Fallout Equestria: The Long Road Ahead

                                                                         Chapter 2

The courier

The worst has a way of following good ponies. It wouldn’t matter if you spent your whole life helping those that couldn’t help themselves, someone would resent you for it. That was the kind of pony Hawkeye had always tried to be. Even before she knew her talent was shooting raiders, she tried her best to help in every situation. Her whole life had been spent at the behest of others, and she just could not understand why such a situation would befall her.

They had come in the night. Zebra raiders from Xenon’s legion had crept into the town under the watch of the guard and cut their throats. Once the guards were done, the lined up everyone in the town and began to cherry-pick some as slaves while the rest were slaughtered in the most gruesome way possible. As young as she was, Hawkeye was of course on the list for the slaves. Her brother, Thunder Chaser, made a scene and created a way for her to escape. She was dead certain he was dead now, and it weighed heavily on her heart as she gripped the rifle sling in her mouth and ran for all she was worth.

The combined weight of the rifle, pack, and her mind slowed her down, but she couldn’t drop any of them if she expected to survive the harsh desert of surrounding Las Pegasus. The smoke hanging thick in the air wasn’t doing much either. Every breath carried the scent of burning flesh that she knew was from the town of Pony Springs, which had been her home. Bullets from Legion Raider Snipers landed nearby her as she jumped behind a particularly large rock. She knew if she tried to run while the snipers had her in their sights she’d never make it. She rested her rifle on the rock as another bullet slammed into the stone and bounced away.

Clear my mind. She looked down the scope toward the plumes in the distance.

Pick my target. The armor of the Legionnaires stood out in stark contrast to the smoke rising behind them.

Adjust for distance and wind. She raised her sight to aim slightly above and to the left of the sniper.

Steady breath. She sucked in a deep breath and fought the urge to cough as the acrid stink filled her lungs.

Fire. A shot rang out, startling her. The Legionnaire on the wall collapsed as his blood poured from the wound in his throat. Hawkeye adjusted herself and pulled out her sidearm as she looked for the shooter.

“Hey, calm down. If I wanted to kill you, I would’ve.” The voice was coming from a nearby rock. It sounded sincere, if not downright friendly. “My name’s Courier. I came to help.” Hawkeye say back at this. Nobody in the wasteland did anything for free.

“I don’t believe you.” She called from her position.

“Are you really in a position to doubt me? I did just save your life.”

“You want me to believe you? Step out here with your weapons away.” The stallion did as was asked of him. She looked the brown-maned grey stallion over, taking particular note of his NLR ranger barding.

“Goddesses, you look like hell.” He said, starting toward her. “Here, let me-“

“Stay back or I’ll shoot you!” She yelled, popping the hammer of her pistol back. Courier stopped in his tracks.

“Alright, take it easy.” He levitated the canteen from his pack, and took a drink. “See? It’s safe.” He tossed it to her. Hawkeye hated to show weakness, but she was too thirsty to care. She drained the canteen quickly and tossed it back before putting her pistol away.

“Alright, maybe you’re not so bad. But why come to help?” she asked him.

“I’ve always wanted to make a difference out here. Even if it’s just helping random strangers.”

“Helping ponies for nothing? You’re either a saint or an idiot.” Hawkeye snarked as Courier picked up the high-powered rifle and trotted to her.

“I prefer to think saint, but some recent experience make me believe idiot.” He replied, looking away.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she replied indignantly.

“I’ll tell you as we head for a town. It’s not safe out here. Legion doesn’t stop at one sniper.”

Hawkeye wasn’t happy about this. A strange stallion comes trotting out of nowhere wearing NLR Ranger barding so long after they had left the region to the Legion. On top of that, he expended his supplies in the aid of others who had nothing to offer in return. It all seemed too good to be true, and she knew what happened to ponies who fell into those traps. They either end up sold as manual labor, become slaves to somepony, shot, or all. She had no other way to survive, and he seemed to want to help, so she followed him, but several paces behind and with her pistol loaded. Whatever was going to happen, she’d figure out what to do when it did.