Fallout Equestria: A New Hope (On Hiatus)

Chapter Seven

The soft ping of a heart monitor filled my ears as I slowly came to. "Uugh..." My vision was pretty blurry so I waited for it to adjust. I saw I was in a tent. "Where am I?" I asked myself. I looked around the tent, and tried to get up. Once my hooves touched the ground, I collapsed. I looked over to the stallion. Beside me on a small table lay all my stuff. My saddlebags, Pipbuck, and Stable suit. Lead was in a bed beside my own. The only movement from him was his breathing. I struggled to get to my hooves. I used the side of his bed for support. I then slowly ran my hoof through his mane. "Scan Range Zero Dark Thirty. Danger Close. Fire at will. Willy Peter. Panzergrenadier laden." He whimpers. "Lead. It's OK. I'm here." I said in a soft tone. Lead's monitor flat-lines. My eyes widen, and tears quickly fill my vision. A robotic voice, one unfamiliar to me, is the only warning I have, "Please stand clear." That's when Lead's armor restarts his heart, forcing him to sit up, gasping for air as if just awaking from a nightmare. "DAMMIT, AURORA! Give me some bucking warning!" He shouts at the suit. A chuckle befitting a mare around Lead's age emits from the armor. It's followed by the owner of the voice, a projection out of Lead's helmet. "I am a Magic Artificial Intelligence, Unit 117 in specific. You can call me, Aurora," she says. "Aurora..." I repeat the name back. "Yes. That's right." She says. Lead chuckles. "I'm perfectly fine. Aurora here just jump started my heart." He said slowly making his way out of the bed. "And without a warning either." He says under his breath. Aurora gasps, "A distress signal!" The recording begins, "Mayday, mayday. This is NCR FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn, requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard. Prioritization code Victor-Romeo-Foxtrot-Lima 4077," it says. The recording repeats itself. "Mayday, mayday. This is NCR FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn, requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard. Prioritization code Victor-Romeo-Foxtrot-Lima 4077," it repeats.

