Fallout New Vegas: A New Road

The Courier’s grip stayed steady as he fired. Despite it being his non-dominant left hand, he was able to land all of his shots.

Of course, the .45 rounds did jackshit to the big fucker. Unloaded the entire mag into the bear and he only got a few small bullet wounds. Bastard didn’t even notice as he charged at the human.

Six reacted shockingly quick and jumped to the Bugbear’s right, avoiding its charge. The big beast growled in annoyance as it inadvertently skid along the ground a few extra feet, kicking up dust clouds.

This gave the human an opening. Within a second, the Courier re-holstered his pistol, realizing that even the God-given round wouldn’t be enough to fell this bear unlike the one’s back in Zion. He grunted to himself, pulling out a different, more fitting weapon.

The wooden grip of a double barreled sawed off filled his hand. He no-sold the recoil from sheer strength alone as he let loose a slug right into the Bugbear’s chest when it turned.

It stumbled back a step, growling in anger as the solid steel ball penetrated its flesh. Its human opponent just huffed in annoyance at the fact it wasn't dead yet.

“Of course,” growled the Courier, not using his second slug just yet.

His Power Fist made it impossible to reload at the moment, so he would just tough it out for the time being.

The bear-like beast leapt into the air and dive-bombed at him, stinger first. For such a big bastard, it had surprising agility, and the Courier jumped back a few feet, barely getting out of the way in time, only for it to slam into the ground in front of him.

Its impact kicked up a cloud of dirt, and the beast’s massive, clawed paw swatted at Six from the smoke.

He was just too slow to avoid that one, and it slashed across his chest, ripping through his duster. Sparks flew as the claws raked into the riot armor underneath and he stumbled back with a grunt.

“Fucker!” he hissed, putting his shotgun’s second slug into the beast’s upper shoulder.

The Bugbear roared, but ignored the pain otherwise and lunged forwards into him, its mouth wide open.

Six’s eyes widened as its muzzle slammed into his chest at an awkward angle. He tried to move back, but the beast lurched forwards even more, and he found himself in an awkward position as he jumped upwards to avoid being knocked down.

He grabbed onto the monster’s neck with his left arm, still gripping the shotgun all the while. With a grunt of effort he began slamming his Power Fist into the side of the monster’s head.

It roared in pain at the first hit, but he decked it again, and then a third time, trying to cave the big bastard’s skull in with each blow. Sadly though, he didn't have a good angle to punch at, and thus only left a few cuts and deep gashes on the monster’s cheek.

The Bugbear had enough and stood up to its full height, flinging the Courier off of its head and back towards the confection building. Six flew upwards at first and then began spiraling downwards in a perfect arc. He flailed about as he attempted to right himself, but had nothing to grab onto!

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” he shouted, before slamming back-first onto one of the untouched wooden tables, shattering it into splinters.

The wind was knocked out of him, but he wasn’t even close to done as he forced himself up. As he did though, the Bugbear leapt into the air and dive bombed him again!

His eyes widened and he rolled out of the way to the left as the beast slammed its four front paws downwards in an attempt to crush him. To counter the massive beast’s attack, he rolled into an upright position on one knee, and then brought back his fist, before surging forwards.

The Bugbear howled in hate as he slammed his Power Fist right into its lower left wrist.

Six found the crunch of the impact quite satisfying in a morbid way and drew back for another punch.

However, he was swatted away with a backhand slap from the beast’s other left arm, sending him flying back several feet once more. He grunted, landing on his shoulder blades and skidding back, kicking up some dust and dirt as he went.

He hopped up quickly, getting back fully to his feet as the Bugbear stood up to full height as well, examining its now crooked, and no doubt broken forearm. Saliva leaked out of its opened mouth as it growled at him.

The only response it got was him quickly putting his Power Fist under his left arm and yanking his hand out. The Courier broke open the shotgun and quickly loaded another two slugs into it, letting the spent shells fall to the floor.

Normally he would’ve recollected his used ammo, recycling and all. But he was sure whoever invented recycling hadn’t dealt with a twelve-foot bee-bear-thing.

