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BoS Paladin in Equestria

By: a guest on Feb 26th, 2014  |  syntax: None  |  size: 30.94 KB  |  hits: 66  |  expires: Never
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  1. >You groan, slowly regaining consciousness in your stiff power armor
  2. >fuck that was a big explosion, those NCR shitholes should be taken care of though
  3. >shouldn't be so cocky with the explosives next time though
  4. >reboot your armor's systems, amplified hearing and vision comes back online, something's off
  5. >this isn't the mojave
  6. >this isn't even a wasteland
  7. >you get up quickly, looking around to see any sign of who brought you here, but there is nothing but a forest to your back and a lush valley spreading out below you
  8. >off in the distance, you see what looks like a town and a huge farm
  9. >is that a fucking castle on the side of a mountain
  10. >begin walking towards the town, notice all the signs of civilization, but really weird-like
  11. >everything's fucking tiny
  12. >radar picks up some movement, it's green but you ready your rifle anyway
  13. >there's a tiny horse kicking trees. it's got a hat on.
  14. >you've seen weirder shit in the wasteland
  15. >continue on into town, it's practically empty
  16. >what the actual fuck is with this place
  17. >everything is scaled down and covered with heart motifs
  18. >hope this isn't some elaborate joke
  19. >radar picks up more movement around you, looks like there's people hiding in the buildings
  20. >you peer through the window
  21. >the house is full of tiny cowering horses
  22. >they're colored like someone spat up a rainbow
  23. >the local wildlife looks harmless, but if they're infesting these abandoned houses then there's no point pissing them off
  24. >sun's going down, you decide to forage for some food and set up camp
  25. >all this abandoned food in the market is fresh, no rads
  26. >pass it off as just some more weird shit
  27. >take your haul back to where you woke up and make camp
  28. >what a weird day
  29. Fuck it, I'll just continue here.
  30.  
  31. >>16492823
  32. >you wake up once again, sun streaming through the slits in your visor
  33. >back cracks like mad, god fucking dammit do you hate sleeping in power armor
  34. >only a few apples left for breakfast after last night, but anything's better than 200-year-old preservative cakes
  35. >it dawns on you to check your suit radio for tactical chatter or maybe even a radio station
  36. >jack-shit except for some weird-ass static
  37. >decide to recon the area surrounding the town, maybe scavenge some more and see who lives in this place
  38. >as you walk back down the road, you spot the tree-kicking horse
  39. >before it can see you, you try ducking behind a tree to watch it
  40. >fucking skinny-ass trees can't hide shit
  41. >you retreat to behind a series of small barrels to watch the small horse
  42. >it's collecting the apples that fall down into baskets and hauling them off
  43. >again, trained horses aren't the weirdest thing you've seen
  44. >you've never actually seen a horse though, come to think of it, aren't they all supposed to be dead?
  45. >though in a world now populated by colossal scorpions and 10-foot-tall green men, maybe mutated horses aren't so improbable
  46. >once it leaves your sight you begin walking back to town
  47.  
  48. >>16494531
  49. >on the way to the town you try staying off the road so you don't spook any locals
  50. >more than once you see one of the little horses along the road, sometimes hauling wagons, sometimes wearing clothes
  51. >notice some of them have horns and others have wings
  52. >maybe this is the remains of some weird-ass pre-war experiment
  53. >briefly wonder how tiny mythical horses would have helped crush communism when you realize that pre-war shit is usually bad business
  54. >still, better man the fuck up, it's the Brotherhood's business to make sure this kind of shit doesn't fall into the wrong hands
  55. >you get to the outskirts of town, still no goddamn people
  56. >something strikes you, though
  57. >all these little horses look like they're talking to each other
  58. >fucking seriously, there's a group nearby where one is saying things and the others are laughing at it
  59. >what the actual fuck
  60. >this is slowly beginning to top some of the shit you've seen in the wasteland
  61. >focus, dammit. if this is a pre-war experiment, there's gotta be some facility nearby, but nothing here look scientific at all
  62. >in fact, this whole fucking place looks like a goddamn fairytale.
  63. >you decide that these buildings must be facades
  64. >hell, maybe some of them contain missile silos or something
  65. >yeah, that's gotta be it
  66. >you decide you're going to have to begin searching the horse-infested houses
  67.  
