Prologue
"Oh, I love it when Princess Celestia comes to visit Ponyvile!" Pinkie Pie cheered next to Rarity, her enthusiasm emphasized more heavily with each bounce that she made, but Twilight didn't share the sentiment.
She was too busy going over each and every scenario in her mind on "why" her Mentor was coming to visit.
To her, when Celestia came over to Ponyvile, it was either after a disaster had happened and she wanted to make sure that everyone was alright, or that sompony was going to get in trouble instead. Either one was probable, however, when looking over her notes about the terrifying pattern she found when assessing the situation for future events, she can't help but think that Celestia was intentionally causing problems. 'But that can't be right...Right?' That's not how her teacher is, she was the Princess of Equestria!
"I got my hoofs shined just like Rarity for the occasion. You like?" Pinkie asked Rarity, showing her mirror-finish hoof to Rarity—Who couldn't help but stare in awe in the reflection of the work that Pinkie put into her own hooves to make them shine so clearly. Rainbow Dash could only gag, but Twilight, however, had bigger issues.
"I'm surprised she's not here yet," Twilight said staring into the sky, watching the birds fly on by as she scoured the heavens for Princess Celestia's chariot.
"I wonder what's taking so long?" Spike added, the purple dragon standing at her side wondering the same questions.
"And where are Applejack and Fluttershy?"
"Fluttershy is helping Applejack with a mishap at Sweet Apple Acres," Rarity replied, still staring at her reflection in Pinkie Pies hoof. "They'll be along."
"I still don't get why the Princess would be so late?"
Twilight nodded warily to her assistant. She knew it wasn't like Celestia to be late for anything. Nothing would stop her usual tea and cake break back at the castle right as the morning court would end. Twilight remember the day when someone tried to stop Celestia, it was a sight to behold.
Standing in the center of the hall was Prince Blue Blood looking for a private audience with Celestia. Twilight couldn't remember what it was about, the only thing that she did know was that he was shoved aside like a ragdoll into a broom closet and was locked in for a few hours. No pony stood between Celestia and her cake during cake and tea time. No pony. 'Maybe the visitor she was bringing was slowing her down a bit?' Twilight thought. 'That could be it.'
"She's bringing an important visitor," she answered hesitantly. "That could be part of it."
"A visitor who's important and slow," Rainbow Dash groaned with emphasis on her eyes.
Twilight let out a sigh of her own in exasperation. Just hours before the meet up outside of Ponyvile during the warm summer day, she got the letter from Spike about Celestia arrival and a general idea of who she was bringing along with her. She couldn't have known that there would be a delay because of the visitor, much to the displeasure of the cyan pegasus hovering in wait next to Spike, along with Twilight.
After several more minutes of pacing a rut into the grass, Twilight saw the golden glow of the royal carriages come into view, and in turn, Princess Celestia. Twilight cleared a spot where they could land while her friends and little brother let out a breath of relief and joined her in greeting the Goddess of the Sun.
Twilight trotted over to the two carriages, focused on the Princess and her omnipresent glory. Her white coat, pure as the snow in the far north, was beyond perfect. Her royal regalia polished brighter than the sun itself, and her ever-flowing mane and tail cascaded around her person like soft ripples of a mirror pool.
Once Twilight was standing right in front of the Goddess of the Sun and her teacher, she bowed respectfully in the warmth that seemed to flow right out of the Alicorns heart.
"Twilight Sparkle, my prized student. How are you today?" Celestia asked with the warmth of a loving mother. Twilight got up from kissing the dirt, still unsure whether or not to speak to the Princess in a casual light in front of so many guards, or formally, however. Before she could make a reply, her assistant spoke for her.
"Is that Discord!?" Spike gasped, pointing at the second carriage and directing all the attention from the Princess to the mismatched being with the look of terror on his stony face.
"Indeed it is Spike. How quite perceptive of you," Celestia replied without missing a beat.
"I don't understand, Princess, but why would you bring him here?!" Twilight asked as her muscles tensed up, ready for another fight against the God of Chaos himself.
"I'm fully aware that the last time Discord was here, he created serious havoc," she hummed, not noticing the seriousness of the situation that she created. Twilight watched as her mentor reached over into her carriage with her magic and pulled out an ornate box and set it beside her for the moment.
"If by "serious havoc" you mean 'turning Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world,'" Rainbow joined, pointing angerly at the statue.
"And tricking us all into being the opposite of our true selves," Rarity added.
"And making yummy delicious chocolate milk rain all over the place, without a single dollop of whipped cream to go with it anywhere in sight! Not a single dollop!" Pinkie Pie gasped in pure horror.
"I understand your concern Pinkie Pie, but Discord possesses a powerful magic that we might need in the future. If you are worried about him escaping, we have the Elements of Harmony with us and this time, I've placed an enchantment that will prevent him from taking them away from you ever again," Celestia smiled and opened the box, revealing the Elements of Harmony to Twilight and her friends.
"So let me get this straight. You want us to reform, Discord?" Rainbow chuckled inwardly. "Right, make the God of Chaos follow rules, that sounds like a good idea."
"Ya'll don't have'ta be so pessimistic, Rainbow," Applejack said, walking alongside Fluttershy up to the gathered group. Twilight frowned, wondering when they arrived. 'They should have been gone longer than previously estimated with the problems at the farm, but that will have to wait for later.'
Taking her Element of Harmony, Twilight turned to the smiling Princess until everypony had their Elements equipped. Once they were on, Celestia walked over to the statue of Discord and hovered him down in front of the group and prepared a spell to release him from his stone prison, but not before explaining the situation.
"It is as you say, Rainbow Dash. I wish you, girls, to reform him so that he may use his magic for good, however, if he cannot be reformed, then Discord will forever remain in stone," Celestia explained before motioning to her guards to back up and away from the statue.
Twilight let out a sigh, knowing exactly how impossible the task was before her and her friends. 'Reforming Discord?' she mentally groaned. 'I know the Princess thinks we can do it, but it will cost us greatly. I just hope that it isn't too much.'
