Ain't exactly pretty,
Ain't exactly small...
You could say she's got it all.

"Where the hell is this place?!" Lotta Rosie grumbled, she'd been flying for two hours now, ready to rip someone's head off next time she saw that pony for giving her lousy directions to Sanctuary Hills.

'Damn it,' she thought, '!' Beyond words at the moment as she kept jerking her head back and forth to look down look at the buildings below, trying to spot details of where this safe place was supposed to be. The harder she tried remembering the details about Sanctuary Hills, the more they illuded her. Circling back twice now, she was frustrated not knowing the layout of the Commonwealth.

She hadn't even seen any signs of a settlement or ponies for that matter, and the only people she did see were more robots roaming the countryside. Flying high and avoiding them, she instinctually avoided flying West. Associating it with Nuka-World, she didn't want to even think in that direction, unconsciously diverting herself back South or further towards the Coast until she had to give up and ask for directions.

Below her, her eyes were following the broken and crumbling sections of overpass leading out of Boston that connected to to Mass Pike Interchange, where a community was built up around the sections of elevated highway that were still accessible and had lifts or ladders leading up off the ground to a common area where cars, trucks, containers, and sections of rebar and concrete were all shoved together to create a wall and base area.

Spotting the Gunner's motif from afar, she huffed, blowing any strands of mane out of her eyes, and wiping her brow before descending down in a spiral.

Spotting the humans, she didn't give them much time to react before saying, "Hey, I need information."

The Gunner Rosie landed infront of panicked, "It's one that escaped!" Hand already tugging on the heel of his pistol, trying to unsnag it from the pocket lining, Rosie saw the clear hostile intention and flapped up and away,

"Your mother should'a locked you in a cage, ugly!" Lotta Rosie yelled, swooping around she heard the Gunner fire off twelve rounds, missing completely but the sound only angered her. Swooping around in a dive, she spun and charged at the Gunner, hoof outstretched as she aimed right for the Gunner's chest, bashing into him crushing his ribs, knocking him up and off the ground, over the side barriers, and plummeting thirty feet to the ground where he instantly died.

Six remaining Gunners heard, and then saw Lotta Rosie dive bombing the first Gunner, before directing her attention to the rest of them and shouting, "All I wanted was to know where Concord is!"

Lotta Rosie took off to the skies again, chased by gunfire and only riling up her anger as one bullet struck her in the leg. She cried out, reaching for her saddlebags she jammed a stimpak into the wound less than five seconds after the blood started pouring out, and wincing as it knit and raw flesh sealed over.

"AwrrgggH!!!" Lotta Rosie growled, "I am gonna make you bleed for that!" Taking off higher to the skies, she disappeared into the clouds, circling further out to scope out the Gunners who weren't used to being attacked from above. Of the six remaining, one hopped into a suit of power armor, and was aiming wildly at the sky above, unable to trace her.

Lining up her approach to dive again, she set her sights on two Gunners standing close together. Another was moving towards the edge to look over and check on their ally that was shoved over. Chosing that Gunner as her target, she dove at over 100 miles per hour, wings back body to a point, she barreled into the second Gunner before anyone could notice she returned again. Flying under the elevated overpass, she stayed low and flew to the opposite end, using the time to pull out and ready two knives from her saddlebag and catch two more Gunners from behind.

Flying at them with blades stretched forward, she aimed right for their necks, slitting their heads half off as she rushed by, their cries were choked with blood as they collapsed to the ground. A hail of bullets were blasted at her, but Lotta Rosie already grabbed a rifle off one Gunner and was dipping over the edge again. Circling around, she had to be more tactical as she came up again, this time following the on-ramp and staying close to the road, she touched down and raised the rifle at a Gunner who only was aware of her presence as she raised the ironsights up and fired.

Blowing him away, the rifle was empty but still a good club. The gunfire drew the last two Gunners, their leader and a single grunt to fire and shoot at Lotta Rosie, but she hurled the emptied weapon through the air at the head of the unarmored Gunner. He ducked and broke eye contact as the gun passed within inches of his head, clattering against the concrete barriers and coming to a rest on the road.

"Last Chance! You tell me where Concord is, and I'll let one of you live! First to speak gets the deal," Lotta Rosie demanded.

Keeping an eye on the last two Gunners, neither of them even considered the offer or showed any sign of having even heard her. That made Rosie even madder as she charged the armored Gunner and bucked him in the legs. Hitting with enough force to topple him over, Rosie turned and dove at the last remaining Gunner to deal with him first, Grabbing onto him and clomping her teeth down over his hand she crushed the bones and bit down hard, shaking and thrashing her head left and right like a dog trying to rip away a piece of meat off a bone. Spitting the hand out, she shoved the gunner down to the ground as he cried.

