Chapter 3 - Arrival

The ride was uneventful. A few raiders decided to shoot the big metal flying thing, but the armor plating was enough to shrug off the few shots that connected. We were moving as fast as the vertibuck could move. Our mission was to protect and assist Follower operations and establish NCR presence in the Commonwealth; we couldn't do that if we weren't in the Commonwealth. Alicorns didn't need protection, yet we were sent here for that reason anyway.

To get my mind of my family, I thought about my mission and orders. They seemed strange now that I analyzed them. The NCR didn't need to expand; they NCR practically owned the wasteland. Their territory was vast, as was their allies. President Grimfeathers had known the leader of the Followers, Velvet Remedy, from before the creation of the NCR; and we have some troopers who guard and many NCR ponies seek Followers out if they need aid. We even sent a few ambassadors to the larger groups in Hoofington. We had plenty of allies and supplies, so why did we need to go all the way out here; and why not scout the area before sending in the troops?

The plan was less logical and more ideal. "Go and establish NCR presence." What if we weren't needed or wanted? I could understand the Followers heading out that way just to offer their medical care, but sending rangers to establish a presence? Rangers were the best the NCR military had to offer; why send elite troops for hearts and minds? Troopers and ambassadors would be more useful for a mission like this. Something out there made the NCR want to send rangers. I was almost afraid to find out what it is.

"Hey, boss! I can see the Commonwealth now," Brush called from the cockpit. Echagi frowned at the nickname Brush insisted on calling her but got up to look out the cockpit windshield. We were flying above a forest, following old and rusted electrical towers. The trees were thin and leafless; looked like warped, mutated arms reaching up to drag our vertibuck out of the sky. I'd imagine that the mountains that dotted the landscape made travel in and out of the Commonwealth difficult; not to mention the hungry creatures living in those woods that want to eat the travelers that try. The storm had darkened the sky to the point of being mistaken as night.

The vertibuck shuddered in flight and made us all in the back stumble followed by a flash of lightning and a deafening boom of thunder. Brush called back with an uneasy chuckle, "Sorry, guys. Storm blowing in. Looks nasty. We should set her down somewhere; better safe than sorry." That was a good idea. The ride had gotten drastically rougher, and the storm only just started.

"There's a field just a the edge of the forest. Land there," Echagi commanded, pointing to the spot indicated. It wouldn't be far at all with the vertibuck, but the storm was getting worse by the second. Lightning struck a tree just outside the window I was looking out of, briefly blinding me. I clenched my eyes shut and turned away from the window.

I shouted to Brush over the sound of the storm, "I think we should try to go lower. That lightning is getting way too close for comf-" lightning struck again, this time hitting the left propeller. We were thrown from our positions by the impact. The vertibuck was spiraling out of control. Brush Fire was doing what she could, but it wasn't enough. Scope had slammed into the door during the spiral and burst it open. Echagi jumped toward him and grabbed at his hoof before he was sucked outside; but she couldn't hold onto him and keep her footing at the same time. I saw them fall out of the vertibuck and preyed they'd be alright. Auto grabbed a parachute from the cockpit and jumped out of the open door; either to look for Echagi and Scope or to save his own skin, I wasn't sure.

"Brush, go! Get out of here," I yelled, stumbling closer to the cockpit. She could get out of this mess.

"What?! Are you crazy? There's no way I'm leaving you in this death trap," she yelled back, still trying to keep the vertibuck under control. The lightning had shorted out everything up here, there was no use. I began to unhook her from the pilot seat. "What are you doing," she struggled in my grasp and I wrapped my hooves around her midsection and lifted her up.

"You can fly, but I'm too much for you to carry. Find me after this thing crashes," I managed to get her in front the open door, "From there, we look for the others and continue with the mis- agh!' The vertibuck' struck something and sent me flying into the opposite side, dropping Brush out the door in the process. I hit the wall head first. My helmet saved me from most damage, but the impact was still jarring; my vision blurred and my ears rang. I thought I could hear Brush screaming, but I couldn't be sure. Everything began to fade to black.

I don't know how much time had passed before I regained consciousness. It was still raining, so it mustn't have been long. I was laying in a small shed propped up against a shelf. My head was still throbbing and everything else hurt. To my left was a tall, rusted machine. I guess Brush moved me here after the vertibuck went down. Where was she now? My guns were laying on the table. Trying to lift them with my magic caused my vision to blur and my splitting headache to worsen. So, no magic. Trying to stand up sent pain up my right hind leg. looking back at it revealed it to be bent at on odd angle.

Great. Concussion, magical burnout, and broken leg. What else could go wrong? I limped to the door and pushed it open. It was still raining but wasn't coming down as hard as before; no lightning either. Opening the door to the shack allowed me to see that I was still in the forest. I could see the electrical towers through the trees. The vertibuck's tail rotor was still stuck at the top. That must have been what knocked me out.

