Fallout Equestria: Angels Featherby ImSilverTongueChaptersIntroductionChapter 1: SnowChapter 2: MoveIntroductionIntroduction War... War never changes. 10 years ago, a young mare, fresh out of Her Stable found that out. Shot up by raiders, attacked by mutated beasts, irradiated to no end... But she fought through it all, ridding the wasteland of evil, and ultimately saving everypony. She founded the New Canterlot Republic with the help of the Talon Gawdina Grimfeather. Growing up hearing stories of Griffins like Gawdina really spoke to me. Mercenaries do what they want, when they want, and no one stands in their way. Now that I’ve left my home and took up the mantle of Talon, equipped with my mothers armor from her time as a Talon and her shotgun, I realize that the life as a mercenary isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When you can get jobs, things are great and the money is decent. But as soon as the jobs stop, so does the money and your fun. After the war, there were a lot of Ponies that fled to Symbia to avoid the ever growing war. Soon, it had a front-row seat to watch the clouds as the megaspells went off. Unfortunately for the Symbians, though, Megaspells went astray, and landed in Symbia. When the Gardens of Equestria spell went off, parts of Symbia were caught in the edge of its influence, but most of the north of Symbia is still heavily irradiated, and avoided by almost everyone. To the West lies the Crystal Empire. Once the great nation belonging to the Crystal Ponies, now an area that’s in a perpetual nuclear winter. Now, I’m sitting in the corner of a bar, holding a cold glass of Applejack Daniels to the side of my head. A couple patrons started getting restless, and I got caught in a fight trying to break it up. I’m now plagued with embarrassment as a lucky Buck caught me in the side of the head, knocking me out cold. “How’s your head?” The bartender asked, sliding me another glass. “Looked like one hell of a kick.” “It wasn’t all that bad... The surprise is what got me. The pain is minimal.” I muttered, taking the new glass and drawing a long slow drink from it. “The alcohol helps, too.” I said with a chuckle. “I guess a mercenary should be able to shrug off the small stuff, right?” The bartender asked. I nodded slightly. “Wait,you’re a mercenary?” A small voice cut in. “I’m looking for some help.” I turned and saw a small pegasus mare. “What’s the job, and how much are you payin?” I asked, looking her over. She had a light grey coat, and light blue hair. I noticed the lightning bolt on her flank, and shrugged. Weather-like cutie marks were common for Pegasi. “I’m looking for my sister. We got separated while flying out west.” She muttered. “I can pay you a thousand caps.” “Out west? In the Frozen Wastes?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Y-Yes...” She muttered, lowering her head slightly. “We were looking for some sort of sign of civilization from before the war. Hoping to make some money.” “And instead, you lost your sister. Look... I’ll take the job, but I’m going to level with you. If she’s lost out there, she’s probably already an icicle by now.” “No, she’s not!” The pegasus insisted, stamping a bit. “She’s good at surviving in harsh conditions. She’s trained in that! If anyone can survive out there, it’s her. I just know how to navigate...” She muttered. “A thousand caps isn’t much, but I guess it’s more than I’ve been making lately...” I said, finishing my drink. “Looks like I’ve gotta pick up a scarf or something.” “You’ll take the job?” The pegasus asked, surprised. “Yeah... Why not. The name is Gwyn Blackfeather.” I said, reaching out a talon. “Lightning.” She replied, as I shook her hoof. “We’ll head out first thing in the morning. Get some rest. I don’t want to have to stay in one place while in the Wastes, if I can help it...” Chapter 1: Snow“We better get moving. There are things out here we really don't want to run into after dark.” “What kind of things?” “Let's just say the empire... isn't the only thing that's returned.” “Alright. Are you ready to go?” I asked, adjusting the cloak I had on over my armor. It was somewhat lightweight, but it was enough to cut the chill of the wind. I put a cloak and goggles into my bag, just in case the wind picked up too much. “Yeah... Let’s go find Thunder!” The pegasus said excitedly and took to the air. I followed, the cloak folding along my back as I extended my wings. “We have to be careful once we get to the wastes, if the wind picks up we’ll have to land.” I said. Lightning looked back with a raised eyebrow. “The winds there pick up quick. I’m not going to fly against a snowstorm. Too dangerous.” “I thought Mercenaries were big, badass bodyguards. You’re worried about a bit of wind?” Lightning asked, as I glared at her. “Yeah. Mercenaries are pretty tough, but I’m not stupid. You’ve been to the wastes. Have you tried flying through a snowstorm?” Lightning shook her head. “But I’ve heard stories of pegasi being able to fly through tornadoes. This can’t be that bad, right?” I sighed. “Just trust me. If a storm picks up, we’re walking.” She shrugged as we reached the edge of the frozen wastes. The air wasn’t all that chilly yet, and patches of snow just started popping up. I picked up the speed a little, flying next to Lightning. “How long ago did you lose your sister?” “Last night.” Lightning said, looking around the snowy horizon for any signs of movement. “The wind hasn’t been too strong. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some tracks to lead us to her.” Lightning nodded, now keeping her eyes open for tracks as well. I saw a shadow shift out of the corner of my eye, and turned to see, but there was nothing. I kept my eyes focused on the area the shadow had been, but there was nothing. I shrugged, figuring my eyes were playing tricks on me, and continued. After a couple hours of flying, we landed for a rest. I pulled a bottle of water from my pack and took a drink. The water was shockingly cold, and I recoiled from surprise. “Something wrong?” Lightning asked with a chuckle. “Colder than I expected. I didn’t think my food and drink would start frosting over already...” I muttered, putting the water back, wrapping my scarf around it to keep it from getting any colder. I saw another shadow out of the corner of my eye and turned. Lightning raised an eyebrow at my intense gaze and looked as well. “Gwyn? Something wrong?” “Thought I saw something... It’s nothing.” I assured her. “We should continue