Chapters Chapter 2: Forgotten Town of Ponyville
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 3: Train Ride Part One
Chapter 3
Train Ride
(Part One)
A week has past since the incident in Ponyville and our wandering travelers make their way to New Appaloosa. So far they haven’t seen any ponies from the Steel Rangers, nor any raiders, or monsters besides the groups encounter with just a small group of Jaggis, but so far everything seem to be going as planned...for the most part minus Sunny Day’s miscalculation of how long it would take them to get to New Appaloosa as Rebecca let’s out gruffle groans from the long wait.
“This drive is taking forever!” Rebecca said as it was her turn to drive the jeep through the wasteland. “I thought you said we'd be at New Appaloosa within a day or two?”
“I did yes….but I might’ve not been paying attention to the colt that dropped me off about how long it would take to get to New Appaloosa.” Sunny said which caused everyone in the car to groan in annoyance.
“For a mare who’s supposed to be smarter than us, you’re not that bright or well prepared.” Vanessa said which caused Sunny to snort in annoyance.
“Hey, I’m not perfect all the time!”
“And when were you ever perfect? Not now from the looks of it.” Rebecca said which caused Littlepip and Vanessa to laugh from the pegasus’s comeback.
“Oh buck you all! You can go to tartarus for all I care!” The researcher said before moving down into her seat with a blush on her face.
“Oh relax, we’re just messing with yeah Sunny. No need to have that stick up your butt.” She said before moving the jeep out of the way of a rock sticking out of the ground. “So what’s New Appaloosa suppose to be if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Well it’s mostly used as a research & medical treatment center. It’s kinda like an oasis in the middle of nowhere. Only it’s filled with ponies that are willing to help you and not kill you within a couple of seconds.”
“Huh? Well it’s a good thing we’re heading over there then. Though I wish it didn’t take us this long to get there.”
“I said I was sorry alright? At least the jeep didn’t break down like the last time-” Before she could finish, flames coming from underneath the hood of the jeep burst open as the engine caught on fire. “Spoke too soon.”
“Seriously? How the hell do these raiders even drive these things?” Vanessa asked as she lets out fits of coughing along with Sunny Day. Littlepip, and Rebecca. The pegasus groaned in annoyance before pulling over to the side and quickly hoping out of the jeep along with the others.
“You think we can still ride it once the flames die out?” Littlepip asked as her question was soon answered by the engine exploding.
“Does that answer your question?” Rebecca asked as she kicked a stone off to the side. “Looks like we’re gonna have to walk now until we can find another jeep or some kind of means of transportation.” She said before walking over to the jeep. “Come on. Grab whatever supplies you can carry before we get going. I prefer not to stay in one place for too long.”
“Who died and made you leader?” Littlepip stated as she along with the others began to collect their gear from the back seat of the jeep.
“The moment I suplexed your ass when we first met.”
“Y-You only caught me by surprise! I can kick your sorry-” Before she could finish her comeback, the sound of a gun being fired off could be heard echoing through the air. Rebecca and the others quickly took cover as Sunny pulled out a mirror to see who was firing at them.
“See anyone Sunny?” Vanessa asked as she readies her bow.
“I don’t see anypony out there.” She said before another sound of a gunshot could be heard again. “But it seems like the sound is coming from somewhere.”
“Maybe over there beyond that mountain of dirt?” Vanessa said as they all heard another gunshot.
“Let’s go check it out, but be careful. We don’t know who’s going to be on the other side.” Rebecca said as she was about to head over there, only to be stopped by Littlepip.
“You want to go to where the sound is coming from? Shouldn’t we be moving away from what sounds like to be danger over that mountain of dirt?”
“True, but the sounds of guns being fired might mean that there are raiders within the area. If we can get one of their jerps while they’re distracted, then we’ll be back on the road in no time.”
“That is both risky and dangerous. What if they aren’t raiders and are the steel hooves?”
“We’re just seeing who it is Littlepip. It’s not like we’re going to save a group of ponies or something from a bunch of slave drivers.” Rebecca said as she along with Vanessa and Sunny headed over to where the gunshot came from. Littlepip sighed in annoyance as she soon followed after the trio. Once they were climbing up the dirt mount they slowly raised their heads a bit up so they could see what was going on. As they looked over the top of the mountain, they could see a large group of ponies near what they could guess was a train. Next to the large group of ponies chained together were ponies similar to that of raiders, but their armor was more well kept and had weapons that weren’t busted or rusted looking.
“Wow, talk about irony huh Rebecca?” Vanessa asked only to get a deadpan expression from the pegasus. “Who or what are these ponies doing out here?”
“Slavers.” Sunny said as she groans in annoyance as she lowers herself down from looking over them from the top. “Just our luck to find them here.”
“Care to explain Sunny?” Rebecca asked.
“It’s just as the word says. They capture ponies that they find that could prove to fetch them a good profit. The ponies they capture are either sold as sex slaves in Old Appaloosa, experiential test subject for the enclaves, or worse.”
“What’s worse than that?” Littlepip asked only to receive a look of dread on Sunny’s face. “Yep, time to leave now.”
“....We’re not leaving them.” Rebecca said as Sunny and Littlepip looked at the black pegasus with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
“You’re kidding me right?” Littlepip asked. “You said we weren’t going to do something like this if we looked to see who was making the gunshot sounds.”
“I know what I said. But given the fact that they might be experimented on or worse if we’re to leave them like this. I mean look at them!” She said pointing over to one of the slavers whipping one of the chained ponies from behind.
“ALL RIGHT YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Yelled a slaver pony as he whips the pony he was beading up on. “GET YOUR WORTHLESS FLANKS ONTO THE TRAIN! YOUR NEW LIVES AS SLAVES START WHEN YOU REACH OLD APPALOOSA!”
“Vanessa you’re her friend right? Try to talk some sense into your friend before she might end up getting us all killed or worse.” Vanessa simply looked over at Rebecca with determination filling her eyes. The white blue unicorn simply sighs before reaching for an arrow for her bow.
“You’re going to fight them?” Littlepip asked.
“Not like we could sit back and do nothing.” She said before looking back at Rebecca. “Think we can get inside?”
“If we take out two of them, then yeah we can. I’m more wondering if the train can take us to New Appaloosa.”
“Well we won’t know until we try. Gotten any good with the bow?”
“Headshot or heart shot?”
“Headshot them from the back of their heads. Don’t want them to scream to alert the others. You and Sunny Day stay here and be our cover if any of the slavers sneak up from behind.” Rebecca said as she looked over at Littlepip. “You’re coming with me Littlepip.”
“Fair warning. I only got two clips left for my gun, and five shots left in it. So don’t be surprised if I start throwing stuff that I can find when I run out.” Littlepip said as she pulls out Little Macintosh.
“A revolver with a scoop attach to it. Not a bad choice for something like that.” She said before pulling out her longsword. “Be sure to stay out of sight until we can deal with the ones outside secretly. Once that’s over and done with, we can focus on the ones inside. Got it?” The pegasus asked as all three of them nodded in agreement. With having saying that, Rebecca and Littlepip quickly slide down the side of the mountain and bolted to the side of one of the train carts.
“Okay, they’re four slavers outside. Vanessa and Sunny Day should be able to take out the two in the distance. We’ll just have to deal with the ones blocking the entrance.”
“Well the two have helmets on. So shooting them in the head is out of the question. We’re going to have to go with sneaking up from behind and run a dagger through their neck or chest.”
“You honestly think that will work?”
“Honestly, no. But it’s better than anything else I got, so let’s just hope this plan turns out well.”
“.....I’m starting to have second thoughts about joining your group.”
“Just shut up and get ready to stab them.”
(Wastelands)
“Can someone explain to me how the hell we got ourselves into this mess!?” Sunny yelled as she along with Rebecca and the others took cover behind one of the seats in the train cart they’re in while a hail of bullets shot pass them.
“Most likely from that weird rectangle device of Vanessa’s!” Littlepip yelled, looking over the corner of of the seat at the slavers firing at them. “Bet you didn’t take into account on that huh leader?”
“How the hell was I supposed to know that her alarm was on? Not my fault she couldn’t check the damn phone to make sure it was off.” Rebecca said as she quickly pulled herself up from behind the seat they were hiding behind and threw a throwing knife at an earth pony’s throat.
“Does it really matter?” Vanessa said as she quickly fires an arrow at the ceiling causing it to bounce off and hit a unicorn slaver pony in the head killing her upon impact. “Right now we have to deal with these guys before they kill us, or worse.” She said before feeling the train starting to move. “Who even is driving the train?”
“I think one of the slavers that made a run for the engine room is making the train move.” Sunny answered as she took cover to reload her handgun. “Which means that we need to get control of this train before we reach Old Appaloosa.”
“And what’s in Old Appaloosa that we should be worried about?” Rebecca asked as she threw another throwing knife at another earth pony hitting him in the heart.
“Pretty much a hot spot for all raiders and slavers. Something that we should stay clear of if possible. Faust knows that Rebecca would fetch a high price if she was sold to somepony else, or….a Zebra.”
“Remind me to have you tell us more about the wasteland later.” Rebecca said as she peered from behind the seat she was hiding behind, only to quickly pull herself back from a bullet darting pass her head. “Dammit. Do any of you guys have a flash grenade or something!?”
“Oh! I got one actually.” Littlepip said as she moves over to Rebecca while pulling said grenade from out of her pocket. “Found it back in Ponyville before I ran into you guys. Sadly that’s the only one I have that I could find in that place.”
“Thank you~” Rebecca quickly grabbed the grenade as she pulled the pin off of it and tosses it over to the slavers.
“Grenade!” One of the slavers yelled as the flash grenade went off, causing them to cover their eyes in pain from the sudden flash going off. As the slavers where rubbing their eyes to try to get their visions back, Rebecca quickly darted from behind her cover as she charges at the nearest slaver and impaled him in the chest with her longsword. She then quickly pulled her weapon from out of the earth pony’s chest and cut off the head of the unicorn that was next to him.
“Duck!” Littlepip yelled as the pegasus quickly ducked to the ground. Upon hitting the ground, Littlepip fired at an oncoming slaver in the head that was about to hit Rebecca from behind with an axe.
“Thanks. That would’ve been an issue if he did hit me.” She said, quickly pulling herself up while brushing off some of the dirt and brain matter from off herself. “Guess the sneaking in and taking them by surprise plan didn’t work.”
“Then we’ll go with plan B.” Sunny said as everyone raised an eyebrow at her. “Seeing how they’re possibly more slavers on the train. I suggest we do a divide and conquer tactic.”
“So we split up and take care of them in groups of two then?” Vanessa asked as the researcher nodded.
“Vanessa and I will deal with the stragglers from here all the way to the back of the train. While we’re doing that, you and Littlepip with deal with the ones up ahead.” She said before looking at Rebecca. “Make sure you take these guys weapon and ammunition after you kill them if you have the time. You’re kinda a target seeing how you don’t have any guns on you, and the gun you did had you gave it to me.”
“Noted.” Rebecca said as she went over to the dead slavers and raided them for their weapons and ammunition.
“Once Vanessa and I are done with our part, we’ll try to make it up to where you guys are for backup and incase somepony tries to get the drop on you two. Everypony got it?” Sunny Day asked as they all nodded in agreement. “Good, may Faust protect us all.” She said before running off with Vanessa down the train cart, while Littlepip and Rebecca head off to the engine room.
Chapter 4: Train Ride Part Two
Chapter 4
Train Ride
(Part Two)
While Vanessa and Sunny Day were busy taking care of any slavers on their side of the train, Rebecca and Littlepip ventured towards the engine room as planned. Train car after train car, the duo pushed their way through as they killed any slaver ponies that tried to either capture or kill them. As they made it to the next train car after killing off the remaining slavers in the previous cart, the duo open the door to be taken by surprise from seeing what appears to be a Nargacuga bind and shackled as to what they found in the room they were about to enter.
