Rainbow In The Wastes

Chapters

Surprise Surprise!
Introductions
To Megaton
Still Goin'.....
Robotic Octopus
Nightmares
The Morning After...
Trouble
Practice...
....Makes Perfect
A Little Too Much
Meet-Up
Fake
Shelter
Lionheart
Followed
Venture
Biggun
Windmill, Windmill, For The Land
Spiral
Render
Broken Trail
Through The Woods We Ran
'Til The Sun Goes Down
We'll Be Dreaming
Fifty
To Them?
Commotion
Passively Aggressive

Surprise Surprise!

The door to the Arlington Library swung open with a bang, startling the unexpecting ghouls inside the building. As the entrance slammed into the adjacent wall- hitting a surprised ghoul behind it in the process- the light of the coming dawn fell onto the inhabitants, momentarily blinding them as they hissed at their enemy and reeled. In the open doorway stood a tall, unmoving figure. Blinking their eyes, the zombified humans rushed their attacker, roaring with rage. As a ghoul got close to the entrance, almost completely covered in sunlight, a sharp object stabbed through the shade, twisting and turning in the unfortunate ghoul it happened to crash into. As blood and brain mixed together in a kind of sick blender, the blade withdrew, bringing with it a sample of its new mix with a sickening shlip.

The now dead ghoul's companions growled in anger at their comrades demise, and bum-rushed the unwelcome guest as a whole. A new item, one with a long barrel at the end, emerged from the strangers hip. He held it with one hand, turned to his side, aimed, and fired off six shots. Body after body joined the already dead ghoul on the floor, creating a very large mess consisting of blood, bone, and brain tissue. As the pool continued to spread throughout the floor, the shadow walked in menacingly, a scoped revolver in his right hand and a bowie knife in his left. Lightly sploshing the pool beneath his armored feet, he adjusted his duster, careful not to mess with the various pouches full of deadly explosives. Observing the gruesome puddle before him, he couldn't help but crack a smile.

He cautiously lifted his foot, stepping over the mess hell-bent on staining his duster. Chuckling darkly, he maneuvered around the front desk, not even giving the dead body bent over the terminal a second look as he continued on through the building, ascending the staircase with a wheeze. Standing in the middle of the floor at the top, he looked to his left, stumped. To his right were two doorways, one with an intact door and one lacking, and a still-standing water fountain. To his left was a single door, an old wooden one with a rusty knob dangling from a hole.

Eenie meenie miny moe. His imaginary arrow landed on the doorway to his far right, and as he walked toward it, he swore he could feel eyes boring into the back of his head. Ignoring his twitchy Wasteland instincts, the Lone Wanderer calmly walked through the door's threshold, checking the hallway for any hostiles. Seeing none, his green eyes landed upon a door on the right side of the hallway, shut tight with a single wooden block barring the metal lever that crudely replaced the knob. Eyes narrowing, the man slowly walked toward it, bowie knife held in a ready-to-stab postion and revolver pointed at the suspicious door. Stalking toward it, he opened it with his left hand after depositing the blade into the steel grip of his teeth. Jumping in with a flash and a flick of his head, the Wanderer was stunned to find a well-armored defense inside.

Eyes widening in unexpected astonishment, his eyes wandered the various racks of weapons and ammo that lined the room. A desk with a computer lay dust-covered in the right corner, covering up the obvious pile of grenades buried beneath a hand-made tarp fashioned from remains of leather bandoliers. A gun cabinet stood proudly in the leftmost corner of the room, a lightbulb dangling from the ceiling giving the whole room a sort of eerie feeling. Taking one step forward, he gasped in awe at what he saw to his right: a large painting of Pre-war D.C. hung on the wall, blocking the view of the various whiteboards of scratched out formulas next to it. A ragged map was taped to the bottom, and upon closer inspection, the Lone Wanderer found it was a map of the entire D.C. area. Placing his hand on his chin and bending down onto his haunches, he saw that a large red X was placed over the location he was currently in: the Arlington Library.

The Lone Wanderer squinted in curiosity as he leaned in more. Once he did, he was able to see more clearly some writing that covered the key, hastily drawn and sloppy, as if made by a five year old with arthiritis.

Large library with good, defendable rooms. Will try to scour around the areas around here, see if I can find anything interesting.

Blinking in realization at the writing, he considered what could've left it. Definitely not raiders, wouldn't've survived the Muties by now. Not the Muties either, don't know how to write. Brotherhood wouldn't need to scour areas unless for technological reasons, but they've almost wiped the city clean of technology by now. Which means....it's not something normal.

As he slowly got up, his eyes widened in split-second fear as he heard a loud click from behind him. Glaring, he quickly turned around, Blackhawk in hand as he stared down his enemy. Only, it wasn't something you would normally see in the Wasteland. Or, more specifically, anywhere. Because what had startled the Wanderer was not a Super Mutant, it was not a drug-addicted Raider, it most definitely was not one of his Power-Armored comrades. No, what was aiming a polished .44 revolver with a special handle was no Wasteland inhabitant. Not at all.

It was a pony.

It stared him down, deep magenta irises glaring up at him as if it was waiting to pull the trigger. The pony's light blue fur was rather hard to see underneath the dried blood spots matted all over its body and face. A white bandana only slightly hid the fresh blood that was very slowly oozing out of a cut along the right side of its face. The cloth pushed its.....multi-colored mane back atop its head, giving it a kind of "blast-back hair style". It wore a heavily modified version of an XXXXXS set of reinforced leather armor, and a leather bandolier lined with a long row of magnum rounds was tightly strapped over her chest as it stood on its hind legs. A bloodied rainbow colored tail swished back and forth idly from her rear.

The two combatants' stare-off seemed to last for hours as two revolvers aimed at each other, both unmoving. The pony broke into a cocky smirk, still brandishing the glare as its right hoof holding its firearm remained steady. Remaining like this, it broke the suspensful silence with two lingering words:

"Surprise, surprise."

Introductions

The man continued his relentless stare attack with his opponent, never breaking eye contact as he blinked in surprise. The pony before him just grinned mischieviously at him as he slowly shook his head with a smile. The Lone Wanderer slowly lowered Blackhawk, letting his entire head go limp as he broke into a low chuckle, which then grew into a hearty laugh as he gripped his side with his left hand. The rainbow-maned pony tried to keep her cool as she too was affected by the infectious laughing. Feigning a low chuckle, she allowed her eyes to throw themselves from the left to the right of her eyesocket, looking for a way to stop the awkward setting of the whole scene.

Not seeing any, her brow involuntarily began to sweat, her nervous fluids visibly running down her forehead from underneath her make-shift bandana. The man, through half closed eyelids, noticed her obviously uncomfortable demeanor, immediatly stopping his chortle. This only served to further panic the mare, who raised her gun suddenly, aiming at her opponents chest. Shutting her eyes, she pushed the trigger, waiting for the repeatedly rehearsed sound of a dead man wailing.

The mare opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see the man dead on the ground. Instead, the Lone Wanderer stood in front of her, an impatient look in his eyes, and arms akimbo.

"Wha-what?"

"As you can clearly see, the rather rude shot you attempted to fire off has sadly been misplaced," he stated darkly, holding six rounds of .44 ammo in his hands. "Though you caused no damage, I reccomend you not do that again, it happens to not end well, as my very thirsty knife is telling me," he said, tracing his finger over said knife as he told her this.

Suppressing the growing lump in her throat, the mare placed her hoof on the trigger again, ready to aim yet another shot at her rather....creepy opponent. The Wanderer yet again noticed this movement, staring daggers at the pony as he continued sliding his finger across his bowie knife's blue blade. His glare seemed to drill deep into her soul, and she began to contemplate running away as she couldn't help but blink helplessly back at the very angry man. It seemed to bear magical powers, as the mare could feel her right foreleg slowly retracting back to her body as she fell back to her haunches in fright.

The pony slid her gun across the ground, obviously terrfied for her easily takable life. The Lone Wanderer could feel the fear on his opponent, sitting there helplessly as she stared at him, hooves and head pressed tightly against the wall next to the still open door. The pony waited for it all to end. Waited for the chance to be reunited with her friends. Eyes shut tightly, the mare was greeted with a light tap on her shoulder. The pony expected the usual knife against her throat, but was instead treated to a crouched, old man with her modified revolver in his hands, grip facing her. Immediately pretending her panic attack didn't transpire, she reluctantly accepted her firearm back from her foe.

Facing the strangely calming face, she gave a little smile that silently said thanks for not killing me. The man gave her a smile in return, which gave the mare a rather odd yet peaceful feeling about the whole ordeal. She still didn't trust the bastard, but at least he wasn't planning to kill, rape, and eat her (in that order).

The lamp over the duo's heads grew brighter as the Lone Wanderer flicked a second switch on the wall, shining more light into the previously dimmed room. Looking at the unopened weapons locker, the Wastelander swiftly turned his head to his comrade, pantomiming picking the lock. Shaking her head, she stalked toward it, eying it suspiciously. Rearing up on her hind legs, the mare aimed, breathed in.....

And brought the bottom end of the grip down on the chain, shattering it into oblivion and throwing the pieces around the room. Not noticing the interested look on the Wanderers face, she leaned down and stuck her head into the now open space where the door once lay. The Wanderer too tilted toward the enticing sight, getting down on his haunches to match the mares eye level. His eyes grew wide as he noticed the surplus amount of C4 inside, audibly cheering in the form of LED lights and loud beeps.

The mare swept her wing inside, tenderly placing them over her primaries, obviously oblivious to the danger they posed. Eyes shut and a cocky grin on her face, she walked toward the far corner of the room, standing motionless as she waited for something. The Wanderer apparently didn't understand, and the mare allowed her left eye to open in annoyance as she stared blankly at him. She sighed deeply, blew an orange fetlock out of her hair, and pointed her eyes toward a locker to her left. Resuming her pose from before, the Wanderer noticed the now apparent note stuck on the front of it.

If you're not going to kill me, I am currently waiting for you to push this to the front and to the left of me.

Brow furrowing in irritation, the Wastelander threw his shoulder into the side of it, slowly pushing it toward the location. As he did so, he could just barely hear the tell tale sound of creaking wood, and with a mighty shove, the locker fell through a hole in the ground, crashing into what sounded like water as the dust settled above. The mare stood on her hind legs, arms akimbo and a heroic looking grin on her face. The man didn't get it, and stared down the hole.....

And straight into the eyes of a small band of raiders, whom were rudely awoken by the sudden hole in their ceiling. Unholstering their weapons, they began to fire at the intruder, bullets flying past him and into the wall adjacent of him. They, of course, had rather faulty aim. As the Wanderer prepared to fire a shot from Blackhawk, the mare next to him calmly trotted over to the hole, extended her wing, and threw the high explosives into the party. Wails of fear echoed throughout the room as the C4 sailed easily down the small hole, unable to be shot around with the gaps small walls. Nearing the bottom, the screams grew louder and louder, until they were mercilessly drowned out by the loud sound of the long awaited explosion.

Still smiling innocently, the mare didn't steal a single glance back at the plume of smoke that lifted up from the now larger hole, small bits of blood and body parts flying out with fragments of debris from the affected area. The Wanderer just stared wide-eyed at the thought of how easy it was for this...pony to do that. Turning his head slowly, he was met with the sight of said pony reloading her revolver, placing bullet after bullet from her clenched teeth to the empty hole of the cylinder as it rotated with the touch of a button. Raising his finger as if to talk, the mare spoke instead,

"Those guys are terrible whisperers; heard them yabbering on and on and on about eating me. That hole? Been there for awhile. Just thought I'd lift it up a bit and make it less noticeable to the naked eye. Smart, huh?"

"Wait, so if it's been there for awhile, that means-"

"Eeyup," she replied, mimicking her coltfriends signature phrase, "I've been in this hellhole for...uh...lemme think now..... Uhhhh, oh! Four weeks. Four. Weeks. How's that for awesome?" she asked, lifting up into the air slightly as she crossed her arms in a prideful pose. Mouthing damn, the Wanderer walked over to his comrade and threw out a hand.

Opening one eye, she glared and grinned at him, and with her right foreleg in the air, she shook the man's hand, lightly crushing it in the process. Growling in playful competition, the Wanderer squeezed back, much harder than the mare had with him. She still smiled, undaunted by the hundreds of pounds of pressure against her hoof. Giving a nod of approval, the Wanderer withdrew, the mare following his movement. After a moment of silence, the two looked at each other, smiles etched onto their faces.

"So, a badass pony with a rainbow mane. Don't see those kinds of colors 'round here," he stopped, holding his hand to his mouth as he coughed loudly, "but it's a very welcome change to the gloominess surrounding this place. Name?"

"Rainbow Dash. Yours?"

"Carter. Carter Thompson. Pleasure to meet you, you crazy, crazy son of a bitch."

Rainbow only smiled back at the comment.

Author's Note

Dammit, sorry for the wait guys. I was in (M)Arizona a few days ago, and I had no internet access where I was staying.

Side note: Holy shi :yay: ! This got in the Popular Stories section! I honestly thought it wasn't gonna be big, but I s'pose it is! :pinkiesmile: Thanks for favoriting and following guys, you're all awesome!

To Megaton

The pair sat in silence as they lounged in the room, the mare happily feasting on a Fancy Lad, and the man polishing his dusty weapons he had laid out on a workbench. The freshly washed towel he was using could not hide the very apparent brain matter that has previously been on it, but neither the mare nor he cared in the slightest: Weapon Maintenance is Weapon Maintenance.

As Carter stole a quick glance at his new companion, his mind wandered toward her survival. A newbie, much less a pony with no hands, had absolutely no way of surviving in here, what with all the Super Mutants, raiders, and Talon Companys presence looming around this very building. Suddenly hitting an epiphany, he stopped wiping his knife and stared blankly into space for at least five minutes, the pony near him not noticing as she threw her face into a box of Sugar Bombs. As his mind suddenly exploded into thousands of questions, bullets, and questionable pictures of women, he began to whistle as he instantly went back to work, oblivious to what had transpired in his head not two seconds ago.

Poking her head out from her chocolatey confinement, Rainbow looked over at the man, an annoyed look on her face and her mouth absolutely covered in fudge. Forelegs akimbo, she looked to the ground and asked,

"Hey, do you, uh, know anypony who could get me some better weapons?"

Turning back around to her, Carter could only smile and nod,

"Of course. Soon as we get outta here, we're goin' to my old friend Moira's place. She's got a lot of stuff you might need. Why, she gave me this when I saved up enough caps forty years ago," he replied, holding out a chinese assault rifle, "If I can, I could get her to mess around with it a bit, I'm sure we could get it to work with your hooves-"

"No, I can do it. I...don't like other people near my hooves," she admitted, shaking her left leg accusingly, "I'm all up for the assault rifle, but I can take care of the modifcations, alright?"

Chuckling, he motioned toward her revolver, cautiously placed on a low table he had acquired for her from a nearby room. Looking toward it, she took it in her teeth and trotted over to him, handing it off as carefully as a newborn child. As Carter looked it over with one eye, flipping it over and over as he examined it, he noticed the handle that had missed his trained eye before.

Nailed to the handle was a makeshift cuff, with two flat sides jutting out the top and bottom ends, three nail-filled holes running along it. Damp padding on the inside suggested that this was the way the mare held the gun, her hoof inside the cuff and against the handle. He looked at the trigger, and noticed it had been flipped to the right, causing it to be pushed to the right instead of being pulled back by a finger. Giving an impressed look and muttering a hmm of acknowledgement, he proceeded to wipe the wear and tear off the chipped cyan paint....

Swiftly turning around once again, he had to question this, "How the hell did you add a handle, remove the trigger mechanism and turn it around, and paint this damn thing with hooves?"

Contemplating for a few seconds, Rainbow looked at her revolver, and replied with a grin, "I...learned from a friend of mine a long time ago. He was a natural at fixing weapons once he found them in the Badlands."

"The Badlands? Sounds like an interesting name."

Looking up at him with a glare, she stared daggers into his eyes for his sympathy, "That's an understatement. That...place was hell for me and my friends. I barely made it out of there alive, okay? My friend could have as well, but he found a way. He always found a way in there.....I guess this place will be my second Badlands....", she said, trailing off with a look of sadness, "It's funny, now it seems so much less painful. This place is getting to me," she spat, brandishing a cocky grin as she blew at a stray orange fetlock, "we should move. You did tell me to keep moving in the Wastes," she reminded him as he closed the bag of weapons she had stashed inside the room.

She trotted over to a nearby desk, and bending her heard, the mare held up a book, making Carter laugh at the large skull on the front and the very serious look of the cover. Wasteland Surival Guide it read, by Moira Brown, with assistance from Carter Thompson!

The mare trotted outside the door, waiting for her companion to catch up. Standing on her hindlegs, her left leg was crossed at her hip, her impatient behavior going unnoticed by the Lone Wanderer as he walked past her and into the main lobby. As he kicked open the door just for her, she smirked at him and walked past, Carter following close behind as he shut the door, bits of ghoul brain still stuck to the knob.

Hefting the clamped bag with a huff of discomfort, he looked down at the mare next to him, calmly trotting a few inches away from him, her newly polished revolver shining in her torn leather holster. She looked on edge, yet nonchalant enough to look as if her sanity was safely locked inside herself. Looking back as she noticed his slower pace, Rainbow looked at him with a face that said Really?, to which Carter just shook his bag, stuck his tongue at her in a playful manner, and stalked off a little faster.

Rainbow, happy with her results, ran up to him again, keeping pace with the previously slow old man. Closing her eyes and grinning, she walked alongside her new friend, her mind at peace for a few blissful seconds in the comfort of the Lone Wanderer...

Eyes snapping open in sudden realization, she turned her head toward the man in question, mouth agape,

"Wait wait wait, you said forty years ago?"

The man nodded in response.

"So just how old are you?!"

Cracking his neck with a grunt, he wiped his hand all over his greying hair, still slightly holding the brown color it once was. His beard was scratched as well as he pondered the question, coughing ever so slightly as he thought. After a minute, he looked over at his bored companion, grinned, and said in a proud voice,

"Uh, about 59, ma'am."

Author's Note

OHAIGUYZ! I'm not dead yet. Don't think I would go so soon at the age of [insert number here]. So you know Carter's age now, as well as how Rainbow uses her gun! And just what happened in the Badlands, huh? Hell, I dunno.... :twilightsheepish: kind of.... :pinkiesmile:

Still Goin'.....

The pair's trip to Megaton was about as uneventful as a mole rat race underwater, the pegasus and the Lone Wanderer both keeping quiet during the entire trip, save for some small talk here and there. The two kept pace with each other, neither one inching forward just a little more than the other. After all, the mare was a little new at survival in the Wasteland, no matter how long she was in the library.

Rainbow Dash for her sake walked proudly next to the Wanderer, her tourniquet misplaced after she discovered the absence of running blood from her forehead. Though her eyes quickly shifted side to side for any signs of movement, she still held a calm demeanor, pausing to glance at her companion once or twice at a time to make sure he was alright.

She clearly did not realize there was no point in doing so.

Carter on the other hand was a little less on edge, Blackhawk in its holster and his bowie knife in his sheath attached to his chest piece. His armor glistened brightly in the Wasteland sun, blood red, brown, and white practically a beacon for his appearance.

If a sniper ain't here, he's missin' one helluva chance, he thought, glancing over at Rainbow, only to find her magnum in her mouth as she surveyed their surroundings, well, at least I have her along for the ride now, Carter chuckled at this thought, his growing age making itself noticed as a mix of blood and phlegm escaped his supposedly sealed mouth. Wiping his chin with the left sleeve of his duster, he stole a glance at his Pip-Boy 3000, which was currently displaying his stats.

This display of observation attracted the attention of the mare next to him, who twisted her head and stuffed her revolver gently back into her holster by her left flank. Giving a suspcious look, she asked, "Hay, shouldn't we keep goin'?"

Giving a laugh of affirmation, Rainbow smirked with victory as the man continued on his way toward Megaton, hand placed at his side in anticipation with his revolver still snug inside its holster. Trotting alongside him, she shut her eyes and brandished a cocky grin as the two continued on with their journey. The pair were silent for what was at least thirty minutes until the man broke the silence with a simple question,

"So lemme guess? You're a pegasus?"

Rainbow couldn't help but shine a grin from ear to ear, "Eeyup," she replied, mimicking her coltfriends signature catchphrase, "how'd you know?"

Looking down at her again, he answered her honestly, "Well, when I was a little kid, I used to be a little obssesed with equines; I don't remember much of what I learned because I was, hell maybe 5, but I remember reading about winged horses in myth-"

"Ponies."

Staring into space, Carter asked, "What?"

"Pony. As in a small horse. What, you didn't read about that? Everypony knows that!"

"Well, the book I read didn't say anything about winged ponies, but winged horses, as I learned, are called pegasi, mythological beings who can fly around the sky. I sorta did that once after what happened with the Zeta, but....."

A little worried to ask, Rainbow took a leap of faith, "But...what?"

Turning back to the way of their destination, Carter quickly looked away with a wicked grin on his face, "I'll show you at some point while you're here. Now c'mon, no more questio-"

"Hay wait, aren't just a little freaked out about a talking pegasus from mythology?"

"Now Dashie, ("Don't call me that.") this is the Capital Wasteland: Shit Happens. Really anything could happen here. Why, just yesterday, I saw an outer space ship come craaaaaaashing down into the ground near Greyditch. Dropped a neat li'l gun I put in my safe. Now, if ya don't mind, I'd rather get out of the rain fast than to get sick."

Staring up at the sky in confusion, Rainbow remarked, "It ain't rain-"

Just suddenly, a loud crack erupted through the skies, lighting them up for a split second. Immediately following was a thorough downpour of rain, wetting the mane of an annoyed Rainbow Dash. As it matted against her face, she slowly trotted toward a laughing Carter, muttered an, "I hate you," and walked off, leaving the man to follow after her with a cocky look on his features.

Running up next to her, he looked at his Pip-Boy and asked her, "Hey, you like music?"

Looking up at him with an annoyed look, she sighed and nodded her head at him. With pleasure, Carter switched the screen to Radio and selected his favorite (and only) option: Galaxy News Radio.

Out of the radio came a happy tune,

Tiiiimes have changed,

and we've of'en rewound the clock,

"Gaah, do we really have to listen to this old stuff?"

"Dashie, it's the only thing you have to listen to out here. Either enjoy it or hike up to Denver and pick up some of the last remaining rock songs on the planet."

Rolling her eyes in understanding, Rainbow slowed her pace down so Carter could keep up, and the duo could barely make out the sillhouette of Megaton over the horizon.

Author's Note

I know, I know: "Short Chapter Deadly, What The Hell?" Well, I'm currently trying to complete a story for a contest, which I most likely am not going to win and not have completed on time, and I've hit a rock in my brainstorming which affected, as you've noticed, this chapter. Do not fret, my readers, as the next chapter will be at least in the 2,000's, so expect it sometime next week; it's Summer Vacation bitches! :yay:

Robotic Octopus

The door to Craterside Supply flew open loudly, crashing into the wall next to it and crushing a mole rat inside a cage. The guard that was usually there was most likely in the next room sleeping, so Carter opted to sit against the counter and rest for awhile. Looking at the door with a quizzical expression on his face, he sat quietly as Rainbow walked in, mane wet and clinging to her forehead in a limp manner.

The man rested both arms behind his head as the rest of his body reclined back, hours of tensed muscles slowly releasing their tormenting pressure as the Lone Wanderer caught his breath. He couldn't help but thank whoever sent Dashie here; she was so far a great comrade, and could keep up with him far easier than a lot of his other companions. In fact, he remembered why he came here in the first place as his closed eyes snapped open in obvious annoyance. Staring up at the mare who was giving him an expression that almost yelled really?, he got up to his feet, and with one final stretch, he walked into the next room and upstairs, where the local trader was asleep....