"SHUT UP! STOP SCREAMING!" She yelled, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP YOU DAMN RAIDERS!" Clubbing the Gunner in the head, she broke his jaw and bashed his nose in, then breaking through the bones around the eyes and smushing the eye sockets up into the brain, her bloody hooves were covered as the top part of the man's skull was indented, but he stopped making noise.

Turning back to deal with the armored Gunner who made it back onto his feet, she grabbed the body and lifted it up. Spinning around, Rosie flung the bleeding corpse through the air right at the leader.

With a burst of speed from her wings, she launched herself at the power-armored leader with a follow up attack aimed right at his left elbow this time. Making him spin 90 degrees as she ran into him she raised her legs and bucked him directly in the helmet. Like having his bell run, the his head inside hit the sides of the protective helmet and was then bucked again and again. Lotta Rosie was relentless as she crumpled and battered the power armor, making it bend and crack, warp and peel, she kept kicking until she was sure the leader didn't move any more.

Exhaling heavily, she slowly calmed her breath with deep inhales, and slow exhales.

Ripping his helmet off she struck him in the throat, he gasped, coughing and wheezing, throat nearly crushed he painfully cried out for air.

"Alright then!" Rosie said through clenched teeth, "Let's try that again. I'm gonna lean on your windpipe, and you point me in the direction of Concord. And that's it."

Stepping on the Gunner's neck, he franctically pointed North, then his hands went to Lotta Rosie's foreleg, but she only leaned down harder as the Gunner sputtered and clawed at her leg. Punching at her leg, digging his fingers into her muscles, he tried to twist and tear her limb away, but she only kneeled down on his neck and made him suffocate.

It was a long two minutes of waiting, the chortling gasps, the staccato of the lungs expelling old air as it fought to replace what was lost. She laid there for another minute, until she was sure the man was dead.

Blowing away the scent of a dead man's breath, she caught her breath before rising to shake herself free of dirt and dust. Composing herself, she looked around, seeing if there was anything worth taking from the raiders she killed, but didn't spend too much time searching as she didn't even grab anything and left to fly in the direction the Gunner pointed.

Thirty feet below, a Gunner lays painfully broken on the ground, he watches the pegasus depart North and towards her destination. He moves carefully not to agitate any bones or muscles, but all he can do now is wait.

'Concord'

\111/

Lotta Rosie was flying at a sedate pace, recovering and catching her breath, but still remaining aware of the landscape below. At this high, most people wouldn't notice her, while she could still make out their features and details. Less than ten minutes go by before she sees even more raiders, this time bearing a different logo of a square box with a line through the top half, and an x in the top rectangle, making it look like a chest with a keyhole.

Taking to the hills, she observes the Federal Ration Stockpile raiders, their movements, and after circling their base twice, she kept moving until she felt that she was spotted.

It was a peripheral sense, but it wasn't coming from below her, further North was the interstate highway leading West towards Franklin, Nuka-World, and then on to Springfield half the state away.

It felt like getting slapped in the back of the head, and when she turned to look, she saw two Gunners spotting from the overpass. To make that kind of distinction from the air, she could see that the raiders from the Stockpile were clearly different than the two spotters, and were wearing the same brands of clothes and carried themselves like the same group she dealt with at the Interstate Turnpike Exchange. When they saw each other, Lotta Rosie looked further inland to where they would've come from and felt her nerves shake as the familiar architecture of the Nuka-World Transit Center came into view.

While Lotta was still compiling everything she knew about the various groups and radiers about Nuka-World and the Commonwealth, she was moving higher to get out of their range and avoid confrontation, but the one of the two Gunners on the interstate overpass produced a hunting rifle and took aim at Rosie.

The bullets cracked the air, two rounds whizzing through the air, "I just finished with these assholes!"

The Stockpile raiders heard both shots, their North-facing lookout already saw and was keeping an eye on the two Gunners spying on them, and since enough time passed between the two parties where no fighting happened, they were left glaring at each other. Until the one Gunner started firing, then it changed the situation and switched the lookout's view. The Stockpile lookout thought that since the Gunners were shooting in their direction, and hadn't yet seen Lotta Rosie far above his own head, that the Gunners were attacking them.

When the Gunner fired off a third...then a fourth...and finally a quick fifth shot, all missing Lotta Rosie, the Stockpile raiders were on the counteroffensive.

The lookout grinned wickedly, since this wasn't the first time he'd spotted those two Gunners either.

For weeks it'd been a game of peek-a-boo, I see you, you see me, but neither side had gone beyond watching each other. Red's gang was more equipped and armed with enough explosives and guns to make sure that anyone who came near would know that it would be a hard fight to take them on. What they were able to determine was the Gunners were trying to establish a route into Nuka-World. The Transit Station was a monorail that was meant to disperse park attendees, and keep land areas around the amusement park for better usage. But, as far as Red Tourette knew, the Gunners weren't in charge of anything, and were only looking to expand and force themselves into the area and create a wedge to be a problem in any of the other gangs side on the opposite end of the monorail. The Gunners were always expanding, callous indifference to who or what they were attacking, only backed with the confidence they could take what they wanted.

