Fallout: the Return

Chapter 12: Ghouls

Leo and Rattles. Like two peas in a pod, somehow, they just meshed together perfectly for each other. It had to be my ability to understand animals passing down to him. But it was more than that, animals aren’t always friendly, even when I speak with them.

Especially the beavers.

It might be the fact that they are the animal kingdom’s version of construction workers, or it might be that I offend them every time I near them, but they can come up with some mean, mean words.“Stop it, Mr. Rattles,” Leo said, laughing and bringing me out of my thoughts as Rattles tugged on his tail like a playful puppy as we walked. Rattles didn’t listen, and continued tugging on my son’s long brown and pink colored tail. I could barely see the two’s forms in what little light Luna’s moon provided for us.That was something odd about the human world, the moon changed just a little every night… though I didn’t get to see it much before Jason freed me from Orion.Rattles suddenly stopped and let go of Leo, making my son fall forward. Sniffed the air Rattles let out a whimper.“What is it boy,” I asked. Although I was not fully able to communicate with Rattles yet, I hoped it got the point across.“Aroo,” Rattles whimpered, slow, almost fearfully. I felt a chill of my spine as Rattles crouched low, his ears twitching to a sound I couldn’t hear. If a ferocious Nightstalker like Rattles was jumpy-“Mommy, what’s a-” Leo tried to ask before Rattles was tackled, making him shriek in horror as a giant blue bug with big orange and black wings leapt upon the Nightstalker. Its beady red eyes full of an almost tangible malice.I reacted on pure instinct; a primal, animalistic urge to protect my son casting everything but the feeling of adrenalin coursing through me to the very innermost depths of my mind. Spreading my wings, I let out a powerful flap. I had little to no time to think as I propelled forward, letting out a fierce battle cry.Using my shoulder I scored a direct impact against its chitinous form, tackling the giant bug as it wrestled with Rattles. I stood on the massive bug’s thorax as my hooves instinctively found a thrashing, screeching head made of shell. Grabbed it, I twisted until there was a loud snap, like that of a dry twig mixed with a pulpy, wet sound.Quickly the bug fell limp under me, curling up slowly as it died.I felt an flaring pain spread from my hips to everywhere else. A raging inferno of pain, one that I hadn’t felt before. My vision suddenly blurred I felt my stomach twist around in nauseousness, my legs began to wobble.“Fluttershy!” “Mommy!” Jason and Leo yelled as I fell off the bug, landing on the cold hard dirt with a heavy thud. I could see blood gushing from a large gash on my inner thigh. The stinger of the bug, no doubt, covered in my blood.My stomach lurched and my vision blurred again, the fiery pain subsiding to a cool numbness.I barely registered my son crying as he wrapped his forelegs around my neck, Jason at my side.Everything felt numb from my hooves to my mane. I was tired, and I let the world just simply slip away.

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Jason could only stare as Fluttershy closed her eyes, succoming to the Cazadores sting. He should have done something, reacted faster, saved her life.But he couldn’t. He didn’t.Fluttershy’s lips let pass a simple two weak words, slurred as if she were drunk. “Save... Leo.”Looking frantically towards his son, still hugging to his mother’s neck, Jason knew he needed to tear himself away from his beloved wife and get help. There was still time, still a way to save her, he just knew it.Jason’s eyes filled with heartbroken tears as he made decision, “Rattles, stay with her,” He choked out, sobbing, and praying that the Nightstalker stayed with his wife to watch over her.Grabbing Leo with his forehooves, Jason threw Leo across his back, tearing the child away from Fluttershy as he ran towards town. Her head rose then fell limp after leaving Leo’s grasp. All the while Leo was screaming in horror, holding firmly onto Daddy’s neck as he ran away from Mommy who wouldn’t get up, no matter how much he pleaded to her.Running for a solid two minutes, Jason gasped in shock as he skidded to a halt, his horror and confusion only growing.“No…” Jason whispered as what appeared to be dozens of blue orbs forming a meter off the ground close to town. Each one bringing with them horrors beyond belief for the residents of Ponyville.Gunshots began to ring out in the town itself as the ponies there let out an almost unison scream of terror.

