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F:E - Outsmart Bullet

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Stable 13. From what I understand, it was supposed to be a Think Tank Stable. The smartest minds in all of Equastria, Ponies and Zebra alike, were thrown inside the Stable and given some insane and suicidal mission from Stable-tec. Thankfully, the great minds of Stable 13 realized how stupid following dangerous instructions from dead ponies was and started doing whatever kind of science they wanted. As anybody with common sense can tell you, this was a bad idea. After losing roughly a third of our population over the next two hundred years due to experiments gone wrong, or worse, horribly right, I was born.

One thing you must know about Stable 13 is that we're all about generalization... as long as you're a filly or colt. You're expected to grow up at some point in your early teens and discover the Greatness of Science. Fillies and colts are taught the basics of everything. Safe cracking, terminal hacking, lock-picking, how to shoot, how to make Stims and Chems, how to repair pretty much anything, the list goes on.

My name is Quick Scope, a unicorn stallion with a blank flank. I just reached the point of adulthood last year and it's official, i'm not a smart pony. That, in Stable 13, is a death sentence. Oh, not literally, I'm not going to be burned alive because my IQ isn't 300. No, it's worse. My skill, as fate would have it, is weaponry and the repair of said weapons. Give me a rusted gun and i'll turn it into a shiny killing machine. Give me a worn out plasma or laser weapon, and i'll turn it into a gem encrusted death ray within a day or two. The only magic I know is for repairing weapons, which take time, usually a few hours, and levitation. The problem with my levitation is that it's... selective. I can lift any gun, even the experimental Avenger Minigun that's in the Stable Armory no problem, but the second I try and lift, say, a terminal, I can't do it. Anything that isn't a weapon that's more then around three pounds just won't lift. My levitation spell won't even grab some of the heavier things.

I'd like to point out that I live in a Stable full of relatively pacifist ponies and I've blown up more chemistry sets then most even see. So, since I was obviously a failure to the Vault, I was 'asked' to become the test subject of various ponies.

After five years of experimentation, some painful enough to make me contemplate overdosing on Med-X just to make the pain stop, my previously pure gun metal grey fur in now streaked with straight electric-blue lines, a side effect of the implants that boost my physical strength several fold. My Pip-buck is now an actual part of my right leg, it's abilities linking directly to the visor that slides over my eyes from the implants placed into my temples. My bones are gone, replaced by synthetic material that are much more durable.

At one point I was crushed by the fact that i'm more machine then pony, but now everything's just kind of melted into a giant pit of suppressed emotions.

I sat on my flank in front of the current Overmare of Stable 13; Thermite Flare. "Scope, I've gotten word a nearby campground has been infested with Raiders, or Fiends, one or the other. I can't tell the difference." She said dismissively. "As usual, the Stable needs them wiped out. Normally I would send a team with Stealth—Bucks, but you've been dubbed healthy and well trained enough to handle it. Bring back their guns, ammunition, food, and any raw material you can find. Our stocks of Broc Flower is running a bit low as well, so pick up some of that on the way if you come across any."

"Understood." I said dully. This was my purpose. Stable 13 had long since opened it's door to the wastes. Science required supplies after all. Getting those supplies had been difficult before I was born. The Stable's supply of Stealth-Bucks had been drained very quickly because the Ponies of Stable 13, for the most part, couldn't shoot very well and needed the safety the Absolute Stealth Field the Stealth-Bucks created while active just to stand a fighting chance. I currently had the only Stealth-Buck that wasn't recharging place inside the cartridge of my Pip-buck.

"Armaments?" I asked, wondering what rusted piece of horse apples I was going to be handed this time. I'd only been out into the wastes twice before. Once to gather supplies, and another time to kick threes to test the strength implants.

She reached into her desk and pulled out an old hunting rifle with roughly thirty rounds of ammunition. I grasped it with my magic and examined it. The slide was old, but it was in working condition, the barrel was rusted but straight, the magazines I had been given held ten rounds, as opposed to the standard five, and the scope attached to the top was clean... ish. Better then what I'd gotten the first time I went out to collect scrap metal from a nearby abandoned Sparkle-Cola Bottling Plant; a barely held together 9mm pistol and half a clip of ammo.

