open Fallout Equestria: Endeavor (Reboot)

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

OOC: https://mlpforums.com/topic/134279-fallout-equestria-endeavor-reboot/

Just when things couldn't get any worse in the equestrian wasteland.

"I can't see shit in here..." Ellieum couldn't see anything in the large dark room of what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse, so in order to remedy this cause and not attract anything that may be lurking in the shadows, she cast a weak light spell to illuminate the immediate area before her.

 

Her horn glowed a powerful red aura as she summoned a small light orb that hovered in front of her and walked carefully and slowly. It wasn't long before she caught notice of tripwire, but before she cut it she followed the wire with her eyes.

 

The wire had led up in the air and all the way behind her, in fact it led to the entrance of the warehouse, and just above the door is where it ended, connected to a spiked couch. "Heh..clever." she thought as she stared at the trip-wire, or rather the trap-wire. If she had cut the wire it would have sent the spiked couch her way and surely knocked her out, something about the design was so intricate though and it bothered her.

 

Shrugging it off, she hopped over the wire and continued through the warehouse, most of the area had been looted already, all that remained were rusted old tin cans and pre-war advertisements. "Dammit, I paid good caps to get worthless information.." she grumbled to herself and kicked a tin-can  out of her way.

 

*cling cling* Ellieum's ears perked up at the sharp sound of keys clanging to the floor and turned to see the tin-can that she kicked. Not a few feet away, was a set of keys, she smiled as she levitated the instruments to her bags. "All I need to do now is find the doors that these keys open and maybe I won't kill my informants.." she thought as she looked around the warehouse, trying her best to identify which doors hadn't been opened. 

 

After a few minutes of scanning the area, she found two doors that were of prime interest, a basic steel door with marks of attempted entry and a dark red door hidden off in the corner with a faint red light over it. While she did want to explore both options, she knew she couldn't after all a trip-wire usually meant that someone occupied the area. 

 

Standing before the now creepy looking red door she carefully and as quietly as she could whisked out her keys from her bags with her magic and tried the first three, which of course didn't work. She groaned softly to herself and picked a key at random that she hadn't tried before and inserted it into the keyhole and twisted. *click* The door creaked eerily as the door seemingly opened on its own. Just as she was about to go through the door she heard a faint chanting...were ponies singing? Shrugging, she went through the red door, however, she hadn't noticed the very faint painting of a green plant on the wall next to the door.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Defender of Tomorrow

[Unicorncob 5,624]

A wrecked pre-war cart-repair station sat in the middle of nowhere, the rotted out wood and rusty metal just barely holding the place together. The garage door laid ajar, just enough space underneath for a hoof to squeeze in and pry it up and get at any potential treasures inside.

 

One pony had this in mind. Clad in black power armour, the only hints of an identity were the curly mane and tail of red with orange tips out the back of the suit and top of the helmet. On its sides were a pair of magical energy rifles, built onto a battlesaddle. The darkness of the armour helped to conceal the wing-guards on the sides of the suit.

 

Yes, the owner was a pegasus.

 

The eyes beneath the helmet's orange visor scanned the area for any danger. The E.F.S., or Eyes Forward Sparkle, showed no blips, red or otherwise, which meant it was clear. A smirk crossed the bare, amber muzzle of the wearer as they sat down and raised their foreleg.

A rather sorry-looking PipBuck screen flickered with a faint green as an armoured hoof clicked through the limited options. Since it was a scavenged device that had seen a lot of abuse prior to its current owner, many of its uses were made defunct.

However, thanks to the high-tech power armour providing most of those uses, it didn't matter much to the pegasus; The only function they needed it for worked perfectly.

 

The ear-shields of the helmet began to inwardly produce a lively techno beat, which amplified into the bridge of a popular pre-war song. The old PipBuck was useless for navigating and inventory management, but it still made a damn fine radio and music player.

 

The pegasus began bobbing their head and strutting over to the garage door to the beat of the song, inaudible to the outside world. They pressed their forehoof beneath the gap and pulled upward to yank the garage door open.

 

They smirked and entered, scanning the garage for any valuables while silently mouthing the song's lyrics.