The vertibuck crashed not far from the tower. It looked like there were ponies picking around the wreckage. I could see the spikes and scrap metal used to make their armor. Raiders. I was in no shape to fight, even these few. It would be best to try and get away from here. These raiders had to have been close if they were already at the crash site. It looked like they were just starting to look around, so If I moved quick they wouldn't know I was here at all.

I limped my way around the shack and began following the electrical towers. I caught sight of what looked like lights in the distance before the vertibuck went down. Raiders usually aren't smart enough to understand how lights work, so I'll try there first. I hope there are good ponies living there. There was a small blue tent in front of me and a camp fire farther away under another electrical tower. Judging from the burned meat next to the fire, this was where the raiders came from. Not good. The veritbuck was trashed and their camp wasn't vary far away, not good.

Raiders aren't smart enough to see hoofprints, but the muddy ground and my hobbling trot made my hoof step far more obvious. Getting close to the camp would be literally leaving a trail for them to follow. I changed my direction and went wide to the right; it was rockier and tougher to traverse, but it was safer. I had to stop to wipe the water from the lenses of my mask, it was getting hard to see. Voices behind me made me stop. I could only partially see but the raiders were coming back. Sight or not, it was time to move fast.

I crouched low and moved as fast as I could. The sky was still dark because of the storm and it gave me a natural camouflage as I snaked my way through the trees. The rain on my visor slowly got worse until I could barley see. I didn't risk stopping to clear it; I could end up getting caught by the raiders if I did. I cold make out vague shapes, and used those to follow the electrical towers. I couldn't see the ground under me end before it was too late.

I tucked my legs in to avoid further damage to them as I fell. Unfortunately, my head took the impact... again. I already had trouble focusing because of the knock I took in the vertibuck; now my vision blurred beyond functional. If I didn't have a concussion before, I definitely did now. My ears rang, the rest of my body throbbed from the landing, and my breath was knocked out of me. I coughed and hacked as I attempted to catch my breath. I landed on my back and stared into the sky.

A pony's head filled my eyes, but I couldn't make out any details. I expected the pony to be a raider and shoot me, but they were looking me over instead. My vision focused enough to see him wave at something behind him before I blacked out again.

I opened my eyes slowly as if coming out of a deep sleep. I was laying on a mattress on the floor of a narrow hallway in a crudely built wooden shack; a small blanket covering me. I was really getting sick of the throbbing in my head. I looked around slowly so I didn't make my migraine any worse than it already was. Not that my efforts helped; somepony had banged against the shack I was laying in. Bandages were wrapped around my head and hind leg.

I pulled the blanked over my head and rolled over in a attempt to block out the offending noise and attempted to remember how I got here. My eyes shot open as I recognized the noise. It was a gunshot. Somepony had shot a gun, seemingly right next to me. There was a mare crying and screaming, overshadowed by cruel laughter and shouting. I jumped out of the bed and fell on my face.

Peering out of a gap in the shack's wall, I saw seven raiders were spread out around a farm. A young mare was laying dead and bleeding from a hole in her head. An older mare with a dirty blond mane wearing a green jumpsuit was being held back by a stallion in a flank-length pale trenchcoat; I assumed these were the owners of the farm. The raiders had their guns pointed at the helpless ponies. They look like they were made their guns out of spare parts and wood.

One of the raiders, the leader I guessed, stepped over to the corpse and knelt down, "Ya' see this? This is what happens when you fuckin' try to stand up us! Now your fuckin' bitch daughter has a hole in her head," he lifted the dead mare's head, turned it so it looked at her parents, and pointed to the bullet hole.

"Now, I'm a reasonable guy, so I won't send you to join her. We need somepony to tend to our crops after all. Me and my boys are gonna leave, give you fuckwits some time to prepare tribute, and maybe; this is a big maybe here, maybe I won't kill the rest o' ya'. Sound good? I thought so," he grabbed a small silver necklace around the dead mare's neck in his teeth and yanked it off her neck. "Lesh go," he mumbled around it, turning around and trotting off; his lackeys following him. They were laughing and snarling at the farmers and each other.

A young mare came running from my left and out the door to her family. The mother was holding her dead daughter, crying into her breast. I stood in the doorway, not knowing what else to do. The farmer stallion turned to look at me, tears streaming down his face. I gave him a look of sympathy, turned around, and walked back to the bed I woke up in. They needed time to grieve.

I needed time to recover and plan before I went after those raiders.

Author's Note

Hell of a welcoming party, huh? Thanks to Crazyperson for letting me create this spin off and to Kkat for Fallout Equestria as a whole. Now that we're in the Commonwealth, I'll do my best to keep Fast's stories and Ranger's separate. If you have any tips to give me, feel free to give them.