“What in the name of Celestia is that?” Littlepip asked as Rebecca looked over the monster.
“Wow, didn’t think these guys were able to bag a White Nargacuga.” The pegasus said as she walks over to the monster. As she did, she took notice to the tired expression on the monster’s face along with the metal like stakes in its hands, feet, and tail as they were pinned to the ground
“White Nargacuga?”
“Originally it’s called Blinking Nargacuga. But I called it white because this monster moves very fast at supersonic speed, and it’s hard to avoid them if you’re not good at dodging. Poor little guy must be about in its teen years given how young and how tall it is.”
“You think we should leave it alone? I mean it’s a monster, and monsters are dangerous.”
“True, but given how we’re on a slaver train. And technically this is a slave to these jerks.” Rebecca walked in front of the white nargacuga as it looked up at her. Patting the monster on its head, the pegasus reached into her bag to pull out a bottle of blast element and placed a small amount on the metal collar around its neck.
“You have any idea on how to get the shackles off of it?” Littlepip asked as Rebecca pulled out a carving knife, and quickly grinded it against the blast blight covered collar. Upon doing that, a small explosion was set off as the metal collar fell off of its neck and onto the ground. “Didn’t think you had small explosives with you?”
“They’re not explosives, this is called blastblight. I took three of them from Vanessa’s bag last night just in case of emergencies.” She said before handing another bottle of blast element to Littlepip. “Place some on the shackles on its leg and tail if you would?”
“What about the stakes on its hands, feet, and tail?” Littlepip asked as she placed the blastblight onto the shackles on its legs and tail.
“We’re going to have to pull them off by force.” She said before looking back at the white nargacuga. “Bare with this just a bit longer little guy. We’ll have you out in a few seconds or so.”
The beast looked at her for a moment before resting its head onto the cold floor of the train car. A small explosion was soon set off as Littlepip used the butt of her gun to set off the blastblight and causing the shackles on its feet and tail to fall off. While that was happening, Rebecca placed the remaining blastblight onto the shackles around the monster’s arms and hit the left one first before going after the right one.
“Okay, that takes care of the shackles around it’s limbs. Now to deal with the stakes in its body.” Rebecca said as she was about to pull one of them out, only for a green aura to enveloped around them as they slowly began to pull themselves out of it. The pegasus blinked in surprise by this as she looked over at Littlepip to where the source was coming from. “Huh, I guess that works.”
“I’m more surprised that I could pull them out so easily.” Littlepip said as she placed the metal stakes to the side. “So what do we do now?”
“Patch the monster up. I’m gonna have a look up front to see if there's anyone in the next room.”
“It’s pronounced anypony not anyone.” Littlepip said as the pegasus deadpanned at the unicorn. “If Sunny was here, she would say the same thing.”
“Just patch the monster up before I shove my foot up your-” Before Rebecca could finish her threat, she felt a giant hand grab her throat and pulled her into the next room she was about to go into. As she was pulled into the room, she soon felt herself being thrown across the room as she slide onto her side before stopping. Before Littlepip could try to help, the being that threw Rebecca across the room placed something in front of the door to prevent the unicorn from being able to enter.
“So you’re the bitches that’s been causing all that noise.” The being said as Rebecca staggered up to her feet. Once she was up, she got a good look at her attacker which took her by surprise to see a fully armored minotaur standing a few feet away from her.
“And you’re the leader of these idiots?” Rebecca asked as she looks at the minotaur up and down. “I’m a bit surprised to see a mythical creature like you in a place like this.”
“And I’m a bit surprised to see somepony like you challenging us. Do you know who this train belongs to?”
“Nope, but that won’t stop me from kicking/killing your ass now does it?” The pegasus asked as she cracks her neck and knuckles. “Now are you going to answer my question of you being the leader of this poor excuse of a slaver train or what?”
“By the time I’m done with you, that question won’t be even of importance.” The minotaur said as he cracks his knuckles. “Because Ironhide is going to make you his bitch.”
“.....Nope.” Rebecca quickly bolted towards Ironhide preparing to deliver a haymaker to his face. Once she was close, she took notice of the minotaur quickly bringing his fist down at her. The human turned pegasus jumped to the side of the fist before countering with her haymaker to his face. She grins for a moment at her accomplishment, but it soon vanishes when she noticed that it didn’t have any effect. “Shit.”
“Weak little bitch.” Ironhide said as he grabbed her by the arm and began to slam her around the ground like a ragdoll before throwing her at the sealed door and her body slumping to the ground with a thud. “You must be new around here if you think that was going to work on me.”
“Wasn’t expecting that to happen.” Rebecca thought before hearing the footsteps of Ironhide rushing towards her. She quickly pushed herself to the side to avoid the fist slamming down on her head as she pulled out her longsword and got a good distance away from her attacker.
“Fancy looking sword you got there. I’ll be sure to take good care of it once we’re done here~” He said before pulling out a blood covered bat with nails sticking out from the tip of it. Rebecca deadpanned from seeing the weapon as she takes up a fighting stance with her longsword raised up. “But with something as big in a small room like this, don’t you think it’s a bit of a poor choice?”
“Poor choice to others, but not for me.” She said as Ironhide came charging at her with his bat raised up above himself. “Can’t go with just swinging in here. Thrusting attacks will have to do for now. At least until I can find an opening.” Once the minotaur was close, she quickly ducked underneath the swing of his bat as she counters with a thrust to his shoulder. The blade grazed his shoulder as he tries to hit Rebecca in the head with the bat, only for her to jump on top of the tables in the room they’re in and thrust her sword into Ironhide’s left eye. The minotaur let out a cry of pain as he reels back away while holding his eye with his left hand for a moment before using his good eye to glare at Rebecca.
“YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT ONE BITCH!” He yelled before lunging himself at the hunter as the pegasus quickly slide underneath Ironhide and was about to thrust her sword into his back. Only for his tail to catch her off guard by hitting her in the face and send her flying backwards into the door again. She didn't have a chance to register what happened, she soon felt the minotaur’s body press her through the door that he sealed up as Littlepip barely moved out of the way of both the pegasus and the door.
“F-Fuck that really hurt-!” Rebecca was cut off short as she lets out a loud yell from feeling Ironhide jump on top of her with a hoof to her back. Once she was pinned with the wind knocked out of her, she felt him quickly grabbed her neck and begins to squeeze it.
“When I’m done with you, you’re gonna be sucking on my cock and calling me master-” Just like with Rebecca, he too was soon cut short as he was sent tumbling over to the side of the train car that he jumped into and hit his head against the metal wall of the room. Rebecca lets out a loud gasp before coughing violently as she started to pull herself up. Once she was up, she took notice to Ironhide against the wall along with the White Nargacuga’s tail raised up in a defensive manner that was close to Rebecca.
“Huh, wasn’t expecting that to happen.” Littlepip said before rushing over to Rebecca to assist her and keep her on her feet. “You okay?”
“Yeah….just need….to catch my….breath.” The pegasus said as she felt Littlepip place a hand on her back to try and help. Once she felt her do that, she felt a warm sensation coming from her back. Mainly in the lungs. “I….didn’t know you could use magic like that?”
“Technically I can’t, but this is something that I learned a while back while I was interning under a doctor back in the vault.” Littlepip said before noticing Ironhide staggering to his feet with a trail of blood running down his face. “Oh horse feathers, he’s getting up.”
“Stupid dumb animal!” He yelled before hitting the monster in its side with his bat multiple times. “Learn your place and stay down like the piece of shit you are.” The monster winced and cried out in pain from the minotaur hitting the White Nargacuga in an open wound on its left side. Rebecca quickly pulled herself away from Littlepip as she quickly charged at Ironhide, and slammed her longsword through the left side of his chest. The two of them tumbled onto the ground for a moment before the hunter quickly recovers and lunges at Ironhide.
Ironhide sees her coming with his good eye as he quickly delivers a right hook to her face, slamming her down onto the floor. The minotaur began to breathe heavily from the longsword in his lung as he quickly pulled it out without grunting from the pain. He quickly looked over the longsword for a moment before grinning and tossing the bat with nails to the side and slowly walked over to Rebecca with her sword aimed at her face.
“You know, I was going to make you into my fuck toy. But after the damage you've caused me, I think I’ll just kill you and take my time fucking your dead lifeless body. Any last words bitch before I gut you like a fish?”
“To be honest only a few words if you let me say them?” She asked as the Minotaur nodded. “Minotaur with a bullet in the head says what?”
“What-?” Before he could even ask Rebecca what she meant by that, the sound of a gun being fired echoed throughout the room they’re all in as Ironhide felt a sharp pain in his head. Reaching a hand up towards his forehead, he felt a hole in said forehead before looking over at Littlepip with a blank expression on his face. “Guess...I’m the idiot huh….?” His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he soon collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud a few inches next to Rebecca. The hunter lets out a sigh of relief before pulling herself back to her feet while rubbing her cheek from where Ironhide punched her before looking over at Littlepip.
“How did you know that I was about to shoot him while he was distracted?” Littlepip asked as Rebecca shrugged to the question.
“I kinda Assumed that you were waiting for the right moment to catch him off guard. That or scared shitless from seeing a mythology creature beating the living crap out of me….My odds where a bit fifty-fifty with you in this case.” Rebecca said as Littlepip deadpans at the human turned mare pegasus.
“....I feel like I should be insulted by that comment about me being afraid.”
“Its best that you don’t.” She said before walking over to Ironhide’s dead body and picked up her longsword. Once she had it in her hands, she looked it over for a moment before placing it into the sheath on her back. “Let’s get going. We still have a mission to do after all.”
“What about the dead body? We can’t just leave it here and have somepony find it and alert the other ponies on the train.” She said as Rebecca placed a hand on her chin to think of an idea.
“True, there might be some stragglers that Vanessa and Sunny Day might’ve missed. And lord knows that would be a problem if they end up coming after us unknowingly.” An idea came to her as she snapped her finger to the idea. “I think I might actually have an idea as to how to get rid of the body.”
“Really….what is this plan of yours if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Oh trust me.” Rebecca said as a devilish grin appeared on her face as she looked over at Ironhide’s dead body. “This plan will help us all in a way.”
Chapter 5: Train Ride Part Three
Chapter 5
Train Ride
(Part Three)
“.....This is just wrong on so many levels.” Littlepip said as she watched Rebecca feed the White Nargacuga of the slavers they killed. “Why couldn’t we just throw them out of the train?”
“Poor guy was hungry. I couldn’t just leave him like this. Plus he did help us, so why not?”
“I guess...but it’s still wrong on so many levels when you think about it.”
“Yeah well there’s no rules saying that we can’t let this happen, nor will we be in trouble for this.” The pegasus said as she began to make her way out of the room. Littlepip shivered upon hearing the sounds of bone being crushed before following after Rebecca into the next room.
“Hey, I have a question to ask.” Littlepip asked as Rebecca looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “Do you have a...picture of what you looked like before your so call transformation from human to pony?” The pegasus paused for a moment before facepalming herself at the sudden realization. She quickly reached into her bag to pull out her wallet to see if she has it. To her surprise she did have it as she opens it and pulls out a picture of what she and Vanessa looked like before the transformation. “Why is your skin the same color as chocolate?” The mare asked as the pegasus momentarily stopped after hearing that. “Oh Celestia did I say something offensive?”
“N-No, no you didn’t say anything offensive or anything. It’s just the way you said it that took me by surprise that’s all.” Rebecca said before putting the picture back into her wallet and her wallet into her pocket. “To answer your question I’m African American.”
“Oh, okay. So how come your friend isn’t the same color as you are?”
“She’s white.”
“Are all human brown and white?”
“In a way yes. What? You thought that all humans were the same color or something?”
“Well I never met your kind before until now. You can’t blame me for wondering that.”
“Yeah good point I guess...Wait, why did you think my skin was brown?”