Thermite looked at me in annoyance, as if my inspecting the thing that was going to keep me alive was a sin against the Goddesses. I slid a full magazine into the gun but kept the bolt back; ready for use at a moments notice but not yet loaded and turned to leave. "Wired Tech wanted to talk to you before you left about you're Pip-buck." The Overmare told me as I was leaving her office. I nodded and made my way to Wired's lab. The hum of the lights above me was comforting as I trotted, the white noise distracting me from what could await me.

"Scope! There you are!" Wired greeted me as I entered the lab. He was a thin stallion, his coat a light blue while his mane was a darker shade of blue. His cutie mark was a terminal motherboard. "Come! Come!" He said excitedly, gesturing wildly to the bed he'd set up. I laid down, lying flat on my back with my legs spread wide; it was very uncomfortable. "I found a way to upgrade your Pip-buck to improve your health and abilities!" He informed me; only after he'd strapped my legs in with heavy duty straps, which didn't fill me with confidence. He hooked a few wires into my model 3000 Pip-buck before he ran over to his personal terminal and started typing. I could hear the hum of a machine just out of sight start before I felt a... pressure? It was an odd feeling, kind of like the few seconds before you pass out when administered Anesthesia, which was followed by an odd sizzling sensation in my veins originating from my right hoof; where my Pip-buck was imbedded into my leg.

Wired didn't notice me start to squirm in pain, as nopony ever did while performing tests on me, and he simply kept typing wildly at the terminal, naked glee visible on his face. I sighed in relief as a lovely machine to my left swung around and hit me with a dose of Med-X and the pain died off into a sort of numb feeling. Oh Med-X, how I love thee, you wonderful drug you.

XxXxX

Roughly half an hour later my Pip-buck beeped loudly and the straps were unbuckled. The machine to my left must be on the fritz, because it gave me a dose of Med-X every other minute and I felt like I was an hourglass. A small part of me realized that made no sense, but the larger part of me was too busy passing out on the floor as I rolled off the bed to care.

XxXxX

I groaned as I regained consciousness; Wired about two inches from my face. I jerked back, my head pushing deeper into the soft mattress I was laying on. He smiled and backed up, "You're awake! Good. My Injector needs a new Sensor Module it seems, sorry about that." He said flippantly. It had long since stopped hurting that I was basically the Stable pet, or maybe 'toy' was more appropriate? Regardless, there was no sting in my heart at his uncaring attitude like there was when I was a colt.

"You should be A-okay now. Give your new and improved Pip-buck a look! Not in here though, I have work to do." He said, all but forcing me out the door. I hobbled on three legs towards the Stable door as I examined my new upgrades. It looked the same, but it was back to it's standard headache inducing amber. With a disgruntled grumble I set it back to the smooth white-silver I had it set to before. After that was done I noticed a few new tabs. Perks? Quests?

The first was blank at the moment, but the second had one selectable note.

Supplies for Vault 13:

Wipe out the Raiders in Sunset Hills campground  (0/9)

Gather the weapons and ammo from the fallen Raiders

Search the campground for foodstuffs

(Optional) Collect Broc Flowers for the Overmare (0/15)

(Optional) Find a Sensor Module for Wired Tech

I selected the Quest and then switched to my World Map. There was a square with a diagonal line through it labeled Sunset Hills campground with almost a dozen indicators on it, there were also quite a few indicators on the path there, which was about an hours gallop from the Stable.

I marveled at yet more of my life being taken over by a machine as I reached my locker. Smiling fondly I took out my armor. It was made of some kind of metal, thin, but supposedly bulletproof. It was mostly black, but there were several white plates, the biggest of which covered my back. The plate was magnetized, so I could attach several guns to it, making carrying weapons easier. It also contained the self repair spell build into the armor and powered by my magic and the Injector; which housed my two favourite things in the world; Med-X, which the armor would inject me with right before I got into a firefight (which had never happened yet) and Stimpacks. Stimpacks were concentrated healing potion that was usually placed into a hypodermic needle. These were also injected into my body whenever the suit decided I was injured enough to need one. I could turn this feature off, because it was a bit wasteful on my supplies supplies, or so I'd been told, but I didn't feel the need.