on foot for a bit. Give our wings a rest.” Lightning nodded, and we marched on. “Why is there so much snow? I mean, Symbia was rather warm. Why is it such a drastic change so close?” “The Megaspells. One of the experimental ones meant to change the weather. They shipped it here, and it caused a heavy snowfall that didn’t relent for quite a long time. Soon, most of the snow cleared, leaving this solid sheet.” I said, knocking on the ground for emphasis. “It’s about thirty feet thick from what I understand.” “Why would they deliver a megaspell way out here?” “You were hunting for treasure, and you don’t know?” I asked. Lightning shook her head. “There was another part of the Equestria up here. The Crystal Empire. The details are a little fuzzy in my mind, but from what I can recall, it was full of Crystal Ponies, and powered by a magical relic known as the Crystal Heart.” “That must be what Thunder was talking about...” She muttered. “I just thought this was part of Symbia before the war.” Lightning said. “Nope. Symbia has always been a small slice of paradise.” I said with a grin, turning toward another shadow. This one not vanishing when I saw it. “Lightning, are you seeing what I’m-” I was cut off by the shadow washing over us. ~O~O~O~O~O~O~ I woke up in a small room of a run down building. “Lightning?” I called out, but there was nothing. I stood up shakily and went outside, seeing my mother serving drinks at the bar I frequent. “Mom? What are you doing here? What am I doing back here for that matter...” “Yes. What ARE you doing here?” She snapped at me with a glare. “I thought I told you to NEVER come back.” “Wait... What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” “You’re the reason your brother is dead. I told you to get OUT. You don’t deserve to be called a Talon. In fact, they’ve got you blacklisted. No one is going to ask for help from the Red Feather.” “Red Feather?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Yes. The Red Feather. So many people die under your protection, you’ve gained a reputation. Now GET OUT.” She shouted, reaching across the bar and grabbing the back of my neck, throwing me toward the door. I heard one patron muttering near the door. “She’s been touched by him... We need to...” And that was all I heard before I exited. Symbia seemed a bit darker as I tried to sort through what just happened. “How... What do I do now?” “What’s wrong, young griffin? Everything sounding like a nightmare?” A gravelly voice asked with a chuckle. “Why don’t you just end it here. You have nothing left to live for.” “Griffins never quit. I’m not going to quit.” “Your brother is dead. You’re blacklisted. You are the reason so many die. You don’t deserve to continue on, and you know it.” I looked toward the voice, but the figure faded before I could see it. I looked down at my claws and sighed. “Maybe he’s right. I’ve lost everything...” “Do it. End the suffering. Rejoin your brother and apologize. Or maybe you can just become a raider. Destroy more lives.” I brought the claws up, but they caught on something. I looked down and there was nothing. After a few moments, a sharp pain radiated in the side of my head, and my vision blurred. For a brief moment I saw Lightning standing in a small room. “Gwyn?” She asked, but faded from sight once again. “No... Just DO IT!” The voice shouted angrily. ~O~O~O~O~O~O~ Another pain and the vision of Lightning came back. This time it persisted. “Are you okay?” Lightning asked, hitting the side of my head once more. I pushed her back and stood up. “What happened?” I asked, holding my head. My headache was definitely back. “You got attacked by a shadow, and it tried to make you kill yourself.” Lightning said with a nod. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s the basic jist of it. There’s still a lot of influence out there from before the war. The shadows are those remnants. Before the war, an evil Unicorn named Sombra tried to take the Crystal Empire back, and was defeated, but not fully. He’s slowly gaining back strength by causing loathing in anyone wandering through the wastes.” “I see... And you are?” I asked, looking toward the dark blue unicorn who explained everything. Dark grey mane and no cutie mark? That’s unusual. “Penumbral Haze, you can call me Penumbra. I found the two of you out there, tears all but frozen to your faces. So, I brought you here to try to snap you out.” “And where is here?” “Stable 23. Built here for the Crystal Ponies before the war. Stable-tec decided they needed to expand to other parts of equestria. Without this Stable, I wouldn’t be here today.” “You’re from this stable?” Penumbra nodded. “I don’t remember seeing any Stable entrance when I was here before.” Lightning said. “It’s in a cave that’s almost hidden because of a layer of ice. You’re not going to find it too easily.” “Is anyone else still here?” I asked, grabbing my gear and putting it on. “Nawh. The inhabitants left quite a while back. I left for a while, but came back. The food stores are still adequate. And the Shadows don’t seem to come in here.” Penumbra turned and looked at me. “You’re not leaving now.” She said. “What? Why’s that?” I asked, ready to grab my shotgun in case things were going south. “There’s a bad storm going on out there. And it’s pretty dark. You’re welcome to take a bed in the sleeping quarters and rest for the night. “I don’t do too well in confined spaces for too long... No room to stretch my wings, you know?” I said, looking toward Lightning. “Besides, we’ve gotta find her sister before this shadow gets to her, too...” I muttered. Lightning nodded. “We have to find her before it’s too late!” As Lightning moved toward the exit, she bumped into an invisible wall. “What the?” “I’m sorry, but I can’t, in good conscience, allow the two of you to leave in this storm. I know how it looks, but I’m serious. You’d be a pair of Bird-cicles by the morning.” I glared at Penumbra. One one claw, she was right. The storms here got pretty bad. If we left now, we could be spelling our own doom. On the other claw, she’s been here, alone, for so long. What if she’s insane and attacks us in our sleep? “I’ll play your little game, Haze,” I said, taking a step forward and leveling a threatening glare at her. “But if you try anything funny, I won’t hesitate to end you.” “Assuming you even COULD end me...” Penumbra chuckled, pushing past me and exiting the room. “I’ll show you to your quarters.” I followed, begrudgingly, and Lightning brought up the