Wait, actually, scratch that. What she was doing was most definitely not sleeping.

The scientist had out a large number of mines, which added up to a total of 20 as Carter sucked in his breath, flinching ever so slightly as he noticed the old woman tinkering with them. Fidgeting with a screwdriver, she threw it over the railing behind her in a huff, eliciting a moan of pain as it hit the mare below it. Sucking on his teeth as he looked over and saw Rainbow rubbing a bump on her head, the Wanderer stared back up at the woman.

Flushing her cheeks and thinking, she bent over and picked up a large toolbox, easily half the size of herself, and reached inside, her tongue stuck out as she searched for a tool. Yelling, "Eureka!" and waking up her guards, she grabbed out a sawed-off shotgun, and with a low heave, opened up a nearby window and threw the mine out. As it sailed through the air, she put a single shell in the left barrel, aimed with one eye shut, with one-hand, backwards, and with the gun underneath the fork in her legs, she fired, scoring a direct hit on the flying mine, exploding into a display of shrapnel, fire, and gunpowder.

Carter just stared blankly at the red-haired badass, who calmly ejected the shell, caught it with clenched teeth, and spit it into a nearby garbage can. Rainbow Dash, who heard the loud exclamation as well, was hovering in the air with her mouth wide open. As the woman placed the shotgun back into the toolbox, she wiped her hands clean, blinked twice, and stared back at the pair of visitors, obviously caught off guard.

"Oh hey Carter! Just fixing up the landmines you gave me!"

"Moira, you do realize I gave you those about twenty years ago, right?"

Unfazed, Moira stated, "And there still as clean as the day you put 'em in!"

Confused, the man replied, "But I didn't...put them in anything...."

Waving her hand like a rag doll, Moira blew a raspberry and said, "Sure ya did Carty! Don't you remember?"

Finger pointed at her as if to talk, Carter found he couldn't voice another fact, and with a look of both defeat and confusion, he quickly flinched as he saw Moira look behind him. Shutting his eyes tightly, he knew what was coming-

"Ohmygod! IsthatapegasusorisitaponyIcan'ttellcanyoutellmepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?!"

Wiping the spit off his face in disgust, he looked at Moira, who quickly voiced an apology for "invading his bubble".

Presenting her with his right hand, he said, "Her name's Rainbow Dash, though I just call her Dashie-"

"Please don't call me that."

"Never, Dashie."

"Gaah..."

"As I was saying, yes, she is a pegasus and a pony, like a pegasus-pony deal," putting his hand up to his chin, he muttered a hmm and continued," Y'know, I always pictured pegasi as horses, but I guess whatever helps you sleep at night; they're basically the same thing."

"No they're no-"

Interrupting the mare, Rainbow found her right foreleg grasped by Moira, who swiftly brought her downstairs and put her on a pedestal in the corner of the main room. Decsending the staircase quickly, Carter found Rainbow on top of a type of fashion pedestal, where she was currently being fitted with a vault suit, the numbers 2 and 0 still slightly visible against the faded background of the worn fabric.

The mare mouthed a weak Help me..., but to no avail as Carter just studied her new armor that was being custom fit just for her, and as she watched the scientist-turned fashionista strap on layers of hardened leather, she couldn't help but smile at her new ensemble, striking a cocky pose and laughing lightly as she was dressed from head to foreleg in a sized down Vault 20 armored jumpsuit, complete with a strapped on combat knife to the shoulder pad, a built in leather holster, and a small satchel bag on the left side of her body.

Making a rectangle with her fingers, Moira looked the newly armored mare over, who stood defiantly as she studied her new apparel, eyes gleaming brightly as she gazed at her polished knife. Moira placed both hands on her hips, announced that she was done, and then stopped mid-sentence, remembering one last thing.

"Wait! Hold on, lemme see if I can find one last thing you'll need...." she said, turning around and searching through a cardboard box, throwing little things such as fabric, leather, and ammo out as she rummaged through the confinements that were the only thing keeping her customer from being fully happy. As she reached the bottom, she cracked an ear-to-ear grin as she brought out a small metal box, the size of Rainbow's foreleg.

Confused, Rainbow leaned in as the woman opened it...

..and she gasped in awe as she stared at a small Pip-Boy 3000, the perfect modification to her already growing arsenal. Holding her left foreleg in front of her mouth, wide magenta irises stared blankly into the Wasteland wonder. She couldn't believe her eyes.

Carter whistled as he looked at the polished Pip-Boy, and with a glance at his own dusty tool, he pulled out a stool and grabbed a nearby rag off a coat hanger, wiping the dirt and grime from his old friend carefully. Meanwhile, Rainbow could barely contain her excitement at having a device on her left foreleg, which Moira placed considerately carefully, her left eye twitching ever so slightly if the device was not parallel with her leg.

"So why's it gotta be so perfectly on there anyways?"

Looking up at her and smiling, Moira answered, "Because, I don't want it to be even a liiiitle off on you, 'cause if it is, you might get a bad neck cramp because you have to turn your head more than you need to."

Giving a not bad look, Rainbow stared down at the Pip-Boy as it hissed, tightening itself only slightly to better fit her foreleg. After it was done, Rainbow brought her arm up to eye level, and with the edge of her hoof, she clicked the button onscreen that read Turn On.

Her vision was automatically filled with numbers and words as she felt a tingle crawl up her spine and course through her entire body, reaching every single nerve inside the mare and leaving them vigorous with more strength. Breathing a little heavier than usual, she looked at Moira and Carter, who looked back at her with a look of concern. Flailing her hoof, she scoffed, "Don't worry. I'm okay."

"Hmm, that doesn't usually happen when you get your Pip-Boy..."

"It's her body," Carter examined, looking over the mare, "It must be due to her not being human, it was built for us, not them. It could've been a little much for her small body to handle-"

"Hay, don't talk about me like I'm not here. I'm not weak at all!"

"I wasn't calling you weak, it's just that your body is noticeably smaller than a humans, and the waves it sent through your body to get your status and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. is built for humans, so it was more than what you should have normally."

"Oh, I knew that," Rainbow said, turning around with a crimson hue touching her cheeks. Giving herself an excuse to be about-faced, she cycled through the Pip-Boy's features, first looking at her weapon slot, which displayed two weapons, her .44 magnum revolver, and a combat knife. A small blue man held said weapons as she looked at each slide, and with a grin of curiousity, she switched to her Stats.

She was treated to yet another treatment of numbers and words, and her vision blurred for half a split-second as she looked at something called the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. She read it in her mind curiously:

Strength: 6
Perception: 5
Endurance: 6
Charisma: 4
Intelligence: 6
Agility: 10
Luck: 7

With a look of suspicion, she looked at it yet again. Still, the same numbers remained. Low Car-isthmus? Bitch.

As Rainbow continued scouring through her new tech, Moira resumed her studies, but not before Carter questioned her, "Where the hell did you even get that Pip-Boy anyways?"

A grin on her face, she replied, "A trader brought it in, said a little boy gave it to him as payment for protecting him. He also said the boy stated it was his own, so that's why it's almost the right size for her."

As she wandered off to go upstairs, Carter stopped her yet again, "Hey, how much caps do you want?"

"I don't need any, helping her survive in the Wasteland is enough payment for me."

"I can't just rob you of supplies, Moira."

"Consider this a reward for giving me all these mines, alright?" she asked, holding up a disarmed frag mine.

Laughing, Carter let her walk up the stairs as she went to tend to her experiments. Turning around, he watched as the newly armored pegasus fiddled with her Pip-Boy's functions. After a minute of this, she turned her head and branished her new knife, trotting over to the nearby workbench to begin modifying it for her use.

"Hey Dashie."

Sighing through clenched teeth, she asked, "Whud?"

"Maybe you should get some sleep now, save that for later. I have a workbench in my house anyways. Come on, now. Let's go," he walked over to the door and pulled it open for her, the light of the dusk flooding the room as he waved a hand to the outside.

Rolling her eyes, she sheathed her knife with an audible shing and trotted past him and into the rain. Before leaving fully, however, she turned her head and yelled, "Thanks Moira!"

A, "No Problem!" from upstairs answering her, she trotted out of the store, Carter following suit after repeating Rainbow's words to the scientist on the top.

As the two walked toward Carter's house, the man in front, Rainbow continued to look over her new device's various functions, ranging from looking at the amount of ammo she carried, how much weight she was pulling, and her personal stats. The walk was short-lived, and Carter walked in first, the door opening with a crash as it hit the wall next to it yet again. Throwing his arms out, he yelled, "It feels so good to be back home!" and with a defiant look, he walked over to a locker on the far side of the room, opening the rusted handle with his right hand as he reached inside for quite possibly his third tied-for-first favorite weapon of all time: his Homemade Crossbow he had created from an old hunting rifle, a destroyed set of Tesla armor, and sticks, feathers, and sharp blades he had just lying around.

As he examined his crossbow, he didn't even look back at the mare who stood awkwardly behind him, "Go upstairs and take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch."

Smiling sincerely, the mare walked up the stairs with her eyes shut, not expecting to run into a metallic object as she reached the top floor. Shaking her struck head, she audibly gulped as she panickingly gazed upon the large robotic octopus thing that stood in her way. Her mouth drooped and her eyes widened in fear, she looked up at the robo-ctipus with dread.

"How do you do madam-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH, THERE'S A ROBOTIC OCTOPUS IN THIS HOUSE!!!!!"

Author's Note

And there you go, my favorite Fallout mod in history ever: the Homemade Crossbow, featured in Fallout: New Vegas. Look it up on YouTube, I can't put in the Author's Notes. :twilightblush:

Nightmares

Rainbow woke up groggily, eyes half-lidded and body relaxed. As her vision readjusted to the light of her room, she found that her surroundings were not what she expected.

Around her, she saw trees, lots and lots of trees. The mare's eyes widened. She hadn't seen a tree in five weeks. Getting up quickly, Rainbow stumbled around, in a trance at the sight of wildlife and plant life once again. She fell onto her haunches again, forelegs her only upper-body support as she checked her body. She breathed inwardly as she found no armor on her body, no holsters at her hips, and no bandana on her head. Not even a single speck of dirt covered her cyan fur.

Rainbow's eyes teared up as she realized: she must've dreamt it all! She wasn't stuck in the Wasteland, she was just dreaming it all up! All the blood, all the guns, it was all fake! Rainbow threw herself onto her back, legs splayed out across the grassy terrain as she stared up at the light blue sky. Relief. That was the only thing running through her head. She was home again.

A large snap emanated behind her, snapping the mare out of paradise as she looked around swiftly. Not seeing a thing, she relaxed once more, thinking she had mistaken it for a small animal or something of the sort. Again came a snap, the sound echoing throughout her brain. Half-consciously, she reached for her revolver, only reaching empty space as she cursed loudly. Crouching into a ready position, Rainbow bared her teeth, furrowed her brow, and glanced around for movement once more.

Snap Rainbow's head turned to her right, seeing a bush slightly move in the wind. Patting her left hoof on the ground and dragging it across the dirt floor, she flexed her wings and flew right at the brush, arms in front of her in a lance-like maneuver. As she flew through it, she hit something hard, knocking it over and forcing it to the ground. Rolling over on top of it, Rainbow held out a hoof, ready to strike her opponent in the face. She looked down, and blinked five times.

"A-Applejack?"

"Uh, Rainbow? Couldja get offa me?" she asked, obviously uncomfortable with her position.

Slowly dismounting the Earth pony, Rainbow got back onto her hooves, staring at Applejack as she retrieved her hat from the ground.

"Applejack! You won't believe what happened! I woke up in this wasteland somewhere-"

Mouth open in disbelief, the farmpony questioned, "You what? Whad'you mean ya woke up in a wasteland? You should be dead!"

"Yeah, I- I what now?"

"Don't'chu remember the changelings?!"

"No...."

Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself as the rest of their friends came out of the woods, each with a smile on their faces, "Rainbow!"

Right as the words left their mouths, said mare's eyes filled up with a blinding white light that overtook her vision completely. She heard the crackle of thunder and lightning as the event transpired. Five heartbeats later, the Pegasus lowered her shielding foreleg, and her eyes grew into the size of pinpricks as she found herself surrounded by a different location.

Dark, burnt trees with no leaves stood slanted across a likewise field of dirt, balls of fire on small piles of Earth everywhere she looked. Smoke, light and dark filled the sky, itself a dark red with huge cracks of black and grey in it. Not a single cloud filled the sky. The mare gulped audibly and began to walk slowly toward a small light in the distance, barely noticeable across the field she walked on. As she neared it, she could make out tiny whispers to her left and right.

Badlands...

Rainbow Crash...!

Wingpony....

Athazagoraphobia.....

Wonderbolts...

The mare grasped her head as the words buried themselves inside her brain, finding little hiding places to further annoy her mind.

"Stop stop stopstop STOP!!!"

Another crackle and another light, this time Rainbow found herself on the dirt floor, head aching painfully and legs fatigued. The mare breathed heavily, mind racing furiously as she tried to process her situation. Another headache hit her, and as she closed her eyes, her location changed once more, that of a long, dark hallway with wisps of white smoke at the end. The walls were made of a tired grey brick, a red light brightening up a small part of where Rainbow lay.

"Rainbow!"

That voice...she knew it from somewhere. Turning her head quickly, she saw her friends once more, a tiny white light shining onto their features, ones of shock and worrying. From behind them came a large red stallion, his brown yoke glimmering in the light.

"Rainbow! Get up!" his deep voice pierced her heart more than she thought it would, the very idea of Mac, her Mac, practically terrified for her safety. As she tried getting up, her friends disappeared, leaving Big Macintosh as the only one remaining behind. He gave a kind smile, which she returned with difficulty through her pain. The stallion reached behind his back, and pulled out an object she knew too well.

Sliding her revolver to her, Mac spoke in the voice of the man she met, "First Rule of the Wastes: Ammo."

Opening up the cylinder, she found a single bullet inside, the round in the slot for her next trigger push, waiting obediently.

A loud growl came from in front of her, and as she looked at the smoke at the end of the hallway, she made out something terrifying.

It appeared to be a large dinosaur looking thing, dark colored and with curled horns at the top of it head. Large, sharp-looking claws caused her to freeze on the spot, and she looked back at Mac.

An old man, riot gear strapped onto his body, looked at her with arms crossed and a grin on his face as she heard him recite: "Deathclaws. Now, I hope you don't have to fight one while you're here. Doing that is suicide without the right equipment, guns, and know-how. When they come at you, it's best to use a dart gun and shoot them in the legs. If you don't have one on your hands, or hooves in your case, hinder their movement anyways. After that, aim between the eyes....and fire"

Carter disappeared like her friends, without warning, and accompanied by loud thunder. The man's last word ringing through her head in an emphasized manner, she looked back at the monster, and now knew that it was indeed a Deathclaw. It growled menacingly at her, continuing its slow, scary approach to her. She dropped her revolver onto the floor as it roared like a manticore, instantly charging at her at an alarming rate.

The mare scrambled for her revolver as the Deathclaw grew ever so larger in the side of her vision. Placing her hoof in the cuff on the right side of the handle, she brought the iron sights up to her eyes, both hooves on the grip. As it got to five feet away from her, arms stretched out in anticipation for a kill, Rainbow pushed the trigger as another blinding light took over her vision, the sound of the shot echoing throughout her head as she lost consciousness.

The Morning After...

Rainbow awoke in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. Tears formed in her eyes, tiny droplets beginning to leak down her cheeks and onto the blanket draped over her body. Wiping her eyes with an angry swipe from her right hoof, she began to calm herself down by leaning her head over her body and rubbing her brow thoughtfully with both hooves. That dream had been so.....real. She shuddered in thought of the creature she saw, charging at her as she fumbled with her revolver, the memory of her imminent death, only thwarted by a quick shot from her revolver. Her friends were there, all of them, even Mac.

Smiling for the first time that day, Rainbow looked down and noticed she was asleep on a comfy looking bed, or as comfy as you can find in the Wasteland. It smelt of mud and gunpowder, but it was the cleanest bed she'd slept in in five weeks. Throwing the blanket off with her teeth, she threw her hindlegs over the side of the bed, and noticed she was still wearing her armored vault suit from yesterday. However, not everything was in its place; her holster and her Pip-Boy were not on her person, or in her case pony, but a quick glance to her right found the latter on a metallic desk next to two filing cabinets. Hopping off the bed and trotting over to the device, she placed her left hoof into it as she saw Moira do it the other day, waiting for the low hiss that marked a comfortable seal on her leg.

It resounded not a moment later, the mare giving it a half-feigned congratulatory smile as the monitor turned on and began to display her statistics once again. Giving a sigh of relief, she turned tail and trotted toward the door, leaning slightly on her hindlegs to reach for the knob, expecting the usual solidness. Instead, she was greeted with the floor of the upper floor as she fell through the door, which had apparently been cracked open just enough for her to not see it.

Dammit Carter, she thought, quickly getting up and looking around to make sure no one had seen her fall. Growling in anger, she brushed the dust that caught on her suit with a huff of annoyance.

As the mare turned to her right, she suddenly felt her nostrils hit with a smell that caused her mouth to involuntarily drool, the aroma of something hitting her like a train. As she almost fell down the stairs, only saved by her wings opening up at the right time in midair, she noticed that the table in the living room was already set; a set of plates, three to be exact, were placed in the middle of the table, their emerald color shimmering in the light above the kitchen. Three plates? There's only two of us, unless that robot eats. I doubt it. Robots don't eat....do they?

The mare trotted into the living room, and with a raised brow, sat down in front of one of two plates on her side, the one nearest the staircase in case she got sick. After all, it can't be guaranteed whether or not food in the Wastes is poisonous, no matter how fresh. The air is filled with the stuff, as it said so in the Guide that Carter had given her the other day. Shrugging to no one in particular, she turned her attention to the area to her right, where a large figure had its back turned to her. Rainbow knew who it was immediately, the very man who pulled her out of the library, Carter. She could tell by the brown-grey hair and the-

Wait, is that a chef's hat?

Narrowing her eyes and sticking her head further in his direction, she couldn't tell whether or not that she was just seeing this. A bucking chef's hat? That is...actually kinda funny. Huh. Giving a snort of approval, she looked around for the best way to get his attention, not finding any until she found a very familiar object sticking out of the table. The combat knife shone brightly with its newly polished handle and blade, in fact, she wondered how exactly she had missed that in the first place. She must just be sleepy. Yeah, there we go. Sleepiness.

Reaching for it, she coiled her hoof around it and brought it to her teeth, where she clenched the handle and began inserting it into her sheath very slowly, until she brought it out very swiftly and threw it as hard as she could in his direction, aiming for the conveniently place box of Sugar Bombs atop the shelf to the mans top left. Instead of hitting her target, the knife flew a mere ten inches and landed on the floor with a shrill clink.

The mare rubbed her newly strained neck, the whiplash of launching the knife with her head now apparent in her mind, the mare cursing her obviously terrible foresight. Rotating her neck slightly, she winced as she felt the muscles inside it strain themselves terribly. Well shit.

Looking back up, Rainbow noticed that the man at the now noticeable table was missing. Raising a brow in confusion, she looked for her knife on the floor in the hope of retrieving it, but also to no avail as it too was missing. Rubbing the back of her head in wonder, she gasped as she saw a blur fly past her vision in close proximity to her face, the object only in her sight for a split second until it was gone. Blinking away her fear from her eyes, she looked left and found her knife stuck firmly within a poster of a man, with the name Colonel Autumn displayed underneath it. The knife was embedded deep within the man's forehead, right in the middle of his brow.

Looking to her right in wonderment, she saw Carter looking at the poster in curiosity. Looking to his left, he raised a brow and said, "Oops, sorry. Didn't see you there. My bad," he gave a shrug of sarcastic apology, forming a perfect w and giving a derpy expression.

"I hate you."

"Whatever ya say, Dashie. Just trying some target practice at the most hated man I've ever known."

Putting her left leg on the table and turning toward the poster, the mare asked, "Who the hell is he anyways?"

She could barely make out a split-second look of anger from the man, who simply replied, "The bastard killed my father, led an army of shitheads to kill me and prohibited my ability to make fresh water in D.C. happen, so I repaid him by firing a railway spike through his chest, followed by a slow death of poison by my dart gun."

"O....kay then. Uhm, about yesterday: what happened to me?"

Walking around the table toward the poster, Carter replied, "You saw Wadsworth, flipped your shit, and passed out. I had to retrieve you from the bottom of the stairway; you rolled down it after you lost consciousness. While you were out," he continued, pulling the knife out with a grunt, "I polished the rest of your stuff, your Pip-Boy, your knife, your magnum, I even polished off a weapon I put away a long time ago, which you'll be using after I serve you your first non-shitty Wasteland breakfast," with that, he walked back toward his earlier location in the food preparation room, and turned back around yet again with a large silver platter in his hand. Steam erupted from its contents, which Rainbow immediately recognized upon its landing on the table.

A fresh batch of vegetables sat upon it, steaming from heat and just sitting there....ready to be eaten by the mare. Licking her lips in a manic manner, she threw herself onto it and began gulping down the delicious food greedily, the man who served it crossing his arms and grinning in a caring manner. Looking up at him, crushed carrots, lettuce and apples sticking out of her clenched mouth, she slowly shrank back in regret. This man gave her food, fresh and new, rarely found in the Wasteland, and she had just eaten all of it. Mentally kicking herself, she looked down and began to say sorry until she heard a ripping sound to the front of her.

Looking at it, she found the man with a now open box of Sugar Bombs, a chipped white bowl in front of him as he poured the contents inside, reaching underneath the table and pulling out an actual jug of milk, also pouring that into his cereal. Screwing the lid back onto it, Carter noticed the mare across the table staring blankly at his meal. Pulling a spoon out from a pouch on his duster, he stuck it into the cereal and announced, "What? Never seen a person eat cereal for breakfast?"

Shaking her head, Rainbow could only reply, "It's...just really weird, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Dashie."

Groaning at her nickname, Rainbow turned back to the small amount that were the remainders of her breakfast. Still feeling a ping of guilt deep within her nevertheless, she slowly gobbled up the rest, satisfied with her meal.

Trouble

Rainbow finished her meal quickly, leaving not a single remnant of her breakfast on the plate. Wiping her now slobbery mouth with a hoof, she looked over at Carter, who had taken a seat during the mare's feast. Grasped in his hands was a long "assault rifle", as he had called it, used for suppressive fire or a miniature substitution in case a minigun isn't available. He silently wiped the worn stock, its bolt and mag set aside for their own turn.

Trotting up to him, Carter began to explain, "Alright, this here," he said, holding it out for her to see, "is a Chinese assault rifle, used by the Chinese when they invaded Alaska awhile ago. You can still find them in the hands of some raiders though. This specific one- I like to call it an antique- is a Xuanlong assault rifle, a special one, with a 36 round magazine," he continued, holding up a bullet, "that chambers 5.56mm rounds."

Carter shook the assault rifle, giving the mare a not-so-subtle hint, which she noticed easily. Throwing a hoof toward the grip, she brought it back to her chest, testing its weight. Getting up onto her hind legs, she grunted loudly at the weight shift, as the gun sought to bring her down to the floor, which it did flawlessly. As the mare looked forward with a look of annoyance, she stole a glance at the rifle, still on the ground. It seemed to glare back at her, rolling its eyes at her weakness. She couldn't blame herself though; it was a surprising weight change that caused her to fall.

Carter walked over to the mare, holding his hand out for her to grasp. She didn't, however, and instead got up by herself, brushing even more dust from her suit as she groaned in aggravation. Rolling his eyes, the man scooped up the rifle from the floor, walking over to the table and picking up the bolt. Rainbow trotted over, satisfied that she didn't have to hold it for the time being. Placing it inside, the man turned again and held the magazine, which he showed to the mare, "Now, reloading a rifle is very different from reloading your revolver. Instead of placing the bullets one at a time into the gun, rifles require mags, which can house more than fifteen bullets at some points," Carter brought out a case of rounds, and took one out, "assault rifle of all kinds in the Wastes house 5.56mm rounds, one of the three most common rounds in D.C., so it'll be easy to stockpile it, especially if you encounter mutants, who use assault rifles like there's no tomorrow."