Slipping the Stealth Suit MKII on, it's on board AI spoke, "We are okay on Stimpacks. Med-X supplies are low. Who may I hide you from today?"

"The Overmare wants us to clear out some Raiders and get their stuff. I have a rifle, so I think i'll take the slow and stealthy approach." I replied to Alice, which was the name the AI had requested be used. She never told me why, just mumbling something about seeing it in a vid once and then grumbling about zombie ponies.

"Yay." She replied, her feminine monotone finding a way to express joy somehow. Then again, maybe my status as a cyber-pony allowed me to understand her voice inflexion better? Shaking my head at that self-deprecating thought I threw on a saddle to carry the things I was going to be hauling back and punched in the pass-codes to the Stable door before watching as it slid open with a very unpleasant grinding sound.

Stepping outside I mourned the loss of the hum of fluorescent lights, as I enjoyed that sound, but enjoyed the smells of something that wasn't disinfected four times a day. Quickly leaving the small cave that hid the Stable entrance I gazed down at the wasteland. The Stable was hidden inside and under a small mountain, which gave me a wonderful view of everything. I could see cities on the horizon, their tall buildings just barely visible in the distance while tall, thin white towers were seen in every direction. I counted fourteen of them.

With a small flick of my neck my visor slid over my eyes, and the same white-silver letter that my Pip-buck had flickered into existence. The Heads Up Display contained the current charge on my SATS spell, a compass, which was filled with indicators when I faced to the West, and a progress bar. The progress bar was new. On the left side was a number 1 while the right side of it had the number 2, the arrow was currently located on the far left, apparently at zero of whatever it was for.

I tried to activate the Stable-tec Assisted Targeting Spell in my Pip-buck, only to hear a small click as it didn't find anything in my line of sight. Making my way down the mountain I checked my local map and saw one of the indicators was only a little bit away. Looking at where it was pointed I fount a thin stalk of wood with two orange flowers on it. Walking over to it the center of my HUD suddenly read 'Broc Flower Stalk' when I looked right at the plant; another new feature.

Picking the flowers carefully I put them in a small pouch on my saddles and glanced at the objectives screen of my Pip-buck. The optional objective now had (2/15) behind it instead of zero. Handy.

Setting off at a leisurely pace I marched towards the campground, making sure to pick the needed amount of flowers along the way.

XxXxX

'Aaaand that's fifteen.' The second I put the last flower into the pouch in the saddle my HUD lit up. On the top left was written, Optional objective complete! With the picture of the Stable-tec mascot grinning. The progress bar's arrow suddenly started moving, making it about 1/10th of the way to the 2, the number 100 followed by two letters; Xp, suddenly appearing before fading away. Interesting...

The campground was close. I was in luck and there was a hill a good three hundred feet from it that gave me a good vantage point. Climbing up onto the hill I levitated my rifle next to me as I laid down in a comfortable spot. Positioning the rifle into my hooves I grasped the gun itself with magic so I could reduce recoil, (A skill I'd picked up after spending years killing time in the firing range), and so I didn't have to pull the trigger with my tongue.

Looking through the scope I saw the campground. There was a guard standing atop each of the three egg shaped campers. There was a large tent set up that looked like it'd seen better days, along with a much smaller, much better looking tent that had a literal pile of bodies outside of it. Four bodies stacked on top of eachother, all mutilated, and all mares. I felt a spark of anger, my mission now personal. My mother had been killed by Raiders when she was out on a supply mission, my father had never been the same and had eventually overdosed on Mint-als when I was seven.

Mare-killers died. That was what I'd promised myself when I'd set off into the wastes the first time for a small supply run. This was the first time I'd ever seen a Raider though. Seen anypony actually. Well, live ponies; That bottling factory had been full of charred pony skeletons.

Quickly checking the set-up of the guards I aimed my rifle at the Pony farthest away from the camp. No one was looking at him and he was currently sitting on the far side of the camper; if I hit him now he would most likely fall of the metal vehicle and out of sight of the other guards.

I placed the crosshairs of the scope onto the Raiders temple and noticed he happened to be a she. I hesitated. I quickly checked the other guards and noticed they were mares as well. I knew the mare to stallion ratio of the Stable was roughly 3 to 1. Could it be like that out here as well? How would my promise fit if most of the ponies I ever meet, and am most likely tasked to kill, were mares?

