I was only ten minutes out of the stable, and I was already getting shot at. How the hell was this fair? I had simply walked into a town, which my pipbuck had somehow new the name was “friendly neighborhood”, which sounded innocent. Turned out the pipbuck was luring me into a trap, and now I was running from ponies screaming things from how they would kill me to how they would use me after I was dead. One ew, and two half of what they said was anatomically incorrect.

The threats were as misleading as the name of the town was though, do to their aim. The closest shot on me they had gotten was a grazing shot on my flank, which had hurt but I managed to keep from screaming. Although I will admit I wanted to yowl like a cat. My eyes latched onto the boulder I saw rapidly approaching ahead, and my mind came up with a plan as quickly as I neared the boulder. I ran past, then doubled back to hide behind the giant boulder.

I continued to hear the pounding of their hoofs, at least three of them, as they approached the boulder. I pulled out my shotgun, putting the handle into my mouth the same I did with the magnum, and watched as the red dots on my EFS continued to rapidly approached. I took aim, and waited for the moment they went running past.

Within seconds all three came charging past me, and I lined up my shotgun with their retreating backs. Then hesitated. These were still ponies, maybe even ones who could be saved. Should I really just shoot them because of a possible misunderstanding? Suddenly one of them turned his head and saw me, stopping in his tracks. He called something out to the other two, before aiming a pistol at me. The other two also spun around, supporting weapons of their own, and also took aim. “.. Shit, uhm guys is this just a misunderstanding?” I called out, hoping the answer was a nodd, but instead all I saw was them laugh.

They were laughing, not a pleasant happy kind of laugh, but the laugh of a mad pony. These weren’t even ponies anymore. They were animals with the instinct to kill, maim, and rape. My mouth turned into a grim line, or as grim a line as I could manage past the shotgun in my mouth, before I used my tongue to pull the trigger, aiming for the pony in the middle. This was not cold blood. This was a mercy killing for an animal infected with rabies. I pulled the trigger, and watched as the necks and faces of each of the… I’ll call them raiders for now, became peppered with buckshot and blood, as they all fell to the ground slumped together.

“OOOOOOWW!” I yelled, rubbing my mouth with a hoof. Damnit I hadn’t expected the knockback to be that bad. I was lucky I didn’t break a tooth! Okay, adjustments were going to have to be made for the shotgun. I quickly pumped the shotgun to rid of the current shot, and walked over to the three corpses. The one who had originally turned had a magnum, while the other two both had break action shotguns. Looking at their gear it was obvious they had indead been ready for close range, and if I had hesitated a second longer I would be even worse off than these three.

Annoyingly both of the shotguns were in bad repair, and so was the magnum. Luckily I didn’t really need any of these weapons, do to the fact I already had a better version of all of them. I drew out my gun bench, and got to work. It wasn’t hard, for the shotguns all I need was some of the metal on them and some of the gears, and as for the magnum I only needed the chamber. As soon as I was finished the glow went away form my hoofs, and the bench became portable again, easily slipping into my saddlebags.

If the rest of that town was raiders, then that must mean the whole fake name thing was planned. That or they decided to go to the place called “Friendly neighborhood” because it would give ponies the wrong idea, like it had me. Whatever the case, I suspected it would be an extremely bad idea to not clear out the town, or at least try to talk to them. I looked back at the bloody heap of corpses, and shuddered. It had to be done I knew, but that didn’t make it any less wrong or gross.

I quickly reloaded the shotgun with another shell, and looked approvingly at the new bar-trigger. Now that I had an easy access point, I could pull the trigger with just my hooves. I could be smart at times, and I hoped I was smart enough to choose a course of action to deal with friendly neighborhood. I hoped to be able to deal with them peacefully, but my heart knew the most probable outcome. My heart stung, knowing what would soon probably happen, as I began to head back to the gates, shotgun in hoof.