Rainbow watched the man carefully, studying the way he placed each bullet into the magazine. Once all thirty-six were inside, Carter pushed it into the receptor at the middle of the gun, giving it a little shove to assure it was usable. Handing it back to the mare slowly, she reached for it and grasped it yet again, getting back onto her hind legs and testing it. The mare swayed a bit, but ultimately regained her balance and stood steady, right leg coiled around the handle and her left hoof placed firmly underneath the fore grip. Carter looked at her, arms akimbo. Giving a nod, he continued, "Now that you've got a grip, let's see how you handle a live firing. While your revolver has a big recoil, an assault rifle continues an endless recoil until it's rounds are wasted. Also, while it is faster to reload, it does less damage, as the rounds it uses aren't very strong-"

Going slack, Rainbow interrupted, "Can we just get to firing the gun?"

Giving a feigned pout, Carter whispered, "Okay..." and stalked off to the door, opening it for the mare as she walked past him, a look of ridicule plastered on her face. Laughing, Carter followed suit, shutting the door and walking up beside Rainbow, "C'mon Dashie, I have a good firing range for you to use."

Taking the lead, Carter lead her to the large gates that were the exits out of Megaton, "Wow," Rainbow exclaimed, eyes wandering the wall, "this is a big gate."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Carter asked, watching it idly as it drew open. "Megaton was built from planes, large metal machines that can soar through the air, kind of like what you do."

"I know what a plane is, Carter. Before I came here, some rich snob in Canterlot thought of a flying machine that could take ponies to all sorts of places. I thought my friend Rarity must've been crazy when she told us that, it's always been the pegasi that've flown around the clouds. Now Earth ponies can do it too," the mare glared at nobody in particular, continuing to follow the man to their destination. Carter, for his own benefit, listened to Rainbow intently as she continued to gripe about planes; she obviously didn't like them, her pride blocked it out.

"Trust me Dashie," he said, rustling her mane playfully, "one day, a plane'll save your life, and maybe you'll think again."

"As if."

Carter raised a brow; she didn't just dislike them, she outright hated them. I should probably change the subject....

"Hey Dashie! Look!"

She did, glancing over to where Carter was pointing at. Brow raised in confusion, the mare started, "I don't see anythi- Whoa!" Rainbow found herself in Carter's arms, cradled like a baby as she was carried to the range, "Put me down...I said Put me down!" She yelled, kicking and struggling against his grasp.

"No Dashie, I need you to save your strength for when we get there. For now, just sit tight; you're not goin' anywhere."

Crossing her forelegs, the mare groaned inwardly at the man's chuckles, which he was barely containing as he walked on. Biting his lower lip, Carter looked down at Rainbow, who looked back up at him. Her eyes narrowed, and she gave a huff of agitation as she looked back down, clearly bored as she glanced ahead and unfolded her wings, "Can't I just fly there?"

"Do you want to-"

Carter was cut off, however, as Rainbow took his question for permission, zooming off his body as she flew high up into the sky, creating holes in the clouds as she went. "Ah yeah!" She shouted, rising up to the cirrus clouds. Her wings sliced through the air easily, creating a warm draft along the tips of her primaries. Eyes watering from her speed, she suddenly went back down at an angle, straight toward a cumulus that had caught her eye.

In the sky, Rainbow felt invincible. It was her element, her calling in life, the reason she had a Cutie Mark, in fact. Flying through the air in her suit affected her speed very little, surprisingly. It was a snug fit, but not too tight to create flapping fabric, she assumed. Reducing her speed to a halt, the mare dropped down onto the cloud, resting for her training ahead. "Rainbow! Get back here!"

The mare shut her eyes, feeling at peace atop her resting cloud.

"Rainbow!"

She couldn't feel any better at the moment.

"Rainbow!

Letting one eyelid crack open in annoyance, she could barely make out the sound of something else slicing through the air, a shrill whirr echoing throughout her head. For some reason, the sound made her feel a tad bit uneasy, and when her eye could see without obstruction, she saw a large, three sided vehicle, two large sets of blades chopping at the wind at a fast pace on either side of the body. A symbol, one of a silver E and twelve surrounding stars, was emblazoned on the nose, where large machine guns stood proudly, glimmering in the sunlight. Her eyes widened. They were pointed at her. The machine guns made a loud clinking sound, and her world was suddenly filled with a white light. Slowly stepping back from the machine, she suddenly felt her wings grow cold as the guns' barrels were filled with flame. Looking at her wings, she found holes buried deep within her feathers. A thick, red liquid oozed from them, dribbling down her wings and dropping onto the cloud below. White mixed with red, creating a strange combination of color atop the cumulus.

Looking down at her body, she found seven other holes, the same red fluid emerging from them as well. Her breathe became hitched, her legs tensed, and her mind went blank as she tipped over the edge of the cloud and fell to the ground below.

Practice...

"...and that's why I don't want you to leave my sight," Carter finished, still holding Rainbow as they neared the range. The mare looked back up at him, a bored expression on her face.

"That's really far-fetched Carter...I thought you said those guys were dead."

"Exactly why I'm telling you not to run off like that. You Never Know What Might Happen..."

"....In The Wasteland," Rainbow finished, an obvious hint of un-interest within her voice. Putting her head back down atop her outstretched forelegs, she blew a large intake of breath out of her mouth, her one constant reminder of her boredom being repeated for the umpteenth time that day.

"Why did this firing range of yours have to be so far away?"

"It's not. It's only a mile or two away from Megaton. You must be so tired Dashie. Walking around can do so much to a pony, huh?"

Crossing her arms, the mare replied, "I didn't choose to be swept up by your ass anyways."

"You still didn't fly off."

"I can't. Your fat arms won't let me."

Snorting, Carter stopped walking, slowly dropping Rainbow to the floor as he crossed his arms. Wiping dust from her suit, Rainbow looked back at Carter. Brow raised, she turned her head to look at the object of the man's attention. A red marque stood before her, S. E. S. in a rainbow shape on the top.

"Springvale Elementary," the mare read aloud, right hoof resting underneath her chin in thought, "what are we doing here?"

Rainbow looked back at him, and with a cock of his pistol he said simply, "Practice."

"Hey sir!"

A raider, clad in metal armor, came up to his comrade, "The fuck do you want?"

"Some guy dropped by earlier, said he was a courier."

Walking over to his teammate, the raider shook his head. Of course his friend would be this stupid. He probably didn't even kill the guy afterward. Fuck newbies. Sighing, he asked, "Well, what'd he drop off?"

The recruit calmly took out a box that sat next to him, a smile plastered on his face. A look of annoyance on his friends face told him to just keep grinning; he wouldn't get shot if he didn't. Scarlet always told him that-

BAM!

The recruit fell onto the floor, a large hole in the middle of his face. As his blood began to pool out over the stone floor, the veteran holstered his .32 pistol, walking over to the box still sitting on the floor. Wiping away the brain matter from the top with a huff of annoyance, he threw it open...

...only to find a pile of frag mines staring him in the face. "Ah fu-"

"Boom! Ahahaha!" Rainbow laughed, the explosion of her "little idea" coming to life from the floor above her. Looking to her right, she exclaimed, "That was so awesome!"

A cocky grin on his features, Carter remained in his crouched position, loading his revolver as he replied, "Good way to get them on alert. Damn, I'll bet we made quite a mess up there."

"You bet! Now, we gonna get to this or what?"

"You sure seem enthusiastic about killing a bunch of raiders..."

Bringing her newly acquired assault rifle up to her chest, Rainbow smirked, "You've kept me waiting long enough for some action, Carter," the mare cocked her rifle slowly, "let's get to it."

Shaking his head in mock disbelief, albeit with a smile still on his face, the duo withdrew from their cover on the opposite sides of the main door, swiftly bringing up a leg to kick open their side of the entrance. What greeted them was a row of lockers at the end of a T-shaped hallway, silence being the only noise accompanying their entrance.

Frowning, the mare began, "Now where the hell are-"

Carter put up a finger to the mare's mouth, quieting her as he shook his head. "Not now," he whispered, holstering his revolver, "they're still around."

Turning to the left of the lockers, the man stalked past a room clearly marked bathroom, due to the white figure atop the door. Crouching down at the corner, he turned his head and beckoned his companion over, making sure she was covered from behind as she quickly trotted over to him. Peeking out from their cover, he looked to the right of the hallway. A raider, clad in Blastmaster armor, was pacing through the halls, a sledgehammer grasped firmly within his hands.

"Follow me." Carter said, waiting for the right moment as he began to get into a running position. As the raider disappeared to the right side of the hallway, he sprinted toward the left side, looking for a room to duck down in. Looking to his left swiftly, he ran into the entrance to the upper floor, the staircase waiting obediently to his left as he stared through the cracks of the destroyed door. The room across from them held two sleeping raiders, one of which was in the far left corner, the other snoozing in the middle, closest to the door.

"Rainbow, I have a plan," he began, looking over to the mare, "I want you to fly into the room across from us and quietly nudge the closest raider's face."

Her right eye involuntarily twitched, "You want me to do what now? For a second there, I thought you wanted me to-"

"Whack a snoozing raider's face and run off? Yes, I did say that."

"But....they'll kill me before I make my way outta there!"

Waving both hands down and shushing the mare, he continued, "It's a lot easier than going up to them and slitting their throat, right? We can do either one."

A look of defeat slowly emerged from the mare's face. Glaring at the ground, she spat, "Fine," and turned tail, ready to open the door.

"Now, wait until he's turned the other way, then slowly push it open and fly in there. If you're fast enough, you can do it."

Turning her head back toward the man, Rainbow scoffed, "Bitch, please. I'm the fastest Pegasus back in Equestria. This is cake."

"Your hesitation seems to state otherwise."

"Shut up and let me do this," Rainbow replied, turning back to the door. Poking her head out the crack in the door, she saw the raider about-face and return to patrolling the right side of the hallway. Opening the door softly, she flared her wings and flew into the next room. Taking her hoof and bringing it over her head, she hit the side of the sleeping raider's head, causing him to reel in pain and clutch his head.

Quickly flying back to Carter, she closed the door once again, and snickered as she heard the struck raider yell, "Clyde! What the fuck!"

The raider got up, still holding his head, and stalked over to the patrolling raider, who obviously slouched when he saw his comrade emerge from the barracks. "The fuck is it now, Nat?"

"You know what the hell I'm talking about, jackass," Nat replied, pointing an accusing finger at the large bump on his forehead.

"What? Miss your dick when you were furiously masturbating last night?"

"No, smartass. You just socked me in the fucking head. You think this is funny, Clyde?"

"No, I just think it's funny how you always seem to blame me for the shit that happens to you. Who knows, it coulda been Louis who bonked you."

Putting his hand up to his chin, Nat contemplated, "Huh, maybe you're right. Maybe it was Louis. C'mon, let's go beat his ass."

The two suddenly began to walk back into the barracks, Nat leading, with Clyde following a little far behind.

"Y'know, it was most likely him. After all, he doesn't seem to think too highly of y-" Clyde stopped his sentence abruptly as an arrow found itself buried deep inside his throat, the arrow tip sticking into the wall next to him. "GAK! Gah- Nat-"

"Not this time, Clyde. I ain't fallin' for your feign death shit anymore. Don't wanna take part in beating Louis, that's fine by me."

Trying desperately to remove the opposing arrow from his throat, Clyde looked to his left and froze on the spot, his arms falling down to his sides limply. An old man, clad in an armored duster, stood to his left, a recently unloaded crossbow grasped firmly within his hands. What stood next to him caused Clyde to shit his pants in terror. An armored creature, light blue fur matted with dirt and blood stood before him, a Chinese assault rifle held firmly within her hooves. Bringing the rifle and hoisting it over her back, she pulled a revolver out of a leather holster at her side and took aim at Clyde's forehead. He felt the barrel of the firearm press firmly into his brow, bumping the front of his skull as he stared at the mare. His vision, slowly beginning to fade from the blood loss, saw the mare stare at his form for two more long seconds, until he saw no longer.

The raiders form fell limply to the floor, only kept up to the wall via the arrow protruding from his throat. Carter looked over at Rainbow, and with a gloved hand, gave her a thumbs up and a smile as he proceeded to retrieve the newly bloodied arrow from the raider's dead form. Along with the arrow came a stream of blood, which cascaded down his neck and over his unprotected body as Rainbow looked on. Obviously, these guys need some more protection. Then again, some throat protection wouldn't hurt either. Shrugging, the mare heard a snap emanate from the room next to her, signifying the death of Louis from a very angry Nat.

"Teach the fucker to mess with me. Now, stop hiding Clyde, I know you're out there still," his voice grew louder, "c'mon man, it ain't funny anymore." Nat walked through the doorway, only to be met with a sharp combat knife through his left knee. Keeling over in excruciating pain, he suppressed the urge to scream in agony as he held the appendage with care. His form curled into a tried fetal position, only to find himself forced onto his chest as he was flipped over by his attacker. A low grunt emanated from behind him, and he felt the knife enter his lower back as he opened his mouth to scream.

His attacker prohibited this however, as he felt something furry clench over his mouth and hold it shut. Staring down at it through the pain, he saw a light blue stump of an arm clasping his mouth shut. Had he not a knife in his back, he would've raised a brow and uttered a statement of pure mind-fuck.

The knife, still buried within his lower back, was suddenly twisted by ten degrees, and swiftly pulled out as he yelled through the gag. The weight over his back was automatically lifted, and he suddenly thought his moment of agony was over. Instead, a loud chkk chk emanated from his right. Looking over, he was met with the barrel of his combat shotgun, and a bright light, which ceased his future existence in an instant.

Patting the mare on her head with a smile, Carter exclaimed, "Nice job."

"Thanks, Carter. Feel kind of bad...though..."

"What for? They kill anybody else who's not with them instantly. No questions asked."

"Even....children....?" Rainbow looked up at the man, a look of pure horror on her face as she was faced with the truth.

Sighing, the Wanderer replied, "Yes, even children."

Mouth agape in utter shock, the mare unholstered her assault rifle quickly, loaded in a fresh mag, and said menacingly, "Let's go kill these fuckers, shall we?"

Placing his crossbow on the ground and throwing his foot into the cocking stirrup, Carter drew his crossbow's string with a look of professionalism. Reaching underneath the barrel, he plucked an arrow from the hand-crafted quiver and placed it in the flight groove. Assuring it was safely locked into place, the man replied, "We shall."

Author's Note

Here's a crossbow mechanic for all you guys wondering about what I'm referring to. Trust me, it helps a little bit to understand.

....Makes Perfect

"All I'm saying is, if Pat broke your car, you should tell him to fix it. Be assertive."

Holding up the small blue car, Matt sputtered, "But-but he doesn't listen to meeee!"

The raider face-palmed, "Matt, stop your crying. If you want, I'll try to find some Sugar Bombs for you; will that make you feel better?"

Matt sniffled loudly, still grasping the toy car, "I..I guess...."

The raider gave a solemn smile, "There ya go. Now, go get Nat and Louis, tell 'em dinner's ready."

Matt nodded vigorously, "Thanks Rick! You always were my best buddy!" he raised a hand, which Rick slapped immediately. As Matt fist-pumped the air, he suddenly looked back at his friend, "Wait, who did you want me to get?"

Turning around from walking away, Rick replied, "Nat and Louis. Clyde still has about an hour left before his shift is over."

Matt nodded once again, a childish smirk plastered on his face, "Okay! I'll go get 'em," he about-faced, "and I'll be sure to grab your beer, like you asked-"

Matt's head suddenly flew back violently, an arrow lodged firmly within his right eye-socket. Rick turned once more, and was met with a merciless .44 round to the forehead by a cyan intruder.

Nonchalantly walking toward the two, Carter remarked, "Good shot again, Dashie."

Holstering her still smoking revolver, the mare replied, "Thanks."

The Lone Wanderer idly kicked Matt's corpse, bending over to retrieve his now twice-bloodied arrow. He withdrew it with ease, a small amount of eye material flying out onto the floor below as the projectile exited the raider's now devastated right eye.

"So, Dashie, how long do you think it'll be before the other raiders come to investigate your loud gun?"

Examining the long hallway they stood in, she replied, "What with that echo, I'd say about ten seconds."

Looking at his Pip-Boy, Carter said, "Good. That gives me enough time to get my shotgun out," and reached into his duster, his hand re-emerging with a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun. Cracking open the break action with a draw of the hammer, he once again reached into a pocket on his bandolier, coming back out with a pair of 12 gauge shotgun shells. He loaded both into the barrels of the firearm, and then closed the break action with a flick of the wrist.

"Wow. Where'd you get that?" Rainbow asked, her assault rifle grasped firmly within her hooves.

"This was actually a regular double-barrel at first; I just sawed off the stock and some of the barrels to make it fit in my duster. I haven't fired this in years, so it might malfunction when I do this. Now, listen to what I say in a couple of seconds, it'll help us get through this easier."

The mare stood curious, but quickly went into her ready position, preparing for whatever crazy idea the man was about to hatch. She soon heard footsteps coming from the hallway to the left at the end of the hallway they stood in, and Rainbow automatically aimed at the wall behind where she assumed the raider would emerge. Instead, the Wanderer's hand slowly put her weapon into her normal carrying position, and she looked back at the still smiling man with a raised brow, "Just watch, and do what I'm about to say."

Holstering her rifle, the mare watched in curiosity as the man gradually stepped toward the approaching footsteps, and once the raider emerged from the corner, the Wanderer swiftly ran into the surprised victim, slamming into the wall at the end of the corridor. Carter brought up his shotgun as the mare ran up to him, and he calmly said, "Rainbow, close his mouth," and inserted the business end of the shotgun into the raider's mouth as he struggled to break loose of the old man.

Rainbow quickly did as she was told, bringing both forehooves up to clench the raider's mouth shut, and as he screamed into the dual-barrels of the shotgun inside him, Carter pulled the trigger, blowing out the unfortunate raider's mouth as he fell to the ground limply, the muffled shot of the shotgun going unnoticed by his compadres. As blood began to pool out the large hole in the back of his head, the Wanderer wiped the slobber off from the end of the gun with a gloved hand, stuffing it back into his duster once he was satisfied with its thorough cleanse.

Breathing heavily, Carter smirked, "G'job Dashie. I'll make a Wastelander out of you yet," the man innocently tussled the mare's mane, the mare in question not-so happy about his choice of idle activities.

"Well, at least we know that it works now," Rainbow deadpanned, reaching her head around to her right flank, grabbing her revolver from it's holster. The mare placed her hoof inside the cuff as she raised her left foreleg to assess her inventory. Scrolling back to the Items section, she found she had 4/57 rounds for her revolver, which she noticed was simply spelt, ".44 Magnum Revolver". The mare frowned at this; she needed a name for her gun, desperately. ".44 Magnum Revolver" was a bit too bland for her.

The same was for her knife, plainly called, "Combat Knife". Her frown deepened; she needed a name for that as well, "Hey, Dashie. Get over here."

The mare in question looked up from her Pip-Boy, watching as Carter was crouched against a wall to her left, "There's another one coming, you wanna take him, or should I?"

Stealing a glance back down at her revolver, she saw her reflection staring back at her from the newly cleaned body. Splotches of blood were caked across the left side of her face, her mane matted against her brow from sweat. This Rainbow was most certainly not the same Rainbow she once was, she was a killer now, no matter how evil her victims were. At least seven raiders had lost their lives to her, and she couldn't quite tell whether it was a blessing or a curse. It was probably best that she didn't know, "I'll get 'im."

Giving a grin of approval, the Wanderer said, "I'll be watching."

Rainbow reared up on her hind-legs as she watched the corner with an eagle eye, not daring to move from her spot. Her peripheral vision slowly blurring itself from its existence as she focused on the corner that her victim would soon come from. The only thing she heard was her heartbeat as she raised her revolver, aiming at the end of the hallway. The mare breathed out, and her opponent soon rounded the corner and stared right at her.

Instinct kicked in, and with a defiant glare, the mare pushed the trigger, watching as the bullet slowly exited the now flame-engulfed barrel, straight toward the raider that had a hunting rifle aimed right back at her. The round flew straight and true, and before the raider could so much as think about pulling the trigger, he was dead, a .44 round buried deep within his skull. As the now lifeless body plummeted to the ground below, Rainbow suddenly began to regain her senses. Her adrenaline-filled moment was over faster than it started.

"Carter," Rainbow began, lowering her still smoking revolver, a deep sense of anger evident in her voice,

"Let's go get 'em."

A Little Too Much

"Rainbow."

"...yes?"

"Not that I want to rush you; we have all the time in the world, but, you can stop kicking that raider whenever."

"....and why would I do that?"

Looking down at the dead body with his hands by his sides, Carter answered, "There's a bullet in his brain, seven stab wounds on his body, a railway spike in his throat, a pair of scissors in his leg, and a pool cue embedded inside his pants. I think he was dead awhile ago when you stuffed that 8 ball down his throat. Don't you think you're enjoying this a little too much-"

The mare looked up from her activity, giving a final kick to the raider's corpse before she said, "Hey, that 8 ball was dirty anyways. Remember where we found it."

"I do remember; honestly, I've never known a pool ball could fit in one, but now that I know, I'd like you to stop so we can continue on with this."

The mare ignored this, instead turning her head back to the raider on the ground, "So, we gonna hang him up from the ceiling by his thumbs now?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, grab a few nails lyin' around, drag his body to a winch, and nail him to the ceiling, to show his friends what we're capable of."

Carter stood like a statue, his hand reaching for a dirtied orange bottle by his hip. He brought it up to his eyes, and with a tone of wonderment, said, "I didn't actually think these would get to you this much..."

Suddenly appearing from above his shoulder, Rainbow stared wide-eyed at the bottle, asking, "Whoooooa, what's that?" her eyes narrowed, attempting to read the green lettering on the bottle, "Buffout? What's that-"

"Rainbow," Carter began, quickly placing the bottle back to his side, "go check his pockets at least."

Giving a crisp salute, the mare replied, "Sir yes sir!" and swiftly flew toward the raider on the ground, searching his person for any valuable items. Carter watched her, taking note on her somewhat-lacking inventory check. The mare came back with a handful of .32 rounds, a can, and a combat knife.

She looked up at the man like an obedient dog would, her collection of loot placed over outstretched wings and an admittedly adorable smile on her face. As she placed her items on the floor beside her, her companion reached a hand out, only to be lightly swatted away as she looked down at the loot still on the floor.

"Dashie."

"What?"

"...did you check his pockets, or did you just grab the stuff around him?"

Looking back at the corpse, she replied, "A...little bit of both?" and shrugged.

"Emphasis on the little."

"Why's that?"

"I still see an intact railway spike in his neck. There's also a pool cue currently stuffed within his dick."

Eyes looking around her surroundings, Rainbow asked, "....and that's bad because...?"

Carter gave an over-exaggerated sigh, walking over to the raider on the ground. Turning him over with a hand, he found a few dozen rounds of ammunition stuck into his back. With a raised brow, the Wanderer began to pick out the bullets from the body, placing them inside a pouch strapped to his hip. As he nearly finished, his companion decided it was a good idea to check the two other dead raiders' bodies as well, bending over to carefully assess the pockets of her now fallen foes.

The Wanderer got up, now finished with his thorough search. He looked over his shoulder with a raised brow, and what he found was his companion, a large, ear-to-ear grin on her face, an object in her hand. It was shaped like a symmetrical cone, with two dull tips at either end, a cylindrical body in the middle held by a light blue hoof in the air. It was an army green, with a yellow stripe running around its top, and as the mare held it, Carter knew exactly what it was, and suddenly asked, "Rainbow, is there a type of metal on the side of it that's attached on the top?"