“Uh, well I figured that you ate too much chocolate when you were just a little filly and your skin turned to the same color as chocolate.” There was a moment of silence hanging in the air for a moment before Rebecca busted out laughing upon hearing Littlepip’s reply. Littlepip blushed in embarrassment from this as she glares at Rebecca. “W-What’s so funny!?”
“That’s the most stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of in my entire life! What kind of human turns black just by eating nothing but chocolate for the rest of his or her life!?”
“B-Buck you jerk! Stop laughing at me for being curious!”
“Sorry, S-Sorry. B-But you can’t expect someone not to laugh at something like that?” The pegasus said as her laughing fit began to shimmer down a bit while whipping away the tears from her eyes.
“....I get the feeling that you’re going to do that a lot.”
“Only if it’s as absurd as what you said, then I might laugh more.” She said as she reached for the door to the next room. “Come on, let’s go and get this over with Littlepip.” Upon opening the door the two mares walked into the next room, only to pause upon seeing that they’re inside a kitchen. A very somewhat old and beat up kitchen that you would see in a silent hill movie. Just without the monsters and having the environment change every few hours or so. “Geez, you think they would keep this place up to date?”
“Given how this train is looking, it doesn’t really surprise me in the slightest that they wouldn’t keep up with cleaning it.” She said before looking up in front of her. The mare’s skin color turned pale upon what she saw as she tugged on Rebecca’s shoulder. “We got trouble.”
“What do you-?” Before the pegasus could ask, a gunshot echoed past her head as she and Littlepip hid behind a nearby kitchen counter.
“That’s far enough bitches!” Rebecca poked her head around the corner of the counter to see three earth ponies and two unicorns levitating a rifle and shotgun above them aimed at the two of them. “We heard the gunshots from here, and if you think you’re going to take our cargo away from us, then you got another thing coming!”
“I really hate the wasteland.” Rebecca said as she pulled her head back behind the counter to avoid another bullet coming at her. “Hey, how much ammo do you have in that gun of yours?”
“You mean little macintosh? About five rounds now thanks to the loot we got from the slavers in the room we were just in.”
“Okay, and how many ponies are trying to kill us right now?”
“Five, last time I checked.” Littlepip said as Rebecca kicked open the bottom cabinet in front of her to pull out a frying pan. “Um I don’t think this is a good time for cooking?”
“I’m not gonna cook Littlepip, but I will need to borrow your gun for a second or two.” The pegasus said as she took the gun from Littlepip, tosses the frying pan into the air, and fired two shot into the pan. Once it hit, the bullets bounce off of the frying pan and hit the two unicorns in the head causing them to fall to the ground as the frying pan fell to the ground at the same time. Littlepip looked over at the dead unicorns for a moment before looking back at Rebecca. “Two down three to go.” She said before tossing back little macintosh to Littlepip.
“Could’ve asked to borrow it you know?”
“I don’t think asking to borrow stuff in the middle of a fight is required.” Rebecca said as she felt an oncoming kitchen knife heading pass her head that was thrown by Littlepip. The pegasus glared and was about to say something to the stable pony, only for her to hear a yelp coming from behind her as the earth pony from the group was a few inches away from delivering an axe to Rebecca’s head as the colt fell to the ground.
“You’re welcome~”
“Dammit! How are we losing to a pair of sluts!?” Yelled one of the slavers as the two of them quickly took cover behind a pair of portable stoves.
“How should I know! Just kill them with the grenade!”
“But shouldn’t we capture them for ourselves?”
“Just kill the bitches! We can get more on the way to where we’re going.” He said as his partner reached for a grenade from his waist and tosses it over to Rebecca and Littlepip. The two mares let out a frantic scream as they quickly jumped out of the way of the oncoming explosion...the only problem was that there wasn’t an explosion to come after waiting for a good few second. “...You remember to pull the pin off right.”
“Oh….shit.” Rebecca and Littlepip looked at each other for a moment before looking at the grenade then back at the slaver with deadpan expression. The pegasus quickly picked up the grenade and unpinned it. “Run stupid!” The colt yelled as the two tried to make it to the door over to their left.
“Batter up Pip!” Rebecca tossed the grenade into the air as Littlepip quickly picked up the same frying pan from before and hits the grenade like a baseball as it flies over to the fleeing colts. The grenade flies past them as it bounces off the door and rolls in front of the two earth ponies. Both colts hold each other and began to yell for a good few seconds before the two were engulfed by said explosion and their limbs and organs scatter around the entrance area of the room.
“Oh dear Celestia, I think I’m going to be sick.” Littlepip said as she gags a bit from the remains of the slavers exploded bodies.
“The smell doesn’t help either.” Rebecca said as she began to make her way over to the slavers bodies as she began to make her way over to the door. “But we better go before the smell makes you throw up.”
(Train)
“Keep shoveling that coal slave! We need to get to Old Appaloosa within a week so we can make the shipment on time.” Yelled an overweight unicorn as she whipped a pair of ponies shoveling coal into the fire of the engine.
“Y-Yes ma’am!” The colt yelled, only to get whipped by the unicorn causing him to fall to the ground in pain.
“Hey, who said you can rest!? Get back to work slave.”
“P-Please ma’am, I just need a minute or two to rest.” The downed earth pony said as she tried to pull himself up, but falls back onto the floor screaming in pain from the gash on his back. The unicorn brought her whip up and was about to hit the poor colt again, only for it to be stopped by a mare with blue mane and tail and a orange fur color as she grabbed it before it could hit him.
“Hitting us won’t make us move any faster jerk. Especially when one of us is injured due to you whipping us!” She said before releasing her hold on the whip. The mare reeled it back as she glared at the mare for a moment before a smirk appeared on her face.
“You’re right. I am so sorry for hurting your friend there.” The unicorn’s horn glowed as she picked the earth pony from the ground. “Here, let me help him out.” her smirk quickly vanish as she threw the pony into the fire of the engine room. The mare’s eyes widen upon seeing this as she was about to try and get the pony out of there, only for the mare to use her magic to hold the pegasus down onto the floor.
“What the buck are you doing!?” The Mare yelled as she tried her best to pull herself up, but to no avail. “He’s going to die if I don’t pull him out!”
“Let him. A useless pony is only good for fuel for the fire. Shame really. Would’ve been nice to buck him one last time before he retired.” The screams of the burning colt follow by the sounds of him hitting the metal of the furnace echoed throughout the room for a good minute before they began to slow. As the screams and banging stopped, the mare could hear the colt utter one last word before he died.
“M...Mommy…” Tears began to roll down the mare’s face in anger as she looked over at the unicorn with anger and malice in her eyes.
“You monster...he was only a kid.”
“So what? You think anypony would care for a weakling like him? This is the wasteland bitch. There are no rules here. It’s survival of the fittest, and only the strong survive.” She said before pulling her up by her neck with her magic. “The only reason why you’re alive is because you have some information that might be of interest to Red Eye. To think that the Zebra’s were willing to trade Flare Warden for five million caps. Makes sense seeing how you hold information of where he might be due to you being second in command and all.”
“Why the hell would I tell you or this Red Eye anything about where the captain is?” Flare said as she felt the magic around her neck squeeze harder around her as she began to choke a bit from this.
“I might want to. Especially seeing how we have ways on dealing with stubborn ponies like you.” She said before reaching for a rod iron and opening the furnace to stick it in there. “Better yet, why don’t I just do it for him? He might give me even more caps then what I got from accepting this job.” She said before pulling the iron rod out and placed it near Flare’s face. Flare gritted her teeth as she lowered her face to the side due to the heat coming off of it. “Would be a shame to hurt such a nice pretty mare like yourself. So I suggest you tell me what I need to know or-” Before the unicorn could finish, both she and Flare heard a knock coming from the door. “What is it!? Can’t you see I’m busy!?”
“We have a problem! The monster that we caught is waking up, and we don’t have anymore sedatives to keep it asleep or calm it down! It already bit the head off of two of the minotaurs we got to come with us!” said a rather raspy voice coming from behind the door. The unicorn groaned in annoyance before dropping Flare Warden onto the ground gasping for air and coughing.
“I’ll deal with you later. Right now you better get to shoveling more coal into the fire, or else I’ll not just rape you, but I will break you into being a good sex slave.” She said while making her way towards the door. “How the hell can that monster kill two of our strongest mercenaries? More importantly, how did it get out of the chains-” Upon opening the door, the unicorn was stopped mid sentence as Rebecca impaled her with her longsword in her chest.
“That would be because of us.” Rebecca answered as she slowly pulled her sword out of her chest. The unicorn coughed up some blood as she gripped her blood cover chest before falling to the ground face first. “Not the brightest bunch of ponies on this train, but I’m not complaining so long as the job is done.” She said before walking over the dead body of the fat unicorn, only to pause upon seeing Flare Warden looking at her with tears in her eyes. “Um...greetings pony. We come to take over your train so we can get to New Appaloosa… At least I hope this train does lead there.”
“....If you’re going to kill me...just...make it quick.” Flare said with a defeat tone in her voice. Rebecca looked at the mare for a moment, then the chains, then at the dead unicorn next to her.
“We’re not here to kill you or anything...um?”
“Flare Warden.”
“That’s a weird name.”
“Better then what your name has to be.”
“Rebecca Walker is my name.” The pegasus said as she jerks a thumb over at Littlepip. “And the mare looting that dead slaver is named Littlepip.”
“Oh, um. Hi?” Littlepip said as she waved at Flare awkwardly who in turns waves back at her.
“...And you’re saying my name is weird.”
“Whatever.” Rebecca said as she kneels down towards Flare and gave her one of her potions to drink. “Drink it, it’ll help you with any injuries that you may have gotten.” She said as Flare began to drink it. Once she was finish, the blue mane pegasus quickly stood up upon feeling a surge of energy flowing through her body, as if she was a brand new mare. “Feel better?”
“A-A little bit, but not completely.” She said as she look over her wings which were tied and covered in a strange green substance. “My wings are in cased in this green substance and no matter how hard I hit it, it won’t come off. Not even when...BellHop was trying to help me.” She said looking over at the fire in the furnace causing her shake her head and look over at Rebecca and Littlepip. “A-Are there more than just the two of you on this train?”
“Vanessa and Sunny Day, who might be finished doing their part in dealing with the remaining slavers on the train. Question, does this train lead to New Appaloosa?”
“It does, but we would have to go through Diamond Dog Town. Which I would suggest that we stop there.”
“Why is that?” Littlepip asked as she walked over to Flare Warden with a set of keys as she began to take the chains off of her.
“Thanks.” She said while rubbing her wrists. “To answer your question, we have slaves on this train that need medical attention. And I promised them that I would help them the moment I could free myself to get help.” She said before looking over at the dead unicorn. “Which by Faust’s grace and favor, you came in the nick of time seeing how you’re not slavers or raiders from the way you two look.”
“I’ll...take that as a compliment, but are you sure Diamond Dog Town is safe to stop into?” Littlepip asked. “I mean from what I’ve read in books. Diamond Dogs aren’t really much fans of us ponies and treated us as their personal slaves.”
“Maybe back then, but now they pretty much try to help some ponies out when they can or if they can for some of them. Plus I don’t think the injured ponies will last a couple of days in the state they’re in.”
“She has a point.” Rebecca said as she hands Littlepip her bag. “Go see if Vanessa and Sunny Day are okay. If you see anypony that are injured or sick, give them a potion or antidote to help heal them a bit.” Littlepip nodded as she headed off in the direction of the two unicorns. Rebecca soon looked over at Flare as she helped her back to her feet. “Can you drive this train?”
“I can, but I’ll need you to shovel coal into the furnace so that we don’t lose speed...fair warning, my friend is inside there so don’t be freaked out by what you see.”
“I take it the mare I killed was the one that did it?” She asked as Flare nodded hesitantly. “Okay, thanks for the warning Flare.”
