Fallout Equestria: Angels Feather

“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.