Taking positions in front of the statue, Twilight and her friends got ready in case Discord were to try anything funny. Once they were ready, Celestia's horned glowed golden for a moment, allowing her aura to completely envelope the statue. Then, once the spell was complete, Twilight watched as the statue cracked and crumbled before exploding in a rain of colorful confetti, and where the statue used to be, now was Discord stretching his mangled body in ways that should be impossible.
"I'll be having a creek in my neck for eons to come. Now I know how a genie feels like living in a bottle," Discord cooed as he twisted his head up and down and fully around three times before returning to its natural position on his shoulders. "Now then, what do we have here? Six little ponies that think they could reform me? How adorable!"
Before anyone could react, Discord held Rainbow Dash like a cat, petting her mane while he sat evilly on a big, black, swivel chair. "We should just turn him back to stone," Rainbow growled, kicking herself free. Discord put on a pouty face at the loss of his evil villain cat.
"You are no fun Rainbow, besides. If you want me to reform so badly, then we have to go by my rules. A challenge if you please."
"Oh! Oh! Is it a cupcake eating challenge!" Pinkie boomed. "Cause I can totally beat you at that!" Twilight rolled her eyes at her pink friend's antics and got her Element ready, knowing exactly how this so-called 'reformation' was going to play out in the end.
"What kind of challenge?" Celestia piped up.
"Well," Discord smiled and pulled out a bobblehead of a strange bipedal creature that Twilight had never seen before and tossed it in front of her. She picked it up with her magic and studied the bobblehead more thoroughly.
"If you feel that 'friendship' is all powerful. Then prove it in a land where friendship is near impossible to acquire. If you can bring harmony to a group of gangs fighting each other over a dam, then I will go out of my way and into, 2-Pacs chocolate canal to learn the magic of friendship," Discord explained dryly.
"Ha! We can easily do that anywhere at anytime! Right Twilight?" Rainbow boasted. Discord shook his head.
"Sorry my Wonderbolt wannabe, but only one can go. So who will it be, hmm?"
"You can't possibly, believe that—"
"I'll go," Twilight said, eyes filled with determination to prove to Discord that the power of friendship can reach anyone, anywhere. Even if her response was quick and without thought, she knew that deep down within her soul, that even if she was separated from her friends, she will return to them in time.
"Twilight! No!" Celestia gasped, now standing in front of her student, but Twilight simply walked around to confront Discord further even as her friends protested her decision, calling it a trap and frankly, it was all things considered.
"It's alright. I'll be fine. Besides, it's not like you can find me wherever I go? What's the worst that could happen?"
"It is too dangerous, that's what?!" Spike cried, pulling his older sister into a loving embrace.
"Well my dear, you will get help on the other side," Discord yawned impatiently. "And I'll behave while you are gone as well if that makes you feel any better."
"Are you sure, Twilight? I originally was going to have Fluttershy take this task," Celestia asked quietly into Twilights ears as she held Spike back with a hug of her own.
"I'm sure."
Before I could say anything else to my friends and family, a bright flash of light enveloped my vision followed by the sounds of steam hissing and pipes creaking, followed by coughing and language so foul that not even every bar of soup in Equestria could clean that mouth. What followed after that was something that I will never forget and will forever regret as my face hit cold, hard, metal.
"W-Where am I?"
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Wasteland
Rain pattered down all around me, the cold water from the heavens chilling my body to the bone underneath the fur-lined armor protecting my person. The muddy ground held me firmly in place, a filthy grave to die in if I was spotted. Mist blew out with each tired breath, the fog making my vision blurry for a brief moment. I adjusted myself slightly, shifting my mud prison just enough that if I had to run, it wouldn't slow me down. Then again, the molten earth would weigh me down in a pinch, but I'm confident that such an opportunity won't be necessary.
I stayed like this for hours, miserable, wet and hungry, waiting for my target to arrive. The bounty-giver—A local Ghoul wearing a plain beige suit—Told me that a group of High Target Slavers would be passing through a small town south of Fort Wayne on their way to the Cog. Each head rating a thousand caps each, and each one chose the wrong people to take.
Shifting my left arm from its death-grip along the stock of my .308 in front of me; a soft orange glow of my Pip-Boy filled my vision. With a quick snap of my wrist, I looked at the mission details once more.
"Ten Slavers and four slaves," I hoarse muttered to no one in particular. "Slaves are Twilight, Jackie, Sarah, and Scarlet. Twilight is the primary target while the rest can do whatever. Get her to the Windigo Pass and hold her at Niagra Falls Power Plant. Kill the Slavers and gather the drop-box supplies stashed in Fort Wayne."
"Optional Objective: Make a friend," I chuckled at the last part. "Right, friend." With a flick of the wrist, my map took its place back on the screen of my Pip-Boy and began my wait once more. "Why do I chose the fucked up jobs?" I sighed and turned on my radio to make the wait a little more bearable.
"Three Dog here coming to you loud and proud from Galaxy News Radio. Hello, listeners from the Mid-West! My voice can finally reach your vulnerable ears..."
"So, I hear you have a job available?" I asked the Ghoul sitting by himself in one of the booths of the local watering hole.
It was a rundown motel that holds claim to being one of the major pitstops in between Cedar Falls and Kansas City. The two-story building armed to the teeth with guards, robots, and turrets. Last stop is the name and its located just outside of Fort Dodge where the Brotherhood of Steel is holed up and working with The Followers of the Apocalypse on the railway.
The Ghoul sporting a drab beige suit with strange colored patches all over his outfit looked up at me from his amber drink with the twisted smile that only a Ghoul could make. "From whom, perchance did you hear that from m'dear?" he asked in an overly playful tone that screamed: Chaos Incarnate.
Taking a seat next to the Ghoul and making sure that I had my gun at the ready in case he tries anything funny, I order a round of Whisky for myself, which arrived faster than it should have. 'Hmm, he is important,' I thought, taking my drink in hand.