I glanced back at the pile of bodies. My resolve and any feelings of doubt I had about killing the Raider gone. My promise to myself changed; Raiders Die.

Placing the crosshairs back on the Raider I took a deep breath, let it out, and then squeezed the trigger with my magic.

Crack!

The rifle kicked minutely, my magic dampening the recoil as I had learned to do. I watched as the Raider's head snapped back, a spray of blood visible on the glinting metal of the camper in the afternoon light and her body went limp, falling off of the steel egg and onto the grey stone below, visible to me, but not the other guards, who didn't even flinch at the gunshot in the distance.

I was surprised that I didn't feel anything from taking my first life, but I gave a mental shrug and consoled myself with then knowledge that Raiders weren't ponies, they were monsters.

Click-clack. I slid another round into the chamber.

Seeing as the guards were facing opposite directions I sighted on the second and squeezed the trigger again. The .308 caliber round tore into the rubber tire she was wearing around her wither and hit her in what i'm hoping was the heart. It must not have killed her instantly, because the remaining guard perked up and looked at the other two campers before raising his gun, what appeared to be a Varmint Rifle with a night scope, and started looking around rapidly. My armor produced a slight Stealth field that made me blend into the surrounding when I stood still, so I wasn't worried. The second he looked in my direction I fired again, Crack! Click-clack. a bloody circle appearing right in between his eyes.

I gathered my shell casings and waited for almost three minutes, seeing if anypony was going to come out of the tents. Nopony did, so I got up and started creeping towards the first guards body, my body held low to the ground as I crept along. Writing started appearing on my HUD; Sunset Hills Campground, it said. I also got 10 experience, whatever that was.

I reached the corpse with no problems or sign of more Raiders. She was laying sprawled on her back, her blooshot eyes stared up at me. 'Nothing but monsters.' I assured myself, just in case any feelings of remorse cropped up. They didn't.

I searched the body and found a holstered revolver along with four quick reload cartridges. It was small, the rounds were only .32s. Regardless, I placed my rifle on my back and levitated the .32 revolved on my right side; it would be better for close range fighting, even if it lacked the punch of my rifle.

Suddenly, I heard shouting. "Hey! Hoof, Ear, and Leg are dead! Someponies here!" I heard hoofsteps and my compass now sported four red lines. "I'll go check on Ear's spot, you ponies get the other two. Hacksaw, stay here. Get the boss if something happens."

The red line started spreading out, two going to the other campers while one stayed still. The last wasn't moving, but I could hear the sound of hoofsteps getting closer. Stepping away from the camper slowly, my Stealth Field losing strength but still there as I moved, but not fast enough to deactivate it, I heard the clanking of the Raider walking up the metal ramp on the other side. She stopped walking, and I'm assuming she was looking at the blood, before she walked closer. I could almost see her, but she stopped again. Thinking fast I levitated one of my shell casings out of the small pouch meant for them in my saddle and hurled it at the side of the camper as hard as my magic would allow.

The plan worked, and the Raiders head popped into view. She had just enough time to widen her eyes as she saw what was most likely a hazy outline of a pony before two round pierced her neck. The revolver made a Blam! Sound as it fired. Quieter then the crack of my rifle, but still far more then loud enough to alert the other ponies.

As she fell next to her fellow Raider, gurgling for air for a few more second before she bled out, I stared at the revolver with a curious eye. I felt the urge to facehoof as I saw the barrel was actually bent downwards just a little. I should have checked it when I picked it up.

The two dots that were moving instantly stopped and I heard the sound of them running my way. With a quick glance at the bottom right of my HUD I galloped around the camper and activated SATS with a twitch of my right cheek. The world slowed to a crawl, freezing the two Raider's surprised expression. I could see the slow dawning of horror as their eyes flicked slowly to the revolver floating next to me. With a mental command I queued up two shots to each of their heads, each shot taking more of the bar from my SATS system bar; 45% chance of hitting each.

The world snapped back into place and the revolver roared, the four bullets coming out so fast it sounded like one shot. The first raider went down, two shots in her head, while the second fell to the ground with a scream. The first shot had hit the ground at her hooves and the second had shot low as well, hitting her in her left knee.