Chapter 6: Welcome To Diamond Dog Town
Chapter 6
Welcome To Diamond Dog Town
A day has passed since Rebecca and the others took over the train as a means to both save the slaved ponies, and transportation. Once they unshackled, tended to the ponies that were still alive, and found two ponies who were willing to help them keep the train moving, Rebecca and Flare Warden kept an eye out for any raiders or monsters from on top of the train cart that might want to attack them as they made their way to Diamond Dog Town.
“You know, you don’t have to be up here with me right?”
“You saved my life along with some of the ponies on this train. It’s the least I could do for you.” Flare said as she took a seat next to her. “Had you not come here to take over the train, I would hate to see what could’ve happened to us if that mare kept on killing us one by one.”
“I guess. But given what Sunny said about you being weak due to malnutrition from lack of food and water, I would’ve expected you to be asleep for the next couple of days once we had those two colts help out with the engine.” Rebecca said as she stretches a bit. “Not that I didn’t mind the workout, but I can’t do everything by myself.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, but where did you come from?” Flare asked as she looked at Rebecca up and down. “You don’t look like you’re from a vault, nor do you look like you've been in the Wasteland for a long time.”
“I...Um...well... Vanessa and I are...from a different country.” The pegasus said as she looked off to the side trying to avoid her gaze. “We...um..wanted to test our skills with the monsters of this land.”
“...Really? That’s all you’re here for?” Flare asked as she raised an eyebrow at Rebecca who was smiling nervously.
“Yep, though we do tend to help out from time to time when we see some...pony that needs help from either monsters or raiders trying to kill them.”
“Hm...well whatever you’re real reason is for being here, I’ll ask once I’ve gain your trust and we’re in a better position to talk.” She said before looking at the clothes she was wearing. “These clothes you’ve given me are really comfortable. Reminds me of Rarity’s clothes back when carousel boutique was still open before the war.”
“Carousel Boutique...isn’t that the old abandoned fancy looking house in the ruins of Ponyville?”
“That place is still standing? Even after the passing of time and stuff?” Flare asked as the mare nodded. “Huh...wait, how do you know that place?”
“We stopped there a few days ago. It’s kinda where we met Littlepip and how she joined us. Mostly because she was alone from the looks of it...and we kinda had to run away from a monster that was trying to kill us.”
“....Was the town still standing?”
“I believe so, that is if the Deviljho hasn’t made it his stomping ground and didn’t wreck the place when we left it.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Anyway, my name is...or was Lieutenant Flare Warden. Second in command of the Crystal Empire Army during the war between the zebra’s two-hundred years ago.”
“Wait a minute. If you’re two-hundred years old, how are you still young and not old?”
“You can thank the Zebra’s for that. During the first wave of the war between Equestria and the Zebra nation. Shining Armor and I got captured when they dropped the megaspell onto Canterlot. I thought we would be dead due to the megaspell seeing how everything was dark when I woke up. Turns out we both got knocked out and were sent flying into the enemy’s ship from the force behind the blast. I think we would’ve prefer death then being the zebra’s...test subjects .”
“Explain please, that is if you’re willing to that is?”
“You saved my life, you at least get something in return for that. Even though it won’t be money.” Flare said as she laid her back against the roof of the cart they were on. “Form what I can remember before I was put on ice, they made a secret base within the Everfree Forest due to what I was able to see from out of a hole in the cell we were in. For the past year or two we’ve been used for either science experimentation, potion testing, punching bags, and...stress relievers. Originally it was just me they were focusing on, but Shining Armor willing to let them do whatever they want to him so long as they don’t hurt me.”
“I take it they didn’t do that?”
“For the most part...each time they come for Shining Armor, and each time they were done, his body would become more and more to that of a mare. Those rock hard abs, huge muscles on his arms and legs, that firm flank…” Flare paused as a blush started to form on her face. Rebecca took notice to this as she smirked and snapped her fingers near her ear.
“Focus soldier. You can have your perverted sex fantasy after you tell me what happen.”
“O-Oh! Right! Sorry...anyway his abs, muscles, and coltish figure was gone. It was like they were changing his gender from that of a colt to a mare. I had heard rumors about the zebra’s having the means to change a pony’s gender from a book they have, but I guess they were true after seeing the changes done to him. During the times they schedule Shining Armor for testing, they would do...things to me from time to time.”
“They raped you, didn’t they?” Rebecca said as Flare looked at her with a stern expression. “Touchy thing to say, but I don’t like to sugarcoat things.”
“Yeah..they did once the captain was weak enough to the point where he couldn’t fight back.” Flare gritted her teeth in anger and frustration for a moment before calming and continued to explain. “This went on for some time until Celestia found the secret base. If she would’ve been a little bit more smoother with the hole fire and brimstone thing, she would’ve saved us. But sadly that wasn’t the case. We were forced to go with them after they knocked us out. Once we came too, the captain and I were in these strange tube things that were slowly being filled with some kind of cold liquid. I looked over at Shining Armor trying to break out of there, but given his weakened state, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I was able to at least read his lips before I passed out.”
“What did he say?”
“It was a bit hard to read. But the words I could make out were Heart, Crystal Heart, and Friends.”
“...Not giving you a lot to go by huh?”
“Yeah...starting to regret not taking his classes for reading lips seriously now.”
“So after being on ice for the past two-hundred years. What happened afterwards?”
“Shining Armor was missing when I woke up from my sleep by ponies who work for a colt called Red Eye who’s interested in the captain and I for some reason. Hence why the Zebra’s traded me to him and why I was forced to be a slave on this train.”
“Seems like you’ll be needing some help with finding your friend as well?”
“What do you mean?”
“Littlepip is looking for a mare by the name of Velvet Remedy. We’re planning on looking for her once we make our way over to New Appaloosa. Right after we stop at Diamond Dog Town.”
“Wait, Diamond Dogs have a town named after them?”
“I guess. Like I said, I’m not from here. You’ll have to ask Sunny Day about this place. She’s smart and knows a lot about this place.”
“I’ll be sure to do that once she’s finished with what she’s doing...would it be okay if I join you four?” She asked as Rebecca raised an eyebrow at her as a means of explaining. “Look I’m going to be frank about this. But I need you and your friends help with finding Captain Shining Armor. Mostly because he’s my friend, and I am not so well equipped to make the journey alone. I can understand if you choose not to help me seeing how we just met and all, but I’m willing to do anything just to help my friend. E-Even if it means I would let you...do whatever you want to me.” Flare said as Rebecca simply deadpan before speaking.
“First off, I’m not that type of p-pony to take advantage like that. Second, I’ll have to run it by the others. If they want you to join and are willing to help, then we’ll help you out. If not, then it’ll just be you and me to help you out on your request.”
“You’re willing to help me, even though we just met?”
“Gotta start helping somewhere right? Plus we might be able to get some cool stuff from exploring the wasteland.” She said before noticing tears rolling down Flare’s face as she blinked in surprise. “H-Hey now. No need for the water works or anything. I’m just glad to help out when needed.”
“I-I know...it’s just that...No pony other then BellHop would be willing to help me...it’s been so long since somepony helped me.” Flare said as she started to wipe away the tears still rolling down her face.
“I wouldn’t blame you for crying like that if I was in your hooves.” Rebecca said as she handed the pegasus a piece of cloth as Flare took it to help wipe away the tears from her face. “But right now we should focus on what to expect on the ride to Diamond Dog Town.”
“Diamond Dog Town isn’t really a bad place, so long as you don’t tick off the mayor of the place.”
“Have you seen the mayor before?”
“I have not. I’ve been mostly put to work on this forsaken train since I woke up in this place. But I have heard rumors of the mayor being a good sharpshooter that she took down six of Red Eye’s greatest soldiers in his army. The mare that was in charge of the train said that they’re still recovering from that loss.”
“Interest bit to know. I’ll be sure to make a mental note on that.” She said before looking over Flare to see them coming up on Diamond Dog Town. “I believe we’re coming up on the town you mentioned.”
“I’ll do all the talking. You get your friends ready for when we stop at the station.” Flare said as Rebecca headed off into the train to get her friends and inform them about where they were heading.
(Wasteland)
A few hours have past as the traveling hunters and friends made it to Diamond Dog Town. At first they thought that the town was gonna be a place full of thugs and savage dogs, but to their surprise it was...well nothing like that. It was more of a flea market with different races from ponies, diamond dogs, and griffins walking around either trading with each other or shopping for something that might interest them.
“So this is Diamond Dog Town?” Rebecca said as Flare Warden nodded before hopping off of the train. “This place looks like a flea market.”
“In a way it is. Just try to stay cool and don’t try to draw much attention to us. Mostly because the mayor of this town doesn’t like slavers, but he or she knows not to attack one of Red Eye’s slaver trains.”
“Yeah, but we kinda did that already. So I wouldn’t worry about that.” Vanessa said as she along with Sunny and Littlepip followed after Rebecca and Flare from off the train. “We should see if this place can help with changing the way the train looks.”
“That might be a problem given how we barely have enough caps to get the stuff needed to cover this up.” Sunny said as she looks over the train while going over the numbers in her head.
“Caps as in?”
“Bottle caps. The kind that you see from soda vending machines.” Sunny said before pulling out a few caps to show them what she means. “Due to the war between Equestria and the Zebras, the currency of gold became useless what with the government being nonexistent in Equestria for two-hundred years, and Celestia and Luna being gone for that amount of time.”
“And caps were the only thing that survived the fallout of the war. So Equestria pretty much used bottle caps as currency.” Flare added before noticing a group of diamond dogs heading their way. “Looks like we got some company heading our way.”
“Given the fact that we’re using a slaver train. It doesn’t surprise me that we would get the town’s police force on us.” Rebecca said before looking over at Flare. “Think you can convince them not to attack or kill us?”
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the only one that looks decent and not threatening.” Vanessa answered as Flare rolled her eyes and took a step forward to the group of diamond dogs. Once the dogs were close, they moved to the side from each other as a mare wearing a texan-style outfit and a scarf covering her mouth and nose as she glares intensely at the group. Mainly Flare Warden, who flinched a bit before gathering the nerve to speak up.
“Um, greetings everypony...or dogs in this case. My name is Flare Warden, and we’re not slaver ponies of any kind!” She said which caused Littlepip and Rebecca to facepalm. “....Okay that sounded way less convincing huh?”
“About as convincing as trying to tell somepony the world is round, not flat.” Sunny said before noticing the mare walking up to Flare Warden. “And I’m pretty sure you just made the mare mad.”
“Oh dear Celestia’s fat flank.” Flare Warden took a step back a bit, but was stopped due to the mare placing her hand on the pegasus shoulder as one near her own face.
“It’s...been far too long since I’ve seen a familiar face.” The mare said as she removed the cloth around her face as Sunny, Littlepip, and Flare eyes widen in surprise by this. “I would’ve never expected it to be somepony that was lost during the war.”
“A-Applejack!?” The three mare’s said in union as Rebecca and Vanessa blinked in confusion from this as Vanessa spoke up.
“Wait, Applejack? As in the one who was in charge of the Ministry of Wartime Technology and the Applejack Ranger’s?”
“Didn’t she end up disappearing? Like two-hundred years ago from what you told us Sunny?” Rebecca asked as the mare lifted her glasses to clean them before putting them back on.
“Yes, that’s what the books in the archive said happened...unless she’s a ghost or something which I wouldn’t be surprised...for the most part.”
“I can’t believe you’re alive. I mean, you are alive...r-right?” Flare asked as Applejack nodded before placing the mask over her face a bit.
“I would prefer to talk more back in my office if ya’ll wouldn’t mind that is? Not a huge fan of talking out in the open like this.” The southern mare said before looking over at the group of diamond dogs that came with her. “Tend to anypony inside the train that needs treatment, and cover up the colors on this train as best as you can. I prefer not to have Red Eye coming here to see one of his trains here and it hasn’t left yet.” She order as the dogs quickly went to work as she motions for Rebecca and her group to follow after her. “Come on. We have much to talk about.”