I stood infront of the gate, staring defiantly up at the two seemingly insane guard ponies, and yelled “Drop your guns, and nopony gets hurt,”

“Awww, but hurting ponies is fun~” one of the guards singsonged, and I saw just how truly insane these ponies are. Seriously, hurting ponies being fun? They were the wannabe poachers of ponies, so I was going to have to hunt the hunters. “Last chance,” I growled out from between clenched teeth, to see them both grab pistols with their mouthes and take aim. Suddenly getting an idea, I dropped the shotgun and turned around, my rump now too them and wiggled it, cooing “You would want to hurt this little beauty, would you~?”

From the corner of my eye I saw both of them hesitate, and to hammer it in I teased the lip of my vault suit, smiling a smile that would have made Riptide jump onto the bed like his life depended on it. It seemed to have similar effects on the guards, as they jumped off the wall, which was about 5 feet tall, and both came sailing down towards me, lust showing in their eyes. What they didn’t expect however was for my back hoofs to meet them halfway, cracking their skulls with their own momentum and my strength.

I snickered, making sure my vault suit was tight around my body before saying “bucks are so stupid, and these idiots were so primal they take stupid too a whole new level,” before taking a look at the wall. Picking up my shotgun, I aimed it at the locked gate in the middle of the wall and tried out the new bar-trigger, pulling it back with my hoof. The knockback wasn’t as painful now, although it did send me to the dirt because I hadn’t expected it. I heard the shot impact against the gate and lock, and a second later the sound of the lock hitting the ground. If I needed any more proof that they were stupid, here it was.

Before going inside though, I checked the bodies of the two dead bucks, seeing if they had anything useful. The pistols they took weren’t magnums, infact I couldn’t tell what pistol it was off the top of my head but I took one and the ammo from the other. I was sick of taking bullets as well, and took of the pieces of ropped together scrap metal that counted as their armor. It wasn’t anywhere near good, but it was going to have to do. I could probably use the bench to add something to it later.

My EFS showed around 15 hostiles inside the gated off town, and I took a deep breath, preparing myself for tartarus itself. I could do this, I just had to kill all the hostiles. All the ponies… no, all the raiders inside. My eyes flashed back to my EFS as I noticed a single green light. A single non-hostile in the whole place.

My mind swam with possibilities of who could be in this sick place that wasn’t a raider. Was it maybe a hostage? Someone forced to join them? Whoever it was I had to help, if I didn’t what kind of pony would I be? Now more determined than ever, I bucked open the gate and put my magnum into my mouth, ready for a fight.

Five ponies now stood in front of me, each with some version of a shotgun pointed right at my breast. My frown changed into a grim line as I looked at each of the five ponies, before aiming both my pistol and shotgun. Celestia bless me with sudden accuracy! I watched as they all began to pull the triggers of their weapons, time seeming to slow. It seemed to slow because it had, and now I was ready to use SATS.

What felt like a second later three out of five of the ponies heads suddenly exploded, and three lights flicked out on my EFS. The two remaining ponies pulled the triggers of their shotguns, and I watched as the bullets came for me. The spread would cover my whole body if I stood still, so obviously I didn’t. Diving to the left, I attempted to get out of the way of the massive spray.

I managed to get most of my body out of the way, except for the very end of my back hooves. I let out a scream of pain as I felt the bullets rip the fur and flesh off the bottom of my hooves. Why did bullet wounds hurt so much!? I landed on the ground with a thump, the breath being knocked out of me as well. I heard the two raider’s shotguns reload, and I could almost feel the barrels pointed at me.

Taking a deepbreath, I rolled onto my side, grabbing the shotgun during the roll and pulled the trigger of it. Nothing came out. I watched in horror as the two raiders smiled, a devilish, evil smile, and pulled the triggers of their weapons. Both of their weapons dry fired as I reloaded, smiling a bit. So many ponies seemed to be forgetting ammo capacity lately.

I gave my own little sly smile, and thanked celestia for all the favors lately before pulling the trigger of my own gun, turning the two other raiders to red pulp. Of course this was the time that something had to go wrong and bring me down a couple pegs. Of course. Another five raiders came out, most of them carrying melee this time, but one having a machine gun… saddle? How the heck did he put a gun into a saddle!?