Just as I had countless times in the shooting range my magic reloaded the gun; the quick reload cartridge floating out of my saddle while the spent shells were caught mid-fall when the gun was flicked open and placed into the casings pouch.

'Is this what combat in the wasteland is like?' I thought as I put another round into the screaming Raider. This was... easy. I still didn't feel anything from killing, but I wasn't worried. Monsters, Raider, etc.

The two downed Raiders had revolvers as well. I was just about to levitate them into my saddle when I heard somepony gallop away as fast as her legs could carry her. I looked up and with a jerk I remembered the orders to 'Hacksaw' from earlier. The dusty colored pony was running towards the smaller tent quickly. All manner of finesse gone I grabbed the two revolvers out of the holsters from the bodies at my feet with my magic and opened fire with all three.

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!

The sound was deafening as the wall of lead ripped the fleeing pony apart. Her momentum carried her and she flipped end over end. Her body painted a bloody streak on the ground as she slid into the tent flap. Instantly I crouched, the Stealth Field enveloping me as I waited for the 'Boss' to show himself, my breathing speeding up.

I didn't have to wait long.

'By Celestia's beard!' I yelled mentally. Boss was wearing very imposing solid metal armor. It had spikes sticking out in random directions, every one of them covered in dried blood. He also had a sledge hammer grasped in his mouth, which was the only part of his face that wasn't covered in a helmet.

I must have jerked back, because the Stealth Field failed and he charged at me the second I became fully visible, screaming a muffled battle cry from behind the handle of his weapon. I panicked, opening fire with the revolvers; shooting wildly.

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Click. Click. Click.

My eyes were wide by the time all three guns had clicked empty. Boss' armor had done it's job and of the shots I actually managed to hit him with in my current state, none of them did anything but scuff and dent his armor the tiniest fraction.

"Take this." Alice chimed, just before Boss swung his weapon.

I heard a sickening snap and a surge of pain as the metal head slammed into my left shoulder. My magic failed and the revolvers dropped to then ground. Thanks to the Med-X I was able to hurl myself backwards, away from the deranged madpony.

Boss looked amused as I crumpled to the ground, a throaty groan escaping my lips as even with the Med-X my shoulder made a horrible sound as the bones scraped together when I landed from my hop.

I glanced at my SATS bar and saw it was at about 45%. just a little bit longer and I could cue up a shot with my rifle. I could feel my magic grasping the rifle and levitating it beside me. I could see it beside my head, my magic wasn't as focused as it normally would be due to me not being experienced at shooting while in pain; the gun wobbling horribly in mid-air as a result, but at least it was out and point is his general direction.

He spat out his weapon, the metal head hitting the ground with a thud, the handle resting against his neck. "You killed my group Stable Boy." He said plainly. "I'll make sure to make your death slooooow." His voice slowed down as I kicked in SATS. I could only shoot one round, the rifle taking much more energy to aim then the revolvers, taking a whole half a bar per shot, but I had a 99% chance of hitting him; the highest I could get.

Crack! Click-clack.

The much higher caliber .308 bullet tore a hole clean through the metal helmet Boss was wearing and I watched in relief as he felt to the ground, his legs twitching minutely for a second before he went still. The rifle tumbled to the ground as the recoil overwhelmed my weakened magic.

I felt a small prick and a sense of relief flooded my left shoulder. Alice had injected a Stimpack directly into the area. I laid on the ground for several minutes as my bone knitted itself back together and the ligament reattached completely and healed. I felt a small drain on my magic and the dent in the Stealth Suit fixed itself, good as new.

Getting up shakily I rotated my left front leg and let out a breath of air I didn't know I'd been holding as there was no pain or lasting damage. Picking up my rifle again I checked my Pip-buck. (8/9), it said. One Raider left. There was another optional objective though.

(Optional) Spare the final Raider

That struck me as odd. Both that my Pip-boy knew something I didn't and that I would ever WANT to spare a Raider.

Marching slowly towards the Boss' tent I entered through the flap and saw myself. Wait, no, I saw my reflection in a mirror. The tent was split into two rooms by a curtain, the front being a work station that held papers and weapons. The mirror was on top of a small dresser. My visor covered eyes stared back at me. I blinked; I had no idea the visor was black on the outside. I could see through it just fine. I also noticed I would need a haircut. My gunpowder grey hair was getting a bit long.

