Chapter 4 - Getting to work

Upon my return to the bed I woke up in, I found my armor and guns set neatly on boxes in between the bed and wall. Inspection showed nothing was tampered wit or taken. These ponies removed my gear to check me for other wounds, yet didn't use any of the heeling potions I had in the pocked of my duster. They had used everything they had to help me without using any of my supplies.

I checked my leg using basic first aid. It wasn't broken, only sprained and slightly swollen. My head on the other hoof was an entirely different matter. It took way too many hard hits in too short a time. My vision would still blur witch would cause my ears to ring every once in a while. Thankfully, these issues would be fixed with a healing potion.

Attempting to grab a potion from my coat with my magic caused a sharp pain in my horn. Magic was still a no-go. Hopefully the potion would help fix that. Using my hooves to pop the cork off the top, I grabbed the top of the bottle in my mouth and chugged the potion. I felt my nerves tingle as the potion worked. The throbbing in my head subsided and I watched the swelling in my leg go down.

I stood up, without getting dizzy, and put weight on my hind leg. It only gave a slight twinge of pain, but didn't give out. I would have a slight limp for a while at worst. It would be gone by the time the raiders come back. Perfect.

My magic was a different matter; it gave a sizzle and pop before giving out as I tried to lift my body armor. I really didn't need it, but It was a perfect to test my magic. I was disappointed at the result, but I didn't need magic to take out the raiders. It took more groveling and begging than I care to admit, but I eventually got Echagi to teach me how to fight and shoot while standing on my hind legs. The combat stance wasn't one seen often and I could use that to my advantage.

I trotted out of my temporary room and took a moment to look around the house the farmers built. It was entirely built out of wood using the electrical tower as a foundation. A walkway lead to an upper floor to my left, and toward my right was the front door. In the center of the room was a small dining table where the farmer and her other daughter sat, they were holding each other, crying. I placed my hoof on the mother's shoulder and she looked up to me. Her eyes were red and puffy. I knew how she felt.

"You have my condolences, ma'am. I wanted to thank you for helping me," I told her in the softest voice I could manage. She stared at me a long time before slapping my hoof away. Her sorrowful look was replaced with one of anger. I took a step back from her as she stood up.

"I don't want your pity," she shouted, "I don't want your thanks or 'condolences'! I want my daughter back!" She took a step toward me with every shout. I stood my ground and stared into her eyes. Dust told me a longtime ago that the eyes are the gateway to the soul. Her eyes gave everything away; mine revealed nothing.

I sighed and said, "I know." I walked around her and out the door. I stood on the porch for a few seconds looking at the puddle of blood the dead mare left behind. The raiders would come back; there was no doubt about that. I needed to know when. The farmer mare couldn't help me until she calmed down. The stallion on the other hoof would be all too eager. He had the look of somepony who wanted revenge, but knew he couldn't do it himself. All I had to do was offer.

I found him behind the house a few feet away. He was digging a hole to bury his daughter. No pony should go through this alone. Lucky for me, there was another shovel resting against the house. My magic was weak and made my head hurt, but I was determined to help. I owed these ponies. He turned to me at my approach and I nodded in a greeting. We said nothing as we dug.

It was about midday by the time we finished. My magic had gotten gradually stronger as we went along. I wiped the sweat off my brow and jumped out of the hole. It was hardly a pot hole when we started, now it was a proper grave. I turned and stuck my hoof out to help the farmer out of the hole. He took it and fixd me with an odd look.

"Not that I'm not thankful for your help, stranger, but why are you? Looks to me like your injuries have healed, so why stick around? You could just leave," he said. I stuck m shovel i the ground and turned to look at him.

"I'd be worried if you didn't ask, sir. You found me half dead, dragged me back to your home and tried to patch me up. All without knowing if I would shoot you when I woke up. I owe you my life. I intend to repay with several. I hate raiders. The organization I work for sent me out here to help make the the wasteland a better place. What better way to start helping than with the ponies that helped me," he frowned at me. That wasn't a good sign.

"Help? You're limping and you could barely hold that shovel. How are you gonna go after them like this?!" he yelled. He brought up very good points, but I had already thought of this. I didn't like to repeat myself, so I told him to wait until his whole family was hear to hear my plan. He frowned when I said that, but he didn't have much choice in the end. He wanted the rest of his family present when he buried his daughter anyway.

We went back into the house. He needed to get his family for the burial and I needed to collect my gear. The mare and her daughter were holding each other again, but they weren't crying anymore. I nodded to the farmer and went to my gear; I was beginning to feel naked without it. It would be good to be in my gear again; the familiar weight, the comfortable clothing covering every inch of my body. I left the duster off so I could strap on my pistol holsters; my Sequoia was strapped to my side and my .45 on my hind leg. Now that I had those, I put my duster on and strapped my foreleg armor plates. A creaking floor board make me turn around. The farmers' daughter was standing there, looking away with a small blush. Oh shit. How long was she standing there?.

