead were gathering, and no pegasi were responsible for doing so. The draconius hummed in thought, popping his eye back into his socket.

Interesting~ He chuckled darkly to himself. I sense... chaotic magic afoot. He mused on who or what was doing it. Twilight perhaps? No, she's to busy with sunbutt, maybe Rarity? She's strong with magic but I don't think she would dabble in the dark arts... hmm...

"Discord! Could you help me with this please?" Fluttershy's oh so sweet voice called from afar.

"Oh, coming~" Discord sang back to her, snapping his finger and sending a quick mental warning to Twilight before casting one final look into the sky, before moving to help his caretaker.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Back with Atlas and his crew

"Not five minutes in this place and already we're in some shit!" Sarah barked at her leader, who was currently smashing buttons on a control console as his team tried to fight off several dozen murderous sentry bots. She managed to hold back a few of them with her laser rifle

"Do not interfere with security operations." A robotic voice droned as it fired its minigun at the other robots, the barrels spinning as 5MM rounds spewed out and ripped apart the metal enemies. Smaller caliber rounds pinged off of the Sentry Bot's olive green paint job, causing nicks and dents to appear.

Behind the Sentry Bot was a smaller robot, shaped almost like a rectangle with a small optic lense and a single wheel for locomotion. Weirdly enough, it was also wearing a top hat and had a fake moustache on its body. "This is dreadful!" The smaller robot screamed, shivering as it ducked down behind the Sentry bot. "Simply dreadful!" Behind him was Little Tim, who also shivered in fear, hiding behind the small robot.

"Put a sock in it Clappy!" Another member of the misfits cackled, another ghoul donning rusted and well aged power armor, his weapon of choice was a lightning firing weapon of destruction, otherwise known as an Arc Wielder. "Taste my lightning!" He bellowed, the blowback from his Arc Wielder whipping his long platinum hair back.

Cause he's just that badass.

When the first entered the mountain, they had to split up, diminishing their number greatly, now only five of the twelve remained. One of Atlas' companions could have taken all of the bots down with a sweep or two of his weapon! Of course, they couldn't be that lucky.

Nope, not at all...

But speaking of said individual.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Elsewhere inside the mountain

*CRUNCH SMASH*

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!" Roared one of the many terrors of the wastes, a massive twenty foot giant decked out in scrap armor crafted from various vehicles and scrap metal. Skulls and bones were adorned across his chest like trophies, chains and leather straps were lashed to a pair of shopping carts on his back which looped around his shoulders and under his arms like a massive back pack, inside the cart were several bags and ammo cases, all of which were filled with ammo and supplies. Tattered clothing was wrapped around his waist, falling down to his knees where metal plated knee pads rested.

He swung his massive club like weapon, a large steel pipe with a chunk of concrete lashed onto the end and welded into place and bolted on for good measure. The club hit the sentry bots, smashing them to pieces and sending to flying down the hall.

This monstrosity of the wastes... that many fear and despise...

Was Tiny... Atlas' comrade...

I know right?

The massive behemoth swung his club again, this time in a downward arc. It was surprising he was able to use such a large weapon in such a confined space.

It helps he's strong enough to hurl a Nuka-Cola truck halfway across the ma-I mean... the wasteland. He was a beast, and as such, was practically ripping apart the hall he was in. Sending rubble flying, smashing in doors and destroying the halls, naturally. The Sentry bots didn't stand a chance against his might.

Behind the Behemoth, slashing at a Mister Gutsy, was a deathclaw, a fierce looking red skinned reptile with long black claws. The beast slashed at the bots, taking bullets and howling a screech as he decapitated the bots... somehow...

This was Mister Snuggles, Atlas' pet Deathclaw.

Isn't he just precious~

The Deathclaw, along with Tiny both caused some major destruction against the bots inside of the mountain, making their way further down. Neither could speak, one having lost the ability years ago and the other not having any way to speak to begin with. But both knew they had to find a way through this mess and back to their leader, Atlas. Roars and bellows echoed throughout the hall as both creatures fought off the bots, eventually tearing a way through the bots and down the hall.

Down another hall, two ghouls were fighting off other ghouls.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

With our friendly neighborhood ghouls

Two ghouls, side by side were hiding behind a sandbag barricade. One was dressed in winterized chinese combat armor with a full face mask., and in his hands he wielded a riot shotgun, firing it while spewing curses in his tongue.