I look confused. "Where's Pallet!?" I ask as I frantically look around trying once again to get back onto my hooves. I succeed this time and trot around the tent. "She's tending to Sweetie." He says. I then let out a sigh of relief. "Their alive." I say very grateful. I then look back to Lead. "What happened back out there? And who brought us here?" I began asking this series of questions. "Woah, Sketch. Calm down." Lead says as he too gets to his hooves, and places one of them on my shoulder. "An explosion went off. I pushed you all out of the way. So you can thank me for saving your flank." He explains. "All Dasher Callsigns, This is 7-1, how copy?" He asks. "7-1, this is 7-2. Copy you loud and clear." A voice replies. "7-2, get the Legion together. Fish Dead In The Water. Maximum Ammo. I say again. Fish Dead In The Water. Maximum Ammo. Rules of Engagement DO NOT FIRE UNLESS FIRED UPON!" He says. The voice from the other side sounds a bit skeptical. "But sir, the Legion hasn't been combat operational in YEARS. We don't even know if the NCR brass will allow us to operate given the factors, namely the technology. Will that Pre-War tech still be top-of-the-line?" "Captain, do you doubt my capabilities?" "Aurora?!" "In the flesh...metaphorically speaking." "Still a sassy little shit, I see." "WHO YOU CALLIN' LITTLE, PLOTHOLE?! I OUTTA SWITCH YOUR CATHETER WITH YOUR DRINK BAG!" Lead sighs, "Clear Comms. Form up on my Callsign. 7-1, out." He says before the transmission ends. "The Legion?" I ask. "Grab you gear and get ready to move. Get the mares ready to go while you're at it." Lead trots toward his gear before yelling at the top of his lungs. "WHO THE BUCK TURNED MY RADIO TO OPERA?!" Sweetie chuckles and uncloaks herself in Lead's helmet. "SURPRISE!" Lead facehoofs. So eerily similar. "Where did you get a Stealth Edition PipBuck?" "I found it in a box with my name!" Lead's blood runs cold. "Sweetie, never leave my sight. Got it?" The filly nods, confused. "Why?" Lead puts on his helmet and begins to exit the tent. "She's chosen." Lead exits the tent. I trot after him after I grab my saddlebags. "Chosen?" I ask. "Is that why the raider was so scared of her back at Appaloosa?" I add. "Must be." H replies. I levitate her onto my back. I then feel a hoof in mine. I blush, and look over to see none other than Pallet. "I'm so glad I found you." I said before bringing a hoof up to her cheek, and looking into her eyes. It seemed like all of time had stopped. That is until Leads shouting snapped us back to reality. "COME ON! LET'S GO!" He said. He had on his gear and kit, carrying belts upon belts upon belts of ammo. He looks behind us, "What're you Privates doing?" The group of at least thirty civilians smiled, "We want to join your group." A stallion said. "Glad to hear." Lead replied. Out of nowhere, a voice is barely heard, "Is that John Wayne? Is this me?" Lead's reaction is swift. "Who said that? WHO THE BUCK SAID THAT?! WHICH ONE OF YOU BUCKING TWINKLE HOOF COMMUNIST DICK SUCKERS SAID THAT?!" He shouted as he trotted around. A hoof goes up. "I said it, sir!" The stallion said. "Well, no shit. We've got ourselves a comedian. Private Joker, I admire your honesty. Hell, you can come over a buck my sister." Lead replied. The colt is then given a doozy to the gut. "SCUMBAG! I'VE GOT YOUR NAME! I'VE GOT YOUR FLANK! YOU WILL NOT LAUGH! YOU WILL NOT CRY! You had best unbuck yourself or I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck!" He rounds on the colt beside him. "What's your excuse?" "Excuse for what, sir?" "I'm asking the bucking questions around here, Private!" "Sir, yes sir!" "Well thank you very much! Mind if I take charge for a while?!" "Sir, yes, sir!" "Are you shook up? Are you nervous?" "Sir, I am, sir." "Do I make you nervous?" "Sir? "Sir, what? Were you about to call me an flankhole?" "Sir, no, sir!" "How tall are you, private?" Sir, three-foot-nine, sir." "Three-foot nine, I didn't know they stacked shit that high! You trying to squeeze an inch on me somewhere, huh?" "Sir, no, sir!" "Bullshit! Looks like the best part of you went out your mama's flank and ended up as a brown stain on the mattress! I think you've been cheated! Where in Hell you from anyway, Private?" "Sir, Appleloosa, sir!" "Holy dog shit! Appleloosa?! Only Apples and queers come from Appleloosa, Private Cowboy, and you don't look much like an Apple to me, so that kinda narrows it down. Do you suck dicks?" "Sir, no, sir!" "Are you a peter puffer?" "Sir, no, sir!" "Bullshit, I bet you're the kind of colt who would buck a stallion in the ass and not even have the Celestia damn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I'll be watching you!" He addresses the crowd. "GRAB YOUR SHIT AND GET READY TO MOVE OUT!"