Regardless, the shotgun was flicked shut and his right hand was returned into the Power Fist. Locked, loaded, and rearmed, he stood there, tense and ready for the beast, as it glared down at him.

Throughout all of this, Lyra her head out from behind the concession stand to watch the brawl, shock adorning her face.

“Bon Bon…” she managed, her voice almost like that of a whisper from her shock, “l-look…”

“Lyra, I’m busy getting prepared to evacuate any civilians!” shouted back her wife, who now inexplicably had acquired a large, metal briefcase.

“I’m serious…” Lyra managed.

“I am too!” Bon Bon replied as strapped a grappling hook around her chest, a watch now adorning her right forehoof. “Didn’t you see all those foals? They could get hurt in the fight, or worse!”

Lyra just used her magic to force Bon Bon out from behind the small ice cream stand.

The special agent was just about to chew her wife out, whenever she saw what had Lyra so shocked. A large, bipedal creature unloaded a handheld cannon at the Bugbear, leaving two new wounds in the beast as it charged him down.

“Is that a…” managed Bon Bon, her expression confused. "I thought they were a myth..."

“I think it is, they're real...” concluded Lyra.

After a moment of shock, the special agent shook off her surprise.

“T-this doesn’t change the plan!” shouted back Bon Bon.

“B-but-”

“No buts! We have lives to save!” the stern mare said.

“What about the-”

“He’s our golden distraction!” shouted Bon Bon, interrupting her wife a second time. “Now focus! I’m gonna need your teleportation!”

Lyra only managed a meek nod.

Courier Six focused on the Bugbear’s weakened left side. With one paw mostly out of commission, it only swiped at him with its good one as he weaved around behind the creature.

Before it could fully turn, he slammed his Power Fist into the bastard’s lower lumbar, hoping to sever the spine. Unfortunately, he only left a deep gash and not much else as the beast roared, turning and swatting at him in one fluid semicircular motion.

The Courier dropped down low to one knee, avoiding the slash and allowing him to slam his fist right into the beast’s stomach. It gagged, faint traces of bile splattering into its own mouth as its lower forearms grabbed at its pained stomach out of instinct.

Like a boxer, Six just followed this up by giving it a one-two combo, sending a quick pair of right-hooks into the parts of its stomach its claws weren’t covering. This opened up more gashes and made the monster stumble back as it nearly vomited.

Six for his part took this time to quickly reload his shotgun, taking his Power Fist off to do so as he stepped back as well, gaining some more distance.

The Bugbear soon recovered, getting on all six and rushing him down as he snapped the double barrel closed and re-equipped his Power Fist.

He aimed his double barrel low, steadying it against his right forearm as he pulled the trigger. The shotgun's left muzzle flashed, and the slug grazed the side of the beast’s head, leaving a long scrape. It did little else though, and before Six could manage a second shot, it slammed into him, hard.

He was sent sprawling onto his back again, but this time the monster forced him down with its two upper arms, slashing and jabbing at him before he could roll away.

He growled and hissed as it left scrapes along the armor on his chest. Even on the ground he was kicking his legs out the entire time, forcing himself back as best he could. It was relentless though, moving forwards and slashing and biting at him as it did.

Six managed to angle his shotgun and fired off the second slug, hitting the monster’s collar area and embedding the slug deep into the beast’s flesh.

It howled out in pain from its new wound but continued its beastly assault by swatting at his left hand, knocking the sawed off from his grasp. Not only this, but the monster’s long claws raked across his palm as well, slicing through his glove and drawing blood. Had he not had his Pip-Boy for protection, it likely would’ve torn apart his wrist as well.

“Fuck!” he hissed, even though most of the pain was dulled by the Slasher he popped earlier, it still hurt like a bitch!

Six then began kneeing the Bugbear in the throat as it went in for a bite, trying to collapse the esophagus. It lurched back a bit from the blows, and he crawled backwards, staring down the beast as he did.