Author's Note
AppleJack's Outfit.
Chapter 7: Upgrading For The Hunt
Chapter 7
Upgrading For The Hunt
(Diamond Dog Town)
“I’m a bit shocked if not surprised to see you walking about in this Celestia forsaken land.” Applejack said as she handed the group of hunters coffee. “After what happened two hundred years ago with the raid on the zebra compound in the Everfree Forest, we thought you and Shining Armor were dead...Unless you’re alive and Shining Armor is dead?”
“Shining Armor is alive, but I don’t know where he is. He wasn’t in the cryogenic pod when I woke up, so I’m guessing he must be out in the wastelands or something.”
“I’m not surprised. He was always the type to make a hasty escape in situations like this. I’m sure he’ll pop up somewhere in this dirt pile of a homeland.”
“Um...if you don’t mind me asking. But how do you two know each other?” Littlepip asked as she scratches the back of her head in confusion.
“And how the hay are you alive? The history archives said that you disappeared two-hundred years ago..Unless you’re either a ghost or a robot.” Sunny said which caused AJ to chuckle a bit as she walked over to the window and looked down at the town.
“To answer your first question sugarcube, Flare Warden was introduced to me by my friend Twilight before the war between Equestria and Zebracan. If I’m not mistaken, weren’t you part of the Ministry of Arcane Science as a guard?”
“For a while yes, but was soon assigned back to Canterlot due to the war that was happening.” Applejack said as she took a seat at her desk. “As for how I’m still alive. Let’s just say the elements of harmony are more than just trinkets that turn evil ponies to stone or something like that.”
“And the elements of harmony are?” Vanessa asked as Applejack raised an eyebrow at her. “We lived outside of Equestria, so sorry if we don’t know much about this land when we decided to come here to hunt.”
“Well that answers a few of my questions.” She said before clearing her throat to continue. “To make a long story short, the elements of harmony are what we use to defend Equestria from evil ponies, darkness, etc. What I didn’t know about them, is that they grant the user immortality. Which might’ve been a good thing to know after being dead for two-hundred.”
“Interesting. I mean I’ve read that the elements of harmony were magical, but I didn’t imagine they would be that magical to give you immortality.” Sunny said as she starts typing this in her pipbuck.
“Do keep in mind that I prefer not to have anypony know about this. Less we want Red Eye to hear about this and send his goons to try and gather them for his evil plans.”
“Is he that bad of a pony?” Littlepip asked as Sunny and Applejack nodded.
“You would have a death wish if you even think about crossing hairs with him. Especially with the amount of power he has in his city and most of the wastelands. Which doesn’t help in your case seeing how you stole one of his trains that he use to trade slaves for.”
“There’s no rules in the wastelands saying that we couldn’t do that. Plus, we’re not a huge fan of ponies being slaves.” Rebecca said as Applejack took a sip from her drink.
“Which I can understand. But you should be careful on who or what you’re stealing from. Hence the reason why I’m having the dogs paint over the train so that nopony outside of this town will notice.”
“Makes sense. So how long until they’re done?”
“Given how it’s from Red Eye. I say about a day given the size of the thing. But if y'all are planning on going through here, y'all have to put the train in reverse.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“With the new creatures appearing from out of nowhere. They bring problems to the wasteland. Specifically when they appear near a town like ours. There this huge crab like monster that’s been making the runs near the ruins next to the town. Seems like this monster found where we keep the fresh water supply and is trying to get to it.”
“This crab monster. What does it look like?” Vanessa asked as Rebecca pulled out a book and began to look through it while listening.
“Well it's like a giant crab. Only it has a red grayish color, larger claws, and uses a skull of a dead monster as a means of a shell on it’s back.” She said as Rebecca stopped what she was doing and tossed the book over to Applejack who caught it.
“That crab you’re speaking of is a Zenith Daimyo Hermitaur.”
“Zenith Dai...what?”
“An evolved version of the Daimyo Hermitaur that are larger and more dangerous than their counterpart. Their red shells have heavily developed to be colored with a red grayish color. The old large pincers have also been heavily developed to become larger with a solid mineral color and have grown spikes on the lower pincers. The Monoblos shell on their backs strangely has a longer horn and different coloring due to it being intensely weathered to an extraordinary shape. Their antenna grew longer while their eyes turned green through development.
“....Wish we had this when we first encounter it.” The mayor said as she started to look through the information on this monster. “So how do we get rid of this varmint.”
“Getting it to leave would be an issue. Seeing how it’ll just keep coming back due to being the only source of water within the area. And something tells me that the water out in the wasteland isn’t the best.”
“So our only option is to kill it?” Applejack asked as Rebecca nodded. “Alright, so what’s the plan? I know we have to kill it, but how are we going to do it?”
“Compared to a normal Daimyo Hermitaur. Zenith is much bigger, faster, and has more attacks under its belt for when it enters rage mode. We need to lower it’s mobility, defense, strength.”
“Which means we need traps to cripple it’s movements, weapons that can pierce and damage it’s claws and the skull on its back.” Vanessa added as she looked over hers and Rebecca’s weapons. “Which might be hard given the weapons we have on us.”
“I might be willing to oblige on giving you what you need.” Applejack said as the group looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “I know a mare who might be willing to help you with upgrading your gear. This is a flea market after all. Meaning we dabble in trades and selling goods. If yall want something with more bang for your buck, go to the weapon smith at the center of Town to get what you need. Just tell her that Applejack sent you.”
“Alright, sounds like a plan.” Rebecca said as she began to make her way over to the door while motioning the others to follow. “We’ll come back once we have what we need.”
“Take your time. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”
(Diamond Dog Town)
“Okay, AJ said that we’ll find the weapon’s dealer in the center of the flea market. Any ideas on where to look team?” Rebecca asked as Vanessa began to scan the area.
“Kinda hard to start looking without getting a detail on what the place looks like.” Vanessa said as she continued to scan the area they’re in. “We should’ve asked what she looked like before leaving.”
“I think I might’ve found it.” Sunny said as she pointed over to a stand with a mare wearing slightly revealing clothes. “Mostly because of the gear in that mare’s stand.”
“You sure she’s the one Applejack mentioned?” Littlepip asked as she eyed the mare up and down. “She seems rather...odd.” She said while squinting her eyes at the mare. “She looks awfully familiar.”
“Come one, come all. Get your weapons, armor, and gear needed here at Sweetie Belle’s smithy!” The robotic mare yelled as she scanned the flea market. Only to notice Rebecca and her group as she grins. “You there! I take it you all are new to this town correct?”
“Are you the mare that owns this shop?” Littlepip asked as the mare nodded.
“Yep! Welcome to Sweetie Belle’s Smithy! How can I help you all today?”
“The mayor of this town said that we might be able to get some better gear for the hunt we’re planning on doing.” Rebecca said as Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at her.
“Really now. And who might the mayor be then?” She asked as the pegasus walked over to her and whispered Applejack’s name into her ear. Sweetie Belle eyes widen as she looked back at the group and nods.
“Follow me inside if you would.” She said as Rebecca and the group followed after the robotic mare inside. Once they were inside, she quickly close the door behind them with her magic as she turns her attention on them. “I take it you are friends with the mayor of Diamond Dog Town?”
“Well, a member of our group is somewhat a friend of Applejack. Flare Warden is the mare’s name.”
“Flare Warden is alive? How? From what I’ve read, she along with Shining Armor were reported missing during the war between Equestria and the Zebrica.”
“Long story short. She was put on deep freeze and used as the Zebra’s testing subject. We actually found her when we raided the train we came on to get here by accident.”
“That’d explain the sound of the train coming here. That and the diamond dogs painting it a different color. Welp, seeing how you’re here. I take it you’re here to be the new guards or you’re here to deal with that giant crab near our water supply?”
“Applejack hired us to deal with the giant crab problem. That and it would pay off the debt we kinda owe her due to the paint job she’s doing for the train.” Sunny said while looking around at the items in the shop. Mainly the odd looking weapons. “Did you make all this?”
“For the most part. Some are from trades with other ponies in the wastelands or from different cities. Handguns, rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, and body armor are made by me. Melee weapons and other stuff are trades from folks around the flea market.”
“Alright, that makes sense.” Rebecca said as she started to look around the shop. “Get what you need for the hunt. We’ll head back over to Applejack’s office once we’re finished here.”
“How do we know what we need to take on the Zenith Daimyo Hermitaur?” Littlepip asked as she eyes the collection of sniper rifles off to the left of her. “Do we need rounds that can pierce armor or something?”
“You might need that given how hard that crab’s shell is.” Sweetie Belle answered as she reached underneath the counter she was behind to pull out a long looking suitcase. “And this weapon will be able to do that.” She said before opening the case to reveal what’s inside it. Before Littlepip could respond to what she was seeing, Sunny Day pushed her out of the way as the mare's eyes widened and sparkled a bit.
“T-T-This is Spitfire’s Thunder...H-How did you come across something like this?” She asked while trying to reach for the weapon, only for Sweetie Belle to pull it away from her.
“Spitfire's Thunder along with its sister rifle Soarin's Lightning, were hoof built by a pony named Walter for their respective pegasi. The gemstones were enchanted by Trixie Lulamoon. Walter only ordered the gems and their enchantments, the choice for Trixie to enchant them was made by an unknown pony. The rifles never got delivered and due to security concerns, were stored in the Bank of Equestria for the past two-hundred years. This magically enhanced anti-machine gun should be able to pierce through that monster’s hard shell.”
“Such marvelous piece of history and weaponry. Lost in time, but now founded!” She said blinking and looking back at Sweetie Belle. “Wait, you have Soarin’s Lightning as well?”
“Yep! Who would’ve thought that both weapons would be in the bank vault. Would give it to you, but Spitfire’s Thunder will do for your hunting mission.”
“Huh!? Why only give us that? Don’t you know you have a weapon that should be displayed in a history museum?”
“And do you know how much both weapons cost on their own?”
“Five-hundred thousand?” Vanessa answered as Sweetie Belle shook her head.
“Close, seventy-five hundred thousand caps each.”
“What!? That’s way too much. Not even the ponies in New Appaloosa have that much, especially with the budget the research committee is given.”
“Lady this weapon is one of a kind in the wasteland. A magically enhanced anti-machine gun which fires much faster than a non-magical model, can’t jam on itself, and have an enchanted lightning gem as fuel source for her power is something that you rarely see in this part of the wasteland. Be grateful that i didn’t say it was worth one-million caps, and I’m willing to part with just Spitfire’s Thunder for free.”
“Why you little-” Before Sunny Day could finish, Rebecca quickly moved over to cover the mare’s mouth with her hand as she looks over at Sweetie Belle. “We’ll take the gift without any problems. Thank you.”
“Nice to see somepony is more level headed than others.” The bot said with a smirk as Sunny Day glared daggers at her. Sweetie Belle looked over at Littlepip as she handed the weapon over to her. “Fair warning. This was meant to be used by pegassi seeing how it has a recoil suppressor to prevent knockback when firing in the air. Don’t know what it’ll do for you on the ground, but I’m sure you can handle it. Though you might want to practice aiming with it for going out into the wasteland with it.”
“Does this place have a firing range for her to practice at?” Vanessa asked as Sweetie Belle shook her head.
“We don’t have one. We mostly just use an open space and practice shooting there. The target is pretty much glass bottles, rocks, or anything that you can find to use as a means of a target. hell you can even use dead bodies to target.”
“Is that even allowed?”
“It’s the wastelands darling. No rules besides the ones in the towns or city you go into can tell you what can or can’t do.”
“Fair enough. Got any weapons that we might like?” Rebecca asked as the robot mare looked over her, Vanessa, and Sunny Day who pulled the pegasus hand away from her mouth. The robot mare’s eyes glowed for a split second before smiling and making her way towards the back of the store.