  68. >after blundering through three different houses, you begin to suspect that maybe you're wrong
  69. >there's nothing inside that you wouldn't expect to be inside a house, nothing at all.
  70. >on top of that, one of the houses you walked into had more of those goddamn horses and they freaked out when they saw you stooped over in the doorway
  71. >unless the facility is hidden underground, or-
  72. >wait a minute, maybe it's that stupid castle thing
  73. >you've heard stories of things like that before, like the sierra madre thing on that remote mountainside
  74. >this isn't a comforting possibility at all, you think to yourself
  75. >before you can deliberate further, you notice bars swarming on your HUD
  76. >you move to the window to peek outside, see a whole damn herd of the horses gathered around the house
  77. >one of them is gesturing animatedly towards the house with a hoof, talking to two floating armored horses
  78. >two floating armored horses
  79. >fucking christ, just throw this onto the shitpile of surprises, why not
  80. >they start moving towards the house, you hope to fucking god they're not as tough as cazadors
  81.  
  82. >the native wildlife is beginning to look less and less harmless
  83. >you decide to make a tactical retreat out the back door
  84. >dodging the fuck out of there as you hear a door crash and indistinct voices shouting
  85. >as you run back out of town, it seems like all the horses were congregated in there, the road's empty
  86. >as you run back, you notice kicky horse again
  87. >this time, it sees you and freezes stock still mid-kick
  88. >shit, what if it tells the armored flying ones where you're going
  89. >you decide to either scare it off or capture it
  90. >as you clank your way over, it just keeps staring at you with those ridiculously huge eyes, staying absolutely frozen
  91. >so much for spooking it
  92. >you sling your rifle and pick up the orange horse with one arm
  93. >she starts kicking and whinnying as you stow her under your arm
  94. >heh, for as much as she's flailing, it's not hard to keep her secured
  95. >the whinnying is getting annoying though so you mute your ear input
  96. >blissful silence
  97.  
  98. >you finally return to your hillside camp
  99. >little kicky calmed down after about 20 minutes straight of fighting, is now snoozing in the crook of your arm
  100. >realize that you didn't have a chance to forage because you were getting the fuck out of town. your only option now is to go hunting.
  101. >hunting means leaving kicky alone, but you figure that if it's gone by the time you return, you can always make camp elsewhere.
  102. >you leave the last apple sitting in front of the sleeping horse, hoping that it'll be enticed into sticking around when it wakes up
  103. >as you do, you notice that a picture of three apples has been tattooed onto its haunches
  104. >what the actual fuck
  105. >forget it, there's more pressing matters. the sun's about three hours away from setting, by the looks of things
  106. >spend the next hour trying to be stealthy in the woods and end up scaring off all the game because you're a 6.5-foot-tall metal man
  107. >about to give up when you come across the jackpot
  108. >motherfucking chicken-snakes
  109. >you've heard of the delicacy that is nightstalker tail and you figure if it's snake AND chicken, it must be even better
  110. >before you can unsling your rifle, several of the chicken-snakes take notice of you, staring at you intensely
  111. >what the fuck is it with the wildlife around here and staring
  112. >as you bring your rifle to bear, you notice your armor getting heavier, like it's turning to stone
  113. >none of the chicken-snakes even flinch as you roast them in their own skin with your laser rifle
  114. >your armor starts to feel lighter as you sling the flock of roasted chicken-snakes over your shoulder by the legs
  115. >dis gon be tasty
  116.  
  117. >little kicky has stuck around, by the looks of it, but doesn't seem too happy
  118. >the small horse has eaten your offering of appeasement as planned but its body language remains tense
  119. >fuck it, the thing can be cross if it wants to be, you've got chickensnake to chow down on
  120. >as you start a small fire, you notice the horse staring in what looks like bewilderment at the stack of charred bird-things. maybe they're revered animals or maybe they're feared and now you look like a hero to it, but it doesn't really matter, you're ready to eat
  121. >take off your helmet to eat
  122. >shockingly, the air is cool enough to not make you wish for a nuclear winter
  123. >as you tear into the chickensnake, little kicky starts looking at you in even greater bewilderment
  124. >fucking hell, if these horses are intelligent, they sure never had anyone tell them it was rude to stare
  125. >as you power through your third chickensnake, you think to yourself that maybe the horse wants one
  126. >actually, what do horses eat anyway? nobody ever told you that in history class in the bunker
  127. >fuck it, if it's like anything else in the wasteland, it loves meat.