rear. As I looked around the stable, I felt the narrowness of the cold, grey, metal walls. The sickly fluorescent lighting that didn’t allow for much shadow. Soon, Penumbra stopped and turned to face me. “You two can use these rooms. Each of them have a bed, a table, a terminal, and a shower. The shower may or may not work. Depends on how the generators are feeling today. Enjoy.” She said. And with that, she made her way back the way we came. As she left, I turned to Lightning, who was watching her leave. “She’s got a nice flank.” Lightning said simply. “Wait, what? You’re into mares?” I chuckled. “No. Just saying. If I were a colt... Damn.” Lightning said with a laugh, entering her room as I entered mine. I pulled off my cloak and draped it over one of the seats, taking my armor and setting it on a dresser at the foot of the bed. I stretched now that I was free of that armor, and felt the bones in my spine popping. I looked around the room for a bit, my eyes laying on the terminal. As I made my way over to it, I noticed the screen was letting off its sickly green light. I pressed a few keys on it, bringing up some information about the Stable. Stable-Tec Emergency Response Stables Stable 23: Overheated Experiment. The Heaters in this stable are set to work at 200% efficiency, keeping the Stable at 100 degrees at all times. This is to test the effect of a scorched earth scenario. Because the Frozen Wastes have become a perpetually cold area, the Stables heat is counteracted, keeping the vault at a moderate temperature. S.T. I reread the information once again and chuckled. Must’ve been quite the place to live before the bombs fell... I exited that, spotting a few journal entries, but ignored them for now. I made my way toward the small room with the shower, and turned the knob. After a few moments, warm water started to sprinkle from the shower head, slowly picking up pressure. I washed the sweat and dirt from the day off, shaking dry once I was finished, and returning to my room, where Lightning was sitting. I cleared the water from my feathers carefully as I looked at her. “Somethings up.” She said, looking at me. “Besides you preening your feathers.” “Shut up... My feathers are none of your business.” I muttered. “What do you mean somethings up?” I asked. “I was looking at the terminal. There’s a log about a Stable Experiment, and some journal entries. But all of that was written AFTER the Stable was opened. Why would they have even tried to leave if their supplies were adequate, and they didn’t know what was out there. And All of them? I don’t think they all left.” Lightning said. “So, I’m claustrophobic, and you’re paranoid. Good to know... If they were still here, we’d see them. Or at least, their bodies if they died here...” I said, giving my wings a couple of quick flaps to get the last little bits of water off of them. Chapter 2: Move“And so the paradise that the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow and hard feelings. Instead of beautiful, it was blizzardy! Instead of wonderful, it was wintery! Instead of spactactular, it was SNOW-tacular! Instead of... “ “WE GET IT! MOVE ON!” I awoke to Penumbra nudging my side, with a raised eyebrow. “The hell do you want?” I asked, looking at her from the comfort of the Stable-Tec approved bed. “You’ve been asleep for 12 hours... Just making sure you weren’t caught by another shadow.” She muttered, turning and heading for the exit. “The snow is gone, you can leave too, if you wish.” “Yeah, it’d be for the best.” I said, hopping up and packing my gear. I put the cloak on and cinched my bag. As I exited the room, I bumped into Lightning, who still looked tired. “You alright?” “Yeah... Slept too long I think. Just woke up when Penumbra came in and woke me up.” Lightning muttered, stretching her wings out with a yawn. “Same here... The beds are pretty comfortable, eh?” Lightning shrugged as we made our way toward the Exit. “So, we’re leaving Penumbra here again, right?” I nodded as we made our way past the large gear shaped door. “Good luck finding your sister, Lightning.” Penumbra called from the control panel in the vault. “And we’ll be seeing each other again soon... Angel.” I glared back at Penumbra in time to see her smile, and hear the alarm of the door starting to close. I sprinted back and made it just as the door slid shut. I clawed at the closed door, feeling a rage bubble up in me. “Something wrong?” Lightning asked. “That name... Reminds me of my mother. It’s not important. Let’s move on.” I said with a sigh, exiting the cave. “It didn’t seem like something that was unimportant... are you su-” “I said it’s not important.” I snapped, looking out over the blank white canvas that was the frozen wastes. “Finding tracks from before just became impossible. If we’re lucky, we can find fresh tracks.” Lightning nodded as we took to the air. It was a quiet couple hours. No words were exchanged. No tracks were found. No sign of life. Until finally, I looked over my shoulder and saw Lightning diving for the ground. “Lightning?” She didn’t answer. I spun, diving after her, and landing right next to her. “What’d you see?” “Look.” She said, gesturing to the ground in front of us. I noticed an orange glow radiating under the ice. “Light!” She said excitedly, kicking at the ice. It didn’t seem to be doing much to crack the thick layer, though. “Back up.” I said, pulling my shotgun from my side and placing the barrel near the ice, keeping it at an angle the pellets would ricochet away from us. I pulled the trigger on the shotgun, firing a blast at the ice. It dug pretty well in, and I took a second shot, a bit farther. Lightning rushed up, stamping at the now weakened ice, finally cracking through enough that a large chunk fell into the cavern. I caught her as she almost fell in. “See anything?” “There’s a tunnel down here. And a small Campfire.” She wriggled from my grasp and flew down to the bottom of the cavern. I followed closely after and she searched around, looking for any sign of her sister. As I looked around, I noticed that the cavern looked like it was dug out by something. I came across something that deserved my attention. “Uh... Lightning. Is your sister a Grey Pegasus like you?” “Yeah, why?” “You may want to see this.” I said softly. As she came up to me, she gasped in surprise. A small pool of blood and some stray feathers were scattered about one corner of the cavern. I looked a little closer and noticed some round holes in the ice. “Some shots were fired... 