"A robot named Screwball back in Kansas, but I didn't think the automated message was still active," I replied blissfully as the gentle burn of glowing amber flowed down my throat. "Why?"
He let out a chuckle too smooth for my liking and leaned back, lacing his scabby fingers together. "'Cause this is where most turn down the job I'm offering. They say it's too long, dangerous, and suicidal."
"I'm listening," I said, slightly intrigued. The last jobs I had were simple Deathclaw hunting missions. The big bastards with swords-for-claws were fun to hunt, but the pay was lacking. What's more interesting is that this guy is implying that I was not the first, and if the locals won't taking this job, then I'll bite.
My life was boring anyway since I've left Vegas.
"Well, there is a girl I need escorting to Niagra. She is a young woman and very naive. She is extremely sheltered, but her love of learning has no bounds!"
"I'm sensing a "But" in there," I added with another taste of Whiskey. The Ghoul leaned closer as his smile disappeared and his eyes narrowed as sharp as Wyverns talons. The Ghoul pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me.
It was a bill of sale of a slave trade.
"Indeed. Twilight was supposed to wait in stasis in Vault 86 south of Athens, but a group of Slavers found the Vault and are on their way to The Cog, with the rest of the residence."
"That shouldn't be a problem," I said, not impressed. It was a simple snatch and escort from a group of lucky bastards. Nothing I couldn't handle.
"Well," he said with a little bit of his mirth back. "Vault 86 held all of the youngest female Special Forces soldiers from the Great War and only female soldiers, technicians, and caretakers, in fact."
"So? Coming out of stasis isn't a pleasant experience and would make them weak and disabled once they woke up."
"They were awake one week before the slavers showed up," he added.
I sat back in deep thought and glass in hand. Disturbing thoughts loomed in my mind as scenario after scenario played before my eyes. Questions about how they lost to a weak group of slavers went unanswered. Something wasn't right. The Elite of the Great War losing to the Slavers? That shouldn't be possible. Knowing Vault-tec, any military based Vault had an armory filled to suit a small army with every kind of ordinance available.
'What is he hiding from me?'
After waiting another hour, figures appeared in the distance. I turned off my radio, tired of listening to this guy called Vault 101 and his exploits in the Capital Wasteland in D.C. Even though it was cool to learn where the caravans coming into Vegas got their fresh water, but after listening to some of the bullshit like the Mechanist and the Antagonist and how he stopped them both was just stupid.
'Like did he seriously pull that out from a crappy comic book? What a world.'
Adjusting my position for the hundredth time tonight, I look down my scope towards the figures walking in a line. At the front of the line leading the group was wielding a white AK-47 and wore full metal armor. Walking behind the leader was two others, one holding a chain and the other guiding a pack brahmin. The two behind the leader also wore metal armor, but instead of the machine guns, they had hunting rifles and watching the area like Rad Owls.
"Where are the slaves?" I hummed. Looking further down the line, I found four miserable, shivering people wearing the iconic bomb collars around their throats. The barely-clothed women trudged along behind the leader of the Slavers, but one, in particular, caught my eye.
Walking in the center of the group was a young girl barely younger than me with dark purple hair with a pink streak down the left side. Her face dirty, but adorably cute. Her frame was tiny, but the most striking feature was her eyes, her sullen yet beautiful violet eyes.
"So that's Twilight," I gawked. "Damn, if she had a little more meat on her bones, I'd fuck her harder than I fucked Red, but fantasizing would have to wait."
I watched the group for a few more minutes, the rain picking up and thunder starting to rumble in the sky. The group decided to take shelter in the post-office of Yoder with the two slaver's that trailed at the back of the group watching the entrance. Unlike the others packing threatening weapons, the two on watch were only carrying shotguns.
"Hmm, I need a closer look."
With a tighter grip on my rifle, I began to crawl through a sea of mud. The sudden movement felt like I was dragging a mound of sand along with me. It didn't help that my legs felt numb from laying in water for hours on end. The only reason I haven't died from hypothermia was thanks to my armor. Having built-in thermal heating units was worth every cap back in Utah. The trip across the mountains was far easier than I would have imagined, and if I didn't have the units. I would have turned into a popsicle like all the others that I found lining the frozen pass.
Now, crawling through a river of mud towards my targets for a better sniping position, my mind wandered back to a year prior. It was a night like tonight that I had to crawl to get into position with 1st Recon of the NCR. The conditions were similar, but the objective different. Then again, going to take out a group of Legion Slavers and Centurion was no picknick.
My .308 did its job mowing down all the grunts, but the armor of the Centurion was thicker than a Mother Deathclaws hide. The "Clack! Clack! Clack!" Of all our rifles eventually took him down, but at the end of the skirmish, we ran out of ammo; lost three of the twenty slaves, and 10 of Spades. The poor kid was unlucky enough to crawl over a landmine the Legion set up around their perimeter.
I remember his face as well... Pure shock as to what just happened, but no fear. It was so fast that his instincts couldn't kick in to register the event of the explosion nor the feeling of weightlessness of his body flying in pieces in all directions. It was a sad day in the Mojave,
"It even rained."
"So, that's it then? Just grab Twilight, head north-east through Windigo Pass, get across the Niagra and wait?" I asked once more, prodding for anything else as eloquently as possible for any hidden details about the mission. The Ghoul named Entropy replied by pouring himself another glass of Amber.
"Well, when you put it like that, it sounds too simple for just a snatch-and-grab now does it?"
I could only glare at him in response.
"Oh, fine then," Entropy scoffed with magical flippancy. He reached into his suit and pulled out a Holotape and slid it across the table and continued. "That will give you the password and location of a dead-drop I've left in Fort Wayne north of the target's location. Since I know Twilight will have nothing to keep you and her safe, you'll need the supplies held within."