  128. >you offer a wing to the horse, shaking the meat in front of its giant eyes
  129. >kicky sniffs it and recoils in what would be revulsion in any other sentient species
  130. >whatever, more for you
  131. >after gorging yourself on that delicious mutant meat, you set yourself up under a tree, with a few branches bundled together as a pillow
  132. >you assume that little kicky's here to stay since it didn't gallop off when you went hunting, so sleeping should be fine.
  133. >you nod off in your power armor. the last thing you see is kicky curled up, half asleep, peering at you through one half-lidded eye
  134.  
  135. >as you groggily open your eyes, you see a bunch of blurred shapes standing above you
  136. >fuck, looks like little kicky got its friends while you were sleeping
  137. >that little traitor bastard
  138. >pretend like you're still waking up, don't make any sudden movements
  139. >as you glance around out of the corner of your eye, it looks like you've attracted the entire fucking herd
  140. >most of them are maintaining their distance though, except for the group right above you
  141. >you begin to formulate a plan
  142. >they're like 3.5 feet tall, there's nothing they can really do to hurt you
  143. >they can probably outrun you though, especially in the power armor, so running away is probably out of the question
  144. >maybe if you play dead/sleeping they'll leave you alone after a while
  145. >if worse comes to worst, you can probably kick them away until they stop following.
  146. >you decide to keep pretending to sleep until they lose interest
  147. >wonder how long it will-
  148. >fuckfuckfuck what the hell is going on
  149. >you open your eyes wide to see yourself being lifted off the ground
  150. >no ropes or anything though, just this weird purple aura enveloping your body
  151. >jesus fucking christ, if this is some plasma incinerator thing, you're fucking toast
  152. >shitshitshitshitshit
  153. >you look around wildly as you start moving and notice a purple horse with the same aura floating around its horn
  154. >shit son, they're actually fucking unicorns
  155. >this rockets past the top of the "weird shit you've seen" list and enters orbit
  156. >they're taking you back in the direction of town, you notice
  157. >the herd of other horses now trails behind the leader group, much less afraid now that you've been restrained
  158. >struggling doesn't do much, trying to move feels like you're wrapped head to toe in rubber bands
  159. >this has got to be the pre-war experiment
  160. >magnetic unicorns and flying horses; god fucking damn, those pre-war scientists must have been desperate to win the war.
  161. >the horses walk much slower than you do, so you settle in for the long walk into town
  162.  
  163. >after fucking forever, you end up back in town
  164. >by this point, most of the herd have lost interest and have dispersed slowly as they pass through town
  165. >the remaining few take you into a giant tree with a bunch of windows and shit sticking out of it
  166. >scratch that, there's a fucking library inside
  167. >an entire fucking library inside this tree
  168. >your ability to be surprised is slowly shriveling in this batshit-weird place
  169. >purple horse sets you down on a table in the middle of the room
  170. >god dammit, it dropped you a few inches from the floor, that fucking cunt
  171. >get up as you rub your head and see little kicky and purplecunt talking to the armored flappy ones
  172. >shit it's the fuzz
  173. >...well, probably anyway, they've got armor and all the other little horses talked to them like they were authority figures
  174. >you slowly try to distance yourself from them when you bump audibly into the bookshelf behind you, dislodging a few books
  175. >you smile sheepishly as purplecunt gives you a death-glare
  176. >she turns back to the guards and you quickly have to figure out a plan
  177. >your helmet and rifle are missing, and all you've got is a laser pistol. you need to find them stat
  178. >it's also pretty clear that these horses either are living in, sitting on top of, or themselves are, a treasure trove of pre-war tech
  179. >you still need to find the source of this mess, like a bunker or lab or something, then get the fuck out of here.
