Fallout Equestria: The Highlander

Chapter 2 - Siúil a Rún (Go, My Love)

The putrid and vile smell of death filled the stallion's nose as he entered the destroyed and decayed town of Ponyville, skeletons and abandoned carts littered the streets, along with the ruins that were once buildings that housed residents or shops, the shire shouldering his rifle as he made his way through the streets.

The sun gleamed off the gray on his jet black and gray marine armour, the underarmour itself being comprised of a body tight suit, as well as having a padded layer for warmth in the cold and heartless sea of black that was space, with small oxygen tanks housed under the plate carrier and kevlar padding, his helmet's visor didn't glare in the sun, as it was covered with the skull of an alien race of invaders, three eye sockets on either side, a split lower jaw and a row of jagged teeth lining both the upper and lower jaws, strapped to the stallion's helmet with leather, and covering a majority of the helmet, leaving him to see out of the front two eye sockets.

The skull had a jagged blue stripe painted along the right half of the face, and had been painted a pale grey, same as the primary colour of his armour, with the eye sockets having black painted on the inside to give them a sunken appearance, the helmet lamps were located within the middle eye sockets between the front and far back.

Jackal would make his way through the town of Ponyville for a good ten minutes before a sudden snap was heard, a gunshot, narrowly missing the stallion's head as he quickly found cover behind a cart, the bat pony quickly peeking out of cover to look for the sniper, noticing a scope's glint in one of the second floors of the many residential buildings, the shire finding cover again as another crack was heard from a shot missing.

The bat pony would look to the left of the cart as he noticed a ditch and pipe that could allow him to get to the sniper fairly easily, deciding to take it as he quickly rolled into the mud filled ditch, his armour and weapon almost instantly becoming coated in the thick, blood filled and filthy mud as he got up, beginning to move as a brisk pace through the sewer pipe that was only around half full slosh slosh slosh was all that would fill the pipe loudly from the stallion's hoofsteps.

The end of the pipe soon came as the stallion slumped against the side, placing the stock of his rifle against his left shoulder as he took aim at the enemy sniper, breathing out softly before firing, BOOM as a shot rang out from his marksman rifle, sending a 7.62x51 round directly into the sniper's skull, a glorious display of blood coating the wallpaper as the sniper's corpse fell down in a slump.

The victory would be short lived however, as the sound of a bat breaking the sound barrier was heard, followed by the crack of the eye sockets on the left side of the skull around the stallion's helmet cracking, the bat pony falling to the ground in a daze as a Raider stood over him, a few others joining as they wailed on the bat pony for a few seconds.

"Quick! grab his shit and let's go!" the squeaky and worried stallion's voice rang out as the bat pony was stripped of his weapons, or at least what was easily grabbed, his rifle and sidearm taken away, though his bowie knife and ammo remained due to it's sheathe being under the bat pony, along with the pouches that housed his weapon's magazines.

Jackal would come to on a cot in a dimly lit room, a desk against the wall with a plate that had a few caps and bobby pins on it, a lit candle on the bedside table illuminating the room, and the shire's armour and helmet folded up at the end of the bed, he'd groan as he sat up, a commanding mare's voice speaking up.

"Hey! you need rest you stubborn bastard!" she'd exclaim, having a harsh Irish tone as she walked over to the bed, gently shoving the stallion back down "leathcheann, ag smaoineamh go bhféadfá éirí suas tar éis buille mar sin (idiot, thinking you could just get up after a beating like that)" she would mumble with a vitriolic tone to herself, the bat pony raising an eyebrow to her

"I'm the furthest thing from an idiot" Jackal would reply with a grumble as he sat up, resting his forehooves beside him as he looked to the mare, having bruises over his body, the bat pony clutching his head as he groaned, having a....slight concussion, just too stubborn to acknowledge it.

"Oh? that why you went and got yourself beaten up and left for dead in a ditch huh? and how come you know Shirish? no one else speaks it here in Cathair na Teorann (Border City)" the mare would say as she pulled an armchair over with her magic, sitting down on it as she looked the stallion over before raising his left hoof with her magic "huh....cybernetic limbs? and huh, Shirish Knotwork too" she'd say with a fairly impressed tone as she inspected the cybernetic

"I speak Gàidhlig Eachraidh (Equestrian Gaelic), only understood some of your vitriolic insult but I got the idiot part clearly" he'd say with an unimpressed tone as he glared at the mare before gently snatching his hoof back from her magic "and it's Highland Knotting" he'd say, the shire standing up as he groaned in pain, towering above the mare at a fairly impressive 6'4"

"Yeah yeah, you got your name for it I got mine" she'd respond, standing up and trotting over to his stuff, grabbing it as she held it out "and I suppose you'll want this no? to go out and get yourself killed in the wasteland?" she'd ask, giving it to the bat pony with a snicker "word of friendly advice? go get a drink at the alehouse, and then come back, you can help repay me for dragging your heavy ass here with some labour work, need my roof fixed" she'd say with a snicker, handing Jackal a bag of 10 caps

Jackal would take his armour and caps as he let out a soft sigh, looking his armour over before giving the mare a thankful nod "Right....name's Jackal by the way" he'd say with a chuckle, starting to slide on his gear as he put on the bodytight undersuit first before putting the padded armour on afterwards, brushing some dried mud off the skull around his helmet as he looked back to the mare

"I know, says it on your chestpiece dumbass" she'd reply bluntly with a snicker, sitting down at the desk as she grabbed a quill "and name's Vineyard Heart" she'd say, looking to the bat pony with a smile, the Shirish Unicorn Mare having a dark grey coat, cabernet red mane and tail, and silver eyes.