"That's it?" I prodded further, taking the Holotape and uploaded the data to my Pip-boy 3000. Once done, I got up with a final gulp of my drink and set a waypoint for Yoder to intercept. Before I could leave, however, Entropy grabbed my coat, forcing me to turn to stare at two, seething, miscolored eyes held captive by the once docile Ghoul.
"If Twilight should die, which I will know, then you will also die, Got it?"
"C-Crystal."
"Good," he growled before letting go of my coat, and as I was leaving the booth to get some sleep before going to save Twilight, Entropy said one last thing that chilled my very soul. He said something that I have only told one person in my life. He said: "Don't underestimate those Slavers, Sliver. Especially Razor," He said one more thing, but I was too frightened and focused on how he knew my name.
For what felt like hours of crawling through mud, I reached one of the many destroyed buildings on the outskirts of the town proper. The building was a two-story stone house. The back had a dumpster blocking a hole which I quickly exposed with little effort.
The inside of the building was in ruins like all the others that I've explored before. Broken shelves lining the walls, a rotting wooden counter at the back where I entered. Even with my Pip-boy light turned off, I knew that I was in a store of some kind, but looting would have to wait.
Turning to my left from the hole in the wall was an open door leading to a set of stairs going up. From what I saw from my grave at the edge of town, this building was my best option at taking out the guards outside while giving me enough time to sneak through the back of the post office just down the street.
"Well, let's get down to business," I whispered to myself, reaching into my coat and pulled out my handgun. The silver barrel, even in the darkness, seemed to shine in my grip with intricate black etchings complementing it with a beautiful design, her name was Amnesia.
As quietly as I could, I walked up the stairs with my gun pointed ahead of me. The lightning outside provided me with enough light as each stepped cause the floor to whine like a banshee.
The top of the stairs was an apartment and a small one at that. There was only one room with a bed in the corner with the stove and fridge against the opposite wall to the shattered T.V. There was a closet where I assumed was the bathroom judging from the size and placement over the stairs. Two, large, broken window were the only things letting the light from the storm in as well as the rain.
Holstering Amnesia and replacing her with my .308, I walked over to the window on the left closest to the bed while adjusting the scope. "Alright Silver, you have five in the post office with the other five MIA. You have a Delta Stealth Boy MKIII and one for Twilight if she has a Pip-Boy, if not then give her the standard MKII instead," I rehearsed to myself as I took the position. "Time your shots with the Thunder to avoid detection, then plant the C4 traps at the doors to slow down the three inside during the escape."
With a quick pull of the bolt, I loaded the first bullet into the chamber and slowed my breathing. Through the scope, I had a better shot at the two guards outside of the post office. Lining the furthest of the two in my crosshairs, I adjusted my scope to compensate for the distance as well as the crosswinds bellowing through the town. Happy with the adjustments, I waited for my chance.
Thunder exploded outside in a harsh rhythm. The unnatural storm frightened Twilight to the core. The mare-turned-human silently cried in the corner where she was chained with the others to the wall. Twilight knew no comfort as her rusty shackles bit into her flesh like she was walking through a field of razor-sharp thorns, her own blood stained her fair yet muddy skin around her wrists and ankles.
To her right was Sarah: The first Human that she met in the new world. She was the Vaults Medic, as well as its explosives expert. The blond haired woman was kind to her during her first week on Earth. She helped her learn how to walk again when she lied that her body forgot during her sleep. It was not good to lie that Sarah didn't question it, but it left a pit in her stomach that she had to in the first place.
Sitting beside her was Scarlet, the Vaults technician, and mechanic. She was a quiet individual that Twilight quickly learned when she was assigned to work with her. She found it odd that she was the only person in the vault with blood red hair while everyone else was either black, brown, or blond. Then again, her purple hair was far from the norm and received a lot of attention from the other girls in the Vault.
It was thanks to Susan that Twilight learned how to use the Terminals in the Vault and how to maintain them. Even though she was quiet, Twilight found it rather surprising that with how little Scarlet spoke, she got the point across, but what irked her the most about Scarlet was when dealing with the...weapons of the Vault.
Scarlet showed a lot more enthusiasm when showing Twilight how to maintain the handguns, shotguns, miniguns and the like with so much life, it was like talking to a different person, and when Twilight saw the power the weapons held. She could only feel dread and wondered what purpose that the Death Makers could bring.
At first, Twilight thought that there were monsters so terrible outside the Vault that there was a need for them. Monsters as tall as houses, as scary as her worst nightmares, and as dangerous as Demons, but that was far from the truth.
It was Jackie, who sat glaring on the other side of Twilight that realized her worst fear about the weapons. As head of security, it was Jackie that told her what to expect outside the Vault once the cog door opened—Raiders, Mercenaries, Slavers—Other Humans that wanted to kill, rape, torture, and enslave other Humans for money. She couldn't believe such beings existed in a world where everyone needed to come together just to survive.
She was so angry at the accusation that Jackie placed her in confinement to cool down, and if it wasn't for her current situation. Twilight would still be causing more scenes, wanting proof of such horrible accusations.
"Everything will be alright, Twilight, you'll see. Once Sarah figures out these bomb collars, we can make a break for it. Just don't lose hope," Jackie whispered into Twilights ear, but she was still too shocked about everything around her to listen.
"What are 'ya plotting, lassies?" One of the Slavers asked in a thick, strange accent. Twilight's eyes narrowed as the man walked up to them with menacing hand cannon; silver with a black handle, and drum in its center. A revolver from what Scarlet had taught her, and a big one at that.
He pointed the gun at Jackie's head and cocked the hammer back with a twisted smile. His scarred face, filled with amusement like they were all his toys to play with sent chills down her spine. He wore the heaviest set of armor that their captors had. Thick metal plates on his shoulders, arms, chest, and legs protected his vitals from everything, even the bombs that Sarah used the defense of the Vault. Scarlet called it Power Armor, the T-45b variant. It was painted black with red skulls on the shoulder plates and chest, which matched the other four sets that the leaders of the Slavers had on.