9 or 10 millimeter. Looks like one of them clipped her wing?” “We have to find her!” Lightning shouted and rushed toward the cave. “Lightning, wait!” I called, following after her and catching her just before she moved in. “Wait. This cave was dug out by someone, or something.” “I don’t care. I need to find her!” She squirmed from my grasp once again and sprinted into the cave. I grumbled and kept pace, ready to shoot if something jumped out at us. “Wait! I hear talking!” Lightning said as we made our way through the darkness. I kept pace with her, my eyes adjusting to the darkness pretty quickly. I grabbed Lightning before she ran into the next open cavern. “You again? I thought I dealt with you when you jumped me earlier.” A Colts voice “Jumped you? YOU shot ME!” The other voice said, sounding frighteningly similar to Lightnings. “What are you doing down-” A gunshot rang out and the voice was cut short. Lightning pushed out of my grasp in time to see her sister hit the ground, a large hole blown through her head. I pulled my shotgun and fired at the Colt in the room, but he took off down a path dug out of the ice. As I gave chase, I came into another open room, the sound of Lightnings crying fading behind me. “So, you want me dead, yes?” The colts voice echoed throughout the cavern. “I’m sorry, but that isn’t happening today.” I shot at his shape, merely scarring the ice that was reflecting his image. Several other images appeared around me, and he grinned. “Like I said. Not happening.” “Why’d you kill her?” I demanded, looking between each silhouette, trying to figure out which one was real. “She got too close to finding what I’m looking for. You’re still quite behind. Maybe you need a bit of catching up?” “Why, so you can kill me too?” “Nownow, Angel. I wouldn’t do that. That would reunite you with Felix, wouldn’t it?” He asked, a smirk on his face. “How do you...” I paused, realizing he’s just playing mind games. “I was hired to escort Lightning through the wastes to find her sister. I’m sure she’ll hire me to help kill you. You can run, you can hide, but I will find you.” “That’s what your brother said, before he ran into me. I showed him who’s better right then. You see, Me killing little Thunder out there... That was unfortunate. I don’t like firing my weapon.” He said, levitating the pistol up. “It’s so... Barbaric.” As he put it away, all of the silhouettes looked directly at me. “It had to be done. You know a thing or two about that, don’t you? I mean... The shotgun you hold so dear was the one your mother gave you? Oh so proud of her little fledgeling taking up her mantle as the Talon known as Blackfeather?” “You know more about taking a life than most of the scum in this wasteland. From Raiders, to Slavers, to Children.” He smirked once again. “I don’t kill children.” I snapped, glaring at his reflection. “What about the little fiasco in Pyrite?” He asked with a chuckle. “The town of slavers that was mining metal to manufacture weapons?” “That... That was a misunderstanding... I...” “Killed everyone there. All innocent, hard working ponies. Stallions. Mares. Fillies and Colts. And you accepted the money for the payment and went about your day.” “No... It’s not like that.” “Isn’t it?” He asked, chuckling as his reflections faded. “Gwyn? Are you... Are you in here?” Lightning asked, walking into the room, tears streaking her eyes. I dropped against a wall, shaking my head. “Are you alright?” “I knew Pyrite would come back and haunt me...” “What do you mean?” She asked, sniffling. “When I was just starting out, it didn’t matter what job I got, I took them all. Eventually, the blood started catching up with me, and the memories kept me up at night. He’s right... Children died by my hand that day. And plenty before that. No more, though... I left that behind me.” I said, shaking my head. I felt a hoof on my back, between my wings. “We’ve all made mistakes... Mine includes getting my sister involved in this stupid expedition... If I hadn’t coaxed her into coming here, she’d still be alive.” I looked over to Lightning, pushing her hoof away. “We’ve both made mistakes. Mine includes not saving your sister faster. Another name on the list of deaths that are my fault... Let’s get her out of here and at least give her a proper burial back in Symbia...” Lightning nodded as the two of us made our way back to Thunders body. I hoisted her up onto my back, as we made our way solemnly back the way we came. The flight back was long and uneventful. And soon we had a hole dug for Thunder, and Lightning said a few words. As she spoke to her sister, I moved away, toward another grave nearby. “Well, Felix... Another day, another job... another death. If any more lives are ended under my watch, it’ll be time for me to hang up the mantle, find a Mate, and pass the legacy on.” I waited a few moments, allowing Felix to reply. “I’m sorry, too... I’m still looking for the one that killed you. Once I find them, You’ll be avenged.” I looked over toward Lightning, who was watching me with a raised eyebrow. “Thunder will be joining you in the afterlife... Take good care of her. For me.” I placed a claw on the center of the grave. “Good bye, Felix... Rest well.” “Well... I guess the job is over....” She muttered, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small sack of Caps, and handing it toward me. “The job was to save your sister from the wastes. I failed.” I muttered, looking at the bag. “Keep your money... “ She looked at me for a few moments, putting the caps away. “What do we do now?” “Now? I wait for the next job to blow through. And you do whatever you want.” I said coldly. It seemed harsh, but that was the way of the Mercenary. Don’t make friends, and you won’t lose anyone you care about. “Well.. I want to find that colt and make him pay for what he did to Thunder.” Lightning said, smiling at me past her sorrow. “Know of anyone that can take that kind of job?” I looked back at her. ‘You’re brother said the same thing before he ran into me.’ The Colts words echoed in my head. Images of finding Felix flooded my mind. The bullet holes were the same as the one that killed Thunder. I looked toward Lightning with a fire in my eyes. “Let’s find that son of a bitch and bring him down.” I growled. Lightning nodded. “But first, we need a plan, and help.” I said, making my way toward the bar. Footnote: Level Up New Perk Gained -- Friend of Night: Griffins have sharp eyesight. Their eyes adapt quickly to lower light conditions. Looks like someone’s up for a night hunt.