[Ranger22 179]

War...war was a foreign concept to pony kind two hundred years ago. How did a race so renowned for peace cause the hellish landscape I laid dying on. How was it fair that they had the luxury of living in peace while we suffered for their mistakes. I guess that didn't matter anymore. I'm dying, honestly i don't mind it as much as others would think I would. I've been blessed with lovely experiences most were too unfortunate to have in life. I died knowing I had loved ones who would go on another day thanks to my death. Best of all I was able to die the way I wanted to, helping my knights continue their quest as soldiers of the ministry and kill some bastards while I do. The sounds of gunfire and shouting began to die down as I began to close my eyes, what lovely music to die too.

 

Breathing...I could hear breathing, no...wait that's coming from me. I tried opening my eyes as I fought to regain control of my limp body. Pain suddenly surged through my body as I attempted to move my position causing me to clench my teeth. Finally my eyes opened and I was greeted to the sight of a dead griffon. I held my breath as I made a second attempt at getting up, doing this seemed to ease some of my pain allowing me to get up off the ground. I began stretching my body trying my best to ignore the bruises and aches that plagued my body. I took a breath of air before breathing out, doing so caused a spike of pain in my chest cavity. I was forced to breath in short and quick intervals in order to tolerate the pain. I began scanning the area in order to locate my knights.

 

 Wherever they were they were long gone from here, and that brought me a sense of relief. The area was covered in bullet casings and shrapnel. The bodies of three griffons laid near where I've been, their injuries suggested they were crushed to death not shot. Looking up I saw the remains of a large structure which I presumed was a railway due to it's design and size. I put my hoof to my head as I tried to remember the events that happened before my passing. We were being trailed by griffon mercenaries and we goaded them into urban combat. Many of there number were slain in the firefights before they cornered us here. Then I...ordered my knights to destroy this structure while I held them at bay in an attempt to slow them down. I looked down once more to examine the griffons.

 

 They each wore a set of black combat armor with weapons of various sizes. Two of them wielded weapons designed to be gripped by their talons while the other had a large battlesaddle with a missile launcher on its side. I inspected my own battlesaddle to find them in miraculously good condition. Being a paladin allows me access to the more rarer weapons in our armories, I usually preferred the equipment the other knights used. I began refocusing my attention on the dilemma that currently was at hoof. Where do I go? my knights were nowhere to be found and who knows how long I've been out? I sighed as I began to venture away from the former battle. My power armor seemed to lag however at my pace i couldn't tell how severe. With my head high I began exploring the ruins that laid in my path. "Better to wander than stay still and do nothing," I quoted my father as I curiously inspected the ruins.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Ranger22

[Steel Accord 6,658]

The rails spiraled ever upward along the mountain range. Upon these long since abandoned railways did the cloak figure follow, a cane held to steady himself along the steep roads, though his stride did not convey a weakness of his legs or an unsureness of his hooves. At long last he came to a bridge, made of stone of faded purple and shorn up with the planks and metal of the tracks that used to lay atop the bridge.

 

The stranger crossed the bridge and reached into his cloak, pulling out a piece of paper with scribbled on directions, he looked between them and the sign standing before the town.

 

"Welcome to beautiful Rainbow Falls." Some of the letters were so faded as to be illegible, but it did spell out "Rain Fall" so he assumed he had found his destination. The "town" was very small, only a few houses appear to be occupied. There were large moats throughout the plateau as if great rivers once flowed through here, clearly not the case anymore.

 

Boom!

 

"N-now hold it right there!" Came a voice after the blast, the visitor did not shake nor seem to react at all to nearly getting buckshot to his chest. Of course it helped that all the shooter did hit was what looked like a century old lemonade stand nopony bothered to take down fifteen feet from where he actually stood. The shooter was an elderly earth pony, poking around a concrete divider, the barrels of his shotgun visibly shaking.

 

The visitor raised a hoof.

 

"I have a package for the West family." He said. The aged defender seemed to relax a bit.

 

"Y-yeah, theys was expectin' somepony. All right, come on in but no funny business all right?" The visitor nodded and proceeded into the interior of the town. The old stallion had a radio turned on next to his post with Galaxy news tuned in.

 

" . . . so here's a trick to put some of those pre-War bits to good use again. Try stacking them all together and loading them into your good ol' sawde-off. They may not buy you food but they can still buy your life in a pinch."