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Ulysses stopped suddenly, his new zebra ear twitching as he heard a familiar sound carried in the wind. Panicked screaming, followed by a gunshot or two. He was unarmed and clothless, but held no embarrassment in his new form.“Applejack,” he said - having learning most of the townsponies names from Pinkie Pie earlier - to the mare that was keeping a close eye on him.“I heard screamin’,” Applejack replied, shifting nervously as she worried for Tigris, who, was sleeping quite peacefully on her back. Unaware of the growing danger.“Take your daughter and go,” Ulysses ordered with stern monotone, “I’ll make my way back. Help anyway I can.”Applejack wanted to hesitate, but the sound of more gunshots and Ulysses’ honest words spurred her to drop Ulysses saddlebags and run away with Tigris, leaving Ulysses behind.Walking over to his discarded saddlebags, Ulysses opened up one of the pouches. Inside the cloth was his 12.7mm SMG, and a black respirator made to fit his now equine shape.Using the magic his hooves possessed to grab the respirator as if he still had hands, Ulysses placed the respirator over his muzzle, smelling the scent of the Divide permanently fused into the rubber.Looking at his SMG, Ulysses thought solemly, ‘If I die, let my sacrifice save one life, even though it won’t pay for those I’ve taken.’Scooping up his saddlebags with a hoof, Ulysses placed the bags over his back, clipping a few straps together under his barrel. Reaching for his SMG, ulysses made sure to secure the weapon in its holster as he ran towards town.This place, this world, so full of life and hope. He’d sooner let himself be damned then stand idly by and let it turn into another Divide or Dry Wells. One that he would have helped create by inaction, not Courier 6 or Vulpes.Following the dirt road illuminated clearly in the moonlight, Ulysses was stumbling as he tried to run for the first time as an Equine, but determination to save the town carried him on. He had to prove himself to the others, had to prove himself to himself. If he could prove his worth, a small part of him felt like he could plant his flag down once more. He wouldn’t fail this town as he had the Divide.Off in the distance, he already saw one opponent. A lone Nightstalker standing over the corpse of a pony… Fluttershy if he remembered correctly. A light yellow coat barely illuminated in the moonlight, and glistening pink hair that seemed to shimmer.However, something was off about the Nightstalker. It was just sitting there, ears folded down like a scolded dog. There was even a collar around it’s neck.So that’s Mr. Rattles, Ulysses thought, remembering Pinkie Pies energetic introduction.Seeing that she was hurt, Ulysses ran forward, the Nightstalker growling at his approach but relenting and whimpering, nuzzling the mare on the ground.Ulysses remembered she had a foal, mostly because he was the reason the party dedicated to the child was ruined. Leo, he remembered was the name of the child, his father Jason was a former Legionnaire. It gave Ulysses hope he could restart, again, and possibly find happiness.But those thoughts would come later, now, he was focused on the barely breathing mare. Her chest was rising and falling so slow, one could mistake the mare as being dead already. It didn’t take long to see the corpse of the Cazadore and guess what had transpired.Reaching into his saddlebags, Ulysses brought out a green colored bottle. It was potent anti-venom. Carrying several doses of the potential life savers became habitual from his time as a Frementari on long and dangerous missions.Uncorking the bottle with his teeth, Ulysses pressed the bottle to the mares lips as he forced her jaw to open, pouring the ichor down. It didn’t matter if the fluid went the wrong way and she drowned, she would be dead soon anyways. Especially with the size difference of humans and ponies, letting the poison work faster on the smaller equines than large humans.With the bottle drained, Ulysses waited until the mare sputtered out a cough.