IntroductionIntroduction War... War never changes. 10 years ago, a young mare, fresh out of Her Stable found that out. Shot up by raiders, attacked by mutated beasts, irradiated to no end... But she fought through it all, ridding the wasteland of evil, and ultimately saving everypony. She founded the New Canterlot Republic with the help of the Talon Gawdina Grimfeather. Growing up hearing stories of Griffins like Gawdina really spoke to me. Mercenaries do what they want, when they want, and no one stands in their way. Now that I’ve left my home and took up the mantle of Talon, equipped with my mothers armor from her time as a Talon and her shotgun, I realize that the life as a mercenary isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When you can get jobs, things are great and the money is decent. But as soon as the jobs stop, so does the money and your fun. After the war, there were a lot of Ponies that fled to Symbia to avoid the ever growing war. Soon, it had a front-row seat to watch the clouds as the megaspells went off. Unfortunately for the Symbians, though, Megaspells went astray, and landed in Symbia. When the Gardens of Equestria spell went off, parts of Symbia were caught in the edge of its influence, but most of the north of Symbia is still heavily irradiated, and avoided by almost everyone. To the West lies the Crystal Empire. Once the great nation belonging to the Crystal Ponies, now an area that’s in a perpetual nuclear winter. Now, I’m sitting in the corner of a bar, holding a cold glass of Applejack Daniels to the side of my head. A couple patrons started getting restless, and I got caught in a fight trying to break it up. I’m now plagued with embarrassment as a lucky Buck caught me in the side of the head, knocking me out cold. “How’s your head?” The bartender asked, sliding me another glass. “Looked like one hell of a kick.” “It wasn’t all that bad... The surprise is what got me. The pain is minimal.” I muttered, taking the new glass and drawing a long slow drink from it. “The alcohol helps, too.” I said with a chuckle. “I guess a mercenary should be able to shrug off the small stuff, right?” The bartender asked. I nodded slightly. “Wait,you’re a mercenary?” A small voice cut in. “I’m looking for some help.” I turned and saw a small pegasus mare. “What’s the job, and how much are you payin?” I asked, looking her over. She had a light grey coat, and light blue hair. I noticed the lightning bolt on her flank, and shrugged. Weather-like cutie marks were common for Pegasi. “I’m looking for my sister. We got separated while flying out west.” She muttered. “I can pay you a thousand caps.” “Out west? In the Frozen Wastes?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Y-Yes...” She muttered, lowering her head slightly. “We were looking for some sort of sign of civilization from before the war. Hoping to make some money.” “And instead, you lost your sister. Look... I’ll take the job, but I’m going to level with you. If she’s lost out there, she’s probably already an icicle by now.” “No, she’s not!” The pegasus insisted, stamping a bit. “She’s good at surviving in harsh conditions. She’s trained in that! If anyone can survive out there, it’s her. I just know how to navigate...” She muttered. “A thousand caps isn’t much, but I guess it’s more than I’ve been making lately...” I said, finishing my drink. “Looks like I’ve gotta pick up a scarf or something.” “You’ll take the job?” The pegasus asked, surprised. “Yeah... Why not. The name is Gwyn Blackfeather.” I said, reaching out a talon. “Lightning.” She replied, as I shook her hoof. “We’ll head out first thing in the morning. Get some rest. I don’t want to have to stay in one place while in the Wastes, if I can help it...”
Chapter 1: Snow“We better get moving. There are things out here we really don't want to run into after dark.” “What kind of things?” “Let's just say the empire... isn't the only thing that's returned.” “Alright. Are you ready to go?” I asked, adjusting the cloak I had on over my armor. It was somewhat lightweight, but it was enough to cut the chill of the wind. I put a cloak and goggles into my bag, just in case the wind picked up too much. “Yeah... Let’s go find Thunder!” The pegasus said excitedly and took to the air. I followed, the cloak folding along my back as I extended my wings. “We have to be careful once we get to the wastes, if the wind picks up we’ll have to land.” I said. Lightning looked back with a raised eyebrow. “The winds there pick up quick. I’m not going to fly against a snowstorm. Too dangerous.” “I thought Mercenaries were big, badass bodyguards. You’re worried about a bit of wind?” Lightning asked, as I glared at her. “Yeah. Mercenaries are pretty tough, but I’m not stupid. You’ve been to the wastes. Have you tried flying through a snowstorm?” Lightning shook her head. “But I’ve heard stories of pegasi being able to fly through tornadoes. This can’t be that bad, right?” I sighed. “Just trust me. If a storm picks up, we’re walking.” She shrugged as we reached the edge of the frozen wastes. The air wasn’t all that chilly yet, and patches of snow just started popping up. I picked up the speed a little, flying next to Lightning. “How long ago did you lose your sister?” “Last night.” Lightning said, looking around the snowy horizon for any signs of movement. “The wind hasn’t been too strong. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some tracks to lead us to her.” Lightning nodded, now keeping her eyes open for tracks as well. I saw a shadow shift out of the corner of my eye, and turned to see, but there was nothing. I kept my eyes focused on the area the shadow had been, but there was nothing. I shrugged, figuring my eyes were playing tricks on me, and continued. After a couple hours of flying, we landed for a rest. I pulled a bottle of water from my pack and took a drink. The water was shockingly cold, and I recoiled from surprise. “Something wrong?” Lightning asked with a chuckle. “Colder than I expected. I didn’t think my food and drink would start frosting over already...” I muttered, putting the water back, wrapping my scarf around it to keep it from getting any colder. I saw another shadow out of the corner of my eye and turned. Lightning raised an eyebrow at my intense gaze and looked as well. “Gwyn? Something wrong?” “Thought I saw something... It’s nothing.” I assured her. “We should continue on foot for a bit. Give our wings a rest.” Lightning