 

The hooded figure went to one of the moats and scooped up some of the dirt. It was oddly . . . colorful. The colors were certainly faded but they were there. Red, yellow, orange, blue, violet. The visitor raised his hoof to the air and blew on the collection of particles, as they dissipated into the air, he was briefly able to see something, rough outlines of ponies . . . flying in the air. He scooped up more and blew more into the air. The image was still unclear, but he was able to see more ponies, hundreds of them milling about these stands and bartering with each other. All of them were happy. The cloak hid his frown, but not his sigh. He scooped a large amount into a bag and made his way to the house.

 

"We don't need you kind here!" Mr. West said. This was off to a promising start.

 

"For the Goddesses sake North, we need all the help we can get!" His wife said as she knelt over the bed, where a small colt lay.

 

"Then we'll get another doctor, in the meantime I'm going to-" He reached a hoof out to shove the Shaman. The visitor sidestepped the blow, wrapped one leg around his attacker's outstretched one, and used his free hoof to slam the father's head to the kitchen table.

 

"Your wife, is trying to be a mother, have the same respect for me, that she does for others. I know you are scared for your son's life, but it doesn't help him to cause more strife." He felt Mr. West relax so he released him from the hold. After walking over to the sick colt, he removed his hood. "What happened?"

 

"We don't know. He was fine until one day he started talking strange. He was talking about things we see in old books like he was there. We found him dancing on the edge of town, about to jump, saying his "friends would catch him." North . . ." She looked to her husband, pain and anger in her eyes. He just looked ashamed. "Tried to tell him his friends weren't real that that world was gone, and then . . . he just collapsed and he's been like this ever since!" The poor mare started to cry. The zebra put his hoof on her shoulder.

 

"Anything else? Anything worth a yell? Specifics would make this easier to tell."

 

"The river bed." North spoke up, rubbing his leg. "This all started when he was playing in the river bed." The Shaman checked the colt's eyes. They were rolled back in his head, but when he was able to see them, some familiar shapes were dancing in the boy's pupils. (Albeit upside down.)

 

He nodded and took out a small tray, a pouch with some gradient material in it, and a large glass sphere. He sprinkled some of the material into the tray and got out some flint. Trying to set a spark, North walked over, holding a lighter in his hoof. The Shaman smiled and nodded to him before lighting the material. The room was filled with a pungent but pleasant aroma. The Shaman started chanting in a strange tongue, reaching into his cloak he pulled out a talisman with the Goddesses both upon it, it began to glow.

 

"What are you doing?" This time it was Mrs. West that moved to stop him, but her husband held her back. The Shaman's chanting became more intense and he placed the talisman against the colt's head. With a blinding flash, it was all over, and the boy laid still. "Go? Go?! Speak to me!" His mother shook him as his father loomed over him as well. 

 

Go West slowly opened his eyes. 

 

"Mom? Dad?" The family cried and hugged each other in joy. When North turned to thank the Zebra Shaman, he was already out the door. He did leave the orb on the kitchen table though, now with a swirling pattern in it. Beneath it was a post-it note taken from the fridge. It read,

 

"From your own life you shouldn't run, but some nostalgia every now and then, never hurt anyone."

 

~Ezekiel

 

"P.S. Work on that punch Mr. West, after all your family needs you at your best."

Edited July 31, 2015 by Steel Accord

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

The sun was beating down on the wastes as a teal stallion with goggles over his eyes was making his way through the wastes, the wind kicked up clouds of dust whipping the cloud of dust around the body of the stallion. It was rare that the stallion would leave Ponyville to venture into the wastes but his weapon shop had been failing due to raids against his weapon shipments. To avoid being killed by the raiders of Ponyville this lone stallion had heard a rumor of an abandoned pre-war cart repair shop that was once used as a cache for weapons by some traveling groups, the details were vague to say the least.

 

The stallion, Chip Circuit, finally found the shop in the distance. The path to the shop was barely recognizable only by the fact it was packed down by the weight of carts from pre-war times, otherwise it could easily be missed. "Finally wonder what type of parts I'll find there, I certainly need more cores and barrels." He said to himself as he approached the shop.

 

Upon closer inspection the shop seemed ready to collapse on itself, it almost seemed if Chip were to head inside and bumped the wrong wall he could be crushed to death. Many boards from the walls were missing and the metal on the roof seemed to be more porous then a ghoul's skin. He approached the building with an excited smile on his face and saw the garage door was pushed up enough for him to squeeze under it. "Alright lucky day, I won't have to try to break anything down." He said to himself sure that he was alone.