The mare brought her arm down, one eye closing and the other narrowed, "Uh, is it shaped like a bent L?"

"Yes."

"Oh! Then it's on the floor."

Rainbow suddenly lost her grip on the grenade as the Wanderer grabbed it from her hoof. Quickly looking to his bottom left, he found that there was a red blip coming from around the corner to his left. Soon, two other blips joined it, and then after, four others showed up as well, all converging on his and his companion's position. Looking back at her, she looked back at him with her revolver in her right hoof, giving Carter a nod before he turned back around, only to be met with the butt of a hunting rifle.

His instincts kicked in, and as he shoved the rifle to his left and into a wall, the raider collapsed to the wanderer's right, a bullet in his brain. Lightly throwing the grenade into the air twice, he tackled the next raider into his comrades, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him to the ground. The raider withdrew a knife from the side of his boot, and slashed at the man who held a still ticking grenade in his hand.

The knife soon was turned back toward its owner, and as the raider lay there, a jagged combat knife embedded within his chest, he heard something clink next to him. As he slowly turned his head, he was greeted to a frag grenade by his head. As he opened his mouth to scream, his eyes were filled with red and orange, and his life immediately ceased to exist, his five other group members greeted to the same routine.

Popping his neck with a grunt, Carter found a still red blip on his HUD, and as he walked over to it, he suddenly tipped over to his right, disturbed by a fast object flying past him. Eyes narrowing, the man walked past the burnt bodies of the raiders, only to find a survivor, stomach against the floor, his hands weakly reaching out to crawl across the floor. About two feet away from him, a .32 pistol lay, burn marks and ash covering its now darkened exterior.

A light blue Pegasus emerged from Carter's left, trotting over to the downed raider with her knife grasped firmly within her right hoof. She mounted the raider quickly, and raised both her forelegs, knife point ready to stab into the injured raider as she gritted her teeth and growled in bloodlust. Just as she began to bring the jagged edge down, she felt a sharp pain hit her entire right hoof, her knife flying out of her grasp and clattering against the wall to her left. Reeling in pain, she examined her injury and found a large red blister the size of an orange running vertically down the inside of her hoof. Her vision reddening in rage, she turned to her right quickly and found a single raider pointing an accusing hunting rifle in her direction.

Turning back to her victim, still lying on the ground, she delivered a heavy blow to the back of his skull, thus making him unavailable to help his comrade in the next couple of seconds. She stole a stealthy glance behind her, and found her companion crouched behind the corner, observing her procedure with a watchful eye. The mare listened intently for her enemy's approaching footsteps, which sounded closer and closer the more she waited for her chance.

She closed her eyes, just for a brief moment, in order to prepare herself for her first hoof-to-hoof confrontation. As her stomach slowly rose and fell with each careful breath she took, magenta irises scoured the floor in front of her, finally resting on a discarded, blackened object, the swing action revealing the single bullet lying within.

The mare's eyes lazily opened, cautiously at first until they were fully revealed. What met her was the intersection of a fully loaded bandolier and a trio of leather pouches. Underneath was a plate of dark olive green, various scratch, blast, and bullet marks marring the otherwise impressive surface. The mare suddenly gained notice of her being held up by a pair of dirt-covered gloved hands. Looking up, she found an old man, long hair swept back with a large beard to match, both colored a dark brown but grayed with age. Numerous scars were featured along his mud stained face, the most noticeable one being a jagged, canyon-like cut down from the top left of the bridge of his nose to the opposite, down to his right cheek.

As she stared at the Lone Wanderer, dark green irises suddenly glanced back down at her as swiftly as a hawk. The mare gave a solemn smile, slightly nodding her head as she looked back to their previous refuge. The large plumes of red and orange that met her gaze barely disturbed her in the slightest, and with a sudden ache coursing through her head, she shut her eyes once more, back into the blackness of the dream world.

Author's Note

Here's a scale of Rainbow and Carter, since someone asked for one.

Also, I know, I know. "Deadly goes into hiatus and this is what he has to give me?" Sorry, I know you might've expected more, but I had some Writer's Block, so at least I got something out to you. Yet again are we met with our favorite mare blacking out during conflict. What could it mean? Keep on reading; I'm back bitches!

Meet-Up

The mare automatically realized she was dreaming yet again as she opened her eyes drearily, revealing a vast emptiness of pitch-black that spanned for miles at end. Giving a frown of annoyance, she suddenly noticed she was sprawled across the floor, legs spread like an eagle, and slowly got to her hooves. A long series of pops and grunts escaped her tensed muscles as she stretched out her appendages in what seemed like ages.

As Rainbow popped her neck with gritted teeth, she suddenly became aware of another presence somewhere behind her. She reached for her revolver, and instead of the emptiness she was met with last time, a familiar metal object touched her hoof. Quickly inserting her hoof into the cuff, she brought the firearm out of its holster and spun around, expecting a large creature of some sort.

The void of her surroundings was the only thing that met her gaze. Eyes narrowing in concentration, her prominent hearing ear shot up, listening for a disturbance in the relative silence she was trapped in. Nothing. Not a snapping branch, not a gunshot, nothing. It was as if she had just heard it, but the mare wouldn't comply to her inner thoughts. Instead, she closed her eyes, concentrating even harder than she had before.

Clip clop

Opening her eyes with confirmation, she brought the revolver's iron sights up to her eye level and aimed at the creature she now saw in front of her.

Lime green stared into magenta, the razor-like pupils within almost daring the mare to blink away from it. Its jet-black skin was almost invisible to the Pegasus, but her newly sharpened vision all but painted a picture of the hole-filled surface. Sickly blue hair cascaded down from a likewise topped crown, a long, jagged horn erupting from the forehead of the monstrosity that stood before her.

It laughed a disturbing laugh and quickly vanished into thin air as Rainbow fired off a round into the nothingness. As her frustration began to show, she reached into her pocket to retrieve an extra bullet, but found no such thing. Looking through her other pocket gave the same results.

Well then, five rounds left...son of a bitch..

Her senses perked up yet again as she heard an ominous sound coming from her 6 o' clock. Turning tail, she found the being staring at her, it's leathery green wings beating slowly as it hovered in the air. Bringing up her revolver to fire a shot, it disappeared yet again, the round flying off into the distance.

Four...come on out you bug-

Rainbow suddenly felt a heavy weight slam her to the ground, and as she struggled to break free of it, her eyes caught another familiar object lying across her chest, strapped within a worn leather holster.

Her opponent suddenly backed away from its armed victim, placing pressure on the knife wound now present within its neck. Suddenly, the green blood that leaked from the opening began to fade, its origin closing itself up with a glow of the being's horn. It was much smaller than the bug the mare saw before, with full green eyes and a bald, black head.

"Come and get it bug," she said, grabbing a hold of her revolver and aiming it at the insect in front of her. As her hoof slowly pushed the trigger, an orange blur emerged from the blackness, tackling her opponent with bone-crushing strength. As it writhed in pain, its attacker suddenly ended its life with the snap of its neck. The mare dropped its head with a plop and dusted itself off, taking off its light brown Stetson and wiping its brow.

"Rainbow, watch out-"

The mare stopped herself midsentence as said Pegasus threw an elbow behind her, causing the bug attempting to sneak up on her to grab its chest in pain and fall forward onto its face. Its head slowly raised to survey its situation, only to be answered with a well-placed .44 round to its brain. The blood that splashed onto the barrel of the revolver didn't even phase its owner as she lowered it and turned back to her friend.

"Applejack, are you okay?!"

"Ah'm fine Rainbow," she replied, accepting the hug her friend suddenly wrapped her in, "Ah was wonderin' th' same thing until ya did....that.."

Breaking away from the embrace, Rainbow replied, "Oh pfft, that was nothing. What the hell are these things?"

"....so ya don't remember anythin' do you? Last time Ah asked ya, ya disappeared on me."

Scratching her head in thought, Rainbow said, "No, I don't. All I remember was the wedding..."

"Y'all must've blacked out when the changelings attacked then-"

"Changelings?! I thought those were just native to the Badlands! I didn't know they were someplace else too!" The Pegasus exclaimed, mouth hanging open in disbelief, "So what even happened then?!"

"Well Rainbow, Ah think you'll need to sit down if ya wanna hear all of this..."

The mare complied, sitting down on her haunches as she suddenly released a breathe she hadn't realized she was holding, awaiting the grave news she never thought she's hear..

Author's Note

Just a quick update here, it's a short one for purposes related to the next chapter.

Fake

The mare was sound asleep, her prismatic mane fluttering with each breath she blew as she rested on the man's bed. Next to her, Carter sat, watching the Pegasus as her fresh wounds slowly began to heal from the various amounts of Stimpaks he had injected into her.

The ventilated air of the small confinements of the room felt incredulously hot as he turned tail away from the bed, opting to walk downstairs and get something, really, anything done. Ever since some of the populace outside of Megaton and the Citadel hitched the hell out of D.C., things had been pretty quiet. Raider attacks, though try as they might, slowly began to diminish, though not entirely leaving the barren, lawless Wasteland. As chaotic, bloody, and barbaric as the Wastes were, at this rate, D.C. might just become peaceful after all.

Peace. Something he had secretly set out to make happen since day one in the cruel wasteland. Though he knew in the back of his head that it would not be so long before, he might just be reconsidering that proclamation very soon.

As he slowly descended the staircase, his usual greeter was absent, not even so much as trying to scare his owner as he had tried so many times before. Calling out the Mister Gutsy's name proved futile as well, the silence of the house and the sleeping mare's snores replacing him.

Placing his hands on his hips in annoyance, Carter shook his head, putting it off with a reassurance that the robot was just out and about, probably for his weekly maintenance check-up with the local shopkeeper. Now at the foot of the staircase, the Wanderer looked toward the set of lockers he knew contained his impressive plethora of weaponry, and with a small nod and a hmph of agreement, he approached it.

Disassembled upon his table lay the remains of the man's anti-materiel rifle, almost unrecognizable as its owner thoroughly cleaned each and every little part that bore even the tiniest mark. After all, the rifle was arguably his most catastrophic weapon he had, unless he counted his Experimental MIRV and Esther. As he threw his cleaning cloth in the air and leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief, a sudden noise caused him to freeze on the spot. Turning his head, he was met with a red-eyed, sweat-matted rainbow-maned Pegasus glaring at him. Her nostrils flared with every loud outtake of air that passed through her. Her eyes' normally white exterior was replaced with a pale-red hue, with small puddles forming underneath them. The mare was holding back tears.

"What am I doing here?" she asked. Her voice was raspy, and the man could sense the anger within it.

"I don't understand the quest-"

The mare stomped her hoof with a loud bang, gritting her teeth, "What the fuck am I doing here? Do I have to spell it out to you?"

"I don't have a clue; you haven't really said anything about it-"

The mare raised her right foreleg, which she had hidden behind her body. Cuffed to her hoof was a very shaky revolver, the barrel facing him, "BULLSHIT YOU DON'T KNOW! I'M STUCK IN THIS FUCKING HELLHOLE!"

Putting both hands in the air, Carter began to try to defuse the situation, "Rainbow, I think you should put the gun down-"

"DON'T THINK I WON'T SHOOT! I KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS WHOLE THING CHRYSALIS!" the mare yelled, raising her gun and firing a bullet into the air, "I KNOW ABOUT THE SIMULATION! IT'S ALL FAKE! DON'T TRY TO HIDE FROM ME!"

Raising an alarmed brow at the fired round, Carter began to speak, only to be met with the business end of the revolver, "DON'T YOU MOVE A FUCKING STEP ASSHOLE! I'LL PAINT THE WALLS WITH YOUR BRAINS IF YOU SO MUCH AS MOVE! MY FRIEND IS DEAD BECAUSE OF THIS! TWILIGHT IS FUCKING DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" the mare's foreleg slowly faltered to the ground, her firearm falling to the ground with a metallic clang. Shaking her head in disbelief, the mare clenched her eyes shut and quickly turned around, flaring her wings with a sniffle. As she launched herself through the front door, the Wanderer looked on with shock, sprinting out the now destroyed door as he stared up at the sky.

A rainbow trail arched across the dusk sky, heading northward from the small town of Megaton. The mare was taking off. Lowering his head, he slammed his fist into the railing with anger, knowing full well that the mare would succumb to the Wastes if she lost her sanity in unknown territory. He remained this way for sometime, before reluctantly turning tail and heading back inside his residence, making sure to prop the door closed before he took a seat in the living room, twiddling his thumbs and pondering what to do next.

Author's Note

I have a feeling there'll be at least three "That escalated quickly" comments. I've been planning out The Last Of Us lately, so brainstorming this has been a bit of a struggle.

Shelter

The embers burned with vigor, the crackling of the burning wood filling the confinements of the cold, damp cave. Crouched in front of it sat a lone mare, her sorrowful expression focused on her only heat source available. Clinging tightly to her figure was a very soaked vault suit, the two numbers on the back barely recognizable as they faded into the dirtied blue surface beneath it. The entire apparel was considerably muddy, a perfect accompaniment to its owner's likewise muddy appendages.

Clasped securely within a leather holster upon her chest rested a jagged combat knife, almost unnoticeable against the shadowed area of her form. Resting next to her lay the corpse of a molerat, her only source of food she had found since she had left the town. She only needed to eat one bite to figure out that she could not fully depend on the rat to sate her still aching hunger. Shivering lightly, the mare cast a glance back to the mouth of the cave, the heavy Wasteland rain being her answer back.

Looking down to the floor with a sigh of defeat, the Pegasus shook her body uncomfortably, shifting the still wet fabric of her armor to a new area on her body; she was beginning to develop a rash, and combined with the mud and dirt that covered her entire figure, she might soon develop a sickness of some kind. Honestly, she had no idea what could become of a rash, but this world was a lot different than her own. Along with the radiation could come new diseases and illnesses.

Still, the mare wasn't an expert at sicknesses.

Her mind wandered to the night before, to her nightmare. What Applejack had told her. What had happened. Why she was here.

The wedding. Chrysalis. The Princess. Twilight. Dead.

Her best friend was dead. That much she knew. Applejack desperately fought back tears as she recounted this.

Rainbow herself almost began wailing in loss.

No more would she see her Egghead friend engaged in studying. No more would she ever be able to secretly check out books and engage in reading. No more was her Unicorn friend, Twilight Sparkle. No more would she see her friends. Any of them. Not while she was stuck in this simulation. The mare suddenly found herself suppressing tears she didn't previously know she was shedding. Wiping her eyes with her hoof, her mouth began to tremble with pressure. Relenting, the mare let loose a torrent of loud wails of sadness, burying her face in her hooves as she keeled over and wept.

The crackling of her fire soon intensified by a breeze flowing through the cave system, the flames almost touching the mare herself as it flickered and wavered from its wooden birthplace.

You're gonna carry that friendship.

Applejack's final words rang through her head. Her final words before she suddenly dissipated with a crackle, like a hologram on a futuristic movie flick. It's meaning was still lost to the rainbow-maned Pegasus, who rested her chin over crossed forelegs, resting on her belly as she sat by her lonesome within the cave. Her shelter for the weeks to follow.

The mare slowly brought a hoof to her chest, finally resting upon a familiar object. Her combat knife withdrew with ease, its recently bloodied blade glistening in the flickering light of her fire. Flipping it around, she held it with both hooves and aimed the blade at her chest. Remaining like this, she lowered her head and shut her eyes with finalization. Breathing through her nostrils, the mare proceeded to begin her activity. As her forelegs rose to the prime position, her mind raced through her life, saving the various amounts of good times she had had in her past life. She smiled a grim smile, one of forgiveness, both for her predicament, and for herself.

You're gonna carry that friendship.

The sound of footsteps stopped the mare dead in her tracks. Opening her eyes, she stared down at the blade still grasped within her hooves. She raised an eyebrow. Before her lay the answers to all of her problems. Her life. She could end all of it now. It could become her endgame. The mare contemplated this for two heartbeats. The blade soon found itself gripped within its owner's teeth as she stalked to the mouth of the cave, twin streaks of mud lathered across her cheeks in a warrior-esque manner.

Her answer could wait.

Idly lounging in front of the entrance was a single party of raiders. Two held hunting rifles. One gripped a shotgun with steady hands. Easy.

Though the mare knew the trio would be simple to eliminate, she found herself wondering if their friends were nearby, and how many would come soon after. Shaking her head with disagreement, the mare crouched low in the shadows of the cave, searching for a hiding place. The men approached. She would have to look fast. Her gaze travelled upward, to a pair of long, jagged stalagmites hanging above her head. A smile etched itself upon the mare's face.

Perfect.

Tucking herself away from the entrance of her shelter, the mare silently watched the men argue, before they began to make their way into the tunnel. Looking at her left foreleg, she took a second to turn the brightness down on her Pip-Boy, knowing full well that she would become a living beacon were it not for her remembering the wrist-mounted device.

The shotgun wielder was the first to pass underneath her as he noticed the mare's still burning campfire, "Well well well. Lookie over here. Looks like we got some meat boys," he sat crouched over the mare's game, a bare hand groping the rat's body, "and it's still fresh too." The mare's eyes narrowed to a slit. She earned that meat.

One of the rifle-wielders passed underneath her, diverting her train of thought, "Good. That rain's been killin' my stomach. I could use a bite."

"Paul, I recommend you wait for Roger. You know how he is if you get first bite-"

"Shut up Randall. I'm not a fuckin' idiot-"

"Hey, wait. Where's Roger?" the raider raised his shotgun, surveying their surroundings intently.

"Shit," Paul whispered in a hushed tone, "he was behind me a second ago."

The duo aimed their firearms at every part of the cave, searching for their missing friend among the darkness.

Suddenly, a dark blur fell from the roof of the cave, hitting the floor with a loud thump. Paul approached the object, pulling back the bolt on his hunting rifle in case of panic. What met him was a blank-white eyed Roger, his throat cut open as crudely as a four year old draws. The raider stepped back, hyperventilating. He backed up into his comrade, who likewise bumped into him. They both turned around swiftly, aiming at each other with a look of fear in their eyes.

Both breathed a sigh of relief, before the sound of a rock hitting the floor reached their ears. Both aimed toward the noise. Roger's corpse was gone, the only thing left being the pool of blood that recently marked his jagged wound. Randall cocked his shotgun. The fire behind the two went out.

Their screams of pain were muffled as the thunder outside roared with fury.

Lionheart

A raider, clad in painspike armor, stalked toward the mouth of the cave, a hunting rifle grasped within his gloved hands. Behind him stood the rest of his group, some twenty-five members of raiders, both ranged and up-close, following closely behind their leader as they ducked down in the muddy wasteland soil. Holding a balled-fist in the air, the leader held up three fingers. A rifleman, an incendiary, and a shotgun-wielding raider appeared from his left and right, the trio advancing toward the treacherous tunnel with a sense of authority about their ranks.

The rifleman turned his welding-masked face to be met with the group's leader giving him an All-clear signal. Nodding his head, he turned tail to join his squad, who stood at the entrance of the cave, weapons ready. One of them, calmly wielding a large Flamer, checked a small amount of valves located on the right side, twisting a few knobs here and there to make sure whatever still lurked in here would get the full blast.

Next to him stood a hunting shotgun-wielding male, clad in badlands armor. Dramatically bringing the firearm up to his height, he cocked it with trained hands, taking aim at the dark trail of the damp cave with a look of determination. The rifleman stood next to him, and watched as he moved forward, the pyro following his lead. Pulling back the bolt on his rifle, the raider took suit, becoming the caboose in their strategic gun train.

The trio's weapons took aim at every corner of the cave, from the stalagmites above their heads to the dirt below their feet. A whistle behind the pyro stopped the two leading raiders in their tracks, who quickly turned around, guns raised. The rifleman stood, three flashlights in hand. An exchange followed, and the three continued their search with a new light source for each.

As they approached a long doused campfire, they froze on the spot; resting against the rotted corpse of a molerat sat Paul, one of the missing raiders they were searching for. As the raider bent over to examine the body, hunting shotgun in one hand, the rifleman cautiously walked past a rather large pile of mud protruding from the side of a stalagmite situated on the side of the cave. He didn't bother looking inside it; they had to get Paul out of there and find the other two. That was their main objective, their secondary goal being finding the son of a bitch that had killed them.

The rifleman felt a small rock hit him in the back of the head, and quickly turned to take aim at the pile of mud. A noticeably large hole, previously absent, was sunk inside it. Looking every which way in a panic, he backed up toward the rest of his squad. Turning his head for a split second, he estimated how far away he stood from them.

Thirty feet.

He suddenly found himself falling as he tripped over a large rock. As his head hit the ground, he felt something heavy clamped around his neck. Quickly getting up, he felt his throat; tied around it was a heavy rope, tightened in a very familiar knot. Suddenly struggling to breathe, he began to try throwing it off, to no avail. He soon began to not feel the ground beneath him, and with one last look, found that he was now suspended in the air. Looking up, he found magenta irises, staring directly at him.

He tried to scream.

"Oh shit! Greg!" the raider threw down his shotgun, heading over to his comrade with vigor, "Daniel! Cover me! I'm gonna get Greg down from there!"

Daniel slid the welding mask down over his eyes, cautiously aiming his Flamer at their surroundings, "Just hurry the fuck up, Bill! I don't think I'm the only thing stopping whoever else is in here!"

"Okay okay okay," Bill repeated, bending over to retrieve Greg's rifle, "I'm gonna get you down from there buddy! Just control your breathing, you'll be fine!" Head down, he placed his hands around the rifle's unfamiliar grips, and looked up to take aim at the rope suspending his friend in the air. As he did, the man fell from the roof, collapsing on top of Bill with a dull thud.

"Oh thank God...you're alri-" Bill stopped himself as he suddenly noticed the grenade pin grasped within his teeth, "Oh shit!"

Turning around, Daniel found a large explosion, knocking him down to the mud below. Suppressing the loud ringing in his ears, he quickly retrieved his Flamer from next to him, cranking a valve with a loud grunt. He took aim at the bloody mess on the opposite side of the cave, taking a second to crinkle his nose in disgust.

Not much was left of his comrades, save for a large mess of entrails and body parts. Turning his head and closing his eyes, he cursed his luck. Fuck this....I'm scrapping the mission.

He quickly backed out of the cave, Flamer sweeping the dark, damp cave like a metal detector. As he exited the maw of the tunnel, he turned tail, trying to get his leader's attention. He succeeded, and raised a finger to speak.

A loud bang and a sharp pain stopped his sit-rep. Looking down at his now bleeding chest, face contorted in extraordinary pain, he fell forward into the mud, a new hole embedded within his skull.

The purple-haired leader raised a fist, and with a cock of his shotgun, yelled, "Attack!"

Twenty one raiders charged toward the cave, weapons ready to eliminate the murderer still cooped up inside. Five feet in, seven bullets flew, taking down seven raiders with them to Hell. The fifteen raiders that remained continued their relentless charge, firing their own volley of rounds into the depths of the cave, hoping to hit the dead-eye with thirteen of their men under his belt.

Two heartbeats later, and twenty feet into the cave, eight raiders fell to the ground, leaving only seven raiders to take down the rifleman. Thirty feet in, they were greeted to the sight of a doused campfire, two dead corpses lying around the blood-stained rocks.

What surprised them, however, was not the corpses of their brethren. No, what surprised them was the crouched figure of an armored creature, facing away from them, into the dark depths of the rest of the cave. Taking aim and slowly stalking forward, the leader placed the barrel of his combat shotgun against its head. It did not flinch. It did not even appear to be breathing.

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he extended a hand to touch it, his other hand still grasping the grip of his shotgun, finger on the trigger and ready to fire at will. He looked around at his six other comrades, he nodded, the party returning the gesture with a nod of their own and a cock of their gun. Two readied their nail-covered baseball bats.

