Fallout: the Return

Interlude: Rarity

With an unladylike groan, I opened my eyes to roll away from the dreadful sound of an alarm clock buzzing its horrid tune. Every muscle in my body felt stiff, and half my face burned where my skin was stripped away by the Divide, causing me to let out a pained grunt.

I couldn't go back to sleep, I had to work today.Taking in a whiff of the cool, near-morning air, I got up from the mattress I had on the floor, while using my blue and green-tinted magic to flip the alarm button to the off position.I looked between the mattress on the floor, and my old bed. After so long sleeping on bedrolls, dirt, concrete, and mattresses, my actual bed felt too comfy for me to use. It was as if some fluffy monster was trying to swallow my body.I looked in the tall mirror that was by a wooden chest near the far wall. My white fur still didn’t show signs of ever returning, letting the entire world see the cut and battle hardened muscle in patches over half of my face.Walking over to the nightstand beside the grand, four poster bed I didn’t sleep on, I opened the single drawer. Inside was a bottle of pills to mellow out my violent mood swings, a .357 magnum revolver, and the ammo for the revolver. Using my magic, I pulled out the pill bottle, unscrewed the cap, and gulped down a pill with the water from a canteen I had sitting on top of the nightstand.Gulping down a few more swallows of water for my parched throat, I retrieved my First Recon beret from the hatrack by the door and walked out into the hall. It was still dark, since I usually wake around five thirty, and as I expertly moved through the darkened halls, I heard crying.More importantly, I heard my sister crying. Opening her room door silently, I saw her curled into a small ball, crying as she held an old doll against her chest.I knocked, causing her to gasp through a sob and look at me through the darkness with teary green eyes. “C-come in,” she squeaked.I entered and took off my beret, “What’s wrong, Sweetie?” I asked as I walked over to her bed.She looked away from me, “I had a dream you were gone again… I was so scared I would be all alone.”My little sister always knew how to tug at my heartstrings. Sitting on her bed, I wrapped her in a hug. “I’ll never leave you again, Sweetie,” I said gently, though it was hard to sound soothing when my voice was like I had swallowed shattered and flaming glass.She tried to crush herself harder against me, like if we separated I would disappear from her forever. “Yesterday, Rainbow Dash was so afraid. I’m worried for you, sis,” Sweetie said, her voice wavering from tears.I had heard of the incident from Sweetie; Rainbow Dash suddenly breaking down, months of guilt finally coming back to haunt her at the sight of Ponyville Dam. What would it take to bring every Fiend and Legion soldier rushing back to the front of my mind, crushing me with guilt?I tightened my hug, “I was worried for you too. When I disappeared and this,” I motioned a hoof to my face,“happened to me. I was worried Mom and Dad would take you away. That was even if I could return.”As a matter of fact, they did. It had taken a lot of arguing from Sweetie, and a lot of me asking politely, to get my sister back.“You were scared?” Sweetie asked me. Since I was ‘big sis’ she looked up to me. I guess she never really seen me scared before.“Oh yes, I was absolutely terrified I wouldn’t see you again… or lose myself before I could say goodbye.”That made her ears perk up and her face to scrunch to a look of confusion, “Lose yourself? What do you mean by that?”I gave a sigh, loosening my grip on Sweetie, “You know Raul and I are special, right? That I’m something called a ghoul now?” She nodded. “You’ve also seen I’ve been taking medicine?” another nod.I gave a sigh, hoping I could choose my next words carefully and not scare her. “I’m not the mare I used to be. I’m a lot more angry, and I take the medicine to help control my anger.”Sweetie nodded, “I know you’ve been through a lot. Rainbow was telling us about how the Legion took Fluttershy and Applejack away from you.”I gave a snort, “Ruffians, that lot. The Pretorian guards put up a good fight.” Wait… why did I just say that?“Praetorian guards?” She questioned.“I’ll tell you when you’re older. The stories aren’t for young ears.”