She cleared her throat and said, "We're uh... waiting for you. Dad said he wanted you there too." He did? Well, no need to disappoint, I thought and finished strapping the foreleg plates on. My rifles could wait for now. I walked out of the home to the grave site. The farmer had wrapped his dead daughter in a sheet and placed her in the grave. I nodded to the farmer stallion and grabbed the shovel from where I had left it from before.

After we finished burying the daughter, I stood back and let them mourn. It was sunset by the time they turned away. "I need to talk to all of you. Inside. You should be as comfortable as you can for what you're about to hear," I told them. They wouldn't like it, That I was sure of. Just how much they wouldn't like it remains to be revealed. Each of them took a seat at the dining table.

"I want to thank you all for helping me. Most ponies in the wasteland would have took everything I owned and left me for dead. I want to repay you. But you need to leave," as I suspected there was a cry of outrage from the mother and a worried look from the daughter; but I continued without skipping a beat, "The raiders are going to come back in a day or two for their tribute.

"I don't want them to take any more from you then they already have. I want you to find someplace safe when the shooting starts. They sent seven last time, so this time there should be only about half this time. I want to take them out and then go after any left in their base; but I don't want any of you caught in the crossfire." The mare was angry, as I expected. The daughter looked around nervously. The father looked determined.

"You want us to give up our house? To somepony I barely know?! You wanna burn our crops while your at it?!" the mare yelled. her husband placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Cotton, calm down. He wants to get rid of the raiders without us in the way," he turned to me, "I won't lie to you, Ranger. We're just farmers; but we aren't going to run away from a fight. Especially one for our own home. We... couldn't stand up to 'em before; But with you now, we could fight back and win." His eyes held a conviction that I hadn't seen in a long time. It was good to see, but not in this situation. I knew that they wouldn't let me handle this on my own.

Oh well. Plan B. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "OK. I know better than to argue this. Just stay low. I can handle them on my own. Provide cover fire if you must. We should have plenty of time to form a plan before they arrive. Try to leave one of them alive so I can get some info out of them. I'll need to know anything you could tell me about the Commonwealth too; cities, factions, places to avoid, places that need the most cleaning up." Good deeds tend to spread. If I start helping ponies, word will get around. It could lead to my squad, if they're alive.

Over the next two days, I spent time getting to know the farmers. Bush Abernathy had been a farmer his entire life. He built his home and managed to grow crops here with his wife, Cotton Abernathy; she would handle any trading when ponies would visit the farm, or when a caravan would come by. They had two daughters together, Melon and Leaf. Melon was the one killed by the raiders and Leaf helped with the farm work. They told me all they knew about the Commonwealth. In return, I told them about the NCR and the rest of the wasteland. It made them slightly uneasy now that they knew I was an elite soldier, but they knew that the NCR and I were on their side.

Once the story telling was over, I went to the roof as a look out. The pathway leading up to a second floor turned out to be a rooftop balcony that I used as a vantage point to watch for the raiders return. The Springfield's scope allowed me to see them before they even hoped to see me. I wondered how long it would take for them to show up. I was getting board and my trigger horn was beginning to itch. If they didn't show up soon, I'd have to go hunting them down. If there was one thing I hated more than failing, it was waiting for my targets to sho- oh wait there they are. Only four? Well, at least it would be easy.

I left my position and walked down the ramp into the house. "Heads up, ponies. They're coming. Remember the plan, up to the roof with you," thankfully, the did as told. Bush locked the door and gave me the key before walking up the ramp. "Good luck, Ranger," Leaf turned to me with a strange look on her face. She was scared and was trying not to let it show. She wasn't doing a very good job, she was visibly shaking and strands of her mane were standing on end. "Don't worry. I've got this," I tell her. Leaf nods but doesn't look convinced.

Peaking through the gaps in the wall, I analyzed my targets. Only two raiders stood out to me. One was an earth pony that had more muscled than anypony really needed. The thick sheet metal that covered his hide was crudely made and left many gaps that could be exploited. It looked uncomfortable and had to weigh a ton. He looked like a walking metal box. He didn't wear a helmet, which seemed strange. There was a sledgehammer on his back that had a equally crude metal box welded onto it. They didn't send this raider when they killed Melon.