 

Chip approached the garage door and dropped prone on the ground to begin crawling under the door. As Chip was halfway under the door he saw a figure in the shop toward the wall across from him rummaging around the room. "Oh shi..." He groaned as he crawled back out from under the door and backed up against the wall next to the door. 

 

The stallion lowered his head and peered under the door to see that the pony inside hadn't noticed him, they just kept bobbing their head as their hooves dug through the piles inside. He stood back up leaning on the wall, his breathing was frantic. He didn't know what to do and he saw the pony was clad in power armor. "Damn what should I do, I came all this way. Either I return empty hoofed to Ponyville and get killed, confront them hoping they're friendly and probably get killed. Or I can venture the wastes on my own to another town and probably die a slow death on my journey." He thought to himself in a pessimistic manner.

[Unicorncob 5,624]

@@Chip Circuit

 

The armour-clad pony inside the garage continued to look through boxes, finding mostly repair tools and radroaches, the latter they began stomping on to the beat of their music.

 

It wasn't until a nonchalant glance to the bottom-right corner of their visor that a blip appeared on the E.F.S.; a blue one, matching the indicator, and a red one that pointed to another roach.

 

A swift stomp took care of that.

 

They then swung around to put her attention on the blue blip; a pony peering beneath the garage door.

They quickly paused the music so she could make conversation.

 

"Yo," a voice came from under the visor, in the form of a young adult mare's tone, "This place yours? Totally sorry, thought it was abandoned since, y'know, blown to hell and back!"

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

@@Unicorncob, 

 

As Chip was peering under the garage door watching the pony inside their head suddenly perked up and Chip's heart dropped in his chest, the pony then looked down to stomp on a Rad roach. Chip let out a sigh as he thought the pony inside didn't notice him until they finally turned around and looked right at him. The frightened stallion quickly stood back up making sure he wasn't a target if they begun firing at the door. "Damn... what do I do?" He muttered to himself looking around seeing next to nothing to assist him.

 

Chip then heard a mare's voice calling out from inside, she sounded rather casual and not hostile at all but whose to say it wasn't a ploy. He stayed along the wall staying out of her line of sight. "No, it's not I was just passing by..." He called back as he begun looking around the area again trying to figure out what to do with his current predicament. 

[Unicorncob 5,624]

@@Chip Circuit

 

"Fair enough," The armoured mare answered, shrugging her shoulders, "So, uh, you comin' in? I know it kinda smells like crap in here but I swear to you, that wasn't me! For once!"

 

The stallion seemed pretty nervous. Was it the armour? Yeah, definitely the armour. She noticed it made a lot of ponies unnerved.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

@@Defender of Tomorrow,

 

Ezekiel wasn't sure what it was, sixth sense, third eye, gut feeling, but something pulled him to the ruins of the warehouse he was passing. It was only when he actually stepped inside the place that he knew his instincts were right. Dizziness struck him briefly and nausea swelled in his stomach. He tested the ground beneath his hooves. This particular spot was smooth, no nails or clutter of any kind, yet it still felt like he was walking on a rough stone path.

 

"Is the thirst for destruction never sated? This is unholy ground, it's been . . . ​desecrated." He whispered to himself, kissing his talisman. Shaken but unperturbed, the Shaman pressed on into this site. He couldn't let this place remain as it was, some poor soul might wander in for shelter. Little Go West's affliction would have been a headache compared to what would befall those cursed here.

 

(Ezekiel has poor Perception, there's a likelihood he would not notice the tripwire. Keep in mind though, he is wearing a concealing cloak.)

[UnicornFilly 56]

(long post- kind off, Blue= Lavender, Red= Swirly, if anyone colorblind or colour intolerant let me know)

 

A small damaged house with a collapsed roof stood surrounded by leftovers that were once lush fields. The collapsed roof caused the front entrance to be blocked and most of the lower windows had been boarded up. The only access point was a small door to the left hand side. Next to this door was a small round window, this was one of the few windows that hadn't yet been boarded up by the inhabitants.