The machine gun blared to life, but to add another tier to luck he was an awful shot. He managed to shoot everywhere except me, riddling the wall that had been behind me as I dove for cover behind a house. I heard his gun continue to fire, and the rapid cracks as the bullets got logged into the house I was hiding behind. I quickly pumped the shotgun reloading it, pulling my magnum out as well.

I watched as two of the ponies with melee weapons came around the sides of the building, obviously trying to sneak up on me. Sadly for them I had been expecting such a strategy, and soon they were both wounded with bullet wounds in their sides, howling in pain. I looked down at the two of them sadly, before quickly finishing off each of them with a shot to the brain. No pony deserved to suffer, even the worst pony in the world.

I heard the gunshots stop for a second and the wall of the other side of the house fall with a crash, surprising me. He had spent a whole… ammo holder just to bring down the house to try and get to me. I quickly sprung out while he was louding, activating SATS mid leap and taking him down, finishing with a roll. I climbed back up onto my feet triumphantly, almost wanting to gloat to somepony about what I had just did. Sadly the only pony there was the raider who hit the back of my head with a baseball bat, knocking me unconscious on the floor.

I groaned to a painful awakening, my head throbbing as if someone had put a miniature sun into my skull. I looked around, my pained head trying to remember what had just happened. Suddenly I remembered what had happened, and I jumped to my hooves, groaning again as my felt did a painful jolt. Wait a minute, what was that sticky stuff? Why was I naked?

I groaned for an entirely different reason than pain, and made myself promise to burn off my fur and regrow a new coat when this was done. Sick bastards, this did not improve my thoughts about them. Looking around, I saw my torn up vault suit in the corner, and slid it on, grimacing as the slimy stuff covering my body was forced against my fur by the tight suit, before also sliding on my armor.

Although I wasn’t surprised, I wanted to scream at the fact they had taken my weapons. I knew they wouldn’t be able to use my custom magnum against me very well, but still that didn’t make me any happier. It was still gone, and I had no weapons to get back my weapon. I knew for a fact I wasn’t skilled enough to use my hoofs too kill anything besides radroaches.

My eyes locked onto something in the corner, something… shiny? Slowly trotting over to it, trying to stay quiet as well as not make my head spin, I got closer to the thing in the corner. It seemed to be… a bracelet, two in fact, each with three gems placed on them. At slightly closer inspection the gems were amethyst and sapphires, each sparkling like a tiny fire was lit inside.

I would probably treat them better, so I might as well grab them right? I slipped both of them on, being careful not to damage the gems or thing holding them together, some kind of elastic fiber, and marveled at the look. I blinked in surprise as the gems began to glow softly, and I felt a small electric current travel up my leg. I felt a tugging, not on my physical body… but a tugging that felt like it was touching my soul, taking a small piece of it. Okay what the hell were these things?

As soon as it started the glowing stopped, and instead I watched in awe as a a few music notes formed along the elastic part of the bracelets, and a shimmering built up around my hoofs. Raising my front hoofs to my face, I heard a soft hum emanating from them, as if they were letting off sound. As my awe grew, it almost sounded like the hum grew a more cheery note to it, as if it were corresponding to my feelings. It probably was, considering that weird sensation I had felt.

Of course this is about when the perverted raiders came walking in, obviously expecting to see me on the floor, only to become wide eyed as they saw me, sitting down and now glaring at them with the intensity of 1,000 suns. They even had their.. Well, their things out. Instinctively I reached a hoof towards them, and as my anger built up the hum become more of a growl of sound, aimed right for them. “Those are for being hidden under clothing, not for giving mares a white shower,” I singsonged evilly, and suddenly a blast of sound came out of my hoof, much to my surprise.

The head of the pony I had been aiming at seemed to explode from the high amount of sound, and his friend tried to retreat to a baseball bat on the other side of the room. Oh, so this was the one who knocked me out and got me into this quite literal mess. I pointed my other hoof at him, and like before a blast of sound came off it, hitting him square in the chest and sending him against the ground.