"Nothing you sick prick," Jackie spat, the Slaver responded by punching with his metal fist in her gut before lifting her up by her hair.
"You're luck'eh that our employer wants 'ya "pretty" and "untainted." Otherwise, ya'll be choking on my cock right now," he spat back and dropped Jackie on the floor like a sack of flour. "Especially the redhead and purple over there."
Like a protective mother, Sarah wrapped her arms around Twilight and Scarlet as best she could in chains. The older woman of the group didn't dare speak against him in fear of retaliation. Scarface chuckled darkly and walked twirling his gun like a toy back to his friends who were sitting at a table, drinking and playing a game of cards.
"I don't want... I-I don't want," Twilight sobbed into Sarah's embrace. Never had she feared a Stallion so much before, not even Sombra would do something so evil as taking the innocence of a virgin mare. Not even for his dark magic. Even the thunder boomed louder outside when Scarface chuckled. To Twilight, he was Evil Incarnate.
"He won't hurt you, Twilight. God will send his angels to protect us," Sarah said reassuringly, but Twilight knew that believing in miracles was a fools hope.
My breathing was slow and steady, heart calm as a litter of sleeping pups. My enhanced vision made seeing in the darkness much easier, but only slightly. With steady hands, I slowly began to squeeze the trigger.
"Clack-SNAP!" went my rifle and lightning in tandem and one of the Slavers dropped dead with a bullet in his head. Without missing a beat to match the incoming thunder, I pulled the bolt in fast and fluid motion, loading another round and fired again.
"Clack-BOOM!" the other Slaver dropped before he could react to his fallen friend as thunder rumbled in the sky.
I held my breath, waiting for the others to be alerted to my presence, but when no red marks appeared in my compass in my HUD, I holstered my rifle across my back, pulled out Amnesia, bolted down the stairs, and turned on my Delta Stealth Boy.
Once outside, I charged through the alley and onto while keeping watch of my compass. Happy that no one was coming, I ran to the office with Amnesia aimed at any and all cover spots that the Slavers may have taken up. 'Alright Silver, the five MIA'S must be in the office with the rest and I missed them, or they arrived before I did. Don't do anything stupid, go in, grab Twilight, get out.'
Pressing my back against the wall of the post office, I walked under the light coming from the blockaded windows to the back, where I found the three others in metal armor watching the back entrance. Frowning at the inconvenience, I realized that the other five must be in the post office with the slaves, but what worried me the most about them was that they didn't appear on my compass until I found them.
'They must have fucking Enclave Motion Jammers. No wonder I couldn't find them without direct sight,' I thought, biting my lip, 'What else do they have?'
Putting the thought aside, I reached back into my coat and pulled out a silencer. With a quick twist of the black metal block onto the end of the barrel, I came out of cover from behind the corner wall and activated V.A.T.S. Time slowed to a crawl as I pulled the trigger in rapid succession.
Three bullets left the barrel, and three bullets found their mark in the heads of the armored Slavers. When time sped back up, the Slavers dropped like the other two with damp "thumps."
"What are you packing, huh?" I frowned, looking over the three dead bodies in armor. Without my usual care for the loot on their bodies, I found a little device that looked like a regular Stealth Boy, but it had a few extra doo-dads and an antenna on the side. "There they are, and they're portable. I fucking hate these things," I frowned before grabbing all three Jammers, placing them in my pouch to study later.
"HEY! MARK AND JACK ARE DEAD!" Shouted a deep male voice from the front, followed by stomping from the inside of the office. Heavy stomping that only Power Armor could make. I kicked myself for not moving the bodies somewhere else before walking to the back before jumping behind a dumpster and just on time too.
'Son of a bitch,' I groaned as the silhouette of an entire suit of T-45b Power Armor walked out of the back entrance and into the alley that I was hiding in. 'I shouldn't have left my Anti-Material rifle at Fort Wayne. What the fuck am I going to do?' I asked myself, but trying to figure out how to beat Power Armor wielded by a bunch of Slavers without my .50cal is proving to be a challenge, then I saw something in the corner of my vision. Something that would give me the edge that I would need.
'Fuck me this is going to suck.'
Twilight shrank as the Slavers jumped out of their seats and drew all their weapons once Scarface claimed that the ones outside were dead. She watched in horror as they put on their helmets, kicking the tables and chairs over, making barricades in front of the doors without one of them pointing their plasma weapons at the two entrance ways.
"Tom, Paul, and Felix are dead too. Whoever is out there, they stole their Motion Jammers," one of the armored Slavers said. He was the largest of the group, easily seven feet tall. He never took off his helmet and carried a giant laser minigun or Gatling Lazer as Scarlet called them, which got its ammo from the giant backpack that he wore.
"Damn it!" the female of the group hissed in a fit of rage. "Razor, do you think we're dealing with a rival group or vigilante?" Raven asked, clearly not happy.
It was Raven that directed the group of Slavers into the Vault and was the one that put the collars around their necks. Twilight feared her the most. Not because she was the leader of the group she calls, The Reapers, no. It was because Twilight was forced to watch her torture her first friend in the new world to death.
"A vigilante judging from the wounds of the three in the back. The holes are small but well placed," he replied unphased to the deaths of his fallen comrades.
"Is he alone?" Raven asked, slightly relieved, but the look of bloody murder never left her tattooed face. She leaned against the wall next to one of the barricaded windows, laser rifle at the ready.
"No, there'ahs a sniper in the town or on 'da ridge," Scarface said from the front. "So, watch 'da windows.'
"Hey, boss?" the fourth member of the group said in a deep baritone, holding the collar of a new individual. Raven looked at the new arrival, firstly with confusion, then with a happy realization, but Twilight didn't care about that sudden change of mood. What she did care was the mud covered human in armor that she never saw before.