 

A pair of yellow eyes slowly peered outside of the smashed window, overlooking a barren plane. The eyes suddenly vanished and a small figure slowly pushed open the door, several seconds from freedom..... A sudden tug on the figure's body sent the door swinging shut.

 

"SWIRLY!!!"

 

A large pink mare rounded on her small filly, she snorted angrily tapping her hoof crossily. "You Do Not Go Outside" she growled nudging her filly back inside the house, she flicked her white tail in annoyance. "it's dangerous outside, if you try and get out again I shall tie you're tail to the floor" she warned frowning.

 

Swirly blinked "but muuuum, I'm bored and want to explore" she whined, "you always go outside looking for stuff, I want to come too" she added sitting down after getting a glare from her mother.

 

Lavender continued glaring "No, you will stay here, where it is Safe, I will only be gone for a few hours, and I expect you to be here when I get back, otherwise that tail will be tied to the floor when I find you" she finished sternly. Lavender then trotted over to where the destroyed living room used to be, she grabbed her large saddlebag and packed some ammunition and the empty water canister which she would fill up later. She strapped her Ak-47 around her shoulder and nuzzled her filly. "be back soon".

 

Lavender then trotted outside before blocking up the door so Swirly couldn't sneak out. She then trotted to the nearby town which was several miles away, she began searching through the first building she found which was a general store. If she could find some seeds she might be able to make a small farm around the house, she unfortunately came up short, everything had been looted by previous visitors.

 

Lavender then made her way towards the well, she however was distraught finding a large chunk missing in one of its side, she slowly peered over the edge and saw a drowned stallion floating. the water was red with blood leading Lavender to draw that he was killed rather then simply fell in. She backed away and glanced around deciding that she wouldn't stick around incase the pony or ponies that did this were still here.

Edited August 1, 2015 by UnicornFilly

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

Ellieum shivered as her magical light orb dissipated, the corridor beyond the red door she passed was awfully cold and filled with mist, if it wasn't for the lights that were located at the bottom of the walls she would have been able to see anything.

 

"Fuck this isn't worth it.." she muttered to herself as the chanting got louder and louder with every step she took. It wasn't long before she was greeted by another door, this door had no special color to it, she grasped the handle with her magic and twisted.

 

The chanting grew louder as she opened the door, sending a shiver down her spine, and yet she continued onward. The door she had opened led to a catwalk that overlooked a small hall, unfortunately for her the hall was filled with hooded ponies, all of them in deep prayer or song.

 

Not only did the hall contain ponies, but it also was covered almost entirely in plant-matter, unholy artifacts and words written in blood. "What the fuck is this..?" she muttered very quietly to herself, almost unable to hear her own voice as it was drowned out by all the chanting. Just as she was about to turn around and leave she heard a scream from a mare and immediately looked for the pony.

 

To her horror, she spotted the pony on an altar, her hooves completely restrained by rope and was gagged with a towel, tears streamed down her eyes as the chanting grew more fervently. A single pony emerged from the congregation, his robes were much different than the others as it was decorated with jewelry, and gold trimming. This pony also wore a stole that had a green plant painted over whatever design was on the fabric and held a knife high up in the air.

 

(chanting in Latin for suspense, though its probably not accurate so don't kill me)

 

( Maledictus ) (Cursed)

Effundis; munus tuum.  (You pour out your gift.)

Sumus imperturbabilis. (We are tainted.) 

( Maledicta bestia )(Cursed by the beast)

 

( Maledictus )(Cursed)

Salvator tradidero si dederis. (O savior I surrender, if you grant it.)

Sumus imperturbabilis. (We are tainted.)

          Umbrae argentum aqua. (Silver in the shadows of the water. )

 

Salus est a sanguine O salvation from the blood,

Redemptionem maiestatis delator arcessebat risu excitati excitati, . Dolendum est aquis. (Redemption, having been laughed at,rouses itself, rouses itself. It is lamented by the waters.)

 

Vale (Farewell, farewell)

Nos maculantur  (We are tainted)

Aqua in tenebris  (In the shadows of the water.)

 

Sanguine (From the blood.)

Sanguine(From the blood.)

Tantur!(Accept this offering!)