"Daddy?" I heard.

Instinct kicked in and I demonstrated an ability I'd invented to go with my name; I spun, my rifle scope lining up with my eye, and I squeezed the trigger, all within the span of a second. I watched in dawning horror as the tent wall was splattered with the brains of the last Raider, and I suddenly understood why the Pip-buck had given that optional objective...

It was a filly, barely into her teens. And I'd just killed her. She was pink, her mane a silvery-blonde, which was rapidly changing color as her blood dyed it dark red. I fell to my knees, rifle once again clattering to the ground as I took in what I'd just done. Something caught my eye though, the 'XP bar' was going up. I was getting rewarded for this?!

'Luna's perfect flank!'  I suddenly froze as a wave of euphoria passed through my body when the arrow hit the number two, my Pip-buck chiming a victory tune. SATS suddenly kicked in and the world froze, but it wasn't to shoot anything. A menu popped up, glowing with the same white-silver that everything else did. There was a small list of what it had dubbed Perks. Only three of them were lit up though, the others were dark grey.

Clever pony:
You gain an additional 10% whenever experience points are earned.

Predator:
In combat, you do 75% more critical damage against creatures and mutated animals.

Seeing Eye Pony:
Hostile targets are highlighted whenever the player is looking through the scope of a firearm.

Using the same mental manipulation that allowed me to cue up shots normally I read through each one carefully, my mind seemingly enveloped in a cloud that only allowed me to think of the screen in front of me. I selected the Spotter perk, as it sounded the most useful for someone of my combat habits. As soon as I selected the option the screen went blank, the word 'Activating' flashing in the center. My eyes ached for a few seconds before the menu dropped; my HUD returning to normal aside from the 1 now being a 2, the 2 being a 3, and the arrow being back on the far left.

I stared down at the filly as the world resumed it's normal passage of time. She was pretty once, her face now ruined by the gaping hole in it. With a father like Boss I doubt she would have grown up to be anything but an attractive Raider... but what if she didn't? What if she decided to run away from her Father and change her ways? She would never get that opportunity now. She would never find love. Never discover cities in far off lands as she traveled. Never discover what friendship was like, unless the Raiders I'd just killed had been her friends. Never...

Why didn't I feel anything?!

I turned and stared at the mirror. I looked the same. My neck twitched and my visor slid back into the implants on my temples, revealing my eyes. I felt the pit of suppressed emotions reach out and swallow a bit of my sanity as I saw my eyes; the only truly untouched part about me left, now had the same mechanical vein-like lines in them that my fur did, only these were red instead of electric blue. My magic snatched my rifle off the ground and I looked through the scope at myself. Since I kept my left eye open I could see the red lines thicken, swallowing my iris, making my previously blue eyes turn a mechanical red, my body lighting up a dull red in my vision, just like the Perk mentioned.

Crack! Click-clack.

I put a bullet through the mirror before I started giggling. I don't  think I'd ever made that sound before, it wasn't healthy; but it was just so funny! I got it now; I'm not a pony. I'm just a weapon that gets a nice little reward for slaughtering whatever the person wielding me says to. I froze, my mind latching onto that last thought. The Overmare was lazy, and I had enough of an ego to say I was a damn fine weapon. I needed a good wielder, not a lazy one.

Changing out the magazine in my rifle for a fresh one I gathered all of the guns and ammo from the Raiders. Aside from Boss, who's dresser contained a few .308 rounds for a gun that he didn't have. I found it odd that he didn't have a firearm to go with it, but shrugged and moved on.

After rounding up the guns from the fallen monsters I now had a Scoped Varmint Rifle with a silencer along with thirty .556 rounds for it, six .32 revolvers and almost one hundred rounds for them. I grabbed the holders for the revolvers and strapped the revolvers to my legs, two on either side of my front legs, for easy drawing and placed the Varmint Rifle across my back next to my Hunting Rifle. I stopped by the big tent before I left, which turned out to be the sleeping area for anypony that wasn't Boss or his daughter and found a bit of food; Pork an' Beans mostly, but I also found a box of Sugar Bombs. Oh, and skulls. Found lots of those too.