The monster leaned in, growling in his face as its mouth opened wide, aiming right for his head!

Six’s reaction speed almost seemed to double at that, and his bloodied hand grabbed a large amount of dirt. He responded to the monster’s roar by throwing the debris right in the beast’s face, aiming directly for its eyes!

It roared and stumbled back in shock and irritation as Six finally got the breathing room to crawl back further and jump up to his feet. His stance was lower to the ground now, matching the Bugbear’s own.

His hand continued pouring out blood as he grabbed a bowie knife from its sheath, holding it in a reverse grip. Six made sure to hold on extra tight, as the blood made his palm slicker than normal.

The Bugbear huffed deeply, its breaths more labored. It almost had the air of an animal that was going to retreat. Still though, it roared in fury at the human, and rushed him down once again.

He swung out his bowie knife, catching it across the snout, creating a fresh, bleeding wound that made the animal back up. It roared once more, finally rearing back up onto its hind legs again.

As the Courier was handling the beast, Special Agent Sweetie Drops and Lyra were both dealing with the civilian evacuation

Most of the ponies had bolted down the winding trail by this point, thank Celestia, but a straggler or two remained.

The two stayed out of the line of sight of the two battling monsters as they snuck around to find any more civilians. It was an easy feat with Lyra’s teleportation, thankfully.

Soon enough, they checked one of the few structures around the dam that wasn’t a cheap tourist shop or a food kiosk. That being the bathrooms.

When the doors were shoved open, both of the adults heard a trio of terrified screams, which were immediately shushed.

“Quiet!” whispered Bon Bon.

“Hey, these three look familiar,” mused Lyra as she looked down at the three spooked fillies.

“Oh uh, we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, ma’am” squeaked Apple Bloom.

“Ah, Dinky hangs out with them every now and then,” nodded Lyra.

“Ye-yeah…” Scootaloo managed. “Are you here to rescue us from that big scary monster?”

“Yes we are, little lady,” said Bon Bon, before nodding to Lyra.

The aquamarine unicorn used her magic to hoist the trio up and onto the stronger earth pony’s back.

“Alright, is there anyone else around here?” asked Bon Bon.

“We don’t know,” admitted Sweetie Belle. “We just ran for the only hiding spot we could when that thing showed up.”

The thing in question soon roared as more shotgun blasts rang out, making the ponies’ ears ring.

Scootaloo felt a sense of familiarity at the loud bangs but couldn’t quite recall where she’d heard them in her current, terrified state.

“Alright, Lyra, you know what to do,” nodded Bon Bon.

Lyra nodded back, and charged up her magic for a moment, before enveloping them all in a teleportation spell.

The ponies appeared down the trail, a good ways away from the dam.

“You fillies head on to safety now!” Bon Bon said as she bent down, letting the CMC jump down from her back.

“What about you guys?” Scoots asked.

“We’re gonna go catch ourselves a monster!” said Lyra, attempting a gruff and cool voice, to assure the trio.

“Alright, Starlight might be here soon, she’ll be able to help y'all!” offered Apple Bloom.

“And maybe our sisters too!” Sweetie offered.

The adults nodded and rushed the fillies along, making sure they got to a safe distance before they galloped back to rejoin the fray.

“Think ya can take me, asshole!” growled the Courier, burying his bowie knife in the monster’s back.

He had managed to leap on top of it and was currently hacking and punching away at the Bugbear’s defenseless spine. Still, the beast managed to endure the blows and the stabs, just growling in annoyance. Soon enough it hovered a few feet into the air before it leaned back, stopping its wings from flapping and allowing gravity to take over.

Six’s eyes widened as he realized what the monster was doing, and before long, he was crushed between the hard concrete of the dam and the several hundred pound bear monster!

He grunted in pain, shouting out as his cybernetic spine and riot armor thankfully absorbed most of the blow.

Still, he was a bit dazed, and didn’t hang onto the monster as it got back up and turned towards him. He rolled away as the beast tried to stomp on him, and continued rolling as it plodded forwards, slamming its feet into the ground each time.

