Fallout Equestria: Angels Feather

War... War never changes.  10 years ago, a young mare, fresh out of Her Stable found that out.  Shot up by raiders, attacked by mutated beasts, irradiated to no end...  But she fought through it all, ridding the wasteland of evil, and ultimately saving everypony.  She founded the New Canterlot Republic with the help of the Talon, Gawdina Grimfeather.  President Gawd has moved her influence quite drastically, and the NCR is on the verge of settling in our little slice of paradise...  In the middle of the Marehave desert.  Why anyone would want to settle in this mostly desolate expanse is beyond me...  But I see signs everywhere I go... NCR banners, lone troops... I sometimes get hired as a bit of extra muscle, which is fine by me.

I'm a mercenary.  Fulfilling contracts keeps me sane.  Most of my contracts involve taking out raider camps, or protecting trade caravans.  I've seen a lot of the Marehave...  Too much, if you ask me... It's time for this Griffin to rest her weary wings...  And I know just the place.  New Pegas...

New Pegas contained an outlying area, called Freeside.  Smaller shops are set up along the roads of Freeside, which gets quite a bit of traffic.  I’ve led numerous caravans here for their own trades, and led quite a few out to other parts of the Marehave.  I looked toward the gates on the far end of Freeside.  Guarded by a small group of Security Bots.  The entrance to the Strip.  Getting into the strip is a challenge in itself, but it’s higher class.  Everything is clean, the beds are soft, and everyone is... More than friendly.

Here I sit, playing Blackjack with two ponies and a bottle of Wild Pegasus.  I keep seeing the Little Pegasus Mare looking toward my bottle of alcohol with longing eyes.  I’m winning quite a bit more than they are, so I sigh and call over a waitress and tell her to bring over three glasses.  As I pour the three of us a drink, I raise the glass for a toast.  “To Pegas.”  I muttered.  The two mumbled something as well as we clinked glasses and took a drink.

“Thank you.”  The pegasus said with a happy smile as she drank half of hers.  “My name is Lightning, and you?”

“Gwyn.”  I mumbled, taking the chips I won from this hand.  “You look a bit young to be drinking, aren’t you?”  I asked.

She recoiled a bit and shook her head.  “N-No... Finegood says you’re never too young to start...  He was half my age when he started...”  She muttered, still not sounding fully convinced.

The Earth Pony between us just continued playing the game, barely drinking any of the liquor offered to him.  Lightning reached out a hoof to him for a hoofshake.  “Nice to meet you, Mister...”  She muttered.

The Earth Pony shot a sideways glare to her, causing her to recoil a bit.  “Red Mane.”  He muttered.

Lightning raised an eyebrow.  “But your mane is Green.”  She muttered.  He grinned slightly.  I caught the Dealers uneasy look as she dealt the next hand.

“Red Mane...  As in, Red Manes Enforcers?”  I asked, playing the next hand while eying him carefully.

“Yeah... Whats it to ya?”  He asked, looking uneasy.

“Eh, Just wondering.  Saw a couple bounties posted for your little group.  I was looking at it.  Piqued my interest.”  I said, shifting in my seat slightly as he stood.

“I’m done here.”  He muttered, walking off with a huff.

“Wait...  Was he a raider?”  Lightning asked quietly.  I nodded.  “Really?  And you’re going to let him go?  Why?”

“Not my problem until caps are involved.”  I muttered, taking my winnings from this hand, with all my earlier winnings, and standing up.  I could hear hoofsteps behind me as I cashed in my chips.

“You’re a Mercenary?”  Lightning asked.  “That’s so awesome!  Thunder and I have always wanted to be Mercs... but we’ve never been able to get a contract...”  She muttered.

I looked her over and sighed.  “Not something you’d be good at, Lightning.”  I said, putting a talon on her shoulder.  “It’s a lot of dangerous work.  You’re just too... Frail?”  I tried to use a word that wouldn’t upset her.

I failed.

A sad look crossed her face and she pushed away from me, walking away.  She muttered something about not being frail and working with Hellhounds...  I shrugged, and made my way for the exit.  Three ponies entered.  One of which was the Red Mane I spoke to earlier.  “Oh, hey, good, we caught you before you left.”  He said with a grin.  “Hand over what you won, and we may let you live.”

“Really... Just as easy as that, eh?”

“Yep, as easy as that.”

“You won’t just shoot me in the back the moment I walk away, so I don’t take that contract?”

“She’s on to us...”  One of them muttered.

The earth pony kicked him in the side, causing him to yelp.  “Thought so.  No.”  I muttered, stepping toward the Earth Pony, who stood a good foot shorter than me.  “I’m keeping my Caps, and you three can keep your lives.  Deal?”

His response came in the form of a close range shotgun blast to the chest.  I stumbled back, silently thanking the Armor I was wearing, which caught most of it.  I felt a couple pellets burning in my chest that got through the armor, but it was a manageable pain.

I pulled my Shotgun and blasted at the Pony to the leaders left.  His head exploded in a shower of blood before I rounded on the second.  His head exploded as well.  As I brought the shotgun to point at the leader, I grinned.  “Give up yet?”

“Nope.”  He muttered cockily, firing his shotgun at me, catching the side of my wing.  I felt large chunks of it tear free as feathers fell in heaps.  “You’re using a two shot caravaners shotgun.”  He muttered, another shot blasted the gun from my claw.  “You fired both shots.”  Another blast caused me to fall back.  “What you need is a Clip fed Riot shotgun.  Less power, but more shots.”  He muttered, another shot and I felt my wing as it was removed from my side.  “See, it took 6 shots to finish you, but I have a clip for that.  Half of my clip, but I didn’t get caught in a reload...”  He muttered, placing the gun against the side of my neck.  “Nice try though.”  And with that, I heard a loud pop as my eardrum blew out... along with the side of my neck...