Once the shooting started, more gang members ran to take cover, while the lookout shouted out the Gunner's locations.

A long, long, thinly buried plastic lined copper wire ran from the Federal Ration Stockpile, to placed explosives directly underneath the interstate overpass the two Gunners were firing from.

With a press of a button, the highway errupted upwards for a moment as the tons of rebar and concrete flexed upwards, cracking and breaking apart before bowing back down and warping. Destablizing the section, the explosion echoed out for miles as the two Gunners were thrown off their feet. The overpass section collapsed within two seconds, swallowing them both in a plume of dust and crushing them as slabs of concrete and blacktop came together and broke around them.

"Attack me once, shame on me. Attack me twice..." Lotta Rosie said, fighting off the comforting feeling that she survived a second attack, but twice unprovoked. She was as angry at the Gunners as she was glad she survived.

Rosie would've kept on flying, ready to leave the Stockpile and the Gunners far behind her until she heard whinneying.

Crying, braying. The distinct sounds of ponies that made her thoughts come to a grinding halt and replaced with bitter resentment and hatred at humans when she was pulled towards the direction of the Transit center like a magnet. Her thoughts weren't scattered, trying to pick out pieces of the landscape, or trying to conjure up images of a place she never saw before. Like a flick of the switch, she felt focused and aligned towards the one task of making the Gunner's lives as short as possible.

\111/

The Nuka-World Transit center was as large as a city block, but had its own lane and turnoff to the business center along the interstate. There were signs reading 'Only 20 miles to Nuka-World', large advertisements of bottles and billboards advertising drinks and flavors. Turning off the road into the Transit Center, there were two two-story parking garages on either side, one marked with a Nuka-Cherry sign, the other a Nuka-Quantum. Connected with a footbridge on the second story, the parking garages had arrows pointing towards stairwells and directed foot traffic towards either the Bus Terminal or the Monorail station below ground beyond the parking garages. There were buses for Nuka-Wrold, still lined up and waiting in the same spot since 8/23/77. A second road meant for buses entering and exiting the interstate curved through the central boulevard, with a few empty long parking spots.

Adjacent to the Monorail station was a small coffee stand and food stall, and the sight of a bloody butchering that showed that animal carcasses were being broken down on old picnic tables by vending machines, and benches. Old disused turnstiles and rusted barriers lead to a ticket booth and down escalators and stairs leading down into the station. The Monorail itself was like a point-to-point subway, cutting directly though the lowland hills in a tunnel, then emerging 18 miles to the East, with the final two miles above ground on the approach to Nuka World.

Seven Gunners and a reprogrammed Assaultron were designating the transit center as a weigh-station into the Commonwealth. A staging ground where Gunner's merchants and caravans would have to pass through, slaves, guns, weapons, drugs, ammo, they wanted everyone to pass through here. Regular civilians and other merchants would have to pay for guarding and escorting their caravan.

The explosion was loud and powerful, close enough to make all the Gunners at the Transit Center wish that the noise was a lot further away.

Five raiders all scrambled up the hills around Federal Ration Stockpile towards the interstate, taking to the cliffs and rocks where they could drop out of site and have some form of cover, while Lotta Rosie saw Gunners on the surface take watch and wait for the raiders to move in.

There was a tree line beyond the Stockpile and surrounding the Nuka-World Transit Center, but it had heavily thinned out and with the cold winter month of November, no foliage either.

Lotta saw three Gunners pop up on the roof of the Quantum Parking center, rifles and guns pointed towards the interstate, but the raiders were cutting directly up the hill and through the trees. Between the treeline and Nuka-Cherry Parking garage, there was no cover.

A small herd of ponies and slaves were chained up in the Nuka-Cherry parking garage, lead out from Nuka-World days prior.

Of the nine Gunners Lotta spotted from her aerial perch, three above, the other six and their Assaultron was being moved close to the center of the boulevard, while the other six ran about, expecting an imminent attack.

Lotta saw that even with the surprise angle advantage the raiders had to begin with, they were about to walk into their own slaughter. She was able to piece together that the raiders coming up to the top of the hill now were the same ones who dealt with the two Gunners on the bridge, but didn't expect anything less than for them to shoot at her too.

Commander Kaylor stood out among the rest, moving slower and deliberate, the other Gunners were moving around her, watching her point or wave her arms, doling out instructions. Lotta forced herself to look away, or risk putting that same 'I'm being watched' feeling into the Gunner Commander and give away her position again.

Pushing the indifference down, she knew she could surpress her emotions about one raider or the other, and focused on the ones holding her own kind hostage.

"And I'll call this...the smash and grab." She said, rubbing her hooves together, she circled around the parking garages until she was in line with two of the three rooftop Gunners. Bringing her wings in close and falling into a dive, her targets were close enough to be pushed into each other, with her size, speed, and momentum, Lotta Rosie was larger than most ponies, the largest in her family and all her siblings, and knew that throwing this much weight around was enough to snap necks and break bones.