The new arrival wore a huge, black, trench coat that covered a formfitting set of armor underneath. The left shoulder had a patch with a picture of two cards. From what Twilight could tell, one card had a silver bullet with an Ace of Spades in the corners while the other had a lustful, female, Grimreaper with the symbols for the Queen of Hearts. The right shoulder of the trench coat was reinforced by overlapping armored plates, making it look like an outstretched wing.
The stranger wore thick, armored, leather pants with a metal case attached to his left thigh. There were many pouches filled with things that Twilight could only imagine attached to the belt. The stranger had a Vault Pip-boy on his left wrist, but his helmet was something else.
Two glowing red eyes stared without emotion at the group and the Slavers. Its muzzle looked like it belonged on a gas mask, but the most striking feature was how it was all one solid piece and in the shape of a falcon's head.
'Who are you?' Twilight wondered, too afraid to even utter a single peep with how paranoid the other Slavers are.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Raven asked, walking up to the kneeling stranger. "You must be the sniper, so where is your friend, hmm? Got caught out of position, hmm?"
"Movement outside, boss," the fifth said from the window to Twilight's right. "They are using a dumpster as mobile cover and getting into a defensive position. And they have a Mr. Gutsy."
"Get the rockets ready," Raven answered before tapping the stranger's helmet with the tip of her plasma rifle. "Now then, tell your friends to back off Ranger. Or else your death will be slow and painful."
'Ranger? Like a military Ranger? Is he here to save us?' Twilight thought hopefully, unbeknownst to Sarah's efforts on disarming their bomb collars while the Slavers were distracted by the stranger.
"No can do," the stranger replied in a metallic, disembodied voice.
"Oh, why is that? I don't want to give them a head in a basket as a warning," Raven purred; the same purr that Twilight heard before she began cutting Jade open with her knife. Raven walked around the stranger tracing her metal finger along the curves of the helmet.
"Boss, they've taken shelter in the town hall, should we go to intercept?" the fifth inquired.
"Hmm, take Scar and Razor and kill them. I'll stay here with Brick, the Ranger, and the Slaves."
"Let's go party boys," fifth said, earning stiff nods from the other two before leaving the office from the back entrance. Once they were gone, Twilight saw that the glowing red eyes of the stranger's mask were off and that his armored hands were slowly moving towards one of his bigger pouches.
Realizing that the stranger was about to do something, Twilight look back towards Sarah and the others, only to find them gone with their collars off and on the ground. Raven noticed this as well and walked over to Twilight, very unhappy.
"Where did they go!?" she demanded, pointing her knife at Twilight. Twilight backed into the wall, her heart racing a mile a second. She didn't know where they went or why they left her. She was too focused on the stranger to take notice!
"I-I don't know! I swear! Please don't hurt me!" Twilight whimpered as she shrank herself as deep into the corner as she could.
"You fucking liar!" the leader of the group shouted like she lost her panties in the sewer. The leader was a redhead like, the bitch that left Twilight behind to her fate, but her hair was short and combed to one side with the other shaved and tattooed with a black bird holding a sword.
"No! Please! I'm not lying!" Twilight begged with each kick that the leader gave when she couldn't get a straight answer, while all I could do was watch and wait for the right moment to make my move, and it hurt to watch such an innocent girl get abused in such a way.
"Bullshit! You and your little band of friends have been plotting an escape ever since the rest of you bolted for The Pit! Where!" She kicked, breaking Twilight's nose. The muffled sounds of whimpering and more begging grew quieter with each hit.
"Are!" She kicked again, twisting Twilights wrist at an odd angle, but no scream left her trembling lips.
"They!" She kicked one last time, knocking Twilight out for the time being. I left out a breath that I didn't know I held and watched the leader walk away from the trembling form of the unconscious girl and back towards me.
"Did you see them go, Ranger?" the leader asked with a rather dark smile plastered on her face. "'Cause I damaged the package, which means fewer caps for us. So now I need something to relieve some stress, and you are going to be my guilty pleasure for the night. Funny how things work out that way, hmm?"
"Yeah, funny, hehe," I chuckled to myself as I gripped two pulse grenades with my free hands behind my back, and pulled the pins. The leader tilted her head slightly, her smile gone and rage coming back. Her friend walked over to the window towards the front of the office and grabbed a pair of bolt cutters.
'Thank God I forgot to set the C4. I hope the other three finds them comfortable. Time for phase two.'
"What are you laughing about, Ranger?" the leader growled. She kicked me onto my back before Brick handed her the bolt cutters. I looked to my right, then back to Brick just on time for him to slam his boot down on my chest, leaving me slightly winded from the impact. I laughed again.
"It's... It's just so, damn, funny!" my laugh grew in volume. The sounds of my traps going off only made me worse.
"What the FUCK is so funny, cunt!?" the leader screamed with a hard kick against my helmet. The impact of her boot made my ears ring, effectively ending my laughter. I turned my head back towards the two armored giants staring at me and showed them my hands.
"Fuck!" the leader shouted as she and Brick tried to run away, but it was two late. The two pulse grenades went off right over me, the azure glow filling the office like an expanding bubble, killing anything and everything electrical, but myPip-Boy for some strange reason. The two Slavers dropped dead, frozen in place as their armor locked up with their Fusion Cores as dead as the sea. I stood up, grabbed my rifle and walked over the leader.
"That's what's funny," I finally answered. The leader glared at me with pure hatred in her eyes as I grabbed her knife and brought it to her neck. Her lips curled into a mocking smirk at this.
"Are going to kill me, Ranger?" she mocked further, earning a raised brown from within my helmet. "You can't can you? Not without getting kicked out from your little group, which should be dead by now!"
"You're right on that part. I can't kill you," I replied pulling the knife back, causing her smirk to turn maniacal. "If I was a Ranger,"
Her eyes went wide at those final words, but before she could reply, I rammed the knife into her exposed throat. The knarled blade showed no resistance as it met the bone of the Slavers spine. It happened so fast for her; that she couldn't utter anything but a garbled mess as she drowned in her own blood.