Next to him stood the ghoul in the coat and suit, firing two Model 624 revolvers with deadly accuracy. He was a deadly shot, blasting off heads and arms and killing ghoulified soldiers and bots left and right. "I hope you have a plan Chi!" The detective ghoul yelled over the gunfire, frowning under his hat.

"~I have no plan American!~" Chi yelled back, while he fully understood the american language, he chose to speak in his native tongue instead.

Smith - Let's call him Agent Smith - only growled in reply. "Chinese special ops my ass." He put his other revolver into his other gunhand, reaching into his coat and pulling out a grenade. He yanked the pin out with his teeth. "Grenade!" He yelled, throwing it into the crowd of bots. Both ghouls stood up and fired as they backpedaled further into the facility, spewing curses all the while.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Back with the others.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Sarah bellowed as her gun clicked dry, she quickly replaced the power cell before turning to face Atlas, who had resorted to firing his 45 colt handgun at the control console, blasting off several keys and damaging the screen.

"Using my master key!" Atlas explained as several eyebots appeared from one of the halls.

Maybe you're wondering how they got into this situation?

Complications, three different hallways and a fuck ton of robots that shouldn't have been activated, along with a twinkie that had been lodged in a door, effectively sealing off an easy exit...

Twinkies. Atlas mentally cursed, those damnably eternal treats of dreaded door debauchery. he shot the console once more with his pistol, dilly wishing he had brought one of his alien blasters or even some high explosives. The group had gone in, hoping to scavenge some pre-war tech or cease control of the mountain facility under Atlas' command... but they encountered so many bots, Sentry Bots, Mister Gutsy bots and even some he had never seen before!

He cursed the old world and praised it, it was a love hate relationship at times he found troubling.

"Primary ammo expended, resorting to hand to hand combat." Atlas' Sentry Bot droned as his minigun arm folded back and a long chainsaw arm extended outward before revving up. "Come at me commies."

"We're running low on ammo!" Sarah called out, checking her ammo reserves. She was running low, however it seemed the ghoul soldier and his Arc Wielder was having plenty of fun and had plenty of ammo as he blew apart several robots and fried their innards with an insane laugh that echoed throughout the halls.

"I ain't~" The ghoul cackled.

"Can it Kane!"

"Ohohoho Feisty~"

Atlas ignored them, as the laser and plasma bursts hit the wall in front of him, concrete was blown off in chunks, and he wondered if this was the end? Had he led his team into what would become their tomb? He only wanted to find some sweet tech and maybe another place to take over... but it seemed he fucked up. Fuck. He cursed, turning around and pulling out a pulse grenade, he tapped the button to arm it before throwing it into the robot horde and once it hit he pulled out his other Colt 45 and aimed both guns before firing. "Eat my lead!"

"What do we do!" The smaller robot - now hiding behind Sarah - wondered, holding Little Tim close.

"What we do best!" It was no question... "We fight to the death baby!" Atlas yelled to his teammates, getting a tired sigh from Sarah, a cackle from Kane, shivers from his small robot companion and Little Tim, and a beeping noise from his sentry bot. Everyone prepared themselves, and fought against the robot horde that overtook them, determined to give these bots one hell of a fight.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Back in Equestria

"Twiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!" Pinkie bellowed as she ran to the castle, her body spasming and twitching like crazy. To anyone else this would be considered an oddity... But this was Pinkie Pie and this meant trouble, lots of it actually. The pink mare ran through the street, passing by several ponies who either hid or ran for their houses in fright.

Twilight, meanwhile was standing on the balcony of her castle, looking out into the sky. She felt the dark chaotic magic at play and thought it was Discord, but the signature was off, and she had received a warning from Discord that there was something darker at play. The princess couldn't pinpoint the magic at all, there was no way to lock on it! Drat!

"Twilight!" Pinkie cried as she - somehow - scrambled up the wall of the castle and onto Twilight's back. "Something is coming!"

Twilight turned her head to her friend, seeing the fearful look on the younger mare's face. "What is coming?!"

Her question was answered, as the clouds overhead started to rumble, suddenly lightning started to strike down. Twilight saw the clouds over the Everfree forest, striking trees and setting some on fire, one bigger bot had struck the other castle in the distance, causing one small tower to fall. More clouds covered the entire sky for miles around in every direction, lightning struck all around sending ponies into a frenzy of activity, running for cover or hiding with friends and neighbors.

Twilight could only watch as the storm went on, wondering what was going to happen now...