I snorted as I looked in the last footbox and found a Sensor Module. Really? A high tech piece of tech here? In a Raider camp? It was like a game I'd seen some of the scientists playing. What'd they call it, the Tutorial Level? Yeah, that was it. This was that nice little tutorial level before my grand adventure, I thought sarcastically. I frowned though and looked at my Pip-buck. The indicator now pointed back to the Stable.

Give the supplies to the Overmare

It said. The other objectives now a familiar dark grey.

I started walking back to the Stable. There was only one incident on the way back; a Bloatsprite. It fell quickly from a well placed .556 round from my newest rifle as I continued walking. I glanced up at my XP bar and saw I'd gained 10xp from killing the sprite. Almost nothing compared to the 300 I got for killing the last Raider, thus completing the objective, but still useful in the long run.

XxXxX

The Overmare looked at me strangely. I'm guessing it was the eight weapons strapped to me. The fact that I hadn't taken off my Stealth Suit probably helped. "QuickScope, is there a reason you haven't returned the Stealth suit, and are still wearing the guns?" She asked.

"Yes." I answered simply.

She waited for a few seconds, obviously waiting for an answer. I spoke again, my earlier thoughts coming back. "What will I be doing after I hand over the supplies? In the long term I mean?" I asked.

She looked miffed at me ignoring her question but leaned back in her chair lazily, her hind legs propped up on the desk. "I don't know." She shrugged. "More Raider extermination, further experiments, maybe getting some more supplies from that Sparkle-Cola plant now that you're strength implants have been tested. Stuff like that I guess."

Just as I thought. Lazy. It's one of the first things I learned; never hold a gun unless you know how to use it. I was a weapon, and It seemed like it was time I left to find a hoof worthy of using me. I floated over the food and the Sensor Module I'd found and my Pip-buck chimed, a whole 500 points of experience being given for handing over the supplies, plus the optional objective. The arrow was now about 75% of the way to the 3. It seems the higher... level... I was, the more Xp I needed to level up again.

"I shall be taking my leave now. I feel the Stable can no longer offer me what I need." I said simply, turning around and walking away.

"H-hey, stop!" I could hear Thermite's hooves impact the ground and she scrambled to get out of her chair to stop me. I turned and looked at her, my visor sliding over my eyes with a twitch. She didn't notice, now standing in front of her desk about ten feet away. "You can't leave. You're Stable property... I-I mean this is your home." She stuttered lightly as she realized what she'd admitted out loud.

Her eyes widened as six barrels were suddenly pointed at her. "I'm going to leave now. I hope this isn't a problem." I wanted to sound smug, but after everything that had happened I couldn't muster anything but a dull monotone; eerily reminiscent of Alice's voice, only male.

Thermite Flare paled as she back up behind her desk. I took this as a sign of her acceptance and started walking back outside. I was only about a fourth of the way into my journey back to the Stable door before the PS system sprang to life; Thermite's voice blaring through it. "Subject QuickScope has had a mental break. Subdue him. I repeat, subdue him. Non-lethal armaments have been authorized."

My revolvers floated up, forming a neat little line above my head. I walked calmly, marching boldly in the middle of the halls towards my destination. I didn't have to wait long for the first of the Stables residents to appear. Sodium Extract ran around the corner a ways ahead of me. Her eyes fell upon me and tried to grasp the Stun Gun in the holster on her leg-

Blam! Blam!

Before falling over dead. The revolver on the far right of the row now down two bullets. The floating guns continued swaying back and forth, ready to fire at a moments notice thanks to my magic as I made my way to the Stable door, not even sparing the rapidly cooling corpse a second glance as I grabbed her Stun gun and the Microfusion cells for it and stuffed them in my saddle along with anything else she had on her that I thought would help me.

XxXxX

Blam! Zinc Puddle's right leg had been crippled! Blam! 50Xp gained!

Blam! 50 Xp gained!

Blam! Blam! 50 Xp gained!

Blam! 50 Xp gained!

Blam! Magnesium Crystal's chest has been crippled! Blam! Blam! 50 Xp gained!

Crack! 50 Xp gained! Click-clack.