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My head… sweet merciful Celestia my head! I screamed in thought, groaning and thrashing stiffened muscles. I registered something foul tasting like rotten vegetables on my tongue, but my head hurt to much to care.Opening my eyes as I thrashed around on my back, I saw a zebra holding a potion bottle and stopped with a gasp, my chest heaving upwards. Looking around, I spotted the Cazadore that nearly killed me. Looking back to the zebra I quickly recognized it was Ulysses and I tried to speak, but my throat burned from whatever he forced me to drink.“Go, keep your son safe,” Ulysses ordered in the monotone he mostly used in our meetings.All he had to do was mention Leo before I was running in the direction of town. Rattles following close behind.…I, I had no words to describe the horror of seeing several buildings in Ponyville burning. The sound of gunfire now loud as the air grew thick with smoke. The moonlit night and the fires of the town helped me see my two boys close to town, just standing as Jason was frozen in horror. From where I was, I could hear the heartbreaking cries of my son over the constant screams of townsponies. Rattles overtook my pace upon hearing Leo, and I redoubled my efforts to reach them.Using my wings, I propelled myself faster than I had before, I easily passed Rattles to reach Jason and Leo, and I hugged my husband’s neck. Leo gasped, and began hugging mine. Just for a moment, a slim moment, the screams didn’t reach my ears, and I didn’t see the town in flames.“I thought I lost you,” I heard Jason mutter as his voice cracked with tears, “I tried getting help, but there was nowhere to go.”“I know,” I said, “Ulysses gave me some sort of potion.” While it helped me wake back up, I still felt the horrible pain resonating from my inner thigh, right where the stinger pierced my flesh.“You wouldn’t get up Mommy,” Leo wailed, nearly breaking my neck with the strength of his hug, “Mommy please don't go again, please don't go, please Mommy!” Leo pleaded.We all stood there, together, on the sidelines of destruction.“We need to get back home,” Jason said as Ulysses ran past us in a black and white blur. He fell behind since he couldn’t run that fast because of his unfamiliarity as an equine, and my speed to get to Jason and my son must have rivaled even that of Rainbow.Tears were streaming out my eyes as I was torn; help my friends in town, or stay with my family?I had the crushing revelation that I almost lost Leo again, this time with my own possible death. Even as I stood there, I could still feel blood leaking from my leg wound.For a mother, there was no choice, “Let’s go, I don’t want Leo witnessing this,” I said low as I chose the selfish act of abandoning my friends to protect my son.

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Celestia ducked under another throwing spear launched by one of the berserk Ghost People turned pony. The satunite knife tipped projectile impacted the wall of Sugarcube Corner with a resounding crack, and buried itself into the wooden outer wall.Pinkie was upstairs, taking potshots from Pound and Pumpkin’s window. The two eight year old twins hiding elsewhere in the house.Telekinetically ripping the spear out of the wall as hot brass from Pinkie rolled off the roof like rain, Celestia used the knife spear to cleanly decapitate the Ghost that threw it, ensuring he wouldn’t get up again, as Christine had warned.Unfortunately, when the attack started, the Ghost Pony Christine had under control went wild, having to be put down. Celestia didn’t know she had it in herself to disintegrate something with her magic, even if it was attacking her.Unluckily for it, however, it chose to attack Christine, who currently was taking refuge in the Library, as she had no weapons.“Where are they coming from!” Somepony shouted as a Ghost prepared to stab him, just in time to be saved by Twilight’s laser rifle. The powered armored alicorn flying off to fight even more abominations.Twilight was barely a half-second gone before Celestia gasped in horror as the head of the stallion Twilight had just saved explode in a shower of blood, following a loud boom that filled the air.Looking for the shooter, Celestia saw something that made her stomach lurch violently. A pony without any skin, holding a smoking anti-material rifle. She had seen them in Rarity’s dreams that Luna shared with her, but to see one in the flesh was nightmarish.A golden flash of magic, and nothing but a pile of ashes remained, tears running in streams down Celestia’s eyes and anger surged through her veins.“Target sighted, all noncombatants are adv-” the tripod mounted robotic sentry didn’t even get to finish it’s sentence before golden light touched it, disintegrating it to ashes.Screams echoed throughout Ponyville as more of the skinless ponies began to appear.Celestia’s eyes narrowed in rage as she poured magic into her next spell. The knife spear she held in her telekinesis elongated as the saturnite knife fused with the shaft and grew into an axe head. Disintegration would strain her magic after a while. Celestia knew she had to fight full-force as long as she could.