With the life gone from her eyes, I grabbed Brick's plasma rifle and fired a few shots into his head, turning his helmet and the skull within to liquid. He didn't say anything other than a calm "Fuck you." From there, I moved to Twilight and disarmed the cheap bomb collar and unlocked her shackles.
"Come on, Twilight. Let's get you out of here," I sighed, wrapping the cute girl in my coat, and with little effort, I carried her out of the post office out the back and ran towards the warehouse where I left my things.
"Please... Don't... Hurt me," Twilight whimpered in her forced sleep. I slowed my pace a little, my black heart falling further into darkness. I shook my head and continued on.
"Welcome to the wasteland, Twilight. Where all things pure and innocent come to die."
Author's Note
Level Up!
Perks - Out of your Climate. Your acclimated endurance from the Desert Wasteland of the Mojave made you more resilient in the hot climate, however, while in the colder area's of the North-East; you receive a Penalty to---(Survival -25), (Endurance -2), (Agility -2) (Strength -2), and (Perception -2) at night, outdoors, and during the day during the Spring, Fall, and Winter. This can be countered with appropriate clothing! So dress warm!
- Entropy's Rage. Because of the job you picked up; if companion takes damage, regardless of where she is, you will receive the same amount of damage. but while she is in your company, you will receive an increase in (Perception +2), (Science +15%), and (Medicine +15%) Best keep her happy and healthy!
-Entropy's Amusement. Any and all strange or outrageous/hilarious things that happen to you and your companion during the job will cause random and/or helpful items to appear in lootable areas. Bonus to (Luck -?)
Chapter 2: The Black Maiden
Thunder rumbled in the distance, the sign of a bad omen. The Gods of old were pounding their drums to the beat of a nearby battle, while the angels cried from behind the dark clouds at the death of their wayward children. Claws, bright, blinding even, would stretch over the Wasteland in the blink of the eye. Sometimes, the fingertips of the claws would touch the ground and scorch the earth, leaving behind a scarred kiss on the dead surface of the forgotten world.
I haven't seen the sky so violent as it is now.
"Talk about a storm, eh? Makes a man wonder what the old gods are up too," coughed an older man. His name was Kayle, a little into his late forties. He stood an average five-foot-eight, with wrinkling tan skin. An old straw hat adorned his head with a feather from a Wyvern tied to the cap. He wore a very aged jacket, made from brahmin hide strained brown with a pair of denim jeans keeping his legs warm.
"Yeah, makes a man wonder. Think we'll get hit by it?" I asked, reaching to my canteen tied to my waist. Bringing it up to my parched lips, the taste lukewarm taste from the waters of life trickled down my throat.
"Might, might not, who's to say?" Kayle replied with a shrug. "The storm will pass long before we reach the old Fort to make our second camp. The ground might be a little damp, but 'tis won't be a problem. Why? You worried about something?"
I let out a sigh. "I don't know, but something about that storm rubs me the wrong way. Like we are marching to our deaths to the drums from the heavens."
Kayle patted my shoulder with a chuckle. "'Tis nothing boy. We'll be fine."
The sound of Kayle's footsteps trotting back to camp didn't resonate in my mind as well as the explosions in the sky. There was just something off about it that I couldn't place my mind too. For now, though, I could only wonder if there was someone walking through that darkness and hope that they were alright.
A man could only wonder...
Lights flickered to life, the soft hum of the illuminating bars radiated with lifeless warmth. To Twilight, the light signaled that it was time to start the day and her new job as a Vault-tec technician.
For most, waking up before 6 am to work was Tartarus on earth, but not for Twilight. She was ecstatic to begin learning how the many machines worked in the underground bunker! All the robots that patrol the halls, all the computers will endless amounts of information held within was a dream come true! She spent all of her time after her check-up with Doctor Sarah Rogers exploring the Vault and studying all the books recorded on the computers.
'How did they put the books on them in the first place?' she wondered with glee. The advancement of the Human civilization baffled her at ever turn. They had no magic, only science. Machines did all the work while they watched, and their hands! The ligaments were stronger than Griffin's claws and ten times more dexterous. Even if they were thin and slender, they could do so much!
Taking her thoughts away for a moment, she sat up, shirt loosely draped over her new anatomy. Her purple hair was a mess of fiber in a tangled mess. With a warm smile, she swung her slender legs over the side and placed them in cold water.
"Gah!" Twilight gasped, the sudden coldness of the wet floor jolting her awake. Throwing her legs under the covers to dry them off, she looked over the side to see what she stepped in, thinking that her water fell, but when the sight of dark, viscous crimson flowing around her—She gulped.
"S-Sarah?" Twilight quivered, hoping for a reply. She backed into the wall, the cold steel an unwelcomed feel to her back. Her eyes moved back and forth from the closed door and the window that opened up to the hall outside her room, thinking that she would need to make a run for help.
"T-This isn't funny—" She froze, eyes locked on the pool of blood an inch think over her floor. It was there, in the center of the room where the red and blue quilted rug should be, a lump began to form.
"Somepony? Anypony!" Twilight begged her back pressed firmly against the wall. She watched fearfully as the blood-lump formed into the rough shape of a body. First came the mangled shapes of human hands pulling the form from the ground. Next came its legs, it's six, fleshy, mutilated legs. Twilight wanted to scream, she wanted to run, but she was frozen in place as the monster crawled to the edge of her bed.
"Someone...Help..." she sobbed, heart racing faster than a speeding train, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. She could feel its hands crawl closer on the bed. She could feel the ice-cold breath wrapping around her like a blanket of ice. Time slowed to a crawl, then it happened.
"No! Please! Someone, help!" Twilight screamed, as its hands grabbed her shoulders and threw her onto her back. She thrashed, kicked, screamed until her throat burned, and her limbs were bruised, but the creature held her firm. It wrapped its body around Twilight, wanting to drown her with its bloody carcass. Weak from her failed last attempt for safety, Twilight thought she was done for, that was until she felt something warm, something that filled her with a sense of safety from the demon drowning her with its body.