Resuming his motion, he didn't even reach the creature before it suddenly turned, a large knife grasped in its teeth. It stabbed the blade into his calf, and swiftly ducked to avoid the large group of bullets aimed at where she previously stood. It grabbed the raider and threw it over their body, protecting itself as the raider's friends unloaded their firearms into their now dead leader.

As the whelps reloaded their guns, the creature threw the hole-filled corpse off its body, revealing a mud and blood-covered cyan mare. Turning to her left, she ran toward the raider who fumbled with a combat shotgun. She slid between his legs, and dared not look back at the bullets that scored a hit on the confused man's legs. He keeled over with a cry of pain.

Brandishing a cocky smirk, she turned, trotting toward the fallen raider. Taking a giant leap off his back- causing him to crash back to the ground in relent- she drew her knife from her holster across her chest and threw the grip into her teeth. She crashed into a rifle-wielding female, the blade mercilessly stabbing into her chest with the devastating propulsion of the mare's jump. As the savage fell backwards into the ground, the mare found hands clasp her tightly around her stomach, bringing her up and away from both the corpse and her combat knife. Kicking and jabbing at the air, she found herself facing a bat-wielding raider, who raised the blunt weapon. Thinking quickly, the mare threw a kick to her captor's loins and was rewarded with a plop to the ground, just in time to look up and find the melee raider swinging his bat into the chest of his comrade.

Confused, his head jerked upward with the help of a bone-crushing uppercut, thanks to the mare now flying in between the two towards the ceiling. Reaching the roof, she withdrew the man's kitchen knife, placing the blade into her coiled hoof. Not giving the rest of her opposition the chance to take aim at her, she threw her weapon at her most recent enemy, the blade flying neatly into the man's head, causing him to fall backwards into the fire-pit.

Quickly counting the last surviving raiders, she smiled and folded her wings against her armored body, falling toward yet another bat-wielding raider, who held the weapon as if ready to beat a piñata. Just as the mare reached swinging distance, she withdrew her wings and swiftly flew backward in a 90 degree angle, leaving the range of the spiked bat's bite.

Landing on the ground with a cloud of dust, she flew directly into the raider, causing him to crash to the ground in a heap. Grabbing his 10mm sidearm in a flash, she fired three rounds into his head, only to feel a hand clasp her shooting wrist. Her aim spoilt and her pistol dropped on the ground, she brought her other hoof to hold the hand still gripping her wrist, throwing the man over her shoulders and onto the ground in front of her. As the man slowly regained situational awareness, he found the business end of a rifle aimed at his head.

Pulling the trigger with a lack of remorse, the mare quickly threw herself behind a collection of rocks. Pulling the rusted bolt on her rifle back with her teeth, she looked toward the ceiling and breathed a sigh of accomplishment. Turning her head toward the mouth of the cave and peeking through a small crack, she waited for what she knew lurked out there.

Left eye quickly looking toward the ground next to her, she retrieved a rock, taking a moment to throw it across the room. Taking her position back behind her cover, she saw what she was looking for. A flash erupted from a large bush outside the cave, a bullet immediately firing next to the rock's landing zone.

Getting up from behind her cover, she let her tongue slide out of her mouth in concentration as she stared down the rifle's iron sights. Breathing in, she quickly stabilized the firearm. Releasing her breath, she pulled the trigger, the bullet flying toward her destination.

A cry of pain met her ears, and she peeked over her cover once again to find the corpse of a raider collapsed on the right side of the bush. Looking at the ceiling and smirking, the mare found herself looking around her home. The bodies of several raiders littered the floors, their weapons, body parts and blood scattered throughout the confinements of the large cave.

Unimpressed, the mare took her new rifle and rested it against her recent barricade. Her head followed along with it, and soon, the mare found herself collapsed against the rock, surveying the mess she had created.

Bringing her forelegs behind her head, she closed her eyes, smirked a cocky smirk, and commented,

"Piece o' cake."

Followed

The mare stood idly in front of a large door, head tilted to the side as she studied the odd entrance with a look of curiosity. Looking to her left, she found what appeared to be a control pad, and raising a brow at the door, she pulled a lever down. She was met with silence, and as she turned to try forcing her way in, she suddenly grit her teeth and arced her back as a very loud grinding noise met her ears.

Looking toward the door with annoyance, she clamped her hooves over her ears as it slowly retracted into the room behind it, sliding like a barrel to her left and out of view. Smirking to herself, she adjusted the rifle on her back, breathed a sigh of relief, and cast a glance behind her, finding a barricaded door blocking a very pissed off group of raiders from getting to her. Turning her head, she walked through the door, with a laugh, "Heh. I wonder what that 106 means...."

His boots sploshed against the pool of blood audibly, the sickening sound resonating throughout the abandoned cave. Soon enough, the sound resonated eight more times, signifying the man's company as they proceeded through the cave toward where they assumed their objective to be.

A long trail of bodies pointed them in the right direction, but as they approached a raider- lying on the floor, arms spread- the company found a scrap of paper crudely taped to the man's head-

wait, scratch that. A nail was firmly lodged in the raider's skull, pinning the now apparent note to his forehead in a very gruesome manner. Bending over to examine it, one of the men read it aloud,

Haha, too slow assholes! I'll be long gone by the time you get this, just try following me! It'll end horribly for you, I'll bet you the ten bottlecaps I stuffed in this guy's asshole.

Turning his head to the men standing behind him, he walked to the closest one and wiped his hand on the black surface of his armor. Grunting in annoyance, the soldier rolled his eyes beneath his Hellfire helmet, returning to his at-attention position, quickly grasping his plasma rifle and standing tall.

"Alright ladies!" the officer began, pacing back and forth in front of the squad with a feeling of authority, "thanks to the combined efforts of Private Sulley and Private Michael, we've missed our objective by a landslide."

"Sir!"

Glaring at the man in the center of the line, the officer spat, "What is it Corporal?!"

"Sir! Haven't we been informed that our target is an equine, sir?"

The man leered at him, "No shit, corporal! Make your fucking point. Quick."

"Sir, equines have hooves! If they walk through this mud, they're bound to leave footprints, er, hoofprints, sir! I recommend we look for and follow them, sir!"

Raising a hand, the officer patted the corporal on his helmeted noggin, "Let's get to it, ladies! Pack up, we're leaving!"

"Sir yes sir!"

The officer rolled the left sleeve of his uniform up, revealing a metallic device strapped to his wrist. Tapping a few buttons, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small chip, inserting it into a slot located near his hand. Lightly touching the Pip-Boys screen, he began to report, "Brigadier!"

Silence was his only answer for two heartbeats until a grim voice replied back, "Yes, lieutenant?"

"Sir, we discovered the previous whereabouts of the target-"

"Previous, lieutenant?"

"Uh, yes sir. It has departed from this location, but it has left a trail as to where it went. Permission to follow, sir."

"...of course, lieutenant. Do not come back without it, however. Or else," suddenly, the screen became blank, leaving the officer to replace his sleeve, about-face, and begin commanding his troops to follow the trail towards their target.

The crosshairs hovered over the hatted officer's head as he and his group exited the secluded cave, taking a swift left and continuing east. Bringing his Victory rifle to his chest, the man cursed, looking down at his Pip-Boy with a look of aggravation. Pulling up the map, he looked back at the squad, who walked in a straight line toward-

"Oh shit...."

Putting the strap over his chest with a grunt of pain, Carter leapt off the rock he previously sat on, sliding down the ledge and falling to the ground below. His knees taking the full blunt, he grit his teeth for one second before straightening himself, "Dammit, that shit's hell on my knees..."

Reaching into his duster's pocket, he pulled out a magnum, opening the cylinder with a straight face. Pushing the crude button on the side, he cycled through it, placing two bullets into the empty spaces of the revolver, closing its habitat with a flick of his wrist. The faded, light blue paint coating the firearm caught his attention, and he suddenly remembered who it belonged to. He had forgotten in the past month about the pistol he had collected from the ground of his house that day, as he rarely ever needed to use his duster's inside pocket.

Fishing through the pouches strapped to his chest, he found a small leather holster, placing the firearm inside it with a grin. Buckling it around his waist, he looked toward the slowly rising run, the silhouettes of the Enclave pretenders blocking his full view.

"I'll find you Dash. I will."

Author's Note

I apologize if the quality of this has gone down somewhat. I'm still dealing with personal issues, and if it's affecting these chapters, I might have to stop for awhile. I hope you understand.

Venture

She wasn't entirely sure about what exactly had rudely roused her from her slumber: the rather loud and admittedly frightening bang that emerged from beyond the locked door at the end of the hall, or her rumbling stomach. Choosing to continue on keeping her still present sanity, she picked the latter. Turning first her head, then her entire body, she rested her chin buried deep within her worn pillow, contemplating on what to eat. Her forelegs glued to her sides, the mare swept her sight about her room.

Opening her mouth wide open in a weakly suppressed yawn, her magenta irises rested upon the shelf a little way away and above her bed. Sighing in annoyance at having to get up to retrieve her food, she slowly got to her hooves, legs shaking with fatigue. Dammit Dad, you could've made me a unicorn, she thought, realization not yet kicking into her mind. Blinking her slumber away, the mare flicked her tail, feeling for the rifle that always loyally lay by her bedside. Since repelling the raider invasion from her cave weeks ago, the mare had grown attached to the .32 caliber work of wonder she had appropriately named Belle.

Feeling the moderately polished wooden frame graze her tail, she coiled it around and brought it to her left foreleg. Placing the barrel into the cold ground at her hooves, she used it like a cane, sleepily stalking the full three steps toward the shelf that held her food, taking in the various amounts of cans that lined its rusted length. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she looked at the fading labels held together by tape and spit, courtesy of the mare herself. Choosing to skip over the dried prunes- as they had given her the trots- she craned her neck and clamped her teeth around a can of carrots. Turning around, she carefully leaned Belle against an adjacent table, walking seven more steps to reach her makeshift counter.

Using the tip of her hoof to pull out the top most drawer, she dropped her carrots onto the top of the counter to grab her bottle opener. Improvising, she clamped the can in between her hooves and began her usual process: once again craning her neck and anchoring the end of the device underneath the tab, lifting it with an upward jerk of her head. With the bottle opener still clamped inside her mouth, she positioned the sharp end in between the hole in the tab and hooking it, pulling it farther back so she could better access it.

As she brought her hoof up to pull it back and eat for what felt like days, a deafening shriek hit her ears, causing her to grasp them with her hooves and collapse to the floor. Cracking her eyes open to meer slits, she tried desperately to search for the source, which apparently involved two large speakers on either side of her room. She had previously kept them intact in case of chance contact from within the Tombs, but did not expect contact to this screeching degree.

Barely audible through both her crudely muffled ears and the still ringing shrieking sound came shouts of protest, which, after a few minutes, escalated to what sounded like guns firing in quick succession. Daring to reach for Belle with a free hoof, she held it in a very shaky grip, not even bothering to aim at the offending speakers that threatened to permanently prohibit her hearing. She wasn't about to let that happen.

Belle sparked twice, thoroughly destroying the devices that could have killed her not moments ago. Didn't trust those damned things from the start.. the mare thought, shakily releasing her hold on her ears. Checking both hooves for signs of blood, she was relieved to discover its absence. As if to thwart her joy, a tickle began to form from under her right nostril. Itching it, she drew her hoof back and discovered a wet crimson liquid clinging to her coat. A second wiping of her muzzle emerged with the same results.

Snorting, she thought back to previous events.

What the hell was that? Sounded like...fighting...and the speakers are only set to receiving from the Tombs... As if to confirm her suspicions, a loud bang emerged from further away in the Vault.

Oh shit.

Quickly grabbing Belle by her sling and throwing it over her left foreleg, she trotted through the door with renewed vigor, turning a right and proceeding down the hallway with haste. As the now known sounds of battle reverberated through the halls, she increased her speed, wishing that she could use her wings within the tight confinements of the Vault.

Shoulda picked up that shotgun back in the cave...stupid stupid stupid!

Another explosion reached her ears as she rounded the corner, quickly stopping in time to avoid an unneccesary collision with the door now in front of her. Atop it was a very dimmed sign that read,

"Atrium," she said, turning her attention to the control panel next to it. The actual panel itself hung from a long, insulated black wire, hindering it from falling to the floor, and two other wires were attached to it. Both were snipped from their cousins from within the structure itself, a last-ditch effort she attempted after hearing strange noises weeks before.

Lightly coiling the two ends in either hoof, she clenched her eyes shut and braced for the worst as she slowly inched the the two together. She practically jumped when she heard the door slide open with an audible screech barely above a growl. Slowly opening one eye, she found that the door was only up about halfway, and at a very noticeable angle. The sign above it lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree.

Looking down the staircase with a look of fright, she puffed out her chest in attempted bravery and thought to herself, Last chance. I could just leave now and shut this again. Keep it nice and closed.

Glancing at the control panel, she swiftly tied the two wires together and crouched underneath the door.

Obviously, my body isn't listening to a word my mind is saying.

Keeping to a crouched position, she slowly advanced down the staircase, making sure to remain silent in the very narrow hallway that lined the corridor. As she hit the bottom of the staircase with a low thump, she noticed something peculiar: the walls up top where she lived were polished, almost like mirrors. Down in the Atrium, however, the walls were covered in grime, rust, and...

Shaking her head, she swallowed the lump she had no prior knowledge of and walked on, staring straight ahead of her as she trotted through the poorly lit hallway. There was absolutely no way that was blood. There's way too much to be blood...right?

She dared not let her eyesight stray from wandering away from the corridor in front of her, lest she take in the sight that threatened to meet her gaze with every step she took. Shoulda brought a flashlight... she thought, straining her eyes to see through the dim lighting that guided her path. As she reached the intersection of a three way hallway, she suddenly became aware of a sound.

Flicking her ear upward and holding in her breath, she listened for it.

"...no."

"No?"

"That's what.....said, 'no'. Now step....the office, you won't.....needing it."

"I don't.....so."

The mare flinched when she heard a muffled shot ring out, followed by silence. Approaching the corner to her right, she poked her head around it-

-almost falling to the floor as she was met with the stained leather boots of a raider. Clamping her mouth shut with a hoof, she fell to her haunches and swiftly inched herself away from danger, taking a single second to unsheathe her knife from her shoulder. Biting down on its handle, she righted herself and crouched into a ready position.

She turned out to be ready for nothing, in fact, as the raider she almost ran into never rounded the corner. Instead, she heard him break into conversation, "You McCoy's better not be plannin' anything." His voice sounded gruff and untrusting.

Another voice replied, "We ain't," the shifting of gear sounded, "and you, you traitor, should be the one better off without meddling." The other raider, obviously a female, came out as strong and reassuring, definitely not the type Rainbow could see as raider material.

"We ain't doing anything. It wasn't we that fired that first shot-"

"Us. 'It wasn't us that fired that first shot', and it was too."

"Fuck you-"

A deafening roar met Rainbow's ears, and she once again was required to cuff her ears tightly. Suddenly realizing she was back-flat on the floor, she opened her eyes and found black markings covering the hall to her right, creating what looked to be a sun-like pattern.

Releasing her hold, she shook her head wildly to swat away the ringing that met her hearing. The world shifted, and the mare fell to the floor face first. Throwing both forelegs out in front of her, she shakingly rose to her hooves. Once again poking her head around the corner, she was met with a gruesome sight that she presumed as the two raiders she had previously overheard-

Wait. There was only a single body lying in a pool of blood. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, the mare noticed that the body was male, as evident by the bare chested body covered only by a leather strap running up to his shoulder. Without warning, an eruption of explosions resonated through the hallway, signifying something very, very bad. Every inch of Rainbow's mind urged her to continue forward and turn a left instead, but with a pop of her neck, the mare trotted as fast as she could toward the commotion, smirking all the while.

Author's Note

Short chapter, yes, but for a reason involving me deciding to halve it, and keep the second, much longer part for Commotion.

Biggun

"Mac?"

"Eeyup?"

"We should probably move. Like, right now."

With an affirmative, "Eeyup," the two ponies turned tail as quickly as possible, disappearing behind a door, courtesy of the blue pegasus currently reloading her rifle.

The mare flinched when she heard the sound of a machine revving up, and slowly began backing up with her companion as bulges began to appear on the door, long enough to just barely stop from breaking through the metallic frame. Forehead beginning to drip of sweat, Rainbow planted Belle's barrel into the floor, dramatically cocking the bolt and placing another .32 round into the chamber.

Looking over at her with a raised brow, Mac calmly asked, "This some kinda normal occurrence?"

Chuckling, the mare glanced over at her coltfriend and responded, "They aren't normally this Snowflake-esque," noticing the stallion's slight glare at the buff pegasus' name, she continued, "but yeah, ain't nothin' I'm not used to. C'mon, there's a few grenades we can occupy him with in the Atri-"

With a loud crash, the door behind the two gave way to a hail of bullets, narrowly avoiding the still equines who could only holster their firearms and high-tail it around the corner. Passing by the dead corpse of a Blastmaster, the mare quickly grasped his hand in her tail, pulling with all her might and bringing him in front of her. Sliding him down the stairs without a second's thought, the pegasus proceeded to sled down the staircase, swiftly stepping off with a soft flap of her wings as the corpse's skull hit the bottom floor with a resounding thud.

Turning around, the mare once again noticed that her companion was absent, not even the whiff of his apple-scented fur being left behind. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Rainbow shook her head vigorously. As her vision cleared, her heart caught in her gut. Staring down at her from atop the staircase menacingly stood the heavily-armored Raider, the dim light behind him casting an ominous glow on his figure, concealing the mare in a dark, dark shade.

Swinging Belle out from her back, the mare sat on her haunches, took aim, and pulled the trigger. A metallic ping sounded, sparks flying from the heavy iron plates shielding the Raider's heart. Despite her failure, the mare puffed her chest out and bit down into Belle's polished bolt, reeling her head back and placing another round into the chamber.

Looking back up, the Raider took his left hand and grabbed onto a very large lever on his weapon's side, and with a dark, deep chuckle, pulled it back, a heavy grinding sound resounding not a moment later. Lifting a boot, the Raider slowly went down a step, the clang of his steel-soled boots and the staircase echoing inside Rainbow's head. Taking aim again, the mare's iron sights floated over the large Raider's heavily modified welding mask. Yet again, sparks flew in every direction from the mask's view-ports, barely managing to so much as cause the Raider to flinch as he continued to descend the staircase.

Looking around swiftly, Rainbow picked up a combat shotgun from her previous sled's body, pulling the lever back and swinging it back around to the still descending Raider. Gritting her teeth in annoyance, the mare pulled the trigger with the tip of her hoof, scoring a hit on the Raider's shoulder pads. Eyes narrowed, the mare took aim yet again, firing another shell. Rainbow fired shot after shot, until finally, the shotgun clicked empty.

Cursing in a hushed voice, she threw the firearm onto the floor, shouldered Belle, and turned tail, taking a swift right and trotting down the long hallway back toward the Atrium. Daring to make a glance behind her, her mind quickly raced as the Raider menacingly stood at the opposite end of the dim-lit corridor, the large machine weapon still grasped within his large hands.

The mare turned her head back around just in time to find that she had re-entered the Atrium. A group of heads quickly turned her way, as well as the various firearms their owners held.

Waving her hooves in a sweeping motion, the mare quickly hissed, "No time! If you wanna live, you gotta help me!"

A session of whispering among the survivors soon followed, and after three heartbeats, a collection of heads nodded in her direction. For the first time in weeks, Rainbow gave a sincere smile, and waved her hoof over to a pair of men idly repairing a pair of hunting rifles.

"Whaddoo we got, ma'am?" the smaller, thinner one asked behind a pair of leather goggles. The mare noticed he had an accent similar to Applejack's.

"Quick, c'mere."

Leaning up against the wall adjacent to the exit door, the mare was surprised to find the Raider, standing like a statue in the darkness at the end of the hallway, as if daring the pegasus to attack him. In the corner of her vision, she saw the two engineers poke their heads around the corner as well. She could make out the words, "Oh shit," on their lips as they stared in awe at their opponent.

As her right ear flicked idly, she could barely make out the sound of a machine spinning, and with quick realization, spread her foreleg and threw her companions back behind the corner with a thump.

"What the he-"

He stopped as his hand was crushed by the mare's hoof, unfortunately realizing all too late that his hand just so happened to cover the button for the door. As it shut with a hiss, an encore of light thuds made their marks on the surface of the door, once again being stopped right before escaping out the back side.

Breathing heavily, the mare slowly turned her head toward the larger engineer, giving him a cocky smirk and a slight tilt of her head, "So. You wanna tell me what the hell that thing is?"

Still a tad bit hesitant about responding to the talking, winged, dirt and blood-covered equine snipping the control panel's wires next to him, he decided to give his friend behind him a slight jab in the chest, who spoke up instead.

"Well....that there's the Biggun. Or, as Jake 'ere calls 'im-"

"The Big-Meal!"

"The Big-Meal. The Stanford's have been talkin' up about some kinda killin' machine they've been trainin' in secret. We didn't believe them, but damn....we should 'ave...."

Noticing the engineer's slight change of tone and drooped head, Rainbow placed a hoof on his shoulder, brandished a cocky grin, and boldly stated, "Well, let's test this 'killin' machine' of theirs, shall we?"

"Just what the hell are you suggestin' we do?"

It was Jake's turn to speak, "Well, we raid the armory, o' course."

"You of all people should know that th' armory's been locked since Bill lost the key-"

"We can find it," Rainbow stated matter-of-factly, "we just need someone to distract him-"

"I'll do it."

Raising a brow at the obviously feminine voice, the mare's eyes landed upon the group that stayed gathered behind the overturned kitchen tables. Realizing she had been sitting on her haunches, Rainbow rose to her hooves, licked her lips, and questioned, "Who?"

The group parted in the middle as a dark-skinned female stepped out of the group. Her hair resembled a picture Rainbow had seen of recruits in the Royal Guard, with similar armor to boot, instead colored in a light silver coating and bearing the largest pauldrons the mare had ever seen. Grasped within her hands was what Rainbow recognized as a laser rifle, with what looked to be a scope mounted on top.

"Name's Cross. It would be my honor to keep our opponent from reaching the Atrium."

Author's Note

Be prepared for another update soon after this. :raritywink:

Windmill, Windmill, For The Land

The door in front of them stood tall and ominous, as if it was the only thing keeping them from death. Unfortunately, that was actually so.

Looking at it with a sense of wonder, the mare cocked her head to the side, studying the door. Though the last doors she had seen were made out of a single-striped metal frame, this one appeared to be made of some kind of "steroid-steel", as Jake had put it so simply. In short, he had added, there really was no other way to get in then finding the key for the control panel to its right. When the mare questioned whether or not she could take the panel out manually and jury-rig it, the man replied, "Hell no. Special kinda welding, that one. Key's the only thing to get you in, you said you'd find it-"

"We," Rainbow snapped in a hushed tone, "we will find it. Not just me. It's not just my life that's at risk here. We're all in this together, because that son of a bitch waiting outside the Atrium, waiting to kill your friends here, he won't stop at just me you know. C'mon, let's go find that key," the mare ordered, slinging Belle around her back and turning to her right, proceeding to turn the corner and ascend the staircase.

Jake and his friend walked behind her, the former wielding a spiked baseball bat he had picked off a raider, the latter holding a .32 pistol in a noticeably shaky hand.

Observing this, Rainbow asked, "Somethin' wrong?"

Continuing to follow the mare down the corridor, he replied, "Yeah, I've just...."

"Just what?"

"I've just...never really used one o' these before. I'm just the McCoy's engineer for Christ's sake, not a firearm expert."

Giving a snort of ridicule, Rainbow rolled her eyes and smiled, "You don't have to be an expert to use one of those. Here, gimme."