As he rolled, he didn’t notice the two mares approaching from behind the monster. Only whenever the beast stopped its advance did he stop his rolling, looking up.

The Bugbear growled, looking down to see a grappling hook embedded into one of its legs, with the hook itself penetrating the monster’s skin. Its eyes widened as the combined weight of Bon Bon’s earth pony strength and Lyra’s magic forced its leg out from under it.

“Thanks for the assist!” Six growled to the two, his voice coarse as the desert he hailed from.

They looked at him in surprise, before nodding as their faces took on a determined expression.

“Hold this big bastard off for a minute!” he shouted, looking back towards where he’d lost his shotgun.

He then looked back at the Bugbear, which was rising back up. Six acted fast, giving the fucker a hard sucker punch to the snout, making it force its eyes shut in pain. With that, the human rushed back over to retrieve his dropped firearm.

With the bastard distracted from the blow and the ponies, he reloaded a pair of slugs into the shotty and then fired off both of them immediately, pelting the beast.

Suddenly though, its wings began flapping, and it jumped up, flying into the air and almost taking both ponies along with it!

Lyra and Bon Bon strained as they tried tugging it downwards, and Six himself even tried to gauge the percentage of hitting one of its wings from here.

Damn, not looking good.

Fucking VATS.

Regardless, he fired on, missing one slug but landing another, albeit ineffectively.

He reloaded once more, and that’s all he had time to do before finally the rope of the grappling hook snapped, letting the monster fly into the air and dive bomb right at Six.

“Oh fuck me!” he shouted to himself, not expecting it to charge him.

Lyra fired off some magical blasts, but they did little as the monster pointed its stinger right at the human.

It was so quick, he didn’t even have time to get out of the way, and his stomach was met with the hot, searing, and yet familiar pain of a giant insect’s stinger being lodged inside it.

Of course it was the stomach, one of the few parts without proper reinforcements.

He growled, easily four, maybe five inches of penetration.

Fucker got him good.

His breath hitched as he was drug along by the flying monster. His feet were kicking up dust all the while, his heels skidding along the ground. Soon the monster flew upwards once more, Six still impaled on its stinger as it went. His boots finally left the ground as the monster ascended further.

Lyra and Bon Bon just looked in in horror as he was lifted up about fifteen feet… and then weight took over.

Six’s eyes widened as he slid away from the beast, air rushing past him as he did.

He traded in his impalement for a long drop.

Limbs kicked and grabbed at nothing, just as he had done before.

Nothing to be grabbed. Nothing to slow the descent.

He slammed down onto the roof of the confection kiosk, and it gave way entirely, with his body smashing through the small building, a deafening CRACK! ringing out around the dam as it collapsed on top of him.

There was no movement from it, just dead silence broken up by the sound of the Bugbear's buzzing wings.

With no more human in the way, the monster set its sights on the ponies, blood still adorning its thorax all the while.

Shocked out of their stupor by the beast turning their way, Lyra and Bon Bon ducked out of the way as it tried to sting them as well. However, after it dive bombed them, its spiked tip just met dirt. Their lower-frames and four legs let them outmaneuver the beast easier than the human had.

It didn’t matter much though.

The beast just pulled itself away from the ground, standing on two legs as it growled down at the ponies. Lyra pelted it with her golden magic as she backed up.

Smoke was kicked up with each impact, but the creature just laughed them off as it charged forwards. The two mares split to either side of the beast as it rushed them down.

“Got any more rope?” asked Lyra as she tried to form a plan.

“I only packed the one!” Bon Bon returned, obviously not expecting this whole ordeal.

“We gotta get the human and bail!” offered the unicorn, her wife nodding.

“We should find a way to slow it down first!” Bon Bon said, before having to dodge out of the way of the charging Bugbear.

She rolled to the side with the agility of a secret agent and reoriented herself.

Bon Bon saw it was now on Lyra, chasing her back towards the side of the dam the two had initially came from.

The earth pony swore to herself as she chased after the beast, hoping to distract it away from the unicorn.