“I’ll be back in a bit. Have a look around the shop if you need anything and I’ll add it to the list.” She said before vanishing from their sight.
“I don’t like that mare.” Sunny said while browsing around the shop. “Charging relics like that should be a crime against history itself.”
“Look on the bright side. At least we have one for you to look over later on.”
“No, Littlepip has it. I don’t like taking things that are given to somepony. And even though what Littlepip has would be a huge help with the research committee, I can’t take something that isn’t mine.”
“Didn’t think you would have some standards of your own given how much of a scientist you are.”
“Of course I have standards. If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t be out here doing my job.” She said while glancing over at Spitfire’s Thunder. “Still, hard to believe that a weapon like that is owned by the shop keeper of this place...Her name is Sweetie Belle right?”
“Yeah, that’s her name...why? Do you know her?”
“Not her personally...but her name sounds familiar somewhere. Just don’t know where.”
“Maybe we can ask Applejack once we head back with the stuff we got from here.”
“Yeah. I’ll do that.” Sunny said before looking over at Vanessa and Littlepip. “See anything that you might want?”
“Other than a couple of ammo clips for our handguns, shotgun, coating for Vanessa’s arrows, and a couple of med kits.” Littlepip answered. “We’re pretty much set on ammo and some healing supplies in case of emergencies. All we need now are the weapons.”
“Which are right here darlings~” The group turned their attention at the counter as Sweetie Belle made her way back from behind the counter as she placed a Switch Axe, Bow, and a revolver. “Here are some weapons I can give you for free that I’m willing to part ways with.” Rebecca walked over to the weapons as she picks up the charge blade. While she was doing that, Vanessa and Sunny Day walked over to the bow and revolver as Vanessa picked up the bow and Sunny picked up the revolver.
“Whoa. I was not expecting you to have weapons like this.” Rebecca said as she examines the switch axe and begins to swing it around a bit.
“The bow is a bit heavy then the one I have, but the string feels so flexible and hard at the same time. How is that even possible?” Vanessa said as she places an arrow on the string and pretends to fire it. “Gonna take a while to get used to the added weight, but still good from what I’m feeling.”
“Strange that this revolver has two firing holes.” Sunny said as she opened the chamber to the gun. “Wouldn’t it cause you to use up more ammunition?”
“These are weapons that folks in the flea market aren’t that interested in. The axe that can transform into a sword & the bow have fire elemental attributes fused into them. Basically causing fire damage to monsters that are weak to fire or ponies in general. The gun I found in the Equestria Bank Vault in Canterlot, just like with most of the stuff I st-found...yes found.” She said while clearing her throat a bit. “Magically enchanted weapon with unlimited bullets from what i read in the archives of the bank.”
“....Okay how is that even possible?” Vanessa asked as she and Sunny Day stared at the gun in surprise.
“It’s equestrian magic. Not that much to explain on how it’s possible. It was made by the ministries of wartime technology and arcane science along with Soarin’s Lightning and Spitfire’s Thunder.”
“Fair enough.” Rebecca said before placing the switch axe onto her back. “This should do for when we need to get ready to hunt down Zenith Daimyo Hermitaur.”
“Should we get some better armor then the ones we have on?” Vanessa asked as Sweetie Belle shook her head.
“I would give you some, but sadly I don’t have the materials to make stuff like that. And getting somepony to trade materials for weapons is hard to do seeing how most of my weapons are expensive, and I’m picky with who I sell my stuff too.”
“Well maybe if you didn’t sell your weapons that cost an arm and a leg, then maybe you get somepony to trade or sell you stuff.” Sunny comment as the bot glared at her.
“Okay, I’m about five second of stomping a mud hole up your ass if you keep doing the backhanded comments.”
“Oh like to see you try you cheap tin can!” Sunny yelled as Sweetie Belle’s eyes glowed bright red as a pair of mini turret guns appeared on her shoulders and aimed themselves at the unicorn while Sunny Day aimed her new revolver at her.
“We should possibly leave before they end up killing each other.” Littlepip suggest as Rebecca and Vanessa nodded in agreement. While the two were distracted, Littlepip’s horn glowed as she fired a bolt of magic at Sunny Day. Upon impact the mare soon collapsed to the ground as the turrets on Sweetie Belle’s shoulders quickly vanished.
“We’ll take our leave. Thanks again for the new weapons as well as the supplies.” Rebecca said as she walked over to pick up Sunny Day and placed her over her shoulder.
“You’re welcome...is she going to be like that everytime she visits here?” Sweetie Belle asked as the group shrugs in union.
“Maybe. She is from the research committee in New Appaloosa, and she is passionate about her job in a way.”
“Reminds me of Twilight…” She said before shaking her head at the thought. “Anyway, stop by here any time if you want some new weapons or resupply on your supplies.”
“We will. And again thanks.” Rebecca said as she, Vanessa, and Littlepip made their way out of the store with an unconscious unicorn on Rebecca’s shoulder.
Once they left, Sweetie Belle walked back behind the counter as she opens up her chestplate to pull out a rusty looking locket. Once it was out she opens it to reveal two torn up but visible pictures. One with Rarity and Sweetie Belle hugging each other, while the other side would have her with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom running down a dirt covered road having fun and carefree.
“That mare has that passion for science like Twilight. There’s no mistaking it...but she has the same stubborness of Scootaloo when it comes to an argument.” The mare ran a finger along the side that had Scootaloo and Apple Bloom’s face on it. As she looked intently at the picture, she noticed small drops of water spilling onto the picture as she blinks in surprise by this sudden water droplets of water. “Guess even turning myself into a machine can’t block out one's emotions from the heart...what I wouldn't give to see you girls one last time before you go.”
Author's Note
Chapter 8: Operation Carb Dinner Begins
Chapter 8
Operation Crab Dinner Begins
(Diamond Dog Town)
“And that’s pretty much it on my part.” Flare Warden said as Applejack stared at the pegasus with a calm expression on her face.
“Geez, and I thought I had it rough over the past two-hundred years.” She said before taking a swing from her drink. “Shame you had to be woken up during this time where there’s nothing left of Equestria.”
“Like I had a choice in the matter. Kinda glad that Rebecca and her friends found me before I was sent off to who knows where.”
“Are you sure you can trust them? I mean I know they saved you and all, but something tells me that they’re hiding something.”
“I’m sure they have their reasons. Plus aren’t you pretty much doing the same by hiding who you really are with that get up from earlier?” Flare Warden asked as the earth pony chuckled.
“Fair enough. I guess the phrase calling the kettle black applies to me in this case. I’m just making sure that they’re good folks, and not like how most ponies are nowadays. Especially with them raider ponies attacking and pillaging small towns.”
“I can assure you that they’re nothing like that. I mean they do have a researcher from New Appleloosa after all.”
“That is true. But still, you can never be too sure or believe what ponies say.” Applejack said before leaning back in her seat. “I’ll take your word for it seeing how you’re a friend to Twilight back in the days, but I’ll be keeping an eye on them.” She said before hearing the door open as Rebecca and the others entered the room. “Well speak of the devil. I take it you girls got what you needed from Sweetie Belle?”
“Yep, thanks for that by the way.” Rebecca said as she examined her own weapon. “Hard to believe that weapons like these exist outside of our home country.”
“You'll be surprised as to what you’ll find here in the wastelands.” Sunny said before turning her attention onto Applejack. “If you don’t mind me asking, but if you’re alive then that must mean the other leaders' ministries are alive as well?”
“Y...You could say that yes. But I haven’t the foggiest idea on where they might be in this tartarus on equis we call the wastelands. If I did know, then I wouldn't be here as the active mayor of this town.”
“So do you have any idea or clues on where they might be?” She asked as the former farm pony shook her head.
“Been dead for two-hundred years, sugarcube. Can’t help you in trying to find my friends if you’re thinking of doing that, nor do I think some of them want to be found given the state we left Equestria is in.”
“I mean, she’s not wrong about that. I mean sure a lot of what they did was good, but it also did a lot of damage during the war and the aftermath.” Sunny said as she adjusted her glasses. “The biggest impact was the loss of the rulers. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Without those two, Equestria pretty much spiraled down into what you see now.”
“Yeah, so you can see why some of us don’t want to be noticed by every pony. Some would worship us as they did with the Princesses, try and capture us for their own needs seeing how we’re immortal, or worse.”
“Fair enough. I’m sure we'll find them along the way. But for now we have a mission to do.” Rebecca said as Applejack nodded.
“Again, you lot take care of that giant crab monster and I’ll consider it as your debt paid for what we did to the train.” She said before handing them a map that had the location of where the watering hole was located on it. “I put the location of the watering hole on that map. It’s not that far from here by vehicle, so take one of the spare raider’s jeeps that the dogs were able to repair and tune up. You can even use whatever the jeep has in the trunk if you want?”
“Alright, this shouldn’t be a problem.” Vanessa said as she took the map. “We’ll have this problem of yours taken care of in no time flat!”
“See that you do, and do be careful when dealing with this monster. I don’t want to find out that you were killed due to overconfidence.” She said as Rebecca and her group began to make their way outside of AJ’s office.
(Diamond Dog Town)
In a matter of minutes, the small group of hunters made their way over to where the watering hole was that the monster was seeing using the water as it’s home and source of water. Rebecca began to scan the area that they were in. The ground ripped to sunder by war and time, the soil lifeless and pale, pieces of the earth sticking out of the ground forming misshapen spikes or giant mouths ready to eat anyone or anything that would come near them. As Rebecca continued to scan the area, she noticed a giant skull sticking out of the ground near the watering hole.
“Alright, Zenith Daimyo Hermitaur is currently in the ground near the watering hole. We need to take out the shell on its back so it doesn’t skew us from below when it digs into the ground.” Rebecca said before hopping off the jeep and walking over to the trunk of it. As she opened it, she would find that it was filled to the brim with grenades which took her by surprise. “What the hell? Who carries around a fuck ton of grenades around? Don’t they know that they could’ve blown themselves sky high if someone hits them with a stray bullet or something?”
“Those aren’t regular grenades.” Sunny said after walking over to where Rebecca was. “Those are magical energy grenades.”
“....Care to explain please? Rebecca and I aren’t from around here so we have little knowledge of stuff here in the wastelands.” Vanessa asked as Flare Warden chimed in on the conversation.
“Magical Energy Grenades are made of raw, lethal magic energy. They have a chance of vaporizing enemy combatants, much like any other magical base energy weapons.” She said which caused Rebecca and Vanessa to stare at her for a moment before looking at the grenades. “This stuff was developed during the war by the Ministry of Wartime Technology along with a few other things.”
“So they can vaporize anything upon contact right?” Rebecca asked as Sunny nodded. “....Think we could use them to vaporize a giant skull?”
“I mean, it is possible to do that. But you would have to place them on an area where it will cause enough damage to break the skull. Maybe where you can find a crack on the skull or something?”
“So we’ll have to drop them from above.” Vanessa said as she looked over at Flare Warden. “And it would seem you’ll have to do it. Given how Rebecca can’t fly.”
“Wait, you don’t know how to fly?” Flare asked as Rebecca shook her head. “But...You’re a pegasus. How can you now fly?”
“Um...Well….that’s a...personal reason.” Rebecca said before shaking her head. “Look, the point is that I’m more of a ground pe...pony then I am an air pony. Plus I’m holding a heavy weapon. So even if I could fly, I wouldn't be able to fly properly.” She said which caused Flare to stare at her in judgement. “Don’t fucking judge me! Just take to the air and drop some of the payload onto the giant crab monster when you see an opening.”
“...This conversation isn’t over. We’re going to have much to talk about how you can’t fly.” Flare said as she grabbed a carton of magical grenades. “More specifically, how I’m going to train you on how to fly.” She said before taking off into the air and towards the direction of the monster.
“And what are we supposed to do?” Littlepip asked as Rebecca turned her attention towards the grey unicorn.