The first gunner she picked she blasted with a hoof directly to the ribs, the Gunner didn't even hear Rosie coming, only feeling a tremendous force strike him and whip him into the second Gunner standing close by. She grabbed his rifle from him as she collided, turning the weapon on the third Gunner who heard the crash and looked up to investigate, before aiming back down at the two stunned Gunners and shooting all of three of them.

As the bullets rang out atop the Quantum Parking Garage, the Gunners thought they were engaging a enemy coming from the interstate and coming down the turn off, while the Stockpile raiders thought they were being shot at, and went further Southeast towards the Cherry Parking Garage as the Gunners moved up the boulevard.

It took the Stockpile Raiders five seconds to realize they weren't being targeted, so they ran up to the perimeter of the Transit Center before another Gunner poked their head out. The first was shot by the five Raiders, and the chatter blasting of gunfire this close to their base set the remaining five Gunners into high alert.

All five raiders moved up again, going under the footbridge and down the central road, some of the Gunners looked up, but didn't see their own men atop the roofs anymore.

The Raiders were more of a single unit, but disorganized as they all clustered together and moving as one instead of taking stock or heed of their surroundings. When they saw a Gunner, all of them swarmed or shot in one direction, but weren't accurate enough to kill. The volley of gunfire aimed at the single Gunner was enough for all the others to coordinate and move, two running across the street to cover behind building corners. When one raider ran out of bullets, they all found themselves reloading at the same time because they weren't pacing out their shots or accurate. But, the raiders were more confident and equipped with more ammo and even carrying grenades.

If they were more coordinated, they would've taken opportunity to cover each other as one fired, instead of all being pinned down at once by the Gunners shooting at them from multiple angles down the same road.

Lotta Rosie raised the ironsites and fired at one Gunner, striking him in the chest. Giving away her position to Commander Kaylor and another Gunner by the bus terminal who saw their own man go down, they saw the way his body recoiled, and their eyes went up to see the pegasus shooting down at them.

The Gunner's assaultron stepped forward, charging up a beam blast, while the other Gunners pulled back to let the machine do the heavy fighting.

With the raiders advancing once more, they were funneled between the two parking garages, with planters, cars, and the sides of buildings for cover, but they were too exposed and confined.

A single blast burned a bright line striaghtforward and swept across the boulevard. Striking down, cutting in half, and searing three raiders all at once. The other two were suddenly out numbered and outgunned. Dropping out of sight, their hands went to their grenades, pulling the pins and heaving them. Each raider was carrying three grenades on them, and now the final two raiders were going over their companions remains, pulling off the ordinance and flinging it towards the assaultron and Gunners from cover.

One grenade wasn't enough to turn the tide, but fifteen grenades turned the whole road into a artillery range as the grenades bounced and rolled, it was ony through the overwhelming use of explosives they were able to randomly land grenades at the Assaultron's feet, blowing a path open as Lotta Rosie moved to a better position and fired down at the Gunners in cover, waiting for the explosive rain to stop.

The last two raiders and Lotta Rosie, versus the final three Gunners, the Gunners tried moving back closer together. With one Gunner running across open ground, Lotta Rosie shot twice, then felt the catch slide back showing her that the clip and barrel was empty. The Raiders and the Gunners saw the top down shot, and knew that wasn't either of them who did it.

"The roof! She's on the roof!" Commander Kaylor pointed, the last Gunner turned his sights upwards, but Lotta Rosie was already flying towards the Gunner. He fired several times, missing seven times as the bullets came harrowingly close to striking the pegasus, she flew in a jagged line to avoid being a direct target.

Wrapping him in her hooves, she lifted him off the ground and went skyward. The air was knocked out of the Gunner's chest as Lotta Rosie climbed thirty, and then to fifty feet in only a few seconds. Letting go, the Gunner fell the five stories to his death right infront of Commander Kaylor and the two raiders aiming at each other.

It was from this vantage point, and few seconds of clarity Lotta Rosie looked down at the battlefield below, and then to the food stall with the old-dried tacky blood around it.

Bones, a ponies skull, legs and hip bones stripped of their meat, a cold firepit from the night before, these Gunners slaughtered and ate a pony last night, and left traces of the butchering out all over the place.

Lotta Rosie felt her jaw lock up as she grit her teeth, painfully hard to the point she felt her teeth would shatter. Tense and wired with rueful energy, she felt an emotion beyond hatred of the Gunners, a loathing so powerful she couldn't stand knowing the people who did this were still alive.

The splat of blood spidered out as Commader Kaylor was now completely outnumbered and outgunned, she fired every bullet in her gun at Lotta Rosie, breaking her concentration to shoot at the raiders as well, but found her chambers empty before too long. The raiders shot at her, striking the Commander in her protective armor, driving her to take cover as Lotta Rosie circled around to finish Kaylor off.