The engineer stuck his hand out to give it to the mare, who raised an eyebrow as she glanced everywhere but the barrel facing her body, "Oh. Whoops," he apologized, flipping it around in his hand and holding the barrel to her hoof. Giving a half-hearted smile, the mare pulled the lever back with her other hoof and flipped the break-action open. Reaching into a pocket on her hind leg, she pulled a couple rounds out and placed them individually into the chamber, extending her head away just enough for the engineer to watch with utmost attention.

Flicking her shooting leg, Rainbow casually advanced a little ways forward, suddenly stopping as she walked past a door frame. Tilting her body to the left, she raised her right hind leg and slammed it into the metallic covering, being rewarded with a small piece of rusted iron falling by her side. Tossing it lightly into the air, she coiled her hoof around its surface, brought her leg back, and threw it a couple feet away, directly past the intersection of the T-shaped hallway.

Suddenly, a Raider, clad in Wastehound armor, stalked out from the right passage, grasping a combat shotgun and muttering words of obviously attempted bravery. Rotating her head to the left and gesturing toward the Raider, Rainbow sat on her haunches and aimed with a single hoof toward his left leg.

The pistol barked, and the Raider fell to his knees and clenched his newly-created wound. Out from the hallway came another Raider, a Blastmaster, who turned his head to the right and found his friend clutching his leg and screaming bloody murder. Growling, he turned his head to the left and was met with the sight of a light blue object aiming a weapon at him. Raising his rifle, he barely had time to take aim as he felt a sharp pain reverberate through his chest. Dropping his rifle and holding his gut, his life ended quickly with the well-placed accuracy of a bullet between his eyes.

Holding the barrel in front of her mouth, the mare blew the smoke emanating from its length and did a small trick that would have made Trixie jealous, handing the engineer his gun back grip-first. Looking back to Jake, she asked, "Mind if I see that bat a sec?"

Giving it to her without a second thought, he replied, "Knock yourself out."

"I'd rather not let you guys get raped down here all by your lonesome," she stated, patting the bat with her free hoof as she approached the one-legged Raider on the ground. Coming up from behind him, she raised the wooden weapon and smashed it into his skull, knocking him unconscious and bleeding onto the floor.

With the bat over her shoulder, she whistled a merry tune and calmly walked back to her companions, who sat in awe of her brutality.

"Here ya go," she said, giving Jake his bat back with a smirk.

His smaller friend broke the silence with a stutter, "Now, Ah appreciate the 'tutorial', but we gotta find that key-"

"You haven't even told me where you last saw BIll yet."

Slapping a hand to his forehead, he sighed and responded, "Oh, right. Last I saw him, he was going up to the Overseer's Office to negotiate with the Stanford's and finally open it so we could leave this damned place."

So that's who I heard comin' in here....

"Ah'm not sure it turned out well, 'cause the Stanford's are kinda bloodthirsty when it comes down to it, and last time we sent someone to negotiate, he ripped off their legs and threw 'em in the basement."

Eyes widening in horror, Rainbow asked, "And you haven't attacked him yet why?"

"It's just a rumor. Can't go off chasin' rumors now can we?"

Memories of a certain Ponyville Confidential gossiper ran through her mind, which she quickly shook away, "If you have enough reason, I think it'd be safe to say you shoulda ended him a long time ago."

Turning a left and allowing the mare to get by him, he replied, "Ah suppose you're right, Miss, but it's a little late for that now."

"It's Rainbow Dash. Don't call me Miss, it pisses me off," she deadpanned, looking over to her conversational companion with a serious look. He stared back with a look of fright, and she soon burst out laughing to his expense, "Lighten the hell up, man. You shoulda seen the look on your face."

Nervously laughing with her, he was stopped as his face became buried into Jake's back, whom he hadn't noticed passed him during his conversation. The three were stopped in front of a door, simply labelled, "Overseer's Office".

Giving a suspicious look, Rainbow withdrew Belle and gripped it within her hooves, leaning herself against the door frame and flattening an ear against it. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she received nothing in return. Walking past Jake and his friend, who politely parted as she did so, she held her breath, stopped, and quickly threw herself back out into the hallway, aiming Belle at every wall and corner she saw.

Though seeing no one, she couldn't help but feel it was some kind of trap. Last time she heard anything about the Overseer's Office, gunshots and chatter were plentiful. There had to have been someone here.

As if sensing her inner thoughts, Jake reassured her, "Maybe they all got killed by you up in the second floor."

Holstering Belle with a huff of suspicion, the mare turned herself and walked back to the door, eyeing it curiously, "What about this door?"

Giving a shrug, Jake asked, "What about this door?"

"Ya think we can get in somehow? Preferably without having to go down into some shit sewers and turn on fifteen switches before we do so?"

Putting his hand over his chin in thought, Jake hummed, "I'm....not sure, really. You could try."

Trotting up to the nearby control panel with a sense of authority, Rainbow casually brought a hoof up and pressed the red Open button into the wall, preparing for the worst.

The door flew open without a hitch.

Raising an eyebrow, the mare leaned her head into the room, not noticing a single thing out of place. A row of monitors lined the walls behind a C-shaped desk, where a computer terminal and a surprisingly still burning cigarette lay in an ashtray. Trotting into the office, Rainbow could only offer a relieved Huh.

Suddenly, without warning, she heard a loud hiss sound emanate from behind her. Spinning on her back hooves, she noticed that the door was completely closed, "Hey!"

Pawing at the floor with her hoof, she sprinted toward the door, intending to knock it down. Instead, she was met with a crushing pain in her shoulder as she ricocheted to the floor in a heap.

"Rainbow!"

"Shit, Rainbow you okay?!"

Slowly getting up from the floor and shaking herself, the mare dragged a hoof through her armored Vault suit and dusted it off, "Yeah yeah yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, you guys alright?"

Their reply was quick, "Yeah, we're good. We need to get you out of there though."

"Yeah. We do. How though?"

"Try the control panel," Jake replied. Rainbow could almost imagine him raising a finger at it once he said this.

Doing as he advised, Rainbow trotted up to the control panel, studying it for a few heartbeats before planting her hoof into its Open button. Instead of a metallic hiss, the slow whirring of a machine sounded. "Huh?" the mare questioned, throwing her head around the room to locate the source of what she had just opened.

As her head looked to the ceiling, she found it. Located above her head, in the center of the room was a ventilation shaft. Hanging from it were a couple lines of tinsel, which she noticed were now swaying in an other-worldly wind.

From the opposite end of the door came a voice, "Is that a vent I hear?!"

Suddenly coughing, Rainbow replied, "Yeah, why?"

"Whatever you do, don't breathe it in!"

"Why not?"

Her answer would never come however, as her vision began to take on a blue hue. Eyes pacing around the room in a panic, the mare suddenly looked to the ground.

She was shocked to find that it had disappeared as she fell through an endless void, not having the air to so much as scream.

Spiral

The key.

The key to the Armory.

She saw it.

Falling downward through the dark abyss, her head facing toward a dim light floating high above her and her mouth wide open in fright, time began to slow, and soon enough, she felt as if she were not even moving, as if she were not falling endlessly through a dangerous drug-induced hallucination.

Turning her head, she found it again.

The key. Floating beside her, just out of reach, its silver surface shimmering in the light that attempted to entirely illuminate the darkness below, instead succeeding in bringing the one object she needed, the one object she so desired, into the light. Reaching her left hoof out to grab it, she became suddenly aware of a ticking sound, emanating from her half-extended foreleg. Raising a brow, she stole a glance toward her Pip-Boy.

A small Geiger counter located on the top left held a likewise small pointer, which was erratically shaking over a set of numbers the mare couldn't see in the low light she was currently falling through. Speaking of which...

Suddenly remembering her predicament, the mare found herself unfolding her wings from her side, spreading them out as wide as she could. For all she knew, and for all she was sub-consciously preparing for, she would need to be quick. Closing her eyes and focusing, she let out a long breath she had no prior knowledge of holding. As she began to feel the wind against her face slowly beat faster, she opened her eyes, took a long glance at the suspended key, and popped her neck.

She flapped her wings.

Without warning, the world accelerated, and the key flew to the ground with renewed speed, out of the clutches of Rainbow's hoof by a mere millisecond. As the mare looked toward the still falling object, she grit her teeth, cursed, and threw her forelegs out in front of her, turning downward.

Like a streaking arrow, the mare soared easily through the otherworldly wind, her mane flapping behind her head and whipping at her neck. She didn't dare give it a second thought, she hadn't flew like this for weeks, but the feeling wasn't unfamiliar whatsoever. Gaining a short distance from the key, she could barely make out the sound of that ticking noise, but not wanting to ruin her aerodynamics and possibly risk losing the key, the mare shrugged it off.

As she reached it, the ticking became louder, the Pegasus barely being able to hear herself think. Suppressing the instinct to clench her ears tightly so as to drown the monotonous sound out of her head, she gained speed, throwing her right foreleg out at the last moment, feeling the cold exterior of the key within her grasp.

Holding it and giving a wide smile, she looked down, suddenly beginning to scream as she found herself staring at a metallic surface, quickly approaching her. Bracing herself for impact and holding the key close, she clenched her eyes shut tightly, gritting her teeth and expecting her life to swiftly end in a bone shattering end.

The hard impact would never come, however, as she was instead greeted to a thin surface breaking under her weight, scattering it and embedding small chips into her mane and armor. Daring to crack open a single eyelid, the darkness that had previously surrounded her was replaced with a familiar, yet peculiar sight.

The rusted interior of the Atrium greeted her in the form of a large group of squater-looking individuals crouched behind a multitude of cabinets, desks, and tables, all except of select few aiming various weapons at a doorway, its usual purpose being abused, the metal door in the gradual process of flying through the air.

Barely able to be seen through the cracks of the obvious break-in, a large, very muscular Raider stood, his right, armored boot raised in the air and making contact with the door. Flying toward the door, Rainbow suddenly noticed, was a small rectangular object, with two large hexagons fixed on either end, a red pin flying freely next to it.

Still slowly flying toward the ground, she took notice of a small collection of heads turning her way in a much faster speed than what she was currently accustomed to. It hit her as she found the key still grasped within her hooves, held tightly against her chest with no room to fall out whatsoever.

Time resumed, and Rainbow fell stomach first onto the floor below, glass and unspent bullets falling down beside her as she winced in pain. Looking up, she found a shotgun-wielding man turning his head her way and muttering what she made out to be,

"Close your eyes."

Doing so, she could barely make out the sound of a small explosion, and white flooded her vision through her tightly shut eyelids. Two heartbeats passed, and she opened her eyes again, finding the man up and looking away from her and toward the door, his shotgun aimed at their intruder and fire erupting from its barrel.

Slowly getting to her hooves, she turned her head at the sound of her name being called. Jake stood, his friend next to him. Both waved their hands toward her, repeatedly yelling her name through her impaired hearing. Looking toward the ground, she picked the key up from the floor as fast as her body would allow her, and with what she assumed to be an audible, "Catch!" she threw the key toward Jake, who held his hands out like a beggar and reached for it.

He caught it, and with his friend close behind, he mouthed his thanks and quickly turned tail, disappearing into the corridor behind them. Falling back to the floor without a second thought, Rainbow spread her forelegs out and lay on the ground, looking toward the ceiling with a look of serenity. She was cut and bleeding all over her body, she could tell just by by the stench and by the amount of glass she found embedded into her Vault suit, small patches of crimson soaking the fabric around the affected areas.

She could hardly hear anything, the battle occurring right next to her reduced to a barely audible volume in her ears. Her heart beat slowly, and the mare contemplated whether she was about to die right then and there. Turning her head in thought, she was met with the sight of a .44 magnum, the barrel following the same direction she was staring at, the hammer already cocked, as if someone knew she would find it.

Reaching for it, she coiled a few inches of her leg around the grip, placing the tip of her hoof in the trigger guard, ready to fire. Not even bothering to check the chamber for ammunition, she rose to her hooves, aimed with both forelegs gripping the revolver, and pulled the trigger, being answered with a bright flash and a loud explosion.

Neither emerged from the barrel of her gun.

Looking down at her gun, she looked at the chamber, finding not a single bullet within its confinement. Gasping in surprise, her mind stuttered. Then-then who?!

Her answer came as she looked back toward the Biggun, who sat idly by, staring at her with his minigun grasped within his large hands and his armored welding mask strapped tightly to his face, the view-ports glaring darkly at her, before the muscled Raider fell to the floor, a large collection of holes in his back oozing blood.

The Biggun was dead.

Mouth wide open in awe, realization suddenly hit her as she remembered that there was no way anyone got behind him from inside the Vault; all of the remaining inhabitants were all grouped together, standing right next to her with expressions mimicking hers. As a pool began to form from underneath the Biggun, his murderer suddenly appeared from the doorway. For a split second, Rainbow thought that Carter was here to save her. That Carter, the ol' coot himself, was here to swoop her away from impending danger and help the McCoys survive this brutal hellhole.

A dark skinned man calmly walked into the atrium, his black goggles covering his eyes and a black leather flight cap over his head. In his hands, he held a dark red hunting shotgun, which he cocked, a spent shell flying out the side and clattering onto the floor, breaking the silence in the room.

Soon after, half a dozen more men with similar outfits emerged from the door, each carrying small machine guns, machetes strapped to their belts and hung from a skirt that fell to just above their knees. Rainbow, watching with a look of curiosity, noticed that they were wearing what appeared to be padding for Hoofball, their dark brown surfaces darkened by both aging and wet mud.

The final member of the squad walked through, the skinned head of a fox atop his head and a pair of swimming goggles over his eyes. Rising from his back, suspended by two short yellow poles was a dark red flag, its surface full of small holes and torn in many places. Emblazoned proudly in the middle of the red plain was a golden bull.

Render

"Mac?"

"Eeyup?"

"Tell me one thing, and be honest about it."

"Alright, Ah'll bite."

Rainbow slowly lifted her head from the red fur pillow underneath it, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. As she opened her eyes longingly, she gazed out over the landscape, giving a soft smile as she felt the hoof around her shoulder slightly tighten. Looking back at the red stallion sitting next to her, she sighed.

"Mac?"

"Yes Rainbow?"

She paused, not knowing how to approach this. Lowering her head, she bit her lip so hard she thought she would pull blood. Looking back up again, she was greeted to her coltfriend staring back at her, a smile on his lips and a hay stalk in his mouth.

"Mac, I...if anything ever happens...to me-"

"Now where did this come from so suddenly?"

Rainbow wasn't expecting this response. She stuttered, "I've...I don't know, something about this-"

"The wedding- whose is it again?"

"Twilight's brother's, and yes."

"What's got ya so worked up over it?"

Rainbow reclined herself against Mac's chest, resting for a brief moment as she composed herself, "Something about it that I can't quite place my hoof on. The wife-to-be's been acting funny, like she's corrupt or something. Twilight's brother doesn't even seem to notice, and neither do the rest of the girls. Twilight got pissed at us and called the Princess and us out on our strange behavior tonight, and then she just stormed off."

"What about you?"

"She's being a real bitch, and she was calling me out on my form when I showed her what I was planning to do. Like she even knows about aerodynamics! I could be ripped to shreds if I didn't use that 'poor showmanship of acceptance and phalluses', whatever that means!"

As she raised her forelegs in disbelief, she heard a chuckle emanate from behind and to the left of her. Looking at Mac, she saw him completely still and staring back at her nonchalantly. Pouting out her bottom lip and crossing her forelegs, she barely sputtered out a defeated, "I still can't believe a pink princess told me off like that," she waved her right hoof, "she even told off Applejack's cooking without her noticing!"

"Whaddyou mean by that?"

"She told Applejack how good her cooking was, and then, when she wasn't looking, she threw away the bag Applejack gave her-"

"Full of her food?"

"Yes! I was watching the whole thing from the window!"

She regretted saying that.

"So, Ah assume my sis told you to stay out so you wouldn't eat anything then?"

"Mostly Pinkie Pie. She was worried I'd find a way to smuggle her in, as if I could somehow."

Big Macintosh gave a laugh, pulling his marefriend in closer and lowering his nose to her mane. Lightly smelling, he caught a whiff of what smelt like rain drops, most likely a benefit of hers for having a shower that utilized the very same thing. She probably didn't even have to use shampoo-

"Mac?"

He suddenly looked down to Rainbow, pretending he hadn't just had an episode with smelling her mane, "Y-yes Rainbow?"

She looked up at him quickly, as if she had something important to tell him that required his absolute attention, "Mac...did you just...stutter?"

Holding a hoof up to his mouth, he cleared his throat thoroughly before speaking up, "What of it? You stutter all the time-"

A cyan hoof was suddenly thrust over his open mouth, "Hey, that is only because you are a very good stallion when it comes to keeping a mare interested in-"

"Ah get it, Rainbow. Now, finish your thought, sun'll be coming up soon."

Blowing an orange lock out of her eyesight, the mare sighed heavily.

"Mac, if something bad happens at the wedding...promise me-"

"Rainbow, it'll be fine-"

"Promise me."

"Rainbow, don't-"

"Promise. Me."

"What for?"

"Promise me, no matter what, that you'll be safe."

"Rainbow, you're overthinkin' this. Nothin' bad'll happen at the wedding, it'll all go without a hitch-"

"Mac."

The stallion looked toward his marefriend, who was currently standing up from her previous position next to him, her head on his shoulder. Right now, he really wished she was doing that instead.

Rainbow glared at him, legs straight as arrows and her brow furrowed in frustration. Mac sat there silently, his mouth half open and his stalk of hay barely hanging on to it. She knew this would get him, so she kept at it furiously.

"Rainbow-"

"Now Mac," she interrupted, beginning to feel a wave of tears trickle into her eyes, "promise me."

Big Macintosh had done and seen many things in his life. He had been there when his father was hospitalized after an accident in the fields, he had been there for his mother when she fell ill the next month. And when his mother had died, he had been there for his father when he grieved, and he had been there when his father left the farm one fateful morning months after that. He was there when his father entrusted him and him alone with providing for the farm and keeping it alive and thriving for when he returned, and he was there when Applebloom, Applejack, and Granny Smith needed him to sustain them. He was there when Applejack left for Manehattan, and he was there for Applebloom's first day of school. He was there, always there, whenever something troubling happened to his family and his friends, anytime, anywhere. Now, he was here, sitting before the most beautiful mare he had ever laid eyes on, the very same mare he was currently staring at in shock-induced silence, the very same mare who now stared back at him with intent, asking him to do something harder than anything he had ever done before.

"Ah promise, Rainbow."

"Say it."

"Rainbow-"

"Say it Big Macintosh, or so help me Celestia...." the mare could barely finish her sentence, suddenly succumbing to the torrent of tears that had threatened to destroy her image for years at end. She lowered her head, her cheeks stinging and her breath hitched. She bit her lip tightly; she may have broken to crying, but she wouldn't dare fall to bawling loudly. Not for as long as she lived.

She felt a hoof lay itself on her shoulder.

She looked up slowly, letting out a weak sputter and flipping her mane out of her face nonchalantly, hoping Mac wouldn't realize she was crying, red eyes and wet trails running constantly down her face aside.

"Ah promise you, Rainbow. No matter what, Ah'll keep myself safe. For you."

Sniffling, the mare replied, "I..probably sound really lame right now overreacting and crying in front of you..."

Mac wiped her cheek, "You're not, and don't ever think you are."

The Pegasus smiled, and she reached for her coltfriend, who pulled her close to him as she felt the warm rays of Celestia's sun reach her face and blind her from underneath her clenched eyelids.

"Alright now Rainbow, we've gotta get goin'. Ah've got some work to do, and you've got one hell of a weddin' to attend...."

The memory flew through her, filling her with the same feeling she received when she experienced it on that hilltop overlooking Ponyville. Her vision slowly came back to her, and what met her gaze was truly not something she'd expected.

She didn't understand when, how, or even why she chose to do so.

It didn't occur to her what she had done.

Not until she noticed the worn hunting rifle grasped within her hooves, aiming steadily at the mysterious figures currently standing idly by in the Atrium. Even as she noticed this, she couldn't lower her weapon, no matter how much the little voice in her head told her that whoever they were were obviously better trained and far more deadlier than a band of chaotic raiders.

She further disobeyed her conscience as her right hoof released the grip, moved forward along the rifle's frame, and cocked the bolt-action on the side, hearing the familiar clicking sound that signified her enemy's rapidly approaching death. She paid no mind to the iron sights running along the barrel of her weapon, the business end aimed directly between the eyes of a fox-helmeted commander, who stared back at her with his weapon aimed in kind, a slightly curved machete that had seen better days. Not even the dry blood coating the blade was enough to cause her to falter.

"Back. Off. Asshole," she growled.

Author's Note

No Legion conflict just yet. Be patient my Lovelies.

Broken Trail

No.

It couldn't be happening.

They couldn't be here.

Not them.

It had to be the ventilation. There's no way they were here.

There's no way they would be all the way out here.

Carter sprinted through the twists and turns of the Vault, his hunting shotgun bouncing across his back uncomfortably as he ran toward the distant gunshots echoing from deeper within. Thousands of things ran through his mind at a mile a second, corrupting his mind with images he certainly didn't want to find in his entire lifetime. Pushing them back as much as he could, he held his right hand out and grasped at a wall, turning a right and continuing to sprint along the corridor with renewed vigor.

Reaching yet another T-shaped intersection, he looked to the left and found the quickly disappearing foot of a human. A red dot was pointing in its direction on Carter's HUD. Slinging his hunting shotgun out, he rushed toward the hostile, taking the same left it did. As he turned the corner, he held his shotgun up and placed his finger on the trigger, watching in anger as he saw the familiar sight of a Western soldier walking away from him. Gritting his teeth, he darted toward him, held the butt of his shotgun in the air, and slammed polished wood into loose leather and bone, watching as his foe fell limply to the ground.

Blowing air out of the side of his mouth, Carter launched his foot into the stomach of the downed soldier, causing him to roll over in pain and look up at the man currently standing over him. As he began to raise his hand, the old man above him slammed his foot onto the appendage, cocked his shotgun, and fired a single shot into the soldier's brain.

The Wanderer knew that armor from anywhere.

Caesar's Legion was here.

His assumption had been confirmed.

Suddenly, the telltale sound of a synchronized group met his ears, coming from around the corner he had just rounded. Realization dawning on him in the blink of an eye after four decades of "service", he turned tail and sprinted around the corner.

A large group of red and green dots were fixated on his right side, leading back up the staircase. Rounding the corner, he looked up toward the staircase and found the swift, unexpected closing of a Vault door, the hissing sound going unnoticed by the Wanderer as he rushed the exit, beginning to bang on it with his shotgun, knowing full well from nineteen years inside one that nothing could stop those doors.

Breathing heavily, he gave one final kick, before placing his hand on the nearby wall, keeling over, and coughing loudly onto the ground below. This time, he knew his hacking wasn't of old age. Looking up toward a ventilation shaft above his head, he grit his teeth tightly, slamming a hand onto it in anger. He had forgotten to put on his gas mask before entering the Vault, and was ultimately succumbing to the drugs being fed through the ventilation system.

Shaking his head in an attempt to ward off the effects, he turned his attention to the area behind him.

A large door, the sign above it reading,

"Atrium," Carter read, pumping his shotgun and descending the steps in a hurry. Reaching the foot of the stair, a large, metallic object shone brightly into the corner of his eye, bringing his attention toward the limp body of a large, seemingly steroid-induced raider, a welding mask strapped so tightly to his face that dry blood marks marred the areas around the mask's suction cup-esque compression. A trail of crimson led to his body from the Atrium door.

Raising an alarmed brow, he looked to his left again and rushed toward the bloodied door, placing his finger on the top button and watching as the door hissed open in response. Walking into the Atrium, he was met with a sight that caused him to drop his gun in horror.