The Other raider of interest was an earth pony mare flanked by two unicorns. Unlike her hulking companion that had his armor built around him, she was averaged sized and the armor plating she wore was strapped to her body to protect her vitals but was still made of cobbled together scrap. She also wore thick leather barding and an old Equestrian Army helmet. She had one of those crude rifles slung across her chest ready in case she needed it. I remembered her. She was there for Melon's murder. She would be the one to give me answers. One of her unicorn lackeys had several had glass bottles with rags stuffed into the tops. Molotov cocktails in a dry field and wooden house; I would have to take this one down quick before he destroyed everything the Abernathy's worked for. The other lackey had nothing noteworthy.

"Alright assholes, get out here and give us your shit," The leather clad mare called, "Hurry up, I ain't got all day." She was met with no response. Good. "I know you ain't gone, you woulda' took your brain dead fuckin' brahmin with you if you were." She was annoyed and knew they were still here, not good. I can't believe I forgot about the brahmin!

"We should just burn the place down, Crisp. There are bigger farms that we could raid. Just toast this sad little hut and move on," one of the raider unicorns sneered to the mare he stood next to. One of the bottles floated off the straps on his chest in his orange levitation with a sadistic chuckle. A spark of flame ignited at the base of his horn. I was dealing with a pyromaniac. Wonderful. The lead mare, Crisp I guess her name was, struck her fire obsessed with a backhoof that would make Echagi proud. He was sent flying back a few feet from the blow.

"Ack-ack wants this place bad. You can chose to burn the place down on your own and you face her when she finds out," she shouted in her comrade's face; she was quick to anger, "You really want to get strung up my Ack-ack and that little fuck nugget Nail Board?! I didn't fuckin' think so! Crusher, open the door!"

The oversized stallion grunted and walked to the door. I reared up on my hind hooves and grabbed my lever-action in my fore hooves. I couldn't see through the gaps anymore, but I didn't need to. Come on, you big bastard. Take the bait. I heard the brute try the door handle and turn back to Crisp, "Uh, it's locked, boss," he said. He was an idiot. Perfect.

"Oh, you don't say? Kick the fuckin' door down, stupid," her voice was a shrill shriek that hurt my ears. There was something else to her voice, a weight to it that I couldn't figure out. Something to figure out later. The brute raider was attempting to break the door down. First it was a few simple kick, then full bucks. The shack shuddered and cracked with each powerful blow. I floated the key into the doorknob ready to spring the trap. The brute began to walk back to his friends. He crouched down low and dragged one of his fore hooves through the ground, his breath visible as he snorted, ready to charge. The key in the door turned, unlocking it. My Sequoia floated up to to my head and I kept my magical grasp on the doorknob. My fore hooves gripped the barrel of my rifle tighter, ready to swing.

The brute let out a war cry as he charged; his hooves thundering towards the flimsy wooden door. Almost there. He ducked his head down as he neared the door. I turned the knob; a little closer, you big bastard. I flung the door open as he reached the porch; his head shooting up in surprise. I swung my rifle like a club, the flat side of the stock collided with his muzzle and I felt his skull give way with a sickening crack. His corpse continued into the house and took my rifle with it, but I had my Sequoia. I lined the sights up with the pyro unicorn's head and fired. The sack he wore over his face did nothing to stop the .45-70 round as it traveled through his head and exploded out the back in a glorious display of blood and skull fragments.

The other unicorn let out an anguished cry, likely a sibling or something to the pyro; one .47-70 round later and the only noise left was the echo of the powerful shot. The leader mare looked to her fallen comrades in shock; in the span of a short few seconds her entire crew was wiped out. I walked toward her slowly for dramatic effect. She frantically grabbed her rifle in her teeth but a well placed shot sent it flying out of her grasp. The moldy wood and rusted pipes used to build the weapon couldn't handle the large bullet shot from my Sequoia and broke apart at the impact. She took a step back for every step forward I took. She was afraid. Good.

Her eyes were nothing more the pin-pricks. She turned around and ran. Or she tried to at least; I was after her immediately. It didn't take me long to catch her at all. I jumped and tackled her; we rolled around together before eventually coming to a stop with me on top of her, our eyes meeting. They were filled with terror and I could see myself reflected in them. Her helmet had fallen off during the tumble. I pulled my hoof back and struck her forehead, bouncing her head off the ground and knocking her out. I stood up and slung her across my back. I trotted back to the Abernathy's.

They were upset that she was still alive but settled down after I told them my intentions. I needed things from her that they couldn't tell me. The conversation I am going to have with this mare when she wakes up is going to be long and very unpleasant.

3% xp for next level

Reputation Change!

Abernathy Farm - Liked

--These ponies helped you out of the kindness of their hearts and you decided to return the favor. Taking care of the raiders attacking this small farm and making friend with the owners is a good start in your mission. Taking recent frustrations out on raiders is just a bonus!

Author's Note

First fight scene. Woo! Thanks to Kkat for the creation of Fallout Equestria and to Crazyperson who let me write a story in their world. I really gotta think of more to put here than just thank yous.