nodded, and we marched on. “Why is there so much snow? I mean, Symbia was rather warm. Why is it such a drastic change so close?” “The Megaspells. One of the experimental ones meant to change the weather. They shipped it here, and it caused a heavy snowfall that didn’t relent for quite a long time. Soon, most of the snow cleared, leaving this solid sheet.” I said, knocking on the ground for emphasis. “It’s about thirty feet thick from what I understand.” “Why would they deliver a megaspell way out here?” “You were hunting for treasure, and you don’t know?” I asked. Lightning shook her head. “There was another part of the Equestria up here. The Crystal Empire. The details are a little fuzzy in my mind, but from what I can recall, it was full of Crystal Ponies, and powered by a magical relic known as the Crystal Heart.” “That must be what Thunder was talking about...” She muttered. “I just thought this was part of Symbia before the war.” Lightning said. “Nope. Symbia has always been a small slice of paradise.” I said with a grin, turning toward another shadow. This one not vanishing when I saw it. “Lightning, are you seeing what I’m-” I was cut off by the shadow washing over us. ~O~O~O~O~O~O~ I woke up in a small room of a run down building. “Lightning?” I called out, but there was nothing. I stood up shakily and went outside, seeing my mother serving drinks at the bar I frequent. “Mom? What are you doing here? What am I doing back here for that matter...” “Yes. What ARE you doing here?” She snapped at me with a glare. “I thought I told you to NEVER come back.” “Wait... What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” “You’re the reason your brother is dead. I told you to get OUT. You don’t deserve to be called a Talon. In fact, they’ve got you blacklisted. No one is going to ask for help from the Red Feather.” “Red Feather?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “Yes. The Red Feather. So many people die under your protection, you’ve gained a reputation. Now GET OUT.” She shouted, reaching across the bar and grabbing the back of my neck, throwing me toward the door. I heard one patron muttering near the door. “She’s been touched by him... We need to...” And that was all I heard before I exited. Symbia seemed a bit darker as I tried to sort through what just happened. “How... What do I do now?” “What’s wrong, young griffin? Everything sounding like a nightmare?” A gravelly voice asked with a chuckle. “Why don’t you just end it here. You have nothing left to live for.” “Griffins never quit. I’m not going to quit.” “Your brother is dead. You’re blacklisted. You are the reason so many die. You don’t deserve to continue on, and you know it.” I looked toward the voice, but the figure faded before I could see it. I looked down at my claws and sighed. “Maybe he’s right. I’ve lost everything...” “Do it. End the suffering. Rejoin your brother and apologize. Or maybe you can just become a raider. Destroy more lives.” I brought the claws up, but they caught on something. I looked down and there was nothing. After a few moments, a sharp pain radiated in the side of my head, and my vision blurred. For a brief moment I saw Lightning standing in a small room. “Gwyn?” She asked, but faded from sight once again. “No... Just DO IT!” The voice shouted angrily. ~O~O~O~O~O~O~ Another pain and the vision of Lightning came back. This time it persisted. “Are you okay?” Lightning asked, hitting the side of my head once more. I pushed her back and stood up. “What happened?” I asked, holding my head. My headache was definitely back. “You got attacked by a shadow, and it tried to make you kill yourself.” Lightning said with a nod. “It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s the basic jist of it. There’s still a lot of influence out there from before the war. The shadows are those remnants. Before the war, an evil Unicorn named Sombra tried to take the Crystal Empire back, and was defeated, but not fully. He’s slowly gaining back strength by causing loathing in anyone wandering through the wastes.” “I see... And you are?” I asked, looking toward the dark blue unicorn who explained everything. Dark grey mane and no cutie mark? That’s unusual. “Penumbral Haze, you can call me Penumbra. I found the two of you out there, tears all but frozen to your faces. So, I brought you here to try to snap you out.” “And where is here?” “Stable 23. Built here for the Crystal Ponies before the war. Stable-tec decided they needed to expand to other parts of equestria. Without this Stable, I wouldn’t be here today.” “You’re from this stable?” Penumbra nodded. “I don’t remember seeing any Stable entrance when I was here before.” Lightning said. “It’s in a cave that’s almost hidden because of a layer of ice. You’re not going to find it too easily.” “Is anyone else still here?” I asked, grabbing my gear and putting it on. “Nawh. The inhabitants left quite a while back. I left for a while, but came back. The food stores are still adequate. And the Shadows don’t seem to come in here.” Penumbra turned and looked at me. “You’re not leaving now.” She said. “What? Why’s that?” I asked, ready to grab my shotgun in case things were going south. “There’s a bad storm going on out there. And it’s pretty dark. You’re welcome to take a bed in the sleeping quarters and rest for the night. “I don’t do too well in confined spaces for too long... No room to stretch my wings, you know?” I said, looking toward Lightning. “Besides, we’ve gotta find her sister before this shadow gets to her, too...” I muttered. Lightning nodded. “We have to find her before it’s too late!” As Lightning moved toward the exit, she bumped into an invisible wall. “What the?” “I’m sorry, but I can’t, in good conscience, allow the two of you to leave in this storm. I know how it looks, but I’m serious. You’d be a pair of Bird-cicles by the morning.” I glared at Penumbra. One one claw, she was right. The storms here got pretty bad. If we left now, we could be spelling our own doom. On the other claw, she’s been here, alone, for so long. What if she’s insane and attacks us in our sleep? “I’ll play your little game, Haze,” I said, taking a step forward and leveling a threatening glare at her. “But if you try anything funny, I won’t hesitate to end you.” “Assuming you even COULD end me...” Penumbra chuckled, pushing past me and exiting the room. “I’ll show you to your quarters.” I followed, begrudgingly, and Lightning brought up the rear. As I looked around the stable, I felt the