"You damn animal! You stupid animal! You piece of shit!" Commander Kaylor shouted, "NOBODY attacks the Gunners like this! Nobody! You're all going to BURN!"

Lotta Rosie charged the Gunner Commander, headbutting her in the chest and sending her sprawling backwards to the ground. She climbed to her knees and pushed of the ground, grabbing at her pistol she fired, but Lotta Rosie was to quick, and the two raiders saw the intervention and were taking the opportunity to fire at her.

Sprinting up onto a bus, she took cover down below the window line, but she was only going for a stash of stimpaks and weapons stored inside the bus. Crawling on her hands and knees as she moved to the rear, she jabbed herself with a stimpak as bullets tore up the side of the bus, piercing through in the front as she clambored out the back. A readied rifle, and among the things she grabbed was a barb-wire coil. Used for tying up and choke-chains for ponies, she kicked the emergency door in the back of the bus open and ran for the bus terminal.

Lotta Rosie dove at Commander Kaylor from the left, while distracted by the raiders on her right, she nearly was able to knock the Commander down, but she saw Lotta before the collision and braced for impact. Knocking the rifle away, Lotta Rosie quickly flapped her wings to regain momentum and altitude when the Commander Kaylor threw a barbed-wire lasso at Lotta Rosie. Ensnaring her wing, she yanked down had and ripped Lotta Rosie sideways. The Pegasus cried out in pain as the barbs chewed down into her wing and tore at her primary feathers. Scraping and puncturing her flesh, she turned to fly at Commander Kaylor, but with a snap of the wire, it sunk in tighter around her joints and Rosie was forced to give into the pressure or be thrust into even more pain.

"BAD PONY!" She screamed, "YOU ARE A BAD PONY! You don't GET to strike at humans EVER!" She heaved, yanking the barbs into Lotta's neck and flesh, trying to choke and collar the pegasus at once into submission. "You're PROPERTY! YOU ARE FOOD. FOOD IS NOT ALLOWED TO THINK!"

Lotta Rosie flew directly at Commander Kaylor, she pulled a knife but Rosie didn't care, she felt it plunge straight into her chest, but she ran full force into the Gunner Commander and knocked her down.

The commander pulled out the knife and stuck it in again, this time wiggling it left and right as she yanked it back out, but Lotta Rosie was finished with this fight.

Biting down on the arm, she crushed the bones with her jaw strength and felt the forearm snap in her mouth like an overcooked chicken-bone.

Commander Kaylor screamed, "NO! You're an abomination! You're a slave! You're not supposed to fight! You inbred chicken!-"

Lotta Rosie had heard enough, seen enough, and felt enough to not pay attention or listen, "I WILL EAT YOU!" Lotta Rosie screamed, biting down into the Commander's neck, she bit down hard and pinched Kaylor's throat shut.

She'd seen countless dogs all do the same rip and tear head shake, and that instinctual drive made her thrash Commander Kaylor with her bite. Tearing through, she ripped the Commander's throat out, and pressed her hooves down onto the woman's chest to force the skin and muscle away from the body as she tore the neck out.

Going back in again, she bit down and pulled, chewing and spitting the iron and blood out of her mouth, Rosie yelled as she brutalized the Gunner's body, unloading all her anger and frustration out on these terrible people. She hated everything about herself, and didn't even want to imagine what she looked like, but knew she couldn't stop.

Rosie tasted a hard chewy flap of skin in her mouth, chewing it, she spit it out, and then swallowed, feeling blood all down her face, neck, the two stab wounds drawing herself back into reality, she felt hot in the wound, but cold around the edges, like she was rapidly losing heat.

The final two raiders who saw Rosie bite the head off the Gunner Commander and start eating pieces of human were suddenly terrified of the large pegasus, even after spitting it all back out. Her already magenta coat was now red with blood streaking down her front and chest, covering her hooves and face.

Dripping blood as she walked towards them she said, "All I wanted...was directions...'to that pony from vault 111,' but she never said it, the words vanished from her mouth as her lips moved, but they never came out. She was in a fugue state, and a little dazed as well, but still operating at a lethal capacity.

"Now that that's all taken care of... who do I need to eat around here to get some damn answers?" Rosie asked, "Because I... am... hungry..." A burst of laughter suddenly gripped Rosie as she shook to control her outburst, the old phrase, "Hungry enough to eat a...! eat a... A human!" She threatened, seeing as that intimidation and scary looks were the only thing capable of warding off or getting the respect she deserves to be listened to.

Hungry enough to eat a horse, but Lotta Rosie flipped the adage on them, ready to kill either of them if they made any sudden moves. She knew this temporary truce between them was only superfical, that the moment they were done, she would be at their mercy of callous raiders who wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet between her eyes, and then coat her wings in egg, breadcrumbs, and fry at 375 degrees in a pot of oil.