  180. >as you look for escape routes, you notice one of the books you dislodged
  181. >shit, what the fuck kind of writing is this, it looks like someone had a seizure with a pen in their hand
  182. >you reshelve it but as soon as you do, it slides out and slams into another spot on the shelf, wrapped in purple glow
  183. >the look purplecunt is giving you could very well have been weaponized on its own
  184. >you shudder to think what would happen if someone gave it a dose of psycho
  185. >time to look for another escape route
  186.  
  187. >it seems like the little horses are not bothered by you wandering around, so you poke around other parts of the library, making sure not to piss off the purple one
  188. >the upstairs has a big window, jackpot
  189. >the fall looks like it won't hurt you, so you decide to risk it
  190. >just as you've got one leg over the sill, you can feel yourself floating upwards
  191. >god fucking dammit
  192. >purplecunt takes you back downstairs, now holding you constantly aloft in the purple glow
  193. >it's not letting you go this time
  194. >they sure are taking their sweet time talking
  195. >a plan slowly starts to coalesce
  196. >they know about as much about you as you know about them, right? fair assumption there
  197. >what if you freak them out and make them think you're in danger
  198. >slowly you start to wriggle your whole body against the magnetic grasp, thrusting like a dolphin swims, making increasingly loud warbling noises
  199. >that'll weird them out for sure
  200. >the group starts to give you odd looks, a mixture of concern and fascination and revulsion
  201. >purplecunt lets you down slowly, actually setting you down this time
  202. >now's your chance
  203.  
  204. >you make a mad dash for the door, purposefully barreling into the purple one and snatching up little kicky
  205. >you figure it'll be good to have a hostage
  206. >as soon as you enter the square outside, you realize you have no fucking clue where you are
  207. >this fucking town is built like a maze or something
  208. >kicky is too shocked to struggle much as you trundle along, taking alley after alley in an attempt to lose them
  209. >still, you are slowed down by the fact that you elected to take a hostage with you
  210. >not enough to be overencumbered, thanks power armor
  211. >the little horses just stare at you as you run down the street, orange one in hand
  212. >that's fine by you, the more they stare the less they chase,
  213. >you look behind you momentarily to see if you're still being chased
  214. >shit, the flappy ones are quick as hell
  215. >it's time to ditch your hostage
  216. >you unceremoniously dump little kicky to the ground, letting you keep just ahead of the two armored fliers
  217. >you make a sudden turn into an alley to throw off your pursuers
  218. >one of them crashes into the building in a manner befitting an old 20th century comedy, but the other is a pretty sharp flier
  219. >if you don't deal with this asshole fast, he's gonna get you
  220. >unholster your sidearm, fire wildly behind you
  221. >you miss terribly of course, but the surprise is enough to cause him to turn back
  222. >free at last, you think to yourself as you round a corner
  223. >the shadow on the ground in front of you makes you look up, though
  224. >last thing you see before passing out is one of the flying horses crashing into you at full speed
  225.  
  226. >you wake up with little horses crowding over you for the second time today
  227. >god fucking dammit
  228. >apparently you've caused quite a commotion, because now they've cuffed your limbs together
  229. >you decide not to test your manliness by breaking the pitifully dainty handcuffs and just deal with it this time
  230. >they don't seem to be out to kill you or anything; if they had been anything like raiders, they'd have probably carved you up by now
  231. >you're once again lifted up in a purple glow
  232. >purplecunt's back and none too happy, it seems
  233. >this time it's got this retarded looking gecko with it, writing with a quill and scroll
  234. >you realize on seeing this that if you were ever to describe any of this to the folks back in the bunker, you'd become a legendary laughingstock
  235. >feelsbadman
  236. >it looks like the purple one is dictating a letter to the gecko, but instead of storing it somewhere when it's done, the gecko just belches flame and incinerates the letter
  237. >shit, maybe you were wrong about them not eating you yet
  238. >maybe they're going to offer you up as a sacrifice to their little horse gods
  239. >purplecunt dismisses the armored fliers and carries you back to its treehouse
  240. >it carries you down to her basement, where there's a dizzying array of scientific equipment
  241. >it sounds like it's talking at you, but even if you could understand, you're amazed by the equipment in here
  242. >to be honest, it looks like a bunch of random early-20th-century shit, but there's no telling what it does
  243. >maybe you actually were right about there being a tech trove here
  244. >your thoughts are interrupted by purplecunt attaching a swarm of instruments to you
  245. >it's mostly electrodes and such, but you swear to everything that is holy that if you even see so much as a anal-probe-like object, you're going break these cuffs and dust that little asshole with your laser pistol
  246. >looks like you're in for the long haul with this testing, judging by how she locks the door
  247. >fuck
  248.  