<~Sweetie’s PoV~>

And just like that, Rarity released me from her tight hug. “I’m going downstairs to make breakfast,” she said as she began to walk away.I didn’t hear her, I was still trying to figure out who were the Praetorian Guards. I could tell they were part of the Legion, but why did Rarity fight them herself?I didn’t get to use my sad-eyes to make her talk before she left the room. Even if she had stayed I doubt it would have worked on her because of how secretive she’s been about what happened when she disappeared.Breakfast was a quickly thrown together fried daffodil sandwich, which I downed no problem. With breakfast taken care of, Rarity became engrossed in working on her dresses and I told her I would be playing with Scootaloo and Applebloom.I was, but I had to make a quick stop first.Sneaking up to her room, I retrieved the metal trunk out from under the bed, noticing that there was a mattress and covers on the floor. Was she having a guest over… or did she sleep on the mattress?The lock was a joke, a bobby pin from Rarity’s room and a bit of twisting with my magic had it unlocked. Opening the grey metal lid, I pulled out a few things.One was the large knife in a - I swallowed nervously - leather sheath, the next two were the strange gold bits and paper with numbers with strange faces on them. The fourth was her helmet, and the last, a strange ‘L’ shaped thing made of black metal with gold letters reading “For honorable service” on one side and “Against All Tyrants” on the other. The wooden part of the ‘L’ shaped thing had Rarity’s cutie mark; I also found a note with the object, laying on top a small cardboard box.

You’ve been feeling down waaaay to long Rarity. I hope this new gun makes you feel better. It even has your cutie mark. There’s also a box of ammo with it.

Pinkie.

So thats what it’s called, a gun. I looked in the chest again, seeing the thing Rainbow Dash called a gun before freaking out. So… more than one size?Looking in the chest again, I levitated out the faded tan box. ‘Silver Star’ it proclaimed in bold black lettering over a sheriff's badge. The numbers .45-70 and the letters Gov’t were in the corner.Stashing the items in the part of the helmet the head would occupy, I closed the chest, locked it, and proceeded to sneak out to show what I found to Scoots and Applebloom.It didn’t take long to find Scootaloo and Applebloom at the clubhouse. As usual they were waiting on me to plan our next crusade. The sight of the helmet full of items had both of them scratching their heads.“Um, Sweetie, what is that?”  Scootaloo asked, pointing a hoof at the items I carried.I smiled widely as I levitated the helmet, “Rarity’s stuff.”Scootaloo blanched, “Oh crap! Return it now before she finds out!”I set the helmet down, “Relax. My sis is busy working on clothes.”That mollified her, “Okay, so what is that stuff?”Applebloom and Scootaloo moved closer to see what I had brought. The first thing I brought out was hoofs down the largest: the knife.“Whoa,” was both of their reactions. With my magic, I slid the blade out of the sheath, showing off the bright silver colored blade. I slid it back in it’s sheath and passed it to Applebloom, who naturally decided to fully unsheath the blade.“Darn this thing is huge,” She then felt the blade with her hoof, “And when you said it was sharp, you meant it.”Was their any doubt Applebloom? I thought as I wordlessly retrieved the gold bits and paper. Passing them around, only Applebloom looked them over as Scootaloo played with the knife, slashing at the air.Next came out the box with the sheriff's badge painted on it and the strange gun thing.I didn’t look at them right away, with the helmet void of items, I put on the helmet.The inside of the helmet smelled strange, a mixture of my sisters sweat and other scents wafted into my nostrils. Then Scootaloo pressed a button, causing my vision to take on a sepia tint, chasing the early morning shadows away.“Woah,” I muttered, “This thing can see in the dark.”“Can I see!?” Scootaloo asked while tackling me over. A flurry of hooves in a battle for the helmet ensued as Applebloom watched. I could see her messing with the gun.Scoots won and promptly took the helmet off of my head to run around, seeing how much darkness she could see through with the lenses.I looked to Applebloom, who had found out something interesting about the gun. A cylindrical piece of the gun slid to the side, revealing five holes.“What’cha think this is fer?” Applebloom asked.I studied the holes in the cylinder, and looked at the box that was under the gun. Levitating it over, I opened the box.Inside I found oddly shaped metal cylinders. They seemed to be made of brass and pointed with another type of metal. At first glance, I could easily tell they went in the holes of the cylinder.With my magic, I took one of the tubes and put it in the cylinder. It slid in perfectly with a soft scrape of metal on metal. I closed the cylinder back into the gun, and continued to inspect it.Passing it back to Applebloom, I said, “See if you can fig-”I didn’t get the chance to finish when there was a loud bang and pain wracked my body.