There, standing in the middle of the Atrium, was a cyan pegasus.

Blood covered her entire figure, small drops falling silently to the floor and creating a giant pool by her hooves, soaking into her fur and leaving behind a disgusting crimson stain.

Across her left foreleg was a long, jagged red trail.

Next to her, lying forgotten on the floor, was a bloodied, Legion machete.

And in front of her, stained in red, was the disfigured body of a Legion soldier.

Walking up slowly toward the mare, Carter spoke, "Rainbow?"

The mare turned her head, showing her bloodshot, squinted eyes and gritted teeth.

Carter's breath caught in his throat.

Rainbow's head turned back toward the body still lying on the floor, before she slowly trotted up to the corpse and placed both forelegs atop it. Placing her mouth down, Carter heard the familiar sound of a knife being retracted from meat, before the mare turned back around, sheathed her knife, and promptly fell to the floor in a heap.

Rushing over, Carter quickly held her in his arms, falling to the floor and cradling the mare like a child as she wept. As she did so, Carter took the time to look around the room.

The Overseer's office window was completely shattered, the glass fragments scattered all over the Atrium floor, which was covered in both blood and spent bullets. The body on the floor was that of a Legion soldier, barely recognizable beyond the leather cap and goggles still clasped tightly on his head. Various cuts, gashes, and holes marred his body, courtesy of the bloody mare the Wanderer currently held in his hands.

The smell was enough to kill a man, were it not for Carter's familiarity with the stench he had become so accustomed to.

"I'm s-s-so sorry Carter.."

"No no no, don't be Rainbow-"

"They killed Cross, and they took this girl and her family outside. I couldn't s-stop them Carter..."

"Cross...?"

Rainbow took a second to wipe her eyes, straightening herself in Carter's arms and pointing toward a second body laying on the floor, "Paladin Cross, over there, the-the one in the gray..."

Carter looked over to the body she was looking at, finding the dead body of a man crumpled on the floor, a dirtied white shirt being the only noticeable feature of him.

Certainly not the Paladin Cross he knew.

Looking back down at the mare in worry, she did the same, staring up at him in unstoppable tears.

"They took her. They took Melody."

The Vertibird. The Vertibird outside.

"They're taking her back to Arizona."

"Who's Melody?"

"This-this little girl. They just up and t-t-took her away.."

Carter got up from the floor, the cyan mare still clinging tightly to his arms, "Why did they take her, Rainbow?"

The pegasus looked back up at him.

"They...they said she knew the c-c-code..." the mare could barely finish her sentence, her eyes shut tightly in an attempt to stop weeping.

Looking around in a panic, Carter shifted his shotgun over his shoulder, picked up the nearby hunting rifle off the floor and sprinted out the door, turning a left and rushing toward the maintenance elevator. Slamming a balled fist into the Up button, he sat in silence for a heartbeat before the doors hissed open, suddenly making a break for the Vault gate in the next room over. Emerging into the room in a flash, he noticed that the door was wide open.

Not the condition he had left it in.

Escaping outside through the long cave, he kicked open the wooden door separating the Vault from the Wasteland, racing into the open air and being met with the sound of blades whirring loudly. Grabbing his revolver from his holster, he fired three shots into the Vertibird's hull, before it ascended into the night sky, unaffected, and zoomed off.

The whole ordeal seemed to last only seconds for Carter as he lowered his revolver and breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling in sync with the mare still held in his left arm. As the Vertibird grew smaller and smaller into the night sky, Carter looked toward the cyan mare, who waited to respond to his next question she knew would come.

"Code for what, Rainbow?"

The mare struggled to regain her composure, stammering out, in a quiet voice,

"They called it a nuke."

Author's Note

I'm not entirely sure what to think of the quality of this chapter. Deadly didn't deliver, huh?

Through The Woods We Ran

Rainbow counted the days in her head.

The wind whistling through her mane and clothing gave her a sense of distraction, and with the numbers about to be added in her head, she brushed it aside to glare at the natural occurrence as it swept through the air and flew off into the long distance of the plains behind her. Turning her head, she stared longingly at the trail that expanded great distances in her wake, as if contemplating a heroic return to the plagued lands she had left behind.

Returning her attention to the trail ahead and the numbers in her mind, she found she had lost the latter, and quickly snorted out a huff of annoyance to show her frustration at losing a collection of important data to the wind. Narrowing her eyes as she stared into the wind, she adjusted her cloak with a brush of her shoulder, feeling newly discovered comfort reach her entire left side as she continued to walk through the plains.

The air smelt of ash and smoke, the wind blowing through the mare’s rainbow mane polluting the usual smell of rain drops with the contaminates carried from the burnt plains surrounding the mare currently walking along the dirt path once known as Highway 17.

Her cloak continuing to whip around wildly in the wind, the mare narrowed her eyes in retaliation of the coming gust of floating sand, turning her head to the left to avoid becoming blinded. After what she estimated to be around three and a half months of time spent in this world, she didn’t want to come all this way just to get permanently blinded by a collection of dust particles.

Not like that.

Feeling the long familiar sensation of dust halting its beak-like torrent, the mare turned her head back to the trail ahead and found a sign she must have missed standing a couple feet in front of her.

The wooden surface had seen better days, assortments of cracks and chips marring its obviously beaten exterior. Swaying in the wind, the mare cocked an eyebrow and stepped toward it to observe the carved lettering scrawled across its length. Reading in a hushed tone, she barely uttered out the first two letters before she heard a groan from next to her.

Looking to her left, she found the old man, arms crossed, staring darkly at the sign. Raising a brow, the mare licked her dry lips and asked, “What?”

Gaining no response, Rainbow inquired, “Something wrong with the-”

“The name.”

Looking over at the sign, the cloaked Pegasus gave a disbelieving look and glanced back over to the man standing next to her, “It’s called Ulysses, what about its name?”

Giving a slight sneer underneath his graying beard, Carter replied, “Bad blood with the sort.”

“The town?”

“The person.”

“Well,” the mare started, adjusting her cloak, “I hope you didn’t kill him for what it’s worth.”

As the mare gave a small chuckle, Carter snapped, “Wasn’t the person I was pissed at.”

As the two continued to walk across the highway, Rainbow turned her head and asked a simple question, “Then who?”

Looking back at her, Carter stated simply, “The person he was warning me about.”

Feeling a hint of curiosity creep into her mind, Rainbow stared at Carter, his armored duster flowing freely in the wind still blowing heavily through her own brown cloak. About to ask another question, she noticed a slight discomfort emerge from her chest. Looking down, she noticed the collar of her dirt-ridden Vault suit, out of place and somehow tucked into the rest of the leather. Nudging it with her muzzle, she looked back at the Wanderer and inquired.

“What was his name?”

Carter suddenly slowed down, his eyes narrowed in what the mare easily made out to be anger. Shifting the anti-materiel rifle slung across his back, he gave a long pause before replying harshly, “His name was John.”

Chuckling at the seemingly generic name, the mare decided to pull a joke, still smiling in amusement, “Heh, what’s his name now?”

“Legate Anderson.”

Blinking once, twice, and then three times, the mare stared blankly at the old man next to her before bursting out in laughter, not noticing until too late that that same old man was glaring at her like a stern father.

“Wait. You’re-”

“Legate Anderson, slayer of Lanius and Kye-sar’s right hand man.”

“Who the hell’s Kye-sar?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Why not-”

“You’re just full of questions today, aren’t you?” the man asked suddenly, the mare walking next to him immediately realizing the sensitivity of the topic.

Carter gave a soft smile, the previous encounter with his old accomplise now forgotten in his mind. Peering over at the Pegasus trotting alongside him, he gave her a quick pat on her head, deciding to mess up her mane while he was at it.

His hand was quikly swatted away by a muddy cyan hoof, its owner giving the accused a blank look of disapproval as he chuckled in retrospect. Rolling her eyes, Rainbow adjusted her cloak once more and looked around for what she lazily estimated as the umpteenth time that day.

"Hey, Dashie?"

Groaning at the nickname, the mare gave a lazy response, "What Carter...?"

Hearing the familiar sound of liquid splashing against a bottle, Rainbow looked to her right, finding the Wanderer lightly tossing a bottle of alcohol to himself. Giving a sly grin down to the mare, he asked, "How old are you, Rainbow Dash?"

The question caught her off guard.

Here the two were, walking against the wind on a deserted highway in New Kansas, dust blowing in their eyes, guns strapped to their backs, and miles ahead and miles behind them, taking an over two thousand mile sojourn to Arizona from Washington D.C., and the ol' coot was asking about the mare's age.

The mare stumbled with the answer, "Uh, why do you ask?"

Shaking the bottle and causing the brown liquid inside to fizz, Carter replied, "Because, I have a whole twelve ounces of moonshine in this definitely more portable bottle here," he looked over to the mare, "and I just wanted to make sure it was legal...." he added with a wink.

Giving a smirk, Rainbow laughed, "Didn't see you as being a Lawbringer, Carter."

"I was a looooong time ago, Dashie-"

"Dammit Carter."

"I'm just a Messiah now."

"You're no God," Rainbow laughed, casually bumping the man's hip with her leg.

Unscrewing the lid of the moonshine, Carter gave a toothy grin as Rainbow's mouth widened in anticipation.

"And who says?"

And with that, Rainbow could only watch as a stray bullet pierced through the air, landing in Carter's chest and causing him to fall to the ground in a cold heap.

'Til The Sun Goes Down

The bringer of the sun opened her eyes.

Suddenly lifted from a seemingly long slumber, she struggled to breathe as her head began to muddle her vision and cause it to swim marathons in her eyes.

Shaking her head, her vision was flooded with green.

A sickly green.

This worried her.

And the bringer of the sun immediately noticed.

She was hanging upside-down, suspended in the air. Letting her head hang back, she looked toward what she assumed to be the floor beneath her.

She was hovering a couple feet above what the Princess recognized as a carpet from her royal palace. Raising a suspicious brow, she tried to rotate her head to better assess her surroundings.

Even so much as thinking of turning her head caused an immense pain to course throughout her body, causing the Sun Goddess to clench her eyes shut and grit her teeth violently, her head slowly curling to gaze back at her chest.

As she did so, the smell invaded her sinuses.

And for the first time in a long while, the bringer of the sun gagged in agony at the stench currently permeating the air.

She threw her head to the right and coughed, which graduated into a wheeze before the alicorn could almost feel herself on the verge of vomiting. Slowly shaking her head, she looked down toward her hooves.

They were coated, smeared, practically plagued with a disgusting green hue, as if her hooves themselves slowly grew rotten from the bottom up. Gritting her teeth, the Goddess focused on moving her right foreleg, intent on anything but sitting around like she was.

As she lifted it, a sticky residue stuck to her hoof, the alicorn giving a sickened look toward it, before she sucked in a breath, focused her strength, and threw all of her weight upward, her hoof becoming unburdened of the slime.

Shaking her now free hoof, she noticed the familiar glint of her royal ensemble were completely absent. Attempting to wipe away a small portion of the residue on her hoof gave the alicorn the discovery of her missing regalia. The alicorn frowned in frustration. This would be troubling.

Still hanging upside down, she used her free hoof to try to wipe away some of the slime coating the inside of her entrapment. She only succeeded in swiping a small portion, only large enough for one eye to strain through. Maneuvering herself around the claustrophobic prison, she stretched her neck, attempting to peer past the small amount of slime still clinging to her view-ports surface.

Her neck muscles strained, the alicorn princess threw her head back, in desperate favor of keeping the appendage attached.

Closing her eyes, she took a breath, before she grit her teeth and threw her weight into lifting her upper body up, the slime coating her entire body threatening to slam her back into failure.

Celestia was having none of that.

And as she shut her left eye, she bit her bottom lip until she swore she would draw blood and peered through her makeshift view-port.

And Celestia saw.

She hung on the ceiling of her throne room, desperate fear running through her veins.

A single stained-glass window was completely shattered, its pieces scattered wildly about as if somepony had been thrown through it.

And all around her were cocoons of sickly green hue, just as hers.

Celestia's heart beat out of her chest.

And she saw them.

And the Princess found herself unable to breathe.

Five figures, hanging unconscious inside their own imprisonments.

Five figures she could not protect.

Five figures she had failed.

The Elements of Harmony.

Author's Note

YES I'M NOT DEAD. I decided to pull most of the chapter I was working on to at least give you this small update. It has been three months since the last update, so I thought I might as well give you something to chew on. Not in a bad way, mind you. I didn't mean it bad.

Sigh.

I'm pathetic.

We'll Be Dreaming

Her rifle barked twice.

A single raider fell to the ground, a mess of crimson spilling onto the rest of his face.

Looking down to better assess the rifle, Rainbow pulled the bolt back, listening as the wasted .32 round fell to the pavement below.

Throwing the gun's sights back onto the road elevated a couple yards in front of them, the mare found the now seven raiders completely still, their leader holding up the large sniper rifle in one raised hand.

The mare's eyes widened in sudden realization.

One of them sat in a crouch, his figure completely still against the now setting sun.

Rainbow Dash only had time to shout before she felt a sharp, piercing pain course through her entire body, the mare falling limp to the cold pavement below, her back to the air and her rifle clattering loudly by her side. Gritting her teeth, she pressed both of her hooves onto the long cracked road, attempting to push herself off the ground.

As her left leg reached its standing point, she screamed in pain, looking down at the appendage with a look of both anger and confusion.

A large, leaking red hole stared back at her from the middle of her left leg, the sickly, commonly rehearsed smell of blood wafted into her nostrils, causing the mare to feel nauseous, before she fell back to the cold, unforgiving ground below with a dull thud.

Looking to her right, she found the fallen, still body of the Lone Wanderer, his right hand barely grasping the constantly bleeding wound in his own stomach. His torn body armor rose and fell slowly, cautiously.

Carter was still alive.

But he wouldn't be for long.

Rainbow choked back tears, throwing a cyan hoof out to crawl toward the man, her guardian, her savior in this cruel, unforgiving Wasteland.

"Car..... Carter...."

She was weak.

Her hoof in the air, violently shaking with her body, slowly faltered.

A large grey boot stepped onto the asphalt between the two.

Rainbow's hoof fell to the ground.

Breathing heavily, the mare turned her head to the right, facing the owner of the boot still next to her.

The sun shone brightly from the mountains behind him, obscuring any view of his facial features.

From her position, Rainbow could make out an enormous rifle, a likewise large scope sitting atop the gun. The barrel extended almost down to the road, a pair of struts folded neatly in the middle.

"Well, looks like I've caught me a horsey."

Holstering the sand-colored rifle onto his back, he struck a pose that reminded Rainbow of a super hero, staring at her against the achingly slow sun still setting in the peak behind what she assumed to be the raider's leader.

Then, he lowered himself, a hand outstretched and poised toward the mare.

Gritting her teeth, she threw all of her still waning weight into knocking the man's hand away.

She succeeded, and she was rewarded with the low sound of a bone cracking in retaliation.

The raider seethed, waving his left hand around in the air as if he had a hangnail. Holding the now injured appendage with both hands, he growled, throwing his other hand and grasping the surprised mare's throat.

Rainbow found herself lifted high into the air, staring deeply into the dark brown eyes of the raider currently grasping her neck tightly. The mare struggled to breathe against the weight constricting her windpipe, thrashing wildly and attempting to pummel the man's right hand into a bloody pulp.

Still suffering from the wound in her left leg and trying to freely breathe, the mare failed, her legs falling limp to her sides as she remained held high in the air.

Stuck with limited options, she looked straight into the man's glaring eyes.

She moved her mouth.

And she spat, the phlegm connecting with the man's face and causing him to recoil in disgust.

Rainbow smiled a satisfied smile.

And then lost her breath as the man angrily threw her a few feet away, the Pegasus landing back onto the road, bouncing twice, and rolling onto her stomach, her hooves stretched in front of her face and her head against the cold concrete.

The mare breathed in fresh air, now free from the man's iron hand, but sniffled involuntarily.

The fresh smell of blood was closer now, and it was erupting from her nose.

Clenching her teeth, she shut her eyes and attempted to get up, only to grunt in pain as she felt a boot connect with her gut. The sound of uproarious laughter met her ears as the mare rolled onto her back, finding the aggressive man staring daggers down at her.

"C'mon, you fucker," the mare spat, enunciating her curse with a jerk of her head, "finish this."

She heard the man laugh an incredibly scary laugh, a masked Blastmaster joining him and standing by his side. A second later, a Pyscho-tic stood by him as well, arms akimbo. And a heartbeat later, the mare found seven raiders staring at her with criminal intent. Growling, she snarled at them.

"Oh," the leader started, his hands at his hips as he slowly stalked toward her, "I'll come alright..."

The mare, not understanding, lay still, her right leg extended and her still bleeding left leg lying limp.

The raider's hands went to the front of his pants.

Rainbow's eyes widened, and she attempted to crawl away, aided by only a single, free hoof.

It was all for naught, however, as the man stood over her, his comrades still standing behind him, laughing.

All six laughing.

At her.

The man lowered himself, his legs spread.

A Blastmaster in the corner of her right eye placed both hands on his knees, the sound of his now accelerated laughing resounding through her skull.

And then, suddenly, without warning, a loud bang emerged from the depths of her mind.

The Blastmaster had fallen to the ground a few feet away, his masked head now bleeding onto the road below him.

The leader turned his head, stepping off of the mare and creating a path for Rainbow to look.

A hunting shotgun smoked wildly at the barrel, its owner un-moving.

The old man wheezed loudly, his stomach slowly bleeding as he aimed at the group of raiders now glaring back at him in kind.

Everyone stood as still as statues, all eyes focused on the undying man.

"Al- alright...." he began, cocking the shotgun dramatically.

Rainbow sucked in a breath.

"Which one of you fucks shot me?"

Author's Note

What better than a new chapter on International Literacy Day, huh? :twilightsmile:

Fifty

The lead raider smirked a cocky smirk, his left hand reaching for the side of his pants and toward a leather holster hanging at his hip. This didn't go unnoticed by the shotgun-wielding old man, who quickly shifted his crosshairs on the raider.

His voice was weak from blood loss.

"Don't you... fuck- fucking think about it... you sick fuck," turning his head, he worriedly asked, "Rainbow, are you okay?"

The mare, her face mixed into one of trauma and fright, could only give a light nod.

The raider's hand stayed, the .32 pistol sitting idly in his pocket and waiting for the right moment to strike.

The lead raider gave a short laugh, "Ha! You think one of my men won't just shoot you where you stand?! If anybody, it's you who shouldn't 'think about it', you washed up old-"

"Hey now," Carter interrupted, giving a chuckle in return, before thrusting the shotgun slightly forward and spitting, "let's not bring age into this, huh?"

"Boss, I could take his head off right now if you want me to," said a Psycho-tic next to him, a combat shotgun grasped firmly in his hands.

Looking over, the leader replied, "Stow it."

Turning back toward the armored coot, he added, "I like his armor."

The Lone Wanderer stood undaunted, the seven raiders currently staring him down doing nothing to weaken his resolve.

"And I like your gun, you fifty-caliber asshole."

The wind blew.

Dust flew through the standoff, the two parties as still as statues, only seven feet apart.

The only sound was the fallen mare's hitched breathing in the dry, cracked, Kansas asphalt.

One wounded old man, armed with only a camouflaged hunting shotgun and a set of armored riot gear.

Seven raiders, armed with combat shotguns, .32 pistols, and enough armor to last a lifetime of theft and murder.

Rainbow's heart beat once.

Twice.

Three times.

A shot emerged from a hunting shotgun, scoring a hit on a Psycho-tic, launching him a few feet away and onto the concrete.

The remaining six raiders screamed in fury, weapons raised.

And then, Carter did something that caused Rainbow to stare in awe.

Anticipating the raiders' moves, Carter ducked underneath the blast of a combat shotgun, throwing his left shoulder into the firearm's owner and launching the Blastmaster into the ground, slamming the butt of his hunting shotgun behind him, slamming into the gut of a Sadist, who keeled over and fell to Earth in a heap.

As a Badlander prepared to fire his .32 into him, Carter took the opportunity to aim his shotgun and fire into the raider's kneecaps, crippling him and causing him to scream in pain. Turning to the left, he sidestepped the swipe of a surprise Chinese sword, listening as a low chk sound signified its thorough stabbing of the worn road by their feet. Ceasing this as an opportunity, Carter stamped his boot onto the ground, threw it underneath the sword's blade, and lifted his foot into the air, the sword flying with it and sailing into the air.

As the Sadist stumbled forward in retaliation, Carter tossed his shotgun into the air, catching it by the barrel. The Sadist tripped.

Carter swung.

The air was filled with the sounds of a man squealing in agony, clutching his crotch as he flew an inch into the air from the makeshift bat, falling onto his back and writhing in pain, before a Chinese sword, flipping end over end, flew cleanly into his head and ended his life.

Smirking, Carter turned around, only to fall to the ground as the butt of a large sniper rifle met his face. His shotgun clattering loudly onto the ground next to him, Carter spat onto the road and turned onto his back, just in time to land a hit on the raider's left knee.

A loud crack emanated through the area, the savage falling face first onto the geezer lying underneath him.

A hand stopped him from landing.

A look of confusion on his face, the sniper looked down, finding a smirking Lone Wanderer staring right at him.

"Told you not to think about it."

Carter withdrew the raider's pistol from his side, stuffing the barrel into his stomach and pulling the trigger.

Throwing the savage off of him, he got up and wiped his mouth, letting the .32 fall from his hand.

As his opponent seethed on the ground, Carter walked up to him, a cocky grin on his face.

Something suddenly tackled Carter, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to collapse onto the floor. Rolling over, Carter threw a fist into the Blastmaster straddling him, knocking the un-masked highwayman onto the floor. The cold steel of a blade slashed Carter's right arm, a deep gash bleeding like a fountain now etched into his previously clothed bicep.

Kicking the lowered Chinese sword's blade and dropping it to the floor, Carter reached toward his hip, brandishing the cow-hide canteen and flinging it at the Sadist's face, knocking him to the ground in a cold mess.

Carter only had enough time to turn when he felt a bullet rip through his leg, tearing a hole through his femoris and making the man fall to Earth, holding his wounds with trembling hands and growling in agony.

Looking up with a glare, Carter saw the lead raider slowly stalk up, a large, desert-camouflaged sniper rifle clutched in his hands. Stopping, he brought it up and aimed it at the old man, finalizing his actions with a few select words.

"Goodbye, you washed-up old fuck-up."

A war cry sounded.

Not daring to look over, Carter could only watch as a blue and brown blur slipped through the air, passing by in the blink of Carter's green eyes.

The sound of a struggle sounded out, the Lone Wanderer beginning to fade in and out of consciousness from his wounds as he listened intently. A torrent of punches followed, ones he made out as Rainbow's, before he heard the sound of a voice speaking.

"Do you know what my people used to do to Earth Ponies back in the war?"

A loud whimper was mumbled.

Carter could barely hear the next words spoken, but he could still tell.

"I'll show you."

He heard the fluttering of wings and the cries of a distressed raider, which eventually waned within half a dozen seconds before it disappeared altogether.

Carter, not being able to turn his head without risking consciousness, raised a brow in confusion.

His heart beat twice.

And the body of the raider appeared in front of him in a flash, his skull being reduced to a bloody mess as he landed head-first, the remnants of his body tipping over until his stomach collapsed onto the road, before settling and remaining still.

Carter breathed heavily, not a single sound meeting his ears.

Something landed next to him, the sound of hooves clopping against concrete.

Rainbow appeared in front of him, her mane unkempt and sticking out every which way, and her face beaten and blue.

Blood dripped from a wound in her left foreleg, but the mare didn't seem to notice as her mouth moved frantically, no words coming out.

Tears streaked down the mare's face.

And Carter blacked out.

To Them?

The Lone Wanderer had woken up in hospitals before.