She took a note out of the human’s book and forced herself to gallop as hard and as fast as she could, moving up to match pace with the Bugbear. Sweetie Drops then leapt onto the monster’s back, grabbing its sensitive wings with her forehooves and tugging hard.

It roared, kicking itself up onto its hind legs before it shook around, trying to fling the earth pony off.

Bon Bon held on for dear life as she was flung this way and that, her grip loosening by the second. She groaned, a faint trace of motion sickness exploded through her head as she was finally flung off the beast.

The secret agent flew several feet into the air, before she began to descend towards the ground. This obviously didn't help her motion sickness, and she was too dazed to orientate herself.

“Bon Bon!” shouted Lyra, as she rushed over, grabbing her wife in her magic before she impacted with the ground. The unicorn gently sat her wife down several feet away.

The earth pony was dazed, groaning as she nearly vomited up her shake from earlier. She gagged as a faint taste of sickness rose in the back of her throat, but she managed to keep it down as she looked up at Lyra. The unicorn was blasting the beast to get its attention, hitting it in the face and eyes with each spell.

It had grown annoyed with Lyra by this point, and took no more chances with its prey. The monster charged down the unicorn, and reared up on its hind legs, sending all four of its paws down at her, even the injured one!

The mare had no choice but to throw up a shield spell. While she wasn’t as magically adept as other ponies, she managed to create a small dome around herself, though her face shifted into one of a deep, almost pained concentration.

Its claws raked off the shield at first, with the monster looking on in confusion before it pressed against the small dome. Lyra huffed in response, pumping a bit more magic into her horn as the creature forced itself against her spell.

The beast began to use more and more weight, forcing its claws to slash harshly against the aquamarine unicorn’s only protection. She groaned again, as the monster put its entire force down onto the dome.

A spider web of cracks formed.

Bon Bon’s breath hitched in her throat.

The dome shattered like glass, and Lyra fell onto her back, exhausted as sweat poured off her. She awkwardly attempted to crawl away, but the monster strutted forwards.

“Lyra!” cried Bon Bon in panic, as she hopped up and began to gallop over in an attempt to help her wife.

She wasn’t quick enough, as the Bugbear stood over the unicorn already.

It growled down at the little pony as it raised a massive claw, ready to strike…

Memories flashed through Bon Bon’s mind.

All this time.

All of the attempts at protecting the one pony who cared for her, who accepted her, secrets and all.

Tears streamed down her face, as she was about to lose it.

The winded Lyra looked up at the Bugbear, her eyes narrowed at the beast, her horn glowing as a last-ditch effort to protect herself...

…

Her eyes shut out of instinct when a splatter of blood hit her in the face. The monster’s knee exploded forwards, sending out chunks of flesh and bone and viscera and dozens of droplets of crimson. Immediately, its leg buckled, and it dropped to one knee with a roar of agony.

It growled and chuffed, turning away from the unicorn as its gaze fully settled on the lone figure who dared to challenge it.

His duster billowed in the wind, the Old World flag emblazoned on it swayed this way and that, still standing after all this time.

Just as he had.

Six’s left hand leaked a large amount of blood onto the wooden handle of his new revolver, but even with that, it looked immaculate.

It was large.

Larger than the .45s, larger than Lucky, and honestly more impressive than even his shotgun by a mile.

A bear and a star were engraved on the grip, and ornate golden decorations adorned the metal frame of the weapon.

However, the most standout part of the art piece were the words emblazoned on either side of the big frame revolver’s barrel.

‘FOR HONORABLE SERVICE’

‘AGAINST ALL TYRANTS’

The Power Fist was held down at his side, still wrapped around his right hand. The bowie knife had been fully abandoned.

The Courier’s demeanor, his posture… they were different.

Didn’t cuss at the beast. Didn’t even say a word. Not a taunt, nothing.

Just looked at it, dead in the eyes as it glared him down, as if he knew the monster’s fate had been decided.

He was calm, stood up straight, nice and tall. Almost like a folk hero confronting an enemy that was out of their league.