narrowness of the cold, grey, metal walls. The sickly fluorescent lighting that didn’t allow for much shadow. Soon, Penumbra stopped and turned to face me. “You two can use these rooms. Each of them have a bed, a table, a terminal, and a shower. The shower may or may not work. Depends on how the generators are feeling today. Enjoy.” She said. And with that, she made her way back the way we came. As she left, I turned to Lightning, who was watching her leave. “She’s got a nice flank.” Lightning said simply. “Wait, what? You’re into mares?” I chuckled. “No. Just saying. If I were a colt... Damn.” Lightning said with a laugh, entering her room as I entered mine. I pulled off my cloak and draped it over one of the seats, taking my armor and setting it on a dresser at the foot of the bed. I stretched now that I was free of that armor, and felt the bones in my spine popping. I looked around the room for a bit, my eyes laying on the terminal. As I made my way over to it, I noticed the screen was letting off its sickly green light. I pressed a few keys on it, bringing up some information about the Stable. Stable-Tec Emergency Response Stables Stable 23: Overheated Experiment. The Heaters in this stable are set to work at 200% efficiency, keeping the Stable at 100 degrees at all times. This is to test the effect of a scorched earth scenario. Because the Frozen Wastes have become a perpetually cold area, the Stables heat is counteracted, keeping the vault at a moderate temperature. S.T. I reread the information once again and chuckled. Must’ve been quite the place to live before the bombs fell... I exited that, spotting a few journal entries, but ignored them for now. I made my way toward the small room with the shower, and turned the knob. After a few moments, warm water started to sprinkle from the shower head, slowly picking up pressure. I washed the sweat and dirt from the day off, shaking dry once I was finished, and returning to my room, where Lightning was sitting. I cleared the water from my feathers carefully as I looked at her. “Somethings up.” She said, looking at me. “Besides you preening your feathers.” “Shut up... My feathers are none of your business.” I muttered. “What do you mean somethings up?” I asked. “I was looking at the terminal. There’s a log about a Stable Experiment, and some journal entries. But all of that was written AFTER the Stable was opened. Why would they have even tried to leave if their supplies were adequate, and they didn’t know what was out there. And All of them? I don’t think they all left.” Lightning said. “So, I’m claustrophobic, and you’re paranoid. Good to know... If they were still here, we’d see them. Or at least, their bodies if they died here...” I said, giving my wings a couple of quick flaps to get the last little bits of water off of them.
Chapter 2: Move“And so the paradise that the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow and hard feelings. Instead of beautiful, it was blizzardy! Instead of wonderful, it was wintery! Instead of spactactular, it was SNOW-tacular! Instead of... “ “WE GET IT! MOVE ON!” I awoke to Penumbra nudging my side, with a raised eyebrow. “The hell do you want?” I asked, looking at her from the comfort of the Stable-Tec approved bed. “You’ve been asleep for 12 hours... Just making sure you weren’t caught by another shadow.” She muttered, turning and heading for the exit. “The snow is gone, you can leave too, if you wish.” “Yeah, it’d be for the best.” I said, hopping up and packing my gear. I put the cloak on and cinched my bag. As I exited the room, I bumped into Lightning, who still looked tired. “You alright?” “Yeah... Slept too long I think. Just woke up when Penumbra came in and woke me up.” Lightning muttered, stretching her wings out with a yawn. “Same here... The beds are pretty comfortable, eh?” Lightning shrugged as we made our way toward the Exit. “So, we’re leaving Penumbra here again, right?” I nodded as we made our way past the large gear shaped door. “Good luck finding your sister, Lightning.” Penumbra called from the control panel in the vault. “And we’ll be seeing each other again soon... Angel.” I glared back at Penumbra in time to see her smile, and hear the alarm of the door starting to close. I sprinted back and made it just as the door slid shut. I clawed at the closed door, feeling a rage bubble up in me. “Something wrong?” Lightning asked. “That name... Reminds me of my mother. It’s not important. Let’s move on.” I said with a sigh, exiting the cave. “It didn’t seem like something that was unimportant... are you su-” “I said it’s not important.” I snapped, looking out over the blank white canvas that was the frozen wastes. “Finding tracks from before just became impossible. If we’re lucky, we can find fresh tracks.” Lightning nodded as we took to the air. It was a quiet couple hours. No words were exchanged. No tracks were found. No sign of life. Until finally, I looked over my shoulder and saw Lightning diving for the ground. “Lightning?” She didn’t answer. I spun, diving after her, and landing right next to her. “What’d you see?” “Look.” She said, gesturing to the ground in front of us. I noticed an orange glow radiating under the ice. “Light!” She said excitedly, kicking at the ice. It didn’t seem to be doing much to crack the thick layer, though. “Back up.” I said, pulling my shotgun from my side and placing the barrel near the ice, keeping it at an angle the pellets would ricochet away from us. I pulled the trigger on the shotgun, firing a blast at the ice. It dug pretty well in, and I took a second shot, a bit farther. Lightning rushed up, stamping at the now weakened ice, finally cracking through enough that a large chunk fell into the cavern. I caught her as she almost fell in. “See anything?” “There’s a tunnel down here. And a small Campfire.” She wriggled from my grasp and flew down to the bottom of the cavern. I followed closely after and she searched around, looking for any sign of her sister. As I looked around, I noticed that the cavern looked like it was dug out by something. I came across something that deserved my attention. “Uh... Lightning. Is your sister a Grey Pegasus like you?” “Yeah, why?” “You may want to see this.” I said softly. As she came up to me, she gasped in surprise. A small pool of blood and some stray feathers were scattered about one corner of the cavern. I looked a little closer and noticed some round holes in the ice. “Some shots were fired... 