She reached out, searching for the warmth with her only free limb as her face submerged into the thundering chest of the blood monster. In her desperate struggle, her hand grabbed hold of something, but it was too late.
With the last of her life leaving her body, she had no flashbacks of her life in Ponyvile. She didn't see her friends faces awaiting her at the light. Instead, endless darkness waited for her eternal embrace. Twilight wasted her final breath on a scream, instead of a dream. Her last tear she shed was out of fear and not of love. Her outstretched hand was going to be the last thing to be devoured by the monster when she was so close to safety.
Then, as her vision turned black, she was pulled free.
Slowly and painfully, Twilight opened her eyes. Her breathing was ragged, body covered in sweat. No longer was she being smothered by the blood monster, that horrific beast that has been plaguing her dreams for the past few days. Always there, waiting to drown her, but something happened. Something different happened at the end of the nightmare. She knew she felt it, the warmth of another reaching out to save her, but she can't remember why,
Lifting the hand that touched the stranger to her face, she could feel the lingering sensations of another hand. The soft, gentle, slender hand, like Mrs. Johnsons, the Archivist of Vault 86 before she... died. A part of her wants to think that it was the Goddess of Books, as she was called—Mostly because she was the most beautiful girl of the Vault, and that she loved books more than anything—Reaching out to save her.
'I bet Mrs. Johnson would look like my twin back in Equestria, but she is no longer with us. At least the Slavers killed her instantly so that she didn't have to suffer what they did to the others,' she choked, tears threatening to return.
'No pony deserves what...what they did to the survivors.'
Twilight's blurry eyes closed shut, the hand she was staring at draped lazily over them like a protective blanket. She wanted to forget everything that happened, how the Slavers raped and tortured those who were unfit for enslavement before killing them in the slowest possible way, but no matter how hard she tried to forget. They were there, the faces warped in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Writhing bodies screaming bloody murder as the Slavers force themselves onto whoever they wanted all the while she watched with the "lucky" ones that were "off-limits" from the Slavers.
She was sure that some were allowed to stay alive after the Slavers took over. They wouldn't have wasted their toys when they were making the Vault into their new base. Those that were unlucky enough to be spared for the Slavers sick enjoyment, she will save. It was only a matter of time before Sarah free them from the bomb collars and run to safety. Then once she and the others have a plan and preparation, they will free those that were left behind.
'I promise that we'll come back for all of you once we are free, it's why I'm here...To help.' Taking a moment to collect her emotions, Twilight realized that something was off.
Her body was warm and comfortable albeit a little swampy from walking in the rain. The only sound was soft drip-dropping of water somewhere close by. It wasn't annoying just odd, then again, she figured that it was just leftover rainwater leaking into the ceiling. Another thing that was off to her was the familiar scent of gunpowder, paper, and whiskey, and it was close. Really close.
Before she could investigate further, her bed moved and a slender arm wrapped around her waist followed by a disgruntled "Go back to bed, sexy. It's too early."
Twilight's body froze in place, fear and fear alone stopped her from screaming or doing anything rash that would earn her a beating. Thoughts ran at the speed of light, trying to figure out who was sharing a bed with her and what happened to her while she was asleep.
'Was...Was I taken advantage of?' she silently sobbed, but when she carefully checked her groin, she found that it was still untouched, relatively speaking and that the room she was in was pitch black.
'Who is in my bed and where are the others?!' Twilight gasped, fearing that she was sold by the Slavers to some sick, perverted person that wanted her "pure."
'No no no, this can't be happening. This can't be happening. Sarah, Susan, Scarlet, I'm so sorry.'
"Hey, hey, don't cry, I'm not going to hurt you," spoke the person holding her in a strangely regal yet tomboyish feminine voice. "I know this may seem bad, but I did this to keep you from getting hypothermia. We were in the rain for a long time."
'What? That's not right?' Twilight thought in shock, her mind pausing in disbelief. Even as she felt the woman holding her sit up, Twilight couldn't believe what was happening. To her, it was a trick, a lie. She knew that her friends were gone and she was sold while she was asleep. How else did she get where she was? The woman beside her was just another monster and she had to escape and find her friends!
"Sorry about the lights, you can never be too careful," the strange woman said as she fumbled in the darkness, but Twilight didn't listen. Instead, she backed against the wall, waiting for the lights to come on so that she could find a weapon and save herself, but when the lights came on with a dull "Thunk!" All she could do was stare.
There, standing in front of a rust-covered door beside a round box embedded in the wall with two glowing, buttons, was the woman holding her captive. Her long jet-black hair drank all the light in the room. Her silver eyes looked as sharp as a razor's edge. Her face was young, playful, and vaguely like Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna if they were both Human.
She had the same body as Scarlet; a stunning hourglass built for war, but unlike Scarlet, she sported a D-cupped bust—From what she could remember from Susan's lessons anyways. The woman easily stood a head taller than her, but what stopped her from doing anything was the fact that she knew her breast size.
She was naked.
Blood quickly rushed to Twilight's cheeks as she struggled to peel her eyes away from her captor, but the way she rested her hips out only emphasized her curves more. The curse that the plank of a girl Twilight didn't have.
"Like what you see? Cause this might be the only chance you get, so soak it all in," the woman, no, the Black Maiden chuckled.
"Umm, can you p-put s-something on?" Twilight meekly spluttered, her hands frozen in fear for the need of a weapon, and embarrassment of the nude lady.
Rolling her eyes, the woman walked over to the bed, swaying her hips as she did so. Twilight squeaked in response and tried to back away from her. The woman placed her delicate hand on the end of the worn metal bedframe next to Twilight's feet, leaning over as she did so, and winked.
"My name is Raven. What's your name?"
Mind completely absent from the stress over the recent days, Twilight uttered only one word before exhaustion finally caught up, and pull her back to sleep.
"T-Twilight."
Author's Note
Level Up!