 

As the chanting peaked, the pony holding the knife brought it down with such speed into the mare's body and immediately she ceased her crying and screaming. Her blood dripped off the altar and into the small channels of the ground, Ellieum's eyes followed the channel and saw that the blood led directly to the plant matter that hung on the wall and ground and immediately the plant soaked up the blood as if it were nutrients to it. 

[Steel Accord 6,658]

Ezekiel heard the chanting, he heard the scream, but . . . he was too late. That poor girl's blood, that which carried her soul through her veins was now the offering to some unholy party. Ezekiel's hoof reached for his weapon, righteous anger goaded him to take vengeance for this slaughter. He calmed himself though, the girl was dead. Killing her murderers would bring her no justice.

 

Spotting a chain hanging from the rafter, he grabbed it and shimmied his way down. Pulling his hood down a bit further, he placed his staff behind some debris and walked to the gathering. They didn't take notice of him sidling up next to him, but they may take some note to him walking toward the altar.

[UnicornFilly 56]

Swirly blinked sleepily as the door opened. She instantly ran forwards "Muuuum" she whined as a figure stepped into the home, followed by several others. This wasn't her mother after all.

 

​Lavender trotted around the city taking a detour avoiding any unwanted attention. Lavender eventually arrived at the house, she snorted when she got to the front door which was ajar, her block had been tossed aside against one of the far walls. (Perception- 7) 'that block couldn't have been moved by Swirly inside' she thought to herself. (Intelligence- 6) 'someone else must have entered forcibly'.

 

Lavender instantly rushed inside the building before realising it had been ransacked. "SWIRLY" she called out not caring if the raiders were still here, she looked around the room. (Perception-7) she couldn't find any blood or traces of a struggle, she also found tracks leading inside with what looked like a large object being dragged. (Intelligence- 6) Lavender couldn't determine what they had taken Swirly in, she instead headed outside to look in the direction they had taken her.

 

Outside Lavender glanced at the tracks which to her relief were still fresh. The direction was towards Ironshod Firearms. Luckily that was only a mile away at best, she galloped along the tracks with her loaded gun in hoof.

Edited August 2, 2015 by UnicornFilly

[Defender of Tomorrow 323]

"This is wrong.." Ellieum muttered to herself, however, just as she was about to leave she noticed a pony on the opposite catwalk. She ducked, hoping he didn't see her, she didn't want to risk one of the congregation members spotting her, if that were to happen there was no doubt she would be the next sacrifice on the altar.

 

She peeked up from the catwalk and saw the hooded pony travel down the chain and walk through the congregation, what in hell was this guy doing? She didn't want to watch but she did anyways. 

 

The congregation member that wore the special robes and jewelry noticed Ezekiel walked up the Aisle that led directly to the altar and approached him, effectively blocking his path. "Ahh brother! I believe the savior smiles upon us for delivering him a sacrifice of this caliber! The blood of two lives is but nothing compared to the salvation that awaits the wasteland! Oh, I can sense it brother, the coming is at hand and we, the savior's noble and loyal servants shall be the first to experience his warmth!" 

[Ranger22 179]

I grunted in annoyance as I walked out of the small town building in a failed attempt to find anything worth my time. Beyond the occasional radroach I introduced to my hoof there was nothing in this little town besides empty cans and cash registers filled with a few pre-war bits. Judging by its size this was a little town with a tight nit homey feel to it. However its proximity to railroad tracks convinced me it could have possibly been a trading hub or pit stop for those heading off to ponyville and yonder. The buildings were in their expected condition surviving an apocalypse, however a few of them had more concentrated scorch marks and bullet holes. I couldn't tell if they were made recently or a while ago but it was better a better clue then a whole lot of nothing. Truth be told my knights would have most likely head to manehatten for some rest and restocking before going back home to Filly. But I have not explored this area as much as I would have liked in the past, with a moment of conformation in my head I ponied up and headed to the north.

 

I didn't know exactly how long I've spent walking the road, but I can conclude it was easily longer than an hour. Luckily for me wearing a suit that magically enhanced your strength and endurance made long journeys a simple and easy task. The loud pops and bangs of gunfire caught my attention as I walked the long road between Junction and the little town. Looking ahead I could see a few ponies taking potshots behind a tipped over wagon, firing back was the familiar spiked armor wearing raiders of the wasteland. Normally I would have avoided wasting ammo on such a simple affair, but it seemed these two parties blocked my path. Grunting in annoyance I primed my weapons and prepared for any offensive actions from both groups. One of the raiders noticed my approach and warned his companions. They had looks of hesitation on their faces before continuing their task at hoof, this time they sent two of them charging me.