“Littlepip will be our sniper from a distance. Sunny Day will cover Littlepip so that no monsters or raiders attack her from behind. I will be the vanguard in getting the monster’s attention, and Vanessa will be my support/coverfire.”
“Does the thing have any weak spots or something?” Sunny asked. “Seeing how it looks like a giant crab, its shell must be hard as steel.”
“The weapons Vanessa and I have will be able to cut through his shell. We’ll be focusing on breaking it’s claws seeing how it’ll use them as shields and it can cause explosions with them when the color on its body turns green. During that time, Littlepip will use Spitfire’s Thunder at Z Daimyo’s joints that connect to its claws.”
“Well that shouldn’t be hard to hit.” Littlepip said as she reached into the jeep to pull out Spitfire’s Thunder. “I’ll try and find a good enough place where it won’t be able to spot me.” She said before running off into the area of the monster as Sunny Day follows after her.
“Guess that leaves us to get its attention huh?” Vanessa asked as she reached into the jeep along with Rebecca to get their weapons.
“Pretty much...hard to believe we ended up in a place like this.”
“A post-apocalyptic world full of monsters from the Monster Hunter series and ponies hungry for blood?”
“Yeah...Sorry about that. Had I known something like this would happen, then I might’ve just gone by myself and left you home to relax.”
“It’s not like being angry at you will solve the mess we’re in. Plus there are some things in life that we can’t control. This is kind of one of those moments...plus I don’t think we can go back home given how we ended up here...I’m pretty sure we died before coming here.”
“Right...wait we died!?”
“I’ll explain later, right now we have a job to do.” Rebecca said as she placed the switch axe onto the holster on her back and began to walk to where the monster was located. “Come along partner, we got ourselves a monster to hunt.”
“But...I...wait how did we die!?” Vanessa asked as she quickly followed after Rebecca in a hurry.
Chapter 1: Rumble in the Wasteland
Author's Note
Fair Warning: This story is non-canon to the story Fallout Equestria made by Kkat.
Rebecca's Armor set:
Vanessa's Armor set: (Armor on the left)
Chapter 1: Rumble in the Wasteland
Chapter 1
Rumble in the Wasteland
(Comic Con)
“So mind telling me why you brought me here to this stupid convention?” Rebecca asked as she was being pushed behind by her friend Vanessa.
“Because, you need a break from work on the military base.” Vanessa answered. “You know the old saying right? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy~.”
“Hey, I can have fun. Why do you think I go to the shooting range and practice my firearm?”
“That doesn’t count in your case. Plus your father ordered you to take some time off from your busy schedule so you can hang out with me.”
“And going to this con was the best thing you can think of….speaking of that.” Rebecca planted her feet down in order to stop herself from being pushed by Vanessa. “Why am I dress up like this?”
“Well it seemed like the perfect fit for you. You did hunt some deer with your dad a while back right?”
“Yeah, when I was just a little kid in middle school. I look stupid in this outfit.” Rebecca said as she tugged on a part of her pants.
“Oh come on. Lighten up Becky.” Vanessa said as she placed an arm around Rebecca’s shoulder. “We haven’t been spending much time together in quite some time. So why not just enjoy yourself with me and just relax?” With a groan Rebecca rolled her eyes and sighs to her friend’s plit.
“Fine….you’re lucky that we've been friends for a long time, otherwise I’d have left you here hanging with no way to get back home.” Rebecca said as she felt Vanessa hug her.
“I knew there was a soft side to ya. Now come on. Let’s go look around and see what they have here.”
“Not like I have much of a choice in the matter.” The woman said as she felt herself being dragged over to a nearby booth. Upon being pulled over to said booth, they both notice that it was filled to the brim with a combination of both video games and comic books from different series, be it from an old anime show, cartoon show, and game that you would only find on ebay. “Whoa, talk about going back into my childhood in the 90’s.”
“I know right? I never expected to see something like this in a place like this. Well maybe old DC comics and stuff, but you know what I mean.”
“Welcome to my booth ladies.” The owner said as he appeared from underneath the booth he was in. “How may I help you two today?”
“We’re just looking to see what you got buddy.” Vanessa answered as she begins to look around some more. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have something for our costumes would you?”
“Depends.” The man said as he eyes the ladies up and down. “I take it you’re looking for something Monster Hunter related stuff?”
“Vanessa is. I’m just here due to being forced by my friend and father.” Rebecca said as she felt her friend jab her in the rib lightly. “Okay maybe I want something as well. But I’m only doing this so that my friend here can stop nagging at me on how I should be less uptight.”
“Well then. I've got just the thing for you two.” The man said as he goes underneath the table he was behind and pulls out what appears to be a book, two bottles with some green colored water in it, a longsword and a bow with a set of arrows beside it.
“Huh, not a bad imitation of the the real thing.” Rebecca said as she picks up the longsword to admire the craftsmanship of it. “You made this along with the other stuff?”
“Yep, nothing but the finest for my customers.” The man said as he extends a hand out towards the two. “That will be fifty dollars please if you’re planning on buying all of it.”
“Fifty dollars just for that?”
“Hey it took me three months just to make these lady. Either pay up or move along.” The merchant said as Rebecca groan in annoyance. “Tell you what, I’ll throw in a set of grappling hooks and take five dollars off. Sounds fair right?” Rebecca looked over at her friend who had a pleading expression on her face. With a sigh, Rebecca reached into her pocket to pull out a wallet and pulled out the amount of money needed to pay for the stuff. “Pleasure doing business with you two. Hope you enjoy the con.”
“Thank you good sir~” Vanessa said before walking off into the con with Rebecca following her with an annoyed expression on her face.
“Forty five dollars wasted. You know I could’ve gotten something else with that money? Like a new mod for my handgun, or a suppressor for the recoil issue I have for one of my other weapons.”
“Will you for once stop thinking like that and just relax for once in your life? I mean jeez, is it that hard for you to just relax this one time with me as a friend?”
“I am your friend. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to complain now do I?”
“No, but can you at least try something that I like for once?” Vanessa asked as her friend sighed in both annoyance and defeat. “How about I buy you something to eat? Would that make you feel better?”
“.....Well…..You are paying for it right?”
“Of course! Why did you think I let you buy the gear for us to cosplay with for?” She said before her eyes widen and quickly cover her mouth from accidentally saying that. Rebecca deadpans at her before giving off a devilishly grin
“....I’m going to enjoy having you treat me for food.” Rebecca begins to make her way to the food court of the anime convention with Vanessa following after her. As the duo turned the corner, unknowing to them. Two construction workers were working up on the ceiling on the inside of the con fixing a segment of an old rusty looking vent of the ventilation system. As they were working one removing it, one of the workers accidentally dropped the wrench he had in his hand causing it to fall to the ground.
“Look out!” He yelled as Rebecca looked up to see where the yelling was coming from. As she looks up she saw that the wrench was falling towards Vanessa so she quickly lunged towards her friend to push her out of the way of the oncoming object from above. Upon impact, she quickly dropped to the floor as blood began to pour from her ears and eyes
“Rebecca!!!” Vanessa yelled as she quickly ran over to her. Just as she did that, the segment of the vent that the workers were working on slowly started to loosen from the bolts holding it in place before it completely fell off and started to fall towards Vanessa and Rebecca. As Vanessa heard the sound of something heavy falling from above, she looked up to see the segment of the vent falling down towards her. In a matter of seconds, she lets out a loud scream before it was muffled out by the sound of the heavy metal landing on her and Rebecca as her vision faded into darkness.
(Wasteland)
Rebecca felt a small gust of wind brush pass her face as she lets out a low groggy groan. She slowly starts to opened her eyes as her vision was blurry for a moment before slowly starting to focus as she soon finds herself in the middle of a dry, barren, and lifeless field that seems to stretch for miles and miles on end.
“Damn...what the hell just hit me?” Rebecca asked as she rubbed the top part of her head. As she did that, she felt a bit...off. Like her hair was much longer….and more silky smooth then before. “The hell? Since when did my hair became so smooth and silky?” She said while pulling at her hair a bit. As she was doing that, she paused upon seeing her hand having a different color. “The fuck….dammit Vanessa. If you colored my skin in paint again I’m going to kick your ass-” Just as she was about to get up, she soon heard the sound of a horse clopping on solid ground. Startled by this, she quickly looks around to see where the noise was coming from for a while before starting to figure out where the noise came from. Looking down, Rebecca’s eyes widen upon seeing her feet were now stubby and black colored.
“What the fuck!?” Rebecca yelled as her friend Vanessa shot up from the ground, startled by Rebecca’s yelling.
“Who, what, where, when, why, how!? Huh?” Vanessa said as she looks around at her new surroundings. “This….isn’t New Jersey is it?”
“... Vanessa… is that you?”
“Holy crap! A talking mutant horse creature!”
“......Yep that’s you alright.”
“With wings!”
“Wait what?” Rebecca look over herself until she reached behind her back to feel a pair of wings on her back. Upon feeling them, she deadpans before looking over at her friend Vanessa. “Stop acting like an idiot and get off your ass Vanessa. We have a serious issue going on here.”
“Wait, how do you know my name?”
“It’s me. Rebecca Walker.”
“... Prove it.” Vanessa said as Rebecca squeezed the bridge of her nose, or snout in this case.
“During our high school dance you tripped over someone’s shoe and ended up face planting into the cake that they had near the food table.”
“... Oh my god, it really is you.” She said, before scratching at the helmet that she was wearing. Both of them were wearing different types of armor sets from the Monster Hunter series with Vanessa wearing the Kirin Armor set while Rebecca was wearing the Barioth Armor. However, there was one thing that she was not expecting when she saw Vanessa take off her helmet. And that was having a horn directly on her forehead.
“.....Huh…..I always thought Unicorns were myths...guess I was wrong about it.”
“Wait, I’m a unicorn now?!” Vanessa gasped.
“Please stop being so dramatic and stupid for once. You think being in the military would make you have better control over your emotions.”
“Well, this is still a lot to take in. I’m surprised about how your handling this normally!” Her friend shot back, before looking all around her for a moment and taking in the scenery. “So wait… if we’re like this now… why does everything look like… well…?”
“Like crap?”
“Yeah, like that.” Her friend replied back. “This place looks more like a warzone than a home for mythical creatures.”
“I’m more surprised that we ended up here. All I remember was pushing you out of the way of a falling wrench, then everything went dark. What happen to you that got you in this place.”
“Hey, I don’t know! I’m just as confused as you are!” Vanessa told her, before noticing something lying down behind Rebecca’s feet. “Hey, isn’t that the longsword you bought from that vendor guy?”
“Yeah….the sword you got me to pay for….cheap ass move you did there by the way. You owe me forty five bucks by the way.” Rebecca said as she went to pick it up. Only to notice that it was a bit heavier then when she bought it from the vendor at the con. “Huh...this feels a bit heavier than usual.”
Around that time was when she turned to look at Vanessa, who just found the bow and arrows that she had gotten herself… while touching the tip of one before retracting her hand. “Ow, that’s sharp!”
“... Vanessa… I need you to tell me what happen to you after I died from the wrench to the head… god it would be sad if it was a boot to the head that killed me.”
“Hey, don’t look at me! We just woke up in god knows where, found out we’re ponies and I also found out the weapon I got is not a prop anymore. It’s the real deal!” Her friend told her. “Check your weapon. I betcha it’s an actual blade.”
“I don’t need to look at the blade to know it’s real seeing how your prop is real now. But I guess asking you questions is a bit to much of a rush for you. For now, let’s just find someplace to stay in or at for the time being until we get our bearings straight.” Vanessa nodded as she was about to walk over to Rebecca, only to hear the sound of a car heading towards them. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah… I did.” Vanessa told her, while looking around. “But why would we be hearing a-?” Before she could finish, the sound of a car intensified as a huge dust cloud was heading towards them before stopping, along with the sound but it was low and audible to hear. Once the dust cloud vanish, it revealed three rusty looking jeeps covered in paint, blood, and scratches as four ponies could be seen riding in each one. Each one of the ponies were wearing clothes or armor that would look like something that you would see in a post apocalyptic movie like Mad Max.