Eat or be eaten.
Survival of the fittest.

The worst of all, was that she had seen raiders sick attack dogs and animals on ponies, chasing them down and ripped apart by three or four dogs at a time. Being hunted down by feral animals, and then ripped apart even as ponies begged and screamed for their life was the living nightmare Lotta Rosie wanted to avoid and not have thrust upon her as well. It was a terrible thought to have burdening her mind every morning, evening, and night, hoping and praying that a wild animal or human wouldn't come up and attack her. She didn't know what else to do or say except be stronger, faster, and above all else, run from these places with whatever strength she had left.

She looked over to her right, to the spot of the slaughtered pony from the night before, shaking her head at the leftovers and careless cleanup.

Looking down, the knife was still in her chest, so with a series of short breaths and a careful pull, she pulled the knife out pressed a dirty shirt to the wound to block the flow of blood.

This display of toughness, and the fearsome sight of Rosie was enough to keep the two Raiders from attacking, but now came the hard part, what to do with twenty slaves with some humans mixed in for the hell of it.

"One of you, pick. Decide now, which one of you will go back to your boss and tell them everything that's happened, while the other comes with me."

She could smell unwashed ponies, the scent of piss and dust, this place was never meant to be a long term holding area, but the Gunners short staffed were unable to send a crew to collect the slaves.

"What's your name? Who are you? What's your bosses name?"

"I'm Kennith, that was AJay, who went running off, our boss is Red Tourette, we're the Stockpile gang."

"Come with me,"

"Who are you?" Kennith asked, trying to feel out any information from the blood-soaked pegasus. At eye level, Rosie moved like she was hurt, but nothing in her expression or emotions showed it. If anything Kennith didn't want to ask if she was in pain, since she seemed so determined on ignoring it, along with his first question.

"Lotta Rosie."

"You're the only pony I've ever heard of taking a bite out of someone like that,"

"Sucks being on the receiving end of the eat or be eaten, doesn't it?" Lotta asked, holding a gun to Kennith, licking her lips the raider stood up straight and Lotta Rosie relaxed in her mind to see the fear response. Easing back only a touch, Lotta Rosie followed with, "Know that there is no limit which I wont break to prove a point now, Kennith. Before, I tried asking nice, tried being kind, but all that's got me is shot at and promised to be raped and eaten alive. So if you want to try and take a swing at me, or take a bite, know I have no problem doing exactly the same. Tell me, you ever been pinned down and fucked by a feral animal? At least then, you still have a use. The way I think humans see ponies as; If you can't be used to get me off, then what good are you anyway? Well, same to you."

Lotta Rosie didn't even know what she was saying, so far past bluffing walking into territory she never wanted to venture in. The only way forward was to keep moving and project this outward terrifying image of a crazed pegasus ready to bite back felt like the only way this raider, or anyone else for that matter would respect her long enough for her to get what she wanted. She felt stupid for thinking like this, she hated saying the words, and felt like her own brain was chopping itself up for having to stoop so low and resort to such violence. This wasn't the life she wanted, not living like this, life was terrible. All around her see could feel misery, but all those intrusive thoughts kept jabbing in at her, that if she didn't fight for her life to survive every day, she would die. The imbalance she felt in herself was tearing at her moral fibers, the stab wounds she actively doing her best to ignore weren't making thinking rationally any easier.

To be as far away from Nuka-World, humans, and everypony as possible, she didn't care how she looked or what type of reputation she would have to carry to get away, she was never going to allow herself to feel that scared for her own survival ever again. Too many creatures and monsters existed already that could've eaten her, from Deathclaws, mirelurks, giant bugs, and anything else that crawled with more than four legs, she didn't need humans on that list, and was determined to make sure anyone coming across her knew that as well.

"Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." Drawing in a deep inhale through her nose, "You smell that?"

Leading the raider, she went for the Nuka-Cherry garage and went up to the second floor. On the ground in the parking stalls were seventeen ponies and 3 human slaves, all haggard and worse off looking than Rosie.

Lotta Rosie could observe everything she needed to see about this group in two seconds, from the way they breathed, to the gaunt look of their eyes, how they reacted to seeing her, the way their eyes, ears, and head all swung as one, like they were fixed or locked into place. From how skinny these ponies were, the smell, the way they couldn't stop moving even while standing or sitting still. These ponies were about as broken as life could dictate, far from being ready to break themselves out, or even mount enough energy to save themselves. Four of the ponies were kids and clearly ostracized off in their own corner of the group. Separated, their was a clear look about them that the young ponies and adults were being manipulated over whatever food and water was available. The cold ranking sweat, they looked at how well Lotta Rosie appeared and were scared she was a raider as well.

Nobody recognized Lotta Rosie, even at her size, she was too drastically changed since any of them last saw her to see past the exterior.

'Well my day is going as about expected, Rosie said to herself, 'Shitty',

"Everybody up."

"Who are you?"