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Rarity fired another fifty-caliber AM round through the door of Carousel Boutique, blowing the Marked Man outside the door away with a new hole in it’s chest. An army was outside, and Sweetie was hiding in the storage closet with Spike. Rarity was dressed completely in her Ranger Veteran armor, and protected herself by an overturned wooden table she used to steady her rifle, as the heavy weapon put a strain on her magic.The sound of crashing glass behind her made Rarity turn to bring her rifle to bear, having to telekinetically wrestle the weapon to look behind her. That split second of delay allowed for a spear to sink into her foreleg, pinning it to the overturned table while a Ghost charged at her.She only had the length of an eyeblink to fight through the pain, levitate out her bowie knife, and slice the foreleg off the Ghost Pony bearing down on her, ensuring it wouldn’t rise again.“RARITY!” Sweetie screamed from down the hall as there was a loud bang. Rarity had been so focused on guarding the front door, she didn’t think they would come in someplace else.Sweetie Belle ran into the showroom of the boutique, a Marked Man following her with snapping jaws as it laughed, Spike following with Rarity’s Ranger Sequoia. The gun was smoking, and Spike tried to raise it to fire again.Eyes narrowing, Rarity ripped the throwing spear that was pinning her against the table out of her leg, and threw it with her magic. The spear sailed true, slamming the Marked Man in the head.Spike jumped in fright, confused at what was happening. First there was screaming, Rarity gave him a weapon, and then both he and Sweetie were hiding in a closet as Rarity told them to stay put. They were found by a Marked Man, and in the confusion of the moment, Spike shot like Rarity had instructed, but missed and Sweetie bolted.Sweetie ran over to Rarity and hugged her sister, “You’re hurt,” she whimpered.Rarity levitated the spear, “Just a scratch,” she said, unconcerned for her own safety, but rather Sweeties as she gave her frighted younger sister the spear, “Now, stay with me, that goes for you too, Spike. We need to get to the library, Twilight will know what to do, she always does.”

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Twilight didn’t know what to do. Her magical energy cells were being depleted at an astonishingly fast pace for her homemade laser rifle as she followed Celestia, and they soon would run out. Scratches and bullet dents covered her power armor, and Twilight could feel the machinery straining to stay together.All the while she struggled, Celestia, with visible ease, used her magic saturnite battle-axe to outright slaughter the hordes of foes who kept appearing out of nowhere. Heads literally rolled in the street as Twilight witnessed a sight she wished she never would see.Celestia on the warpath.A blue sphere appeared but the new arrival lost their head as soon as they appeared. Twilight had never seen Celestia so… angry. A scowl was on the Princess’ face, and tears left damp spots in Celestia’s alabaster white fur, stained with blood from the axe.Twilight had the urge to look behind her and screamed as a giant, tan-colred dragon-like creature charged at her with hoof long claws, crushing a pony with a sack hood and a hatchet under its feet.It was stopped short when another one of the creatures used its claws to attack the first, stabbing the long talons through it’s chest.Blinking as the black deathclaw stood silently for a second, Twilight had to shake her head a few times in confusion when, in a flash of green fire, Chrysalis stood before Princess Celestia and Twilight, her right hoof coated in blood up to the first set of holes in her chitin.Chrysalis looked at her bloody hoof in disgust, then to Celestia, “Can anypony explain what the Tartarus is going on here!? What was that thing!?” She pointed her bloody hoof towards the DeathclawTwilight ran to stand beside Chrysalis, “I’ll explain everything else later… and how did you get out of jail!?” Twilight asked in a loud yell.“When these things started showing up, one of my changelings Celestia released, released me and removed my magic dampener. When I made it out here, this happened!” Chrysalis shouted, her good eye wide as she motioned around with her hoof.The sound of trumpets cut off further conversation, slicing through the chaos like a knife as they played in the skies above.A bright light shown above the town of ponyville, bright as the very moon itself. Luna, in a chariot of dark black steel pulled by two bat ponies from her guard. She was clad in a suit of armor of silver, gold, and pearlescent white. The very stones of the Moon intricately crafted into the heavily engraved armor itself, making the stones shine like radiant diamonds from their home celestial bodies glow shining upon them.Every head, pony, Marked Man, Lobotomite, and Ghost, turned their head skyward.And each and everypony’s gazes fell upon the army that followed the radiant goddess of the moon, who, carried a spear as she led her troops.“THY CRETINOUS FILTH HAS DESECRATED THE TOWN OF PONYVILLE,” Luna bellowed as her eyes glowed white with immense power, her voice amplified to the Royal Canterlot Tone, “PREPARE TO BE DRIVEN TO TARTARUS!”And with that, a legion of night guard descended upon the ever growing number of formerly wasteland-residing attackers.