  249. >you spend four hours down here with this purple twat, undergoing a battery of the weirdest and most pointless fucking tests you could imagine
  250. >one of them involved a rubber chicken, for fuck's sake
  251. >once again you doubt that there's really scientific shit down here
  252. >there's always the possibility that the little horses have developed a cult of "science" after the habits of the pre-war researchers, though
  253. >nah
  254. >anyway, given four hours of nothing to do but stare at this horse, you've pretty much verified that, barring some unexpected mutant anatomy, it's a female
  255. >even as you muse on how exceedingly accurate your nickname for her is, purplecunt starts cleaning up her "science" equipment and then levitates you out of the basement
  256. >the gecko waddles over to greet her, jabbering animatedly
  257. >suddenly, with a look of the utmost constipation you've ever seen anything muster, it belches an emerald gout of fire
  258. >the smoke materializes into a scroll that drops into purplecunt's hornglow
  259. >you don't know what to say to that or even how to say it
  260. >next thing you know there'll be teleporting horses and shit
  261. >purplecunt's getting pretty excited about whatever the fuck the gecko burped up
  262. >she starts scurrying around, cleaning the place up, almost forgetting you're there
  263. >you're still daintycuffed when she lifts you up into the constellation of shit she's rearranging
  264. >you thank at least this little bit of luck that your helmet is off as your stomach churns and you get ready to hurl
  265. >you spill out on the floor a bit, breaking purplecunt out of her merry reverie
  266. >yeah, that's what you get for spinning someone around like a fucking doll, you bitch
  267. >she yells at her gecko, apparently telling it to clean up the mess
  268. >setting all her attention on you, she plops you down onto the floor, lecturing you in whatever tribal language she speaks
  269. >suddenly a knock comes from the door
  270. >purplecunt goes ballistic, bolting down the stairs and out of sight
  271.  
  272. >a few minutes later, you hear two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs
  273. >purplecunt jabbers excitedly to the horse behind her
  274. >holy fucking shit
  275. >now THAT'S a horse
  276. >sweet jesus, it's got a horn and wings
  277. >what the blazing fuck is up with its hair
  278. >shitshitshit, maybe this is the goddess they're going to appease with your sacrifice
  279. >goddesses aren't real, right? and if they were, why would it be a fucking unicorn
  280. >this isn't happening, no fucking way
  281. >it smiles gently as it looks over at you, no doubt savoring the taste of manflesh on its lips
  282. >time to bail the fuck out
  283. >you smash the everloving fuck out of your dainty handcuffs as you bolt to the window
  284. "Hello ther-"
  285. >no time to reflect on what you're hearing, no time to be careful as you hurl yourself bodily through the window, smashing the whole thing out
  286. >you curse the ambition and sheer arrogance of those pre-war bastards who created this shit as you hit the ground in a roll
  287. >it doesn't matter what direction you run, so long as it has cover and it leads out of the town
  288.  
  289. >you've run far enough to reach past the outskirts of town
  290. >you stop nearby a small cottage to catch a breath
  291. >you feel a little bad for running, but was there really a choice?
  292. >maybe if you had a whole Brotherhood chapter in here you could clear it out, but there's no way you could deal with this hellhole on your own
  293. >still, you begin to brace yourself for the chewing out you'll probably get back in the mojave
  294. >assuming you can find the goddamn mojave
  295. >as you calm down, you notice how many animals are around here
  296. >shit, it's like a fucking zoo or something
  297. >some of them aren't even afraid of you, wandering up to you expectantly like you're some fairy tale princess with a handful of food
  298. >you've never seen so many unmutated animals before, come to think of it
  299. >maybe this is a place the chinese never thought to nuke, you wonder
  300. >one of the animals jumps up on you and starts spazzing out, like it's making motions
  301. >what the fuck is up with this rabbit
  302. >you grab it by the scruff of its neck and chuck it a few feet away, but it keep running back at you and trying to jump on you
  303. >fucking hell this thing is persistent
  304. >speaking of persistent, if purplecunt and her hungry goddess are as persistent in catching you as they were before, then you'd better get moving back to your camp and pick up what you left there before they think to look there
  305.  