"SIR,YES, SIR!" They all shout back. "Right, I want the unicorns in the front and the Earth ponies behind them! Pegasi are going to provide air support and fill in for Earth ponies if one goes down!" Lead yells back, "Oorah?!" "OORAH!" Lead looks right at me, "Seargent Sketch! Get over here and show these recruits how we walk down paths and roads." "GROUPS OF TWO. PEGASI IN THE SKY! UNICORNS BEHIND ME, AND EARTH BEHIND PEGASI! LET'S SHOW THESE ZEBRAS WHO'S BOSS!" I yell. Everypony cheers, and assembles into the formation. "FOLLOW MY LEAD! LEFT! RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT!" I begin repeating left, and right. Everypony makes their way in perfect unison. Lead catches up to me. "Atta boy, Sergeant! I didn't know you were the military type! I oughta promote you to captain!" He says proudly. "Thanks." I replied. I can see the Lead raises a hoof and trots forward in the middle of the road. He lies in the road and crawls forward. The radio comes to life. "Sketch, found Forward Unto Dawn. I've got a bad feeling about this. Move up slowly. Combat distance twenty feet," he ordered. I ready my gun, and hold a hoof up to signal the group behind me to stop, and pointed toward the ground to tell the pegasi to get on the ground. Once the parameters were set, I lie next to Lead and levitate a pair of binoculars from his saddlebag. He wouldn't mind, right? I put them up to my eyes, and looked through to see the ship in the distance. Click. Lead has a bolt-action sniper aimed at the ship. The scope has a switchable 14x and 20x zoom, allowing for pinpoint sniping. Problem is he has a limited field of view. "Hm. Anything of note, Sergeant?" I look around the downed ship. "Looks like there's evidence of a fight. Not much else." Lead chambers a round almost silently. "Raider on aft deck. Hm. Looks like he's got a Service Carbine." Lead waits then takes aim. "I'm taking the shot." The shot lands right on target, making the Raider's brains paint the wall behind him. "Target down." Lead teleports us right onto the gory mess of the Raider. Lead looks around and levitates out a shotgun, a Riot Shotgun in specific. "Stay close, Sketch." Lead slowly opens the one door and enters. "Clear. Let's get inside." I follow the veteran inside, nervous and jumpy. The fact much of the inside of the ship was torn apart and the alarms blaring didn't help. Lead was quick to use the radio. "AFT DECK CLEAR! 7-1, 7-6 OSCAR MIKE TO YOUR AO!" A garbled reply comes through the radio before becoming static. That's when Lead...becomes human. I still have trouble believing it.

I looked to his human form. He was much taller than me. He looked to me, and reached his hand out. His hand made contact with my ear and he scratched behind it. My back leg kicked and he smiled wider. He then drew his hand back, and I looked ahead. "So what now?" I asked. "Move. Further inside." He said as he began walking away. I caught up to him. He still had the same voice as in his pony form. I was eye level with his crotch. I however, kept looking forward. Lead peeks around corners. "Clear. Move up." A staticy reply squeaks over the radio, "Glad to have you aboard Dasher squad. Link up with my callsign and we'll clear this tub top to bottom! Oorah?!" If possible, Lead smirked bigger than a fox. "OORAH!" Lead turns a corner and we come face to face with a dozen or so NCR soldiers. All look worn out. "Give me a SITREP, NOW!" A sergeant appears beside us, "We have decks A through G held secure. Decks F through L are contested and the rest are enemy held." "Who's in charge?" "You are, sir." The blow was evident in Lead's face as it fell. Then it hardened and his eyes became the unholy love child of the fires of Tartarus and the rage of Celestia. "SADDLE UP!" Lead glares at everyone with the eye of a determined leader, "ALL RIGHT, YOU NCR GRUNTS! THIS IS DASHER 7-1! I WANT THIS TUB CLEARED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. EVERY BUCKING PIPE AND CRANNY CLEARED! OORAH!" Lead unfurls his wings and begins to advance toward the thick of the fighting. He disappears and reappears inside a room of NCR deserters on F Deck, gunning them down and porting from room to room, either handing out ammo and supplies to allies or gunning and slicing enemies without mercy.

I looked at the way he moved on his two legs. "It would be interesting to be a human." I thought to myself as I pulled the trigger. Bang! A raiders brains painted the walls behind him. I however, wanted to throw up at the sight and stench of all this blood, but I had no time. In this world, it's kill, or be killed. "SKETCH, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR PLOT!" Lead drags me behind him as he shatters the enemy lines. That's when I slip in a pool of blood on the deck, and the world goes dark. "AEGIS, GRAB THIS ONE! HE'S DROWNING!"