“....Are we in hell Vanessa?” Rebecca asked as she blinked in surprise to seeing ponies with the same anatomy as a human.
“No… but I do think that they aren’t friendly…” Those suspicions were almost immediately confirmed when it showed a few of those ponies carrying different weapons… and some were pointed at them. “Not friendly! NOT FRIENDLY!!”
“Well, well, well. What do we have here boys?” said a bulky looking earth pony as he hops out of the jeep walking towards the two humans turned ponies. “What are a pair of lovely mares doing out here in the middle of nowhere~?”
“Uh…”
“We’re just walking to the nearest town.” Rebecca said quickly before Vanessa could answer.
“What a coincidence, so were we. Maybe you two would like to come with us and we can go together to the next town? You know it’s dangerous to go alone out here in the wasteland. You don’t know what could happen to you if you’re not familiar with the land here~” He said while the others chuckle deviously.
“Cover your eyes on the count of three.” Rebecca whispered as she place a hand in her backpack side pocket.
“Ok! ” She whispered back, waiting for the count.
“That’s fine and all. But we can get to the next town by foot. Thanks for the offer though.” Rebecca was about to take a step forward, but was stopped by a bullet fired by one of the ponies from the jeep.
“Oh, but we insist. You see, we are gentlecolts. And it would be wrong of us to let such fine looking mares walk off.” The earth pony said as the other nodded in agreement. “So please, come with us if you would be so kind to do so~”
“Sorry.” She said before pulling out a flash grenade and tossing it at the ponies.”3!” She whispered to Vanessa, before saying to the gang. “But my dad told me not to go with strangers.” Upon saying strangers, the flash grenade went off as it blinded the raiders as they yelled in pain from the flash going. Rebecca and Vanessa quickly covered their eyes from the flash as the pegasus looked over at her friend. “You took archery classes right, or taken any?”
“Yeah… back in summer camp, but that was years ago.” Vanessa admitted.
“Well good news. You’re going back to it. When the flash dies off. Fire at the ones with guns.” Rebecca ordered her friend, who nodded nervously as she placed the arrow on the bowstring and readied it. Rebecca in turn unsheathed her longsword as she staggers a bit from how real it was, along with the weight from it. As the flash dies off, Vanessa pulled the arrow back on the string as she took aimed and fired at one of the raider ponies in the chest killing them upon impact.
“They killed one of our men! Stop them before they get away!!” The earth pony yelled as the other raiders started to fire blindly due to them being blinded by the flash grenade. While they were shooting, Rebecca quickly charge at the jeep to the left and hopped onto the hood of it and implanted her sword into the chest of the pony behind the wheel. Quickly pulling her sword out of the dead pony, she raised it up as she slashed at the two unicorns necks behind the dead pony as blood splattered from the gashes from their necks. Of course, the leader of the whole caravan was not too happy.
“Everypony out! If they want a fight, we’re giving it to them!!” He ordered as the ponies hopped out of their vehicles and formed a somewhat circle around them. Weapons at the ready… yet, it was as they were forming around them that Vanessa noticed something.
“Um… Rebecca… is it just me or am I seeing some kind of moving fin in the ground behind the head honcho? ” She whispered.
“What are you talking about-” Before she could finish, Rebecca noticed a familiar looking fish like fin moving around the raiders from behind. “You gotta be fucking kidding me…”
“What are you going to do now mares!? You’re surrounded!” The earth pony said, not paying attention to what was fast approaching him. And just as he was about to give the command to open fire, a sand like wyvern that Rebecca and Vanessa would know as a Cephadrome bit him by the leg and began to drag him off to the side of them for a good few minutes before letting him go. At first everything was quiet besides the screams from the raider’s leader as he was holding on to his missing leg.
“We better get out of here.” Rebecca said as she and Vanessa slowly tried to make their way to one of the raider’s jeep, only to be stopped by a gunshot by a unicorn raider pony. “Again with a gunshot?”
“What makes you think you’re going anywhere-?” The unicorn asked, only to realize that the Cephadrome was now attacking the other members of the raider’s group aside from the captain. Forcing them to fight for their lives against the beast while also providing an opportunity for Rebecca and Vanessa to escape during the chaos.
“Quick, let’s take their ride while the Cephadrome is dealing with them.” The pegasus said as she quickly pulled Vanessa towards one of the jeeps. Finding something that looked like a key in the front seat as Rebecca got in the front seat. Vanessa herself got in the back and was looking behind them, just in case if there were any ponies following her that needed a quick arrow to the face. “Buckle up, because I have no idea what I’m doing….for the most part.” She said before putting the key in the ignition and turned the jeep on after turning it a few times and kicking it. Once it was on, she put the pedal to the metal and bolted out of there.
“Hey!! Those mares are stealing our meat grinder!”
“Forget about them! That monster is tearing us apart!!” The blue earth pony yelled before his head was cut off by the Cephadrome darting pass him like a bullet before landing back into the ground and going after Rebecca and Vanessa. Vanessa was trying to shoot at the monster while Rebecca was driving, but given the bumpy terrain, it was making it especially harder for her to concentrate on landing her shots.
“Is it following us?” Rebecca asked.
“Yeah, I’m trying to hit it, but it’s gaining on us!” Vanessa shouted back while nocking another arrow on her bow and firing it again. Only to be a few inches off. “Seriously, what the hell is this thing weak too?”
“Thunder and Ice from when you had me look up what it’s weakness was when you had me play Monster Hunter Freedom Unite back in high school. Sadly we don’t have anything like that and we can’t hit it while it’s under the ground.”
That’s when Vanessa began to check her quiver for a moment to see what kind of arrows she had in there. Before thinking of something as she looked to notice a box of dynamite at the back of the jeep. “Hey, I got an idea… you think I can make some makeshift blast coating from these dynamite sticks back here?”
“Not unless I can keep this jeep steady enough for you to make them.” She said before making a hard right turn to avoid a giant rock sticking out from the ground.
“Well, try slowing the jeep down. I’m going to try and make some so that way if it jumps out and tries to attack us, I can fire one at its face to knock it to the ground.” Vanessa told her as she began to work on trying to assemble it. “God, I hope this works…”
“And let that thing blow out the tires on this thing? Hell no!” She said before feeling the Cephadrome hit the side of the jeep. “And what do you mean hope!? Just light the sticks and chuck it at the damn sand fish thing!”
“...... You know what, why didn’t I think of that?” Vanessa asked before chucking the lit dynamite sticks like a mad mare as she kept on throwing them out the back of the jeep. “EAT ON DYNAMITE, SHARK-FACE!!” she yelled as the sticks of dynamite exploded upon hitting the ground. Causing the jeep to stagger a bit before Rebecca gained her balance with the vehicle as the Cephadrome let’s out a loud roar from getting hit by most of the barrage of dynamite causing it to flop out of the ground like a fish out of water..
“Alright! I got it!” Vanessa yelled before flinching as she spotted a fin of a Celphadrome darting pass the one flopping around and heading towards them. “Oh fuck! We got another one heading towards us!”
“Well throw another stick at it.”
“I can’t….I kinda chucked them all at the one chasing us.” She said before noticing Rebecca shooting a glare at her. “I know, I know, it was stupid of me. But to be fair, I didn’t think there would be more than just one of them chasing us.”
“We are so not prepared for this.” As Rebecca was looking around for a means to escape the Celphadrome, she soon notice from the corner of her eyes a deep gully as an idea pops in her head. “Hold on tight, and don’t say anything for a good minute or two.” She said before making a hard right turn towards the gully and entered it. Once she enters it, she quickly turns the engine and lights off as she motions for Vanessa to be quiet. The unicorn nodded as she watch the Celphadrome stop in front of the entrance of the gully for a moment before popping its head out to look around at its surroundings.
A trail of sweat trails down the side of Rebecca’s face as she had her hand on the key in case she had to turn the engine on if her plan failed. While Vanessa readied an arrow onto the string of her bow as she waits to see what happens. After a minute or two, the Celphadrome that was chasing them quickly sank back into the ground before swimming off away from the entrance of the gully. Both Rebecca and Vanessa sighed in relief as they lean back into the seats they were in.
“Well that could’ve gone better.” Rebecca said, taking slow and deep breaths.
“Gone better? How could it have gone better?”
“You not throwing all the dynamite at the first Celphadrome.” She said as Vanessa chuckled awkwardly. “Anyway, let’s just wait here for a while before we head out into the open.”
“That would be a bad idea really.” said a mystery female voice as the two humans turned ponies looked around to see where the voice came from. “Um, up here if you would?” They both looked up to see a brown colored unicorn mare with violet colored mane & tail, green eyes, and was wearing a blue trench coat, grayish-black colored pants & boots, darkish grey gloves with a strange device on her right wrist, and a crimson red backpack.
“Um….Hi?” Vanessa said as the mare began to make her way down towards them, only for the mare to lose her footing on the last step she took and fell face first onto her face. With a groan, the mare quickly pulled herself up as she rubbed the side of her face.
“Ouch, you okay?” Rebecca asked as the mare brushed the dust off herself.
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking. As I was saying, it would be a bad idea if you go out now.”
“And why is that?”
“Because during this time, there would be a school of sand sharks swimming around in the ground to hunt for smaller monsters or ponies unfortunate enough to end up outside in this neck of the woods. So you’re kinda stuck here with me. Well kinda stuck. You have a jeep so you can leave after this.”
“Okay….Care to explain who you are ma’am?” Vanessa asked as the mare pulled out a pair of glasses.
“The name’s Sunny Day. Or Sunny for short. I’m part of the research ponies in New Appaloosa in researching those creature that you came into contact with.” Sunny said as she pulled out a small book with a poorly drawn picture of a Celphadrome on it. “I call it, a sand shark. From what I gathered, this fish hunts its prey from underneath the sand and is able to swim around the sand like a fish.” There was a moment of silence upon hearing Sunny Day’s explanation of the Celphadrome before they both ended up laughing. This caused the mare to blink in surprise and confusion from Rebecca and Vanessa’s laughter. “What? Why are you two laughing?”
“That’s not a sand shark.” Rebecca said trying to keep her composure. “That’s not even its name.”
“Oh, and what is its name then if you think you know what it is?” Sunny asked as Vanessa reached behind herself to pull out a book and handed it over to the mare.
“It’s called a Celphadrome. Not a sand shark. This book will tell you everything you need to know about it.”
“Please. I’ve been out here for the past two years, and I think I know that my information is up to-” Just as Sunny was looking through the book, she paused mid sentence upon seeing the Celphadrome on the page that she was looking through. Eyes widen at seeing the information of the wyvern, she looked up at the two with a raised eyebrow. “Who are you two mares?”
“Private Rebecca Walker.” The pegasus said as she points a thumb to Vanessa. “And this is my friend, Vanessa Vogelweid.”
“Hi! Nice to meet you.” Vanessa said as she extends a hand towards Sunny, who in turns shakes it.
“Those are some weird names that you two have...Where are you from?”
“America...Well Vanessa was born in Ireland, I was born in the USA.”
“USA? Wait are you two from another country outside of the Wastelands?”
“....You could say that yes….Maybe we should explain on how we got here first before going into detail about where we come from first?” Rebecca asked as she noticed Sunny Day putting the book that Vanessa gave her in her trench coat and pulling out a small notepad.
“I would love for you to tell me please. This might be good information for the ponies back in New Appaloosa.” Sunny said as Rebecca looked over at Vanessa for reassurance.
“We’re going to be here for a while, might as well take the time to get to know each other and this place called the Wasteland.” The Unicorn said as the pegasus shrugged before taking a seat on the ground.
“I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you on how we got here…”