  306. >back at your camp, you find the remains of your campfire, but no rifle or helmet
  307. >fuck, the horses must have taken them along with you
  308. >you think maybe you saw little kicky carrying them on her back during the little parade back into town
  309. >time to make a trip back to the orchard
  310. >you're going to have to take a different route back if you want to avoid running into the purple priestess and her goddess
  311. >given that you don't know your way around this place, you'll just have to follow the main road while remaining a ways off in the forest
  312. >keeping off the road took you forever, but it was worth it
  313. >you saw purplecunt and her cadre trotting up the road
  314. >you also saw a blue version of white unicorn goddess with them
  315. >fucking hell, how many goddesses do they have
  316. >you're back at the orchard kicky was working, but your faithful little traitor is nowhere to be found
  317. >you espy a barn and... a carrot house a ways away on the farm
  318. >people used to keep shit in barns, right? your shit's probably in there
  319. >as you make your way across the farm, you notice some other horses of varying size are working the land
  320. >one's a big-ass red one, and the other's a tiny yellow one
  321. >big red's got a green circle tattooed onto its butt, but you can't make out much more at this distance, and you can hardly even see the tiny yellow one
  322. >you sneak into the barn, trying not to make a racket of things
  323. >still no equipment
  324. >you try the carrot house
  325. >fucking bingo, your helmet and rifle are propped up by the door
  326. >as you retrieve them though, you hear a snoring behind you
  327. >a shriveled green bag of leather is inflating and deflating on a rocking chair
  328. >upon closer inspection, this may be yet another horse
  329. >before you can do anything, you hear hoofsteps on the porch and move "stealthily" into the nearest room
  330.  
  331. >you peer around the corner as the door opens
  332. >big red and tiny yellow enter, tiny yellow is dancing around big red
  333. >duck back around the corner and look for exits
  334. >all these goddamn windows are too small to fit through with power armor
  335. >maybe you can wait until they go back to working again
  336. >you think back to the last few times waiting on these assholes did you any good
  337. >you briefly think about barging out again, but realize this would put them right back onto your scent
  338. >to hell with that, maybe you can root around in their house for something useful. waiting seems like the only option, really, and the time may as well be spent doing something useful
  339. >you root around in their storage room, trying not to knock shit over
  340. >unlike the wasteland, it seems like nobody here puts useful things in random locations
  341. >you find absolutely zero ammunition, not even any pre-war money or chems
  342. >you could really do with some turbo right now, you think
  343. >you're about to give up when you happen upon a box of old medical supplies
  344. >there's a weird crutch and some surgical tubing, maybe you can rig up a slingshot from this so you don't have to worry about ammo
  345. >several minutes later, you end up with a crude mass of knotted surgical tubing and half a broken crutch
  346. >maybe you should have paid more attention during the jury rigging and repair classes when you were an initiate
  347. >meh, it'll work for now
  348.  
  349. >you take your makeshift slingshot and a handful of rocks you find stashed in some box and carefully make your way out into the hall
  350. >you can still hear the small one chattering away excitedly, so they must be inside
  351. >you hope that the distraction you have in mind will be sufficient
  352. >loading one of the weird rocks you picked up, you aim your slingshot for one of the windows
  353. >you figure they'll go outside to investigate and you can duck out while they're distracted
  354. >as you fire though, your shitty slingshot comes undone and beans you in the forehead
  355. >fuckfuckfuck it hurts
  356. >what's worse is they must have heard you because now the other room is silent
  357. >you quickly tie your slingshot up again, this time hopefully more securely
  358. >this shot is a success, putting a large hole through the glass, cracks striking outwards in a crystalline spiderweb
  359. >sudden hoofsteps and the opening door tell you that it's clear to go
  360. >you make your way through the living room and get to the door just in time to notice the leathery green potato
  361. >it looks awake and mad
  362. >your slingshot is still visible in your hand as you freeze up
  363. >fuck
  364. >as you resume your egress, all you can hope for is that the stories of the elderly in this place are regarded similarly to those back home
  365. >detection aside, your escape is a success and you begin making your way back in the direction of the forest
  366.  