 

One wore a heavy looking metal suit made up of scrounged up pieces of scrap metal and the other wore simple leather barding covered in obnoxious spikes. The armored one charged me with a pool cue in his mouth while the other shot at me with his submachinegun. The impacts of multiple bullets hitting your armor was something you felt no matter how large the caliber. Despite the raiders futile attempt at killing me it was indeed distracting enough to allow his companion to get in close and slam his weapon on my helmeted forehead. The impact caused the pool cue to snap in two and send my head reeling to the left. I grunted in annoyance and pain as I regained my composure and focused on my opponents, the world fell to a stop and everything seemed to stand still. Entering S.A.T.S was always a strange feeling but with enough uses, it proved to be worth the headache. The armored stallion's eyes were wide in shock and his weapon seemed to float in midair. His buddy in the back was popping in a fresh clip from his belt readying to fire another barrage of bullets in my direction. I wasn't going to let that happen, I targeted the armored ones head and conformed my hits. The thump of my grenade machinegun was the last thing the raider heard before it sent a 40mm grenade into his head. The raider's head was reduced to nothing but red sizzling chunks and fell to the floor as his buddy watched , his companion didn't look to excited now that it was his turn.

 

He managed to send a few bullets my way with his submachinegun before one shot to the neck blew out his lungs and he dropped to the pre-war road. Satisfied with my handiwork I gave off a satisfied grunt before walking over to the ponies ahead. There was three ragged and tired looking ponies, whom I could assume were in fact a caravan. "Thanks for the save uh...ranger sir, lucky you got here in time they would have overrun us if...never mind is there something I could do to repay ya?"

 

I looked as his wares which were laid un-ceremonially on the ground behind his shot up wagon. They were your typical wasteland food and small ballistic firearms. None of which I was interested in to acquire, "I'm not interested in what you have to sell, I'm more interested in locations."

 

His face went deep into thought before his eyes widened as he remembered something useful, "I do in fact have the location of an ironshod company factory, it's due farther up north past junction!" He said happily. His guards were both wearing toughened up brahmin hide like a bunch of caveponies, but it seemed to work for them so I ignored the thought. I scanned his wares once more before barely spotting a grayish  and green hue peaking out of one of his bags. I walked over to it and unraveled the mystery like a pre-war foal opened a present box on hearths warming eve. My eyes flashed brighter then my weapons as I found a piece of pre-war glory, a stable tech standard issue pipbuck! "Woah woah woah there buckaroo that ain't for sale, that's something very personal of mine." The merchant said before I could take the artifact off his hoofs. The world seemed to stop as I focused on the merchant and the artifact in his belongings. I sighed as I looked at him and his guards for one last time. "Uh...partner what ya staring at?," the merchants eyes widened as the grenade machineguns mechanisms began to move.

 

I passed junction with little to no trouble strangely enough, however that did not matter. Recovering pre-war technology always made my heart flutter and my stomach tingle. I smiled as I made my way to the ironshod facility, who knows what lovely artifacts were housed inside the ancient building. I may have been traveling alone up north far from reinforcements but boy was I in a good mood. I began happily humming to myself loud enough to not hear the squawking of the many carrion birds fighting over pieces of meat behind me.

Edited August 10, 2015 by Ranger22

[Steel Accord 6,658]

@@Defender of Tomorrow,

 

Taking a chance on the specifics of their religion, Ezekiel asked.

 

"Would you mind than if I prayed before the altar personally? I have thanks to give and wish for the Savior to hear me." Ezekiel hoped his words would be enough to convince the cultist, after all, what he said wasn't entirely untrue to his wishes.

 

[speech] 

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

Chip could hear the mare inside the shop address him, asking if he were going to come inside the shop. "With a mare clad in power armor with who knows what kind of weapon, let alone he has no idea of how hostile she will be once he walks into the open." He thought to himself shaking his head at the notion.

 

Chip begun inching down the wall moving away from the garage door, his hooves shuffling along the ground in a slow but controlled fashion. "That's fine, I'm sure whatever is in there isn't worth dying over." He called out still slowly moving along the wall unaware of the fact she had E.F.S software in her helmet.