I grabbed the baseball bat and, mumbling around the handle now firmly planted in my mouth, said “You want this so bad? Then have it,” before bring the baseball bat down on his head in a powerful swing. As my head seemed to split open from the sudden movement, his head actually did so. Okay, if I was right then that leaved another four raiders plus the non hostile to deal with.

Checking my EFS while downing a healing potion, sighing with relief as any of the bullet wounds I had taken healed up, although my head still hurt like a party was going on inside it. It seemed there were only five hostiles left, all protecting the one non hostile in the middle. I looked down at the faintly humming bracelets, wondering what they could do, before trying to make it act like a whip. Shimmering sound came out of the middle of my hoof, and just like a whip made a crackling sound in the air, which would probably do the same effect as a whip would I guessed.

Of course though this sound alerted the other five to my presence, and they began to spring towards my room. Crap, screw my curiosity. Rapidly looking around the mostly barren room, I tried to find something I could use to spring a trap. Although these bracelets were powerful, five raiders might be too much for them. Unless… ideeaaaaa~

As the raiders stepped through the door guns ready, the little banshee sound mines I placed went off, each letting out a deafening screech. Surprisingly the sound didn’t affect me, and while the raiders were clutching bleeding eardrums, I did the same whip thing I had before right in the middle of the group, the sudden addition of sound overloading their brains and killing them. This just felt way too easy.

I did a small happy dance as I found my magnum among the ponies who had tried charging, as well as my shotgun. I wasn’t surprised to see that he had refilled the chamber, which by now just meant more bullets for me. I was surprised this town had been so successful with their looting, but considering the trap I had fallen into I could see how. Also I hated these damn raiders, the suggestive thing I had done to the guards was a trap, not an invitation for them to do something like that later.

After a quick looting for ammo, I headed for the non hostile, still in the same position. As I headed down the hallway leading to the non hostile, my eyes wandered to the walls and floor, all painted a faint combination of pink and yellow. The two most non-threatening colors there was. Atleast non threatening without all the fricking graffiti. Why were raiders like this, it was just weird. What could possibly make a pony so insane it drove them to do all this?

As I went into the room with the non hostile, my eyes widened in shock at the sight before me. A bubblegum colored mare was on her knees, her hoofs taped too legs and a gag firmly planted in her mouth. Her eyes also had a black blindfold covering her eyes, but even that didn’t hide the tear makes streaked down her face. As I saw the white stains covering her body, I wanted to kill every single raider that was in this place all the fuck over again.

I rushed to her side, my footsteps obviously alerting her as she began to scream around her mouth gag, and I felt my heart shatter. She thought I was here to do the same that those disgusting raiders had. I undid the gag, and she immediately stopped, clenching her mouth shut. My heart broke a bit more, before I gently undid the blindfold, letting her see who I was.

Her eyes blinked wide as she stared at me, and I could already see fresh tears springing up at the edges of her beautiful green eyes, and I smiled. “Its okay, they are all gone,” I murmured into her ear, undoing the tap binding her hoofs. What I hadn’t expected though was the sudden hug she gave me. It was a tight, wet hug, and I hugged back, smiling a bit as I heard her cry softly into my shoulder. Except it wasn’t sad tears she was crying, but happy ones. Ones I could tell were full of hope. And I intended to make her hope become a reality.

“What’s your name?” I gently whispered, and within seconds she said “R-rosey Springs,”

“Pretty name,” I responded, and I heard her chuckle softly. I had the feeling we were going to get along, and I knew for a fact, not just a hope, but as a fact that I would get her out of this nightmare safe and sound. No matter what it took out of me.

Level up, new perk added, black widow: you have a 20% higher chance to convince men in dialogue, and also do an additional 20% dmg to all male entities

Author's Note

Looks like a certain someone is starting to build up a hate of raiders. How will this turn out? we will find out on the next chapter!