When he had first left Vault 101 as a simple, very uneducated 19 year-old forty years ago, the first thing that had happened to Carter Thompson, armed with a mere 10mm pistol, a baseball bat, and his normal Vault suit, was the very, very unfortunate stumbling upon an Outcast convoy, two soldiers enveloped in the signature red and black power armor and with plasma rifles in their very itchy hands and their very itchy trigger fingers held very closely to the appendages' namesake.

Unfortunately for the young Carter, it wasn't the Outcasts who had shot at him once he had descended the rocky hillside, their sudden turning about and pointing of rifles aside.

No.

It was their damned sentry bot that had wheeled around, blaring an alarm that had startled poor, young, admittedly unlucky Carter and almost halted his heart immediately. What happened after was a blur to Carter, but he woke up days later in the nearby town's medical center with bandages on his entire body and pain in his head. As it turned out, seeing as how he couldn't pay for the medical bill, the local shopkeeper was in need of assistance, so Carter was sent to work there the following day.

And thus, Carter met Moira Brown for the first time, and regretted it for the rest of his life.

But, in the long run, Carter had woken up in hospitals before. But this time, for some odd, unexplainable reason, it was different. When Carter had suddenly bolted awake, now a fifty nine year-old Wasteland Veteran, he had awoken with something new. Something that terrified him. Waking up, his hands on either side of the bed he was lying in, Carter scanned the torn, battered room and voiced a question to nobody in particular.

"Rainbow?! Rainbow, are you there?!"

Silence was his only answer as he sat panting in the room, his green eyes slowly adjusting to the area he was currently in.

He was in the corner of a rather large room, an old wooden door on the far right of him and in the other corner, where a simple desk sat adjacent to the exit, a large, faded blue tub sitting on top. Directly in front of the foot of his bed, on the far wall, was a row of cabinets and counters, various medical supplies lying almost forgotten along its surface. Carter's eyes widened in awe at the mass amounts of stimpaks in the pile. Enough to completely reinvigorate a Behemoth.

Grabbing the grey sheets lying on him, Carter suddenly grew aware of the bandages wrapped around his stomach, and as he groaned, moving about underneath the blanket, he realized that his leg was also covered in gauze, the familiar itchy sensation reaching him like the finding of a Cazadore sting.

Gritting his teeth and staring toward the ceiling, he refused the sensation to scratch at the bandages. He may have been an expert on wounds and how to handle them post-happening, but he had admittedly never dealt with a 50. caliber rifle in all his life, only seeing one in action when he was in New Vegas, witnessing only once the devastating effects of its hellish bullet when he had first gotten close to the Casino City. Following a raider in the hopes of finding a way in, his attempts were faulted when, at night, the raider had walked toward the Welcome sign. A pair of red optics popped into view from atop the structure and immediately sniped the raider, his Psycho-tic'd head violently snapping up as he collapsed next to a car.

Unseen, and out of view, Carter had decided to back off, not wanting to deal with the sniper, only twenty-nine at the time.

But, experience did not harden his knowing of guns, and not knowing how to handle 50. caliber bullets, seeing them as different kinds of wounds, affected his usually okay idea of scratching at the bandages in wariness of the pain that it might bring.

Redirecting his attention to his surroundings, Carter looked to his immediate right and found a familiar bundle of cloth and metal sitting neatly on a desk. Sitting still in the dark, blinking repeatedly, he threw the sheets off his body and swung his legs over the side of the bed, staying in this position for a time as he rubbed his hands on his face in anguish.

Sighing, his hands muddling his cheeks, he turned his head to the right and found his riot gear. Jumping to the floor, he reached for the gear and put it on as he had done so thousands of times before, taking extra care not to bump or so much as move the bandages on his body even an inch. As he finished up, beginning to place his hands into the leather gloves, he turned on his heel and found an armored man staring at him, a clipboard grasped in his hands as he stood completely still.

Carter glared in suspicion, balling his gloved fist.

He heard a low gulp from across the room, before the soldier gave a hesitant comment, "I... I see you're awake-"

"That's true."

The two sat in silence after Carter's interruption, before the soldier stepped a foot toward Carter.

His brow furrowed.

The soldier stepped back.

"We tried our hardest to pull all the lead out. I... I h-hope we did a good job-"

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

Carter gave a low growl, "The mare I was with. Where. Is. She?"

Another gulp. The soldier's grip on the clipboard faltered slightly, his naked hands shaking to the point of sub-existence.

"I don't want to kill you," Carter reassured, stepping forward, "I appreciate you removing the fucking bullets in my body, but if you don't tell me where Rainbow Dash is... I can't promise you'll be alive."

"Sir, do you even know who we are?"

Carter smirked, brow raised in a sly gesture as he observed, "Judging by the two-headed bear on your breast, and the fact that you're green as shit, I'd say you might be NCR."

The soldier gave a worried smile, eyes darting from left to right, "You'd uh, you'd be right! Ehehe..."

Noticing no response from the old man, the soldier cleared his throat and continued, "Nevertheless, Wanderer, we saved you and your friend."

Carter suddenly dropped his hostility, barely containing himself as he blurted, "What happened? How?"

The soldier raised his free hand to his mouth and coughed once again before replying, "Your friend was on the highway a few miles out of town. One of our scouting parties found her there. They were able to kill the raiders that had surrounded her."

Carter looked at the soldier incredulously, "Raiders? How'd you find them?"

"Same way they found her. She shot off the fifty cal to signal help."

Carter gave a soft smile despite the dangerous retelling, giving a thoughtful, "Clever girl," before turning his attention back to the NCR soldier and adding, "you said one of your scouting parties found her?"

The younger man nodded.

"How many of you are there?"

The soldier suddenly smiled, tensing up, "Oh! I forgot, Mister Lone Wanderer, I came here to check up on you-"

"And I'm fine."

"Well, that's... that's good! My, uh... my squad leader asked me to come find you. He's the leader of the town, he wants to speak to you-"

"About what?" Carter interrupted, glowering in suspicion.

"You're the Lone Wanderer! You're stuff of legend here!"

To this, Carter scrunched his nose, crossing his arms, "That so?" He ran a gloved hand through his swept-back brey hair.

"Yeah! You fought the Legate! You survived!"

"Don't bring that up," the Wanderer snapped, green eyes filled with rage.

"Sorry! It's just..."

Carter calmed down, stepping away from the soldier and halting the clenching of his right fist before he replied.

"I know."

The two sat in awkward silence for a few heartbeats, before the soldier gave a low humming sound, "Welllllll, alright then! If you'd uh, if you'd follow me, Mister Wanderer-"

"Just call me Carter."

"Okay," the soldier confirmed with a small smile, turning tail and walking through the door, beginning to tread across the hall, "if you'd follow me, I'll take you to your friend- what'd you say her name was?"

Following the man, Carter looked up and replied, "Rainbow Dash." Noticing the soldier's giggling, he added, "Yeah, laugh it up. But don't do it in front of her, she'll tear you a new one."

"I'm sure she will."

"No, I'm fuckin' serious. That won't be all she does either."

The soldier was suddenly struck silent as the duo continued down the hall, Carter trying all his might to contain his composure at the NCR soldier's possible mind-fuck. Nearing the end of the hall, Carter followed the man in front of him, turning a left and facing a pair of faded, green doors marked Cafeteria. Turning toward Carter, the recruit confirmed, "Your friend should be in here. When she woke up, she immediately asked us where she could eat."

"Good," Carter replied, pushing his way past the soldier and placing a hand on the door, "she needs her strength after what she went through."

He opened the door, stepped across the threshold, and found himself entering a very poor excuse for a cafeteria, despite the room being the obvious remnants of one. The walls were battered and broken, the green paint faded away almost completely, leaving behind a white color that could easily pass for bleach. Various rows of wooden benches lined the middle of the room, a handful of fatigue-wearing soldiers eating from small blue trays and chatting lightly, the echoes of their conversations resonating throughout the room and reverberating in Carter's ears.

As the door closed behind him, it gave a loud whoosh, the feasting men and women suddenly turning their heads toward the noise and beginning to stare at the old man who stood uncomfortably at the door. His green eyes wandered the room, before they found movement to his right.

Movement that was approaching him.

Fast.

Carter suddenly found his wind knocked out of him, falling to the ground by a cyan blur, her hooves grasping him tightly.

Looking down at Rainbow, he moved his hands up to the mare and held her as she buried her head into his stomach. Carter gave a wide smile, lifting his upper body off the tiled floor and stroking Rainbow's mane with his left hand. A feeling of happiness worked its way into his mind as he watched the mare hug him, the almost unnoticeable but extremely discernable sound of sobbing sounding out and vibrating his armor piece, her warm, Vault suit-clothed body rocking back and forth with each wail that escaped his armor.

Rainbow looked up at Carter, tears peeking out of the corners of her magenta eyes and an ear-to-ear grin on her face.

"H-hey Carter," her voice was shaky, but hints of utter happiness were present in her tone of voice.

"Hey Dashie," he replied, a single hand stroking the mare's rainbow mane.

"We're having pudding. You should join us."

Carter paused, looking up toward the faces of the NCR members who were staring at them, smiles on their faces. He swore he could see a tear or two among the crowd. Turning his head to the right, he found three other soldiers with trays in hand, their backs turned to him as they scooped food onto their platters from a large collection of pots. The long forgotten smell of chocolate pudding wafted from the area, bringing Carter back to his old days in Vault 101.

Turning his head back to the mare still hugging him tightly, the Lone Wanderer smirked, giving a reply to his cyan companion.

"I will Dashie. I will."

Author's Note

Welcome to Dialogue Simulator 2014! :rainbowlaugh: This chapter is a bit of a relaxation time for the last few chapters. Hope you enjoyed it, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter.

Commotion

Shit was going down.

And it was going down.

Slowly peering out from behind a corner, Rainbow barely had enough time to throw her head back in and narrowly avoid a stray missile, which flew past her and shattered an observatory window into the room now in front of her as she hugged the wall and began hyperventilating. Had she been in better and safer conditions, she would have squealed like a school filly and yelled, "Awesome!"

Unfortunately, she was instead about to involve herself in a conflict between two apparently bad-blooded rival raider parties and possibly lose her life doing so. She loved it. Releasing Belle's sling clasp, she placed her hooves in the gun's firing-cuffs and once again repeated her action from before. Instead of a missile, she was met with a very peculiar sight.

The Atrium was in turmoil. On the side closest to the curious Pegasus, a large group of about seventeen men and women crouched behind overturned tables and desks, under fire by another party of raiders on the opposite side. Looking up, the mare found yet another set of raiders returning fire to someone across from them upstairs. Judging from the obvious fact that they were not wisely firing on their enemy below them, whoever they were firing at was keeping them distracted. And they were doing a damn fine job of doing so.

From her position, the two were neck-in-neck, neither daring to advance nor retreat. The way it looked, the winner could've been anyone. That is, until a loud yell met her ears. Looking down at a nearby bench lying on its side, her heart stopped. Grasping his throat was a man, crying out in pain as he furiously tried to stave off the blood that threatened to seep out of him lest he do so. Suddenly beside him was a weeping woman, whose discarded pistol lay a few feet away as she instead opted to help the injured man.

Noticing this, another man roared with rage, ascended from his cover, fired twice, and was met with a bullet, his head flying back violently before his body fell lifeless to the floor.

That was enough to set off the mare's fuse. Raising Belle, she took aim at the forehead of another rifleman across the room, held her breath, and squeezed the trigger. He fell without a moment's notice. The group next to her didn't have enough time to register what had happened until a light blue blur zoomed past them and over to their opponent's side.

Rainbow's head fell to her chest, reemerging with her knife as she flung herself, aided by her wings folded tightly by her sides. Crashing hooves-first into the chest of a Blastmaster, knocking him to the ground in a heap, his life ended before he even began to think about looking at what had caused his fall. Looking to her left in a flash, the mare threw out an elbow into the gut of an approaching Wastehound, who keeled over and was met with the same fate as he too fell to the floor.

Quickly hopping off the Blastmaster, Rainbow was left with just a second to swerve to the left and avoid an untimely death by a throwing knife, which cut deep into the back of a weathered bookshelf, almost toppling it. Looking back, she was met with the butt end of a hunting rifle. Unable to evade in such short distance, she twisted in the air and fell face first onto the floor.

As she struggled to rise to her hooves, she was met with the the raised boot of another Blastmaster.

"Rainbow!"

The mare turned to her right, searching for the source of the outburst. Looking to her right, she found it.

The red stallion rushed the Blastmaster, knocking him to the ground in a heap. As he struggled, the Earth pony atop him raised a hoof, crushing his head in a bloody mess. Big Macintosh looked over to her and gave a quick smirk, before he quickly turned to slam his hoof into the chest of an approaching raider who thought he could flank him. Grabbing a lock of his hair with his teeth, he threw the raider's head against the frame of the door he had tried to come through. As his head ricocheted, Mac took the back of his head and began to mash his face into the doorway.

Looking through her only good eye, Rainbow grabbed Belle up off the floor, just in time to score a hit into the forehead of a Wastehound, who fell backward and onto the floor behind Macintosh. Finally releasing his hold on the poor sod he had been beating, Mac nodded to her before he simply vanished.

Blinking her eyes, Rainbow shook her head, searching for the stallion. She was snapped out of her search when she heard the slow stirring of a machine spinning up a floor above her. Shouldering Belle, she quickly galloped further into the corridor, turning a right and ascending a staircase. A single Blastmaster at the top took aim at her with a combat shotgun, but, flaring her wings, she careened into him. Withdrawing Belle, she slammed the iron barrel and pushed it into his skull. Pulling the trigger, the mare began to hear screams coming from the atrium.

Someone cleared their throat behind her. Turning her head, she found a familiar red stallion looking her way. A combat shotgun was grasped firmly within his grip. Believing it to be from the raider she had just knocked over, she opened her mouth to ask where Mac had disappeared to, but he put a hoof up to her lips and motioned to the door to her right. Blowing an annoyed breath into a lock of her mane, she nodded.

Throwing her his shotgun, Macintosh proceeded to open the door with the switch to its right. Pulling the lever back on the left side of the barrel, Rainbow took aim at the door. As it flew open with a loud swish, the mare immediately fired a shot into the brains of a responding Wastehound, who fell over and took his friend behind him with him.

Sidestepping, the mare narrowly avoided Big Macintosh as he retrieved his shotgun from his marefriend's open hooves, practically flying into the room, its inhabitants turning their heads at the sound of his hooves clattering against the floor. As a Psycho-tic raised his hunting rifle to fire at the intruder, Rainbow raised Belle in kind, pulling the trigger and ending the raider's life. The Sadist next to him noticed this, however, and prepared to fire a magazine of lead into the mare's body. Thinking quickly, the pegasus unstrapped her rifle from her body and threw it into the skull of the Sadist, flaring her wings and swiftly flying into him.

As Belle clattered onto the ground, Rainbow grappled with the Sadist, leaning his upper body against the railing overlooking the middle of the Atrium. Using both hooves, she strangled him, and with a roar of defiance, flipped him over and watched as he hit the floor with a thud.

Sensing something amiss, the mare quickly sidestepped, in the nick of time to evade a vertical slash of a Chinese officer's sword, which cut deep into the railing. The Wastehound with the blade struggled to break his weapon out of its metallic prison, but instead ended up falling head first onto his own sword, aided by a winged equine's now bloody hoof.

Turning tail, Rainbow found Mac struggling with a chainsaw wielding Psycho-tic, who appeared to surprisingly be winning. Quickly swiping Belle from the floor, the mare took aim and fired a single shot into the raider's right arm, which went clean through, ricocheted along the wall, and scored a headshot on a Blastmaster approaching Rainbow's right side, combat knife raised for the kill.

Raising her rifle's butt, Rainbow slammed polished metal into loose leather and bone, knocking her victim to the ground. As he held his hand to the side of his head in near-death curiosity, he suddenly snapped out of it as he heard the revving of a chainsaw close to his ear. Gripping the raider's head with both hooves, Rainbow raised him over the spinning blade of his weapon, swiftly jumping into the air and bucking both hind hooves into his skull.

Rainbow ducked, narrowly avoiding a backwards-stumbling Blastmaster, who tripped over her body and fell to the floor. Deciding to let Mac deal with him, Rainbow found the source of the machine revving.

Walking calmly out from behind a corner was an armored raider, hundreds of pounds of metal attached to the Wastehound armor loosely fitting his very muscular form. Strapped to his chest were more than ten leather ammo belts, thousands of little bullets clasped to their lengths. On his back was a very large, rectangular backpack, with two metallic handles protruding from its center.

Most importantly, grasped within the man's hands was a huge, very dangerous looking box, with ten long tubes emerging from its body, all connected by crude iron fittings. Chuckling darkly, the raider fanned the trigger, causing the barrels to rotate in a very menacing display of firepower.

"Shit."

"Eeyup."

Author's Note

The quality went down. I know. I got Writer's Block, but didn't want to break a Pinkie Promise, so I just squeezed this one out to ya...

P.S. Accidentally hit Edit instead of Publish last night. So I didn't break my Pinkie Promise! :twilightblush:

Passively Aggressive

The ground beneath her hooves was cold, cracked, almost unrecognizable as the road it once was, the only indication of its previous role in modern life being the various signs, railings, and battered cars dotting the highway in her long fatigued vision.

Her legs wobbled heavily, the mare's weight threatening to collapse onto herself with every step she took, but she still continued onward.

The armored Vault suit she wore was stained with blood, both fresh and old, the substance painting a long streak leading from her stomach area, the events that had marked them still fresh in her mind. Her left sleeve was rolled up to the max, the end of it folded against the base of her leg where it met the rest of her body. Wrapped around the fur was an almost base red cloth, its color strikingly similar to the torn leather that some select raiders wore.

The mare gave a short, almost non-existent chuckle.

Fifty caliber asshole, that was pretty good.

It was true, however.

The scrawled letters etched along the rifle's long barrel confirmed it.

Turning her head to the right, she found the tan barrel bobbing up and down with her movements, its camouflaged surface almost blending into the sand following her outside the boundaries of the highway, threatening to consume her if she so much as dared to step off the concrete road.

Fortunately for her, the cars along the road looked to have been in one linked, catastrophic accident. No doors were open, no windows were ajar, and nothing but dusty skeletons were left inside, the occupants long dead from something other than a pile-up.

She didn't know where she was going.

But the dead bodies of the highwaymen were long behind her, something the mare couldn't help but shudder about in remembrance.

The mare was scared.

Terrified-

no.

Rainbow Dash shook her head vigorously, the memory flying away and into the deepest sectors of her mind, hopefully where she could both burn it and never, ever find it again.

Raising her eyes to the sky, she found the moon staring back down at her from above, its white light her only guide as she trotted along the highway, her muscles tired, tensed, and taut. The mare's mind wandered toward home.

Home.

Equestria.

Her friends.

Mac.

Her Mac.

Rainbow would never see them again.

Ever.

The Changelings had made sure of that, and there she was, fighting for her life and on the verge of death, just as the bugs had intended.

Rainbow continued on, despite. The thought plagued her, practically killed her, but still Rainbow kept on trotting.

She wouldn't give the Faust damned skeeters the pleasure of watching her quit.

The breeze blew across her fur, causing her to shake in retaliation, her teeth chattering softly.

Rainbow Dash brushed it off, whispering softly to herself, "Faust, it's fucking cold..."

It wasn't an unknown thing to her, however. The deserts back home were a lot like this, if not worse in terms of nighttime temperature. The Vault suit protected her enough, but still the breeze persisted in biting at her skin.

"Bastard sure as hell needs that duster," she added, turning her head.

It was a simple sled, the entire furniture made of two rusted car doors, the pieces connected with a large wrapping of leather, courtesy of the armor accompanying the now dead raiders over twenty miles away. She was unsure how she had walked that far, but by the time she had noticed, she had already left the state of New Kansas, the last green sign pointing to the the direction she was still following now coming up next to her and hanging above her head.

The area was called Prowers, what she assumed to be the state below it in faded white letters.

Continuing on west, the mare trotted into the threshold that connected New Kansas and Colorado.

Carter followed her, unconscious, but lying on her makeshift sled, two straps of scavenged duct tape keeping him on the mobile creation wrapped around his legs and body, the mare's duster laying loosely over his body. A large amount of bandages covered his stomach and leg, his body on its side and facing the oncoming lane of traffic to the mare's left.

She didn't want Carter to choke on any barf he might spew up.

The mare felt her body begin to shut down, the stress from the day finally wearing down on her person and slowly bringing her to the ground. She fell to the Earth in a crumpled mess, her head smacking into the concrete and making a resounding thud that echoed through her mind.

She felt exhausted.

She felt tired.

And she felt dead.

Rainbow threw her front hooves into the ground, shakily attempting to get up, her teeth grit and her eyes shut in complete trial.

The mare succeeded, her magenta irises scanning the area around the two, the highway still stretching for miles into complete nothingness. A large range of hills expanded from outside the highway, curving up and down through the landscape.

Something moved in the corner of her eye to her right.

Shooting up, she saw them. The silhouettes of a group of men and women walked idly on top of the closest hill, their weapons raised and aiming into the night sky.

Raising her hoof up to her mouth, she licked her lips, beginning to yell for help.

At the voicing of the first letter, the mare was reduced to a coughing fit, her throat as dry as Appleloosa. Letting her tongue lull out, she felt her throat, now hacking onto the ground beneath her. Looking back up to the group, she tried to yell again.

Her throat closed up.

The mare sat in silence, her heart beating twice before she turned her head, finding the tan sniper rifle barrel next to her. Rainbow breathed in, then out, before she bit the barrel and yanked, pulling the rifle free from the clasps of her saddlebag.

It clattered onto the ground next to her, the group on the hill still slowly stalking away, out of earshot of anything the mare could do.

All except for one thing.

With one final tug, she threw it in front of her.

Reaching her hoof toward it, she placed the tip of the appendage into the trigger guard, inching it toward the trigger itself. Tipping the butt onto the ground, she pointed the firearm into the air, held it for two heartbeats, and pulled the trigger.

The shot practically destroyed her eardrums, her ears being filled with a deafening ringing. Looking back toward the group on the hill, she found them completely stopped, their weapons now in an alert carry position.

Rainbow's head fell limply to the ground, the sniper rifle following her movements and clattering onto the highway next to her. The mare's eyes snapped shut in retaliation. When she next opened them, the figures were closer, now running down the hill to where she was.

Darkness.

The figures were vaulting over the highway railing.

The mare was going to be okay.

Carter was going to be okay.

Darkness.

The figures were slowly walking up to her.

Rainbow's tongue caught in her throat.

Five raiders stalked up to her, the familiar glint of hunger in their eyes.

Rainbow raised a hoof, sputtering out a weak, "No...."

The one in the front reached for a knife by his side.

"Please...."

The night erupted.

A loud bang resounded, the lead raider falling to the mare's left as limp as a rag-doll and his knife embedding itself into the road in front of her.

The rest of the group raised their weapons, each turning right, before four more bangs sounded out, each and every single raider falling dead onto the floor.

Her hoof fell to the concrete for the second time that day, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

Another group of people ran into her view, these ones clad in dark brown armor, tan sleeves sticking out and encasing their brown gloves, which held what the mare made out to be some sort of rifle. Atop each of their heads were small buckets, pairs of goggles strapped tightly around its surface. One turned their head toward Rainbow, his eyes widening in realization.

Sprinting up to her, Rainbow noticed the insignia of a two-headed bear was crudely painted onto his breastplate.

"Don't you worry...."

The mare could barely hear what the man was saying as he motioned toward the rest of his group, who suddenly dropped everything they were doing to help the mare lying beaten on the ground.

"Holy shit.."

"What is it, Corporal?"

The mare could barely hang on, before she too collapsed, the last words she heard echoing through her head.

"Is that the Lone Wanderer?"