"Your new master."

\111/

Red Tourette was wearing her red-eye paint, upon hearing the Transit Center less than a mile away from them was now free of Gunners, wiped out by a cannibal Pegasus, she smeared it on and was walking down the main boulevard less than ten minutes later escorted by over a dozen of her own men. Seeing the red and magenta pegasus, she admitted the sight was more gruesome than plain war-paint because the dribbles of blood down her chin and lips soaked and spread through the fur. Whatever injuries she showed weren't slowing her down as she lead a crowd of slaves to the bus terminal area where they could actually use bathrooms that still work and spread out on benches.

Rosie checked over Commander Kaylor's body much more thoroughly than the rest, pulling everything worth of value she could find, including a written paper with orders on them, reading over the slip of paper, she read the names and tucked it away.

She spotted Ajay among the pack, and Red saw Kennith standing near, waiting for her.

Examining the fight scene on their way in, and the body count, Red waited, then introduced herself. "My name is Red, from what I saw and heard, it was you who the Gunners were shooting at that kicked this whole powderkeg off. And from what Ajay tells me, they were only able to kill two Gunners and an Assaultron, while you're responsible for killing six of them, including their leader."

"That's right. I'm Lotta Rosie, and I need your help. You see, I'm looking for a settlement called Sanctuary Hills, and a pony from Vault 111. I've recently acquired twenty slaves, and need to hire members of your gang to escort my group there. In exchange, I've got information on the Gunners here on what their plans for you and this metro station here are. A short list of three names, the first you get for free, seeing as how the Commander Kaylor on this list is over there with her throat ripped out. If you want to know more, then I've got a job for you. Seeing as how these Gunners were observing you and planning to wipe you out, it's in your best interest to listen to what I have to say and accept my offer."

Red took in the look of Lotta Rosie, her unwavering and still resolve, eyes locked in, she wasn't going to look away or submit to anything less.

"You've proved yourself against the Gunners. Fine. I accept. Tell me what these Gunners were up to, and I'll sort a group out to take your slaves with you."

"I do my best talking while I'm moving, so I'd like to see my ponies moving first before we discuss details. I also need someone to dress my wound, the Gunner Commander tried sticking me with a parting gift before she left."

Red was still amazed the bloody pegasus could show this much hostility, cornered or otherwise, she showed no fear.

\111/

Revealing the Gunners plan, the orders and names of a Gunner Sargent and Gunner Colonel, no one in either Red's Gang or Rosie ever heard of a Gunner higher than a Captain.

Gunner Colonel Cypress wrote to observe the Federal Ration Stockpile, probe for weaknesses, infiltrate Red Tourette's gang, sabotage defenses, create dead-zones Gunners could exploit, and kill Red Tourette.

As for the Transit Station, the gunners were planning on using the underground tunnel as a direct route to and from Nuka-World, to constantly funnel supplies, weapons, and people into the area to prepare for an attack. The problem between Boston and Franklin was that the road went through hill lands, and there was only one main road connecting the two. Everyone had to pass through this 20 miles over land, with far too many hazards of all kinds along the way to make it a viable pass. The Transit Station made it possible for the Gunners to go beneath all of the dangers and get as close as they wanted to Nuka-World without risking anything along the way.

One the Transit station was secure, they were to move forward with observing and infiltrating Red's base.

"Colonel Cypress."

"Never heard of him, Where's he?"

"Doesn't say, but next time you see another Gunner, be sure to ask. Which, you wont have to wait long because it sounds like anyone who recently joined your gang in the last few weeks is most likely a Gunner. So, it sounds like it's time for a loyalty test for any new recruits who've shown up recently."

"Seems like it is," Red agreed, "And what about yourself?"

"Well Red, you have my respect for not shooting me, but I know that just because this group of Gunners is dead, doesn't means they wont be back. I highly expect a Gunner crew to come searching for their lost shipment as well, now that I've claimed it for myself. Which is why I want to offer you a trade,"

"What else do you have to offer?"

"A deal that will make you close to a hundred thousand Bottlecaps here in the future, and advice on how to lure Gunner's to their death. Are you interested?"

"Yes."

"Then this is one of the only roads leading East that's safe from the Glowing Sea. I know because I've flown over the pass and the further South to the main Highway, and you get all sorts of deathclaws, mutants, bug infestations, and merchants need to pay out their ass in protection fees to hire a gang like the Gunners or yourself now, to get from the Commonwealth to Nuka-World. This transit station has a tunnel going underground all the way to the Amusement Park, and you will be the gatekeeper, charging anyone who wants safe passage in your tunnel. That's a lot of ground and territory up for grabs, and with this place so close to your base, it wont be long before more people hear about what's happened here. I know your symbol, Red. The Chest with the X in the center, I've seen it at Nuka-World, so I know your gang has made trips that far, Red. How much did it cost you then? And how much money can you make with the safest route directly there and back now that you own everything?"