[Unicorncob 5,624]

@@Chip Circuit

 

"Oh c'mon, I ain't gonna hurt ya," The mare sighed, rolling her eyes inside her helmet, "Is it the armour? It's the armour, isn't it?"

 

She noticed the blip on her E.F.S. slowly creeping across the compass, meaning the stallion outside was on the move.

"How about we share the loot, huh?" She tried, sounding a bit desperate in her offer, "C'mon, it'd be nice to actually meet somepony out here!"

 

Truth be told, the only ponies she'd run into in the Wasteland either tried to kill her or pushed her away with rather mean words. So actually talking to this stallion was a rare treat.

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

@@Unicorncob, 

 

Chip stopped still pressed against the wall and let out a sigh, he could hear she wanted some form of interaction which was weird. Usually most ponies you meet out in the waste would attempt to kill a stallion with nothing but leather armor and appears to be smaller then most stallions. 

 

"To be honest it is the armor." The stallion called back to the mare still not getting any closer to the door. "More so it's the fact most ponies would jump on the chance to kill a stallion of my stature just out of curiosity of what I might be carrying."

 

Chip slumped against the wall some as he brought his right fore hoof to his chin as his gaze was fixed on the ground where his own hoof tracks could be seen. She sounded legitimately sincere in her offer to share the loot, perhaps even desperate for some reason?  "If she's serious about sharing the look that would really help out, I need the gun parts if I intend on surviving another day in ponyville with my shop in the state it is in." He pondered to himself trying to decide if it was worth the risk or not.

[Unicorncob 5,624]

@@Chip Circuit

 

The armoured mare sighed, shaking her head. "Yeah, I thought so. Kinda designed to 'instil fear in the hearts of my enemies' and all that crap." She added sarcastically, quotemarking with her forehooves.

 

"Tell you what, c'mon in here and take whatever you need, or want, whatever. I just wanna talk to a local. I'll even let you see my face!" She added, as if it were a huge deal that she'd be removing her visor.

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

Chip kept against the wall where he was, from what he saw when he looked inside for her to shoot him she'd have to fire through two walls. "Although with the shop in the state it is a BB gun could probably penetrate these walls." He muttered jokingly to himself. 

 

He turned his head back toward the garage door still able to see she was has not yet left the garage to come after him. "Well that's a nice sentiment and all but for all I know it's a trap." He called out still not approaching the doorway fearful of what she might do to him.

[Unicorncob 5,624]

The mare sighed, shaking her head at the stallion's response. She couldn't blame him though; Wastelanders were right to be paranoid, what with killer ponies and monsters all over the place.

 

"Okay, I'm gonna come outside," She warned him, walking toward the door, "Please don't freak out or shoot at me or something, alright?" She requested, sounding as sincere as she could muster.

 

[speech 15; CHA 7]

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

Chip removed his rifle from his back and pressed the scope against his eye, he wasn't going to fire let alone his rifle probably wouldn't be able to penetrate such power armor unless he got lucky hitting a weak spot. "Fine," Chip said loud enough for the mare to hear him. "I have my weapon drawn just in case I see hostile actions." 

 

The stallion leaned back against the wall with his scope pressed to eye ready to fire under any sense of hostility.

[Unicorncob 5,624]

@@Chip Circuit

 

The mare rolled her eyes, not appreciating the lack of trust from the stallion. She could understand it, that didn't mean she had to like it.

Taking a deep breath, and hoping to the stars he would keep his word, she walked outside.

 

She turned around the corner and saw the stallion aiming a rifle right at her, like he'd said.

"You're smaller than I imagined," she joked, a bit nervously, and she put a hoof to her visor.

 

She rolled up the lenses to reveal an amber coated face and a pair of sky-blue eyes that didn't show the malice or pure hatred that was common to the Wasteland.

"Convinced yet?" She asked, rather hopeful.

[Chip Circuit 1,842]

Chip lowered his rifle slightly when the mare revealed her eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and hers were saying her words held some truth to them.

 

He stood up using his magic to return. His rifle to his back. Following that he used his magic to pull his goggles back up onto his forehead. "Well I won't argue there so you can understand my distrust. Many would jump on the opportunity to kill a stallion like myself." He said looking to her.