Didn’t even mind the still bleeding wound in his stomach.

Stimpak worked nicely, even if the blood hadn’t fully clotted yet.

The swears, the anger, the rage, the want to eat and to rip and to tear into the Bugbear. It was all gone, brushed aside, allowed to meld into the back of his mind.

It was almost like something else took the controls; a switch flipped to a different setting.

The battle-ready survivalist was fully replaced.

No lowered down, animalistic stance. No knives. No punching.

In that moment, Courier Six wasn’t letting himself be an animal anymore.

In the place of the rugged Grunt was now a stoic, Gunslinging Cowboy.

He shrugged off the pain in his still-bleeding left hand as he cocked back the hammer on the big-framed revolver and fired off another round right into the Bugbear’s right wing.

VATS gave him a 90 percent chance to hit.

He damn sure did.

Its right wing was utterly split and rained down in pieces like papier mache. The paper-thin membrane couldn’t hope to be able to withstand the power of the big iron.

It was grounded. No running. No more dive bombs.

The Courier’s demeanor didn’t change at all. No words.

He just continued firing his final three rounds as the desperate beast charged him on all six paws.

Its eyes widened as the .45-70 shredded into it, delivering more damage than the .45 or the slugs could ever dream of.

Muscle and sinew couldn’t withstand the continued assault from the mighty Ranger Sequoia. Each additional bullet he put into the beast made its death draw closer.

One in its upper right leg made its gait slow from a determined run to a pained, jogging limp.

One in the left shoulder caused a bone inside to snap so loud he heard it amidst the gunfire.

One more utterly blew its front left paw completely off, with the creature nearly face planting as it tried to stand on the stump where its foot had once been.

It persisted, rushing him down with its near-death rattles ringing out from its saliva-leaking mouth.

Five rounds of the Ranger Sequoia did their job though. Thus, he stored the firearm, letting it twirl on his skillful index finger before he placed it in a special holster on his hip.

Rest was up to him now.

As the Bugbear approached with an unsteady run on its remaining limbs, the world slowed around the Courier.

The post-apocalyptic cowboy took just a moment to straighten his jacket.

GRX gave him time to do it anyways.

It was still quick despite its injuries, but he was quicker, even without the implant.

When it was a mere foot away from him, he made his move, shifting off to the right of the beast. He moved so quickly his duster flew up behind him, billowing about due to his immense speed.

He ducked low, his Power Fist brought back and then, he surged up, letting loose everything he had into an uppercut that’d make a Super Mutant blush at the raw strength behind it.

SNAP!

CA-CHUNK!

The servos in the Power Fist gave out, locking up from the sheer power of the blow.

The Courier heard a faint crack from within his arm.

The Bugbear’s head jerked upwards, and its entire body was forced into a standing position from the force of the strike.

The left half of its skull was utterly caved in, shattered from the now-broken Power Fist’s final attack.

Its neck was bent unnaturally, no doubt broken, and the monster’s right eyeball hung out of its socket, its tongue slung from its mouth like a limp slug.

The beast’s gigantic frame remained standing on its hind legs, before it slowly began to fall backwards. Its corpse impacted the ground, with a loud rumble ringing out around the Ponyville Dam.

The Courier held his position, his right arm outstretched for a moment.

It then dropped down to his side, going limp.

He ignored his Pip-Boy beeping, warning him that he had a crippled limb.

He grabbed at his shoulder with his still-bleeding left hand.

Probably a dislocation too.

After standing still for a moment, letting blood leak down his palm and his stomach, he turned to look at the utterly shocked Lyra and Bon Bon, who had been so enamored with the situation, they hadn’t even fled.

Dinky’s jaw was agape as she stared from the bush on the other side of the Dam.

“You alright?” he asked the mares tiredly.

They just nodded, too stunned to speak.

“Good,” he nodded to himself.

…And then he fell straight backwards onto the ground, splayed out and almost unconscious.

The breeze made his duster billow as best it could, as the lights got dark and blurry…

And then, there was nothing