  367. >now that you're safely in the woods, you can begin planning your next move
  368. >the village is too crowded to be investigated thoroughly, but there are alternatives
  369. >one, you can return at night when there isn't a roaming populace ready to turn you in to their clergy for a blood sacrifice
  370. >two, you can try for that mountainside laboratory you noticed on the way into town
  371. >either sounds good to you, given that you still know practically jack shit about where you are
  372.  
  373. If this post is even, we go for the first option. If this post is odd, we go for the second.
  374.  
  375. >you decide to stick to the area you've become familiar with, but avoiding those horses is going to have to be top priority now
  376. >once again you head back to that big forest you woke up near
  377. >maybe you'll luck out on more of those chickensnakes
  378. >after a while you reach the forest. it looks pretty dark inside
  379. >whatever, bring this the fuck on, you're ready for whatever tasty shit this place brings
  380. >two hours into the forest, nothing tasty-looking has appeared
  381. >you saw some more mutated shit though, like that winged lion-scorpion
  382. >there's no way this isn't somewhere up in the sierra nevada or something, maybe up in northern california? too many monsters for this to be some pristine place.
  383. >still, NCR trouble is the last thing you want - aside from these mutant horses eating you
  384. >you stumble into a low clearing
  385. >what the fuck is with all these masks, it looks like someone raided a prewar museum and set up camp here
  386. >you realize this tree is also a house
  387. >a strange humming can be heard within
  388. >you peek into a window
  389. >there's a zebra wearing jewelery
  390. >it's making soup
  391. >it tosses in some ingredients and with a plume of smoke, the mixture turns a jarring shade of blue
  392. >it's not making soup
  393. >you wonder briefly if it's worth trying to talk to this one
  394. >your wondering is cut short as the zebra exits the hut with a bowl of the blue goop perched on its upturned nose
  395. >with a deft motion of its hoof, it takes the bowl and offers it to you, motioning to its mouth with the other hoof
  396. >you're not going to drink irradiated water, let alone whatever tainted sludge that shit is
  397. >you get up and start edging away, fearful that this zebra will try to force-feed its goo to you
  398. >it only chuckles and goes back inside
  399. >could have been worse
  400. >you notice that it's dark in the clearing, looks like it's time to check out the village again
  401.  
  402. >you enter the village when all is dark
  403. >the moon is full, which is pretty handy in lighting your path
  404. >with all the horses sleeping, you've got plenty of time to investigate
  405. >you start sweeping the town for any signs of a subterranean facility - any external vents, openings, doorways, etc.
  406. >you recall that some vaults were hidden in urban areas in buildings, under parking lots, etc.
  407. >aha, this thing in the middle of the road looks to be-
  408. >it's a well. you can see the water in the bottom. even if there was something down there, you'd sink like a rock in your power armor
  409. >well, shit
  410. >at this point you've searched much of the town and found nothing suspicious
  411. >really, the only place something could be hidden would be inside of the houses, and given that it looks like the horses live inside the houses, it is neither likely that they contain something nor viable to search them
  412. >the best bet now is that mountain lab
  413. >assuming it is a lab and not just some other legendary prewar deathtrap of a casino
  414. >looks like it's time to begin the hike
  415. >your attempt to exit the town takes you past that stupid tree-library again
  416. >you notice the goddess and purplecunt talking on one of the upper floors, staring at the sky or some shit
  417. >this is not good, you're out in the open
  418. >goddess happens to look down while purplecunt's still chattering away
  419. >she fucking smiles
  420. >this is not good this is not good
  421. >you quicken your pace, trying not to panic and break into a full run, lest you trigger her predatory chase instincts
  422. >she's still smiling
  423. >you turn the corner and pass out of the goddess's sight
  424. >right as you prepare to leg it, you catch sight of the thing sitting in the middle of the road
  425. >blue goddess
  426. >your blood runs cold as you realize just how utterly boned you are