9 or 10 millimeter. Looks like one of them clipped her wing?” “We have to find her!” Lightning shouted and rushed toward the cave. “Lightning, wait!” I called, following after her and catching her just before she moved in. “Wait. This cave was dug out by someone, or something.” “I don’t care. I need to find her!” She squirmed from my grasp once again and sprinted into the cave. I grumbled and kept pace, ready to shoot if something jumped out at us. “Wait! I hear talking!” Lightning said as we made our way through the darkness. I kept pace with her, my eyes adjusting to the darkness pretty quickly. I grabbed Lightning before she ran into the next open cavern. “You again? I thought I dealt with you when you jumped me earlier.” A Colts voice “Jumped you? YOU shot ME!” The other voice said, sounding frighteningly similar to Lightnings. “What are you doing down-” A gunshot rang out and the voice was cut short. Lightning pushed out of my grasp in time to see her sister hit the ground, a large hole blown through her head. I pulled my shotgun and fired at the Colt in the room, but he took off down a path dug out of the ice. As I gave chase, I came into another open room, the sound of Lightnings crying fading behind me. “So, you want me dead, yes?” The colts voice echoed throughout the cavern. “I’m sorry, but that isn’t happening today.” I shot at his shape, merely scarring the ice that was reflecting his image. Several other images appeared around me, and he grinned. “Like I said. Not happening.” “Why’d you kill her?” I demanded, looking between each silhouette, trying to figure out which one was real. “She got too close to finding what I’m looking for. You’re still quite behind. Maybe you need a bit of catching up?” “Why, so you can kill me too?” “Nownow, Angel. I wouldn’t do that. That would reunite you with Felix, wouldn’t it?” He asked, a smirk on his face. “How do you...” I paused, realizing he’s just playing mind games. “I was hired to escort Lightning through the wastes to find her sister. I’m sure she’ll hire me to help kill you. You can run, you can hide, but I will find you.” “That’s what your brother said, before he ran into me. I showed him who’s better right then. You see, Me killing little Thunder out there... That was unfortunate. I don’t like firing my weapon.” He said, levitating the pistol up. “It’s so... Barbaric.” As he put it away, all of the silhouettes looked directly at me. “It had to be done. You know a thing or two about that, don’t you? I mean... The shotgun you hold so dear was the one your mother gave you? Oh so proud of her little fledgeling taking up her mantle as the Talon known as Blackfeather?” “You know more about taking a life than most of the scum in this wasteland. From Raiders, to Slavers, to Children.” He smirked once again. “I don’t kill children.” I snapped, glaring at his reflection. “What about the little fiasco in Pyrite?” He asked with a chuckle. “The town of slavers that was mining metal to manufacture weapons?” “That... That was a misunderstanding... I...” “Killed everyone there. All innocent, hard working ponies. Stallions. Mares. Fillies and Colts. And you accepted the money for the payment and went about your day.” “No... It’s not like that.” “Isn’t it?” He asked, chuckling as his reflections faded. “Gwyn? Are you... Are you in here?” Lightning asked, walking into the room, tears streaking her eyes. I dropped against a wall, shaking my head. “Are you alright?” “I knew Pyrite would come back and haunt me...” “What do you mean?” She asked, sniffling. “When I was just starting out, it didn’t matter what job I got, I took them all. Eventually, the blood started catching up with me, and the memories kept me up at night. He’s right... Children died by my hand that day. And plenty before that. No more, though... I left that behind me.” I said, shaking my head. I felt a hoof on my back, between my wings. “We’ve all made mistakes... Mine includes getting my sister involved in this stupid expedition... If I hadn’t coaxed her into coming here, she’d still be alive.” I looked over to Lightning, pushing her hoof away. “We’ve both made mistakes. Mine includes not saving your sister faster. Another name on the list of deaths that are my fault... Let’s get her out of here and at least give her a proper burial back in Symbia...” Lightning nodded as the two of us made our way back to Thunders body. I hoisted her up onto my back, as we made our way solemnly back the way we came. The flight back was long and uneventful. And soon we had a hole dug for Thunder, and Lightning said a few words. As she spoke to her sister, I moved away, toward another grave nearby. “Well, Felix... Another day, another job... another death. If any more lives are ended under my watch, it’ll be time for me to hang up the mantle, find a Mate, and pass the legacy on.” I waited a few moments, allowing Felix to reply. “I’m sorry, too... I’m still looking for the one that killed you. Once I find them, You’ll be avenged.” I looked over toward Lightning, who was watching me with a raised eyebrow. “Thunder will be joining you in the afterlife... Take good care of her. For me.” I placed a claw on the center of the grave. “Good bye, Felix... Rest well.” “Well... I guess the job is over....” She muttered, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small sack of Caps, and handing it toward me. “The job was to save your sister from the wastes. I failed.” I muttered, looking at the bag. “Keep your money... “ She looked at me for a few moments, putting the caps away. “What do we do now?” “Now? I wait for the next job to blow through. And you do whatever you want.” I said coldly. It seemed harsh, but that was the way of the Mercenary. Don’t make friends, and you won’t lose anyone you care about. “Well.. I want to find that colt and make him pay for what he did to Thunder.” Lightning said, smiling at me past her sorrow. “Know of anyone that can take that kind of job?” I looked back at her. ‘You’re brother said the same thing before he ran into me.’ The Colts words echoed in my head. Images of finding Felix flooded my mind. The bullet holes were the same as the one that killed Thunder. I looked toward Lightning with a fire in my eyes. “Let’s find that son of a bitch and bring him down.” I growled. Lightning nodded. “But first, we need a plan, and help.” I said, making my way toward the bar. Footnote: Level Up New Perk Gained -- Friend of Night: Griffins have sharp eyesight. Their eyes adapt quickly to lower light conditions. Looks like someone’s up for a night hunt.