"I see your point. How much for the slaves you have right now?"

"They're not ready to be sold, Red. I took one look at these ponies and saw they're too weak to even shit themselves out of fear. So I'm taking them all, and if they don't all die of exhaustion before they get to Concord, it'll take years building them up and breeding into full families before I consider having this conversation again." Lotta said, throwing out the idea of selling ponies, she refused to consider it, and only worded it to give herself as much time as possible, to get as far away as possible from Red, with as many ponies and relatives she could gather.

"Fine. But we need more manpower. Recently we've expanded quite a bit, and to do it again so soon spreads my men thin. "

"Where all is your territory?"

"Lexington, to the edge of Cambridge, South to Natick, and now across the Charles River to the Fens neighboorhood. We've almost got a direct route to Diamond City."

"Then if you want to make money, and fast, then you need to spread the word in Diamond City and every caravan merchant that you've got a direct access from Diamond City to Nuka-World. Cheapest and safest route with passing over as few other gang territories as possible. You'll be swarmed with offers and traders trying to get their safely and quickly. Over land, it takes almost two days at a walking pace, more if you've got a large caravan. This monorail works, and from here to Nuka-World, you can be there in thirty minutes. From the Gates of Nuka-World, to here, to Diamond City...How long would it take to walk from here to Diamond City? Two hours? Three if you're slow? A two and a half hour trip, or a two day trip across fifteen different gang territories from here to Nuka-World through the hills? You claim this now, and you'll be swamped with merchants running back and forth. Now a trader could make it from Diamond City, to Nuka-World, and back in less than six hours, rather than four days. That's sixteen times faster than the route overland, Red. And now, I'm offering it to you because I don't have the gang, the people, the resources, the guns, or respect humans who see me as meat to force people into getting my way. That's why I have to resort to drastic extremes just to get a person to see me as more than an animal, Red. You do this, while I take my ponies and leave."

"Then why don't you join my gang?" Red asks, "You seem to know quite a bit about the routes from here to Nuka-World."

"Of course I do. What do you think I did before all the gangs over there decided to do what they did? I've made the trip North, I've walked the route South, even the one super far South to go all the way around the Glowing sea on the East side, back down around towards Providence and then back up along the coast. I know everything there is to getting from here to there, and this Transit station is by far the fastest, safest route you'll ever get your hands on."

"So what's your answer then? I need more manpower, and not just humans either. Ponies like yourself who know how to fight and be vicious, bare your fangs when others try to muscle in on our territory. The Stockpilers need a pegasus like yourself to keep as an eye in the sky watchdog. Do this for me, and you can do whatever you want with your ponies. Breed them, sell them, and..." putting two fingers to the side of her temple and then pointing at Lotta Rosie, "We get too much mirelurk meat from the river as is. Every week we have shells leftover still sitting full of rotten crabmeat. As for what to do with all your ponies, there are two farms near here that they could put their energy to use."

That was the only thing that made Rosie shake, but Red was able to see that it was a point of contention that would've broken any sort of relationship or trust they'd built up over this conversation at the mention of what they were doing for protein and meat. Lotta Rosie wanted to protect herself and others from being eaten, Red needed to let her know that they weren't interested in eating pony.

"Fine. But I need to be able to do my own thing, I'll keep an eye out for Gunners and fly high to keep an eye on things, but I wont answer to anyone unless they understand I'm not a piece of cheap meat to be thrown around or used as a punching bag."

"I understand. I'm surprised how much energy you have, and how you were able to fight all these Gunners with the help of my men."

"Then we come to an agreement?"

"Yes, I believe we do."

Red and Lotta Rosie shook hand and hoof, sealing their contract with a stern look into each others eyes before breaking the grip.

"Now that that's done. I need someone to help me dress my wound," Lotta Rosie said, shuddering as her chest and breast muscles twitched erroneously. The bleeding stab marks were left untreated the entire time, and only added to Lotta Rosie's ferocious appearance and endurable attitude as a tough pony who left little else up for discussion when it came to other ponies.

Before the Stockpile raiders left, they already decided on a name to call this new addition to their gang, a nickname that they didn't say to Lotta directly, but came up with as she and Red talked.

\111/

Rosie laid down after she was bandaged and had to recover for the rest November the 8th, and well into the day after that before she was ready to move again.

On the evening of November 9th, she was stirred from her rest to look out towards the Atlantic where she heard the skies crackling with lightning, blasts of thunder, claps louder than sonic booms that alerted everyone in the whole Commonwealth and beyond to a noise much like the roaring of the X-2 rockets that gave all the ponies in Nuka-World their opportunity to break free and make a run for it.

The sky was pitch black and dark, but the bolts of lightning lit up the night sky, the bursts blasting out massive pillars of light across the whole Commonwealth. Lotta Rosie watched the clouds, and wondered why the electrical storm was so aggressive, but she only watched on as lightning and thunder clashed miles away.