Vilified!
The residents of Stable 13 now attack you on sight!

XxXxX

The world froze again as I stepped out into the wastes for the fourth time. The 'level up' screen appeared once more in my HUD, only there were three more Perks this time.

Gallop n' Gun:
Improves the magical levitation spell so the player has better accuracy with ranged weapons while walking or running.

RAD Stallion:
The more irradiated you are, the more effective healing potions and stimpacks are.

Pony Eater:
Gain more nutrients from pony flesh.

After barely a second of thought I chose the first option. I sure as heck wasn't going to be eating anypony any time soon and I have enough Rad-away stored in my saddle, scavenged from the Stable Dwellers who'd tried to stop me on the way out, to keep me radiation free for a while. The only remaining choice was very nice anyway. I'd had to holster the revolvers about twenty feet from the Stable door when my horn started to hurt from holding so many guns up for so long and I had to switch to my Hunting Rifle. Anything that improved my levitation abilities I was going to grab quickly.

As the Stable door slid back into place with a very unpleasant grinding sound I sat on my flank and tried to think of a good wielder. The first name that came to mind was The Stable Dweller, but she seemed to already have a good deal of companions. I fiddled with my Pip-buck as I started to wonder if maybe I would have to wander the wastes for a worthy candidate. I accidentally turned on the radio on my Pip-buck and a strong mare's voice suddenly blasted from the speaker. "Get the fuck out of here. Find another line of work. Tell every Slaver you know to find another line of work. I see you doing this shit again and I will turn you into paint! Do you understand me? Do you understand me?!

Another Mare's voice spoke up, much quieter, sounding absolutely terrified. "Yes! Yes!"

The slight buzz of a recording stopped with a click, which I hadn't noticed until now, and another pony started talking. This time it was a stallion with a smooth voice. "Looks like the Security Mare is reminding reminding ponies that ponies selling ponies who work ponies to death is wrong. And Security isn't wrong. So in light of that, Hoofington, this ones just for you from Sapphire Shores hit..."

I clicked off the radio. Maybe it was listening to Alice for so long but I could detect the strain in that mare's voice. Unlike the Stable Dweller, who seemed to be able to do everything without any problems or sign of stress, at least according to the bit of radio I'd listened to on the way back from the campground, Security needed help. She needed a good weapon.

I grinned, feeling genuine joy for the first time in a long time at the possibility of finding a true purpose. My Pip-buck chimed and I checked the Quests tab. My grin widened.

Find the Security Mare.

(Optional) Challenge her to a fight to get rid of any doubt of her ability.

'I liked that idea.' I thought as I slowly reloaded my revolvers and slid a single round into my Hunting Rifle to top off the clip. I took a single step and stopped to bask in the moment; realizing the importance. It was a new step to a new life.

Unnoticed, under my armor, my cutie mark appeared; a red Biohazard symbol.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blackjack's speech was used without permission. Which is something I hate to do, but I have no idea how to contact him.

Feel free to use QuickScope in a fic if you'd like, just try to remember he's pretty sheltered emotionally, never having any friends of any kind except for the Stealth Suits AI and his first reaction to anything hostile is usually to shoot it in the face with his multitude of revolvers and other side arms once he gets more, or with his trusty rifle, which his repair spells can fix when he gets some downtime to perfect condition with the consequence of a sleepless night, no matter what that enemy is or how old they happen to be with little regards to morals.

I'm afraid I lack the ability to give him the very visual and truly crippling emotional problems that Lilpip and Blackjack have on occasion. So if he is used I would like to see how he turns out from a better author.
Just something I whipped up. It's not perfect, but I'm a Beta, not an author. I just got the sudden urge to write this idea out. I've had it for quite a while, but recent influences motivated me to finally write it out now.

Oh, and if anything is kinda wonky i apologize. i had to save it as a txt file instead of my standard .Doc as it was too big and i have no idea what that will do to the formatting.

*edit* oops, just read through it. missed one or two 'Vault' references i put down on accident. i played roughly 36 hours of New Vegas to get in the mood to write this, and because i just the the three DLC's, so typing that was automatic.
© 2011 - 2024 slicerness
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8Aerondight8's avatar
Hmm... putting this on my to read list. Don't give up keep writing! :)