The bat pony would head out of the building as he looked around, the town was pretty large, snow coating the ground and rooftops, each building being Viking in design, with a longhouse, and various building surrounding it, a dock down by the river, and a waterfall at the top of the hill, irradiated water running down through the middle of the town and linking up at the main river itself, Jackal would remember the mare's name, knowing a Heart once, one of his squadmates, Rose Heart, his team's lead engineer and demolitions expert, figuring it was just mere coincidence that his saviour shared the same last name, coat colour, mane and tail colour and eye colour, he'd look for the alehouse before noticing the large sign that had a tankard painted on, heading up the path toward it.

Inside the alehouse was alive with the joyous cheers of both Shirish and Equestrian Highlanders, shorter than the Shire Bat Pony, though still taller than the average Equestrian, most of the alehouses patrons would be sharing drinks and singing a song, a fairly basic rebel one, Shires Wha Hae, a song sung during the Civil War between Celestia and Luna, back when Celestia attempted an invasion of the Highlands and was beaten.

The music wouldn't really stop for the bat pony, a few patrons looking over, as well as the barkeep, but it wasn't like he was the strangest thing in the alehouse, most of the patrons had various animal skulls adorned on their clothing, Jackal would grab a seat at the bar as he took off his helmet, tapping the counter with a pained sigh "Whisky" he'd say, the barkeep walking over as he poured the bat pony a glass

"5 caps, not every day that our local healer brings in a true blooded Shire" the older stallion would say with a chuckle "surprised you aren't dead, looked just like Hel herself was about to take you" he'd then say with a sly grin, having a proud Scandineighvian accent

"How'd you know I'm true blooded?" Jackal would ask in response as he placed 5 caps on the counter before taking a sip of whisky, he himself had a gruff and strong Equestrian Highland accent, it wasn't the Doerick that most of the Deer and Ponies in the southern parts of the Highlands spoke, clear Equestrian, just with the small inflection or growl with some words.

"Your accent, and your height, the two centuries of living underground kinda put a hamper on Highlanders being tall" he'd say with a hearty laugh, taking the caps as he put them in a small ornate wooden box before leaning on the counter "guessing you'll be needing some gear and a job though right? tell ya what, you swing by when you're better and I'll introduce you to our blacksmith, he's always needing the younger stallions to help him out with weapons and with cutting wood to keep our fireplaces lit" he'd say with a smile "you could get some caps that way, we usually send a few of us down the river to trade with a town that sells firearms, all we have here are bows and swords, on account of not having a gunsmith and all" he'd say with a smirk.

"Aye sound, I'll be here once I fix Vineyard's roof" he'd say, finishing off his glass of whisky before putting on his helmet as he stood up, the shire bat pony giving the barkeep a friendly nod before heading out and heading back down to Vineyard Rose's home, the mare waiting outside for him as she pointed to a wooden ladder and some thatch roofing before she headed back inside.

The Shire Bat Pony would grab the ladder as he set it up against the wall off the house before picking up the thatch as he climbed up onto the roof, noticing a hole where the roof had caved in a little as he made his way over, starting to cover the hole up as he grunted, it would take the bat pony a good hour or two but he'd have gotten the hole covered up and climbed down to ground level again, folding up the wooden ladder before laying it on it's side and against the wall.

Inside the thatched house, Vineyard Rose would be setting a small two pony table, putting down some buttered bread and some tankards of mead as she sat down, looking to Jackal as he entered before smiling as she motioned to the seat opposite her "Ah! you fixed the roof huh? well good, now you can eat, given you'll be helping us that makes you part of the town now" she'd say with a cheerful smile "so I suppose I must have to feed you right?" she'd ask with a sarcastic tone and a snicker.

Jackal would head into the guest room where he woke up, taking off his armour and neatly folding it up as he placed it on the bed before heading back and sitting opposite the mare that he owed his life to, gently picking up a piece of bread as he began to eat, staying fairly quiet as he did so.

"You don't talk much huh? that some macho "I don't need a mare's help, I'm a big buff stallion" thing or just some....you....thing?" she'd ask with a blink, taking a bite out of her own piece of bread before sipping on her mead, the mare was wearing a long grey and brown tunic, with black fur around her neck, some brown leather gloves on her forehooves, and finally black makeup around her eyes and in an upside down V pattern down across her cheeks from the bridge of her muzzle.

"Not much to talk about" Jackal would respond as he ate some more food before taking a swig of mead as he swallowed, the bat pony looking fairly tired and weak from haven been beaten near to death by the Raider Gang in Ponyville "unless you really wanna talk about some fucken thatch?" he'd ask with a snicker, letting out a quiet pained yell as he was bapped on the muzzle harshly by Vineyard

"No swearing in my home, it displeases the Gods" she'd say sternly with a glare, finishing her food and mead as she stood up, taking Jackal's plate once he had finished, though leaving his tankard of mead as well as her own tankard as she took the wooden plates over to a table with a container in it for washing up, placing the plates into the container after scraping the remaining crust that Jackal had left into a compost container as she returned to the table, pouring the two some more mead.

The two would drink for a few more hours before turning in, Vineyard heading to her own room, and Jackal taking the guest room, he'd neatly place his armour on the end of the guest bed before laying down on the straw bedding on his side, the shire bat pony looking at the wall as he sighed, closing his eyes before soon falling asleep, ready to aid the blacksmith in the morning and start earning some caps, the new currency the wasteland now used.