Fallout Equestria: Sins of Retribution

These events had only taken us about a month or so, yet it felt like I hadn't seen our home in years. So much had transpired in just that short amount of time that I almost felt myself begin to forget what life was like before the Enclave attacked. It was difficult for me to sleep that night. After watching Spring Breeze die all over again in the stable...Her body burned alive while we abandoned her; we didn't abandon her. I did. The muffled screaming still remained in my ears all throughout the night. The taste of the horrific food that Red Velvet made me eat.

"But she didn't force you to eat it. That was your own instinct." I cringed and opened my eyes, as if expecting to find the source of the voice before realizing that it came from my own mind. "The wasteland changes ponies, for better or for worse; how shall you change?" The voice questioned me with a snide chuckle.

"For the better, obviously that is the reason I'm here. Right?" I tried my best to reassure myself, only to get a sadistic laugh in return from the voice in my head. Any form of pleasant sleeping or dreaming had become a thing of the very distant past now, I could barely take the physical punishment I had to endure out here, now I had to suffer mentally as well?

"Hey, Shamrock? I can hear you mumbling, what is eating at you?" Scarlet looked at me with her ruby red eyes.

I let out a soft sigh and shook my head, rolling over onto my side only to have her trot back around and continue to give me a concerned glare. It was a look she always gave me to make me confess to anything that was usually against the rules back home.

"Just...the stable and well, all of this craziness. I mean, look at us. Hunting down talismans, killing ponies? Now I find out my mother was some secretive scientist that experimented on ponies and worked with the Enclave? What if she was the reason that they destroyed New Hope?" I wasn't quite ready to open up about the voice just yet, that was going to be another bridge to cross another day. What I did tell her though, really did leave me stumped. All this time, I believed my mother was so kind and caring, yet here i find out that she had been lying to me and may be the reason everyone we ever cared for was now a pile of smoking ash.

"So what are you suggesting? We give up the search for your mother?" She asked quietly as she moved closer to keep warm. Scarlet always had a rather strange scent of strawberry that carried on her coat; regardless of how long it has been since we've showered, the scent was almost soothing. She was always looking out for me back home and now was the only pony that I could really relate with. We both suffered loss, both a piece of love and a piece of ourselves out here.

"I-I don't know. I just want us to take things one job at a time. Lets get Ambrose back and see if we can find a place to live you know?" We had both discussed about settling down and trying to start over, before I had insisted we carry on but now? I wasn't quite sure if I can keep dealing with these horrors.

"Are you sure? We just found out that Cloverfield could still be out there, your mother might still be alive." She made a decent point, now we had information on a few stables that she could still be in.

"Maybe I don't want to find her. What if she really is dead." I rolled over again only to feel Scarlet brush her hoof against my mane suddenly. For a moment I felt comfort, a brief moment of peace at mind as she rested against my back.

"Well, whatever happens. I'm with you to the end. Okay?" Scarlet asked quietly before she let out a soft yawn that was soon followed by my own.

"Thank you, Scarlet" I smiled softly before slowly drifting off finally. For the first time in what felt like forever, I could sleep in peace.That was when the forces that be realized the mistake they made and our moment of respite lasted for about two hours before Scorched Talon shouted out into the night.

"GAH! Son of a feather plucked bitch, something bit me!" The large Griffon immediately moved for his incinerator as we all went into alert move, looking around within our cave for the culprit. Yet there was seemingly nobody there. Not even our pipbucks could see any threats nearby.

"You sure? I'm not seeing anything. I think its just your mind playing tricks on you. We all have had a rough few days." Juniper yawned as she scanned the walls of the cave with her energy rifle. All of our horns were glowing as bright as we could make them to illuminate the cave in a mixture of colors. Scorched Talon scoffed as he began to pad around the cave.

"Hmmph, pretty clever trick if it was then." He grumbled before we all settled back down and began to fall asleep once more.

"Juniper, could you find a different sleeping spot? You're practically breathing down my neck." Dune complained as we all sat back up again in the dark.

"Th-thats not me, Dune." Juniper stammered. We all could feel it now, that sixth sense of a pair of unwanted eyes staring at us. Simultaneously, we all turned and activated the lights on our pipbucks at Dune. On top of him, was a huge frothing rodent. Its eyes a milky white as it turned and shrieked at us.

"What the fuck is that!" Scarlet shouted when the creature began to scuttle away only to be vaporized by Juniper's careful aim. However, with its death throes, came a chorus of several more shrill cries as more of the creatures began to burrow out of the ground beneath us.

"Who cares?!? Just mulch em!" Talon shouted, drawing his claws as he began to slice into the unwanted guests. My pipbuck began to fill up with more and more red markers within just seconds.

One of the creatures lunged at me from behind suddenly and sank his teeth into my tail, causing me to let out a less than masculine yelp.

"AGH! Hey! Can we ever just get some damn sleep around here?!?!" I drew my pistol and blasted the rat between the eyes. Giving my jumpsuit a fun new red paint job and brain matter.

"Uh Shamrock, you're starting to glow again." Scarlet warned. Sure enough, these things were irradiated and starting to seep into me once more. I let out a soft groan as my stomach began to turn on me and form into a knot while the rest of the group continued fending off the rodents. Slowly but surely, the gunshots and shrills of agony began to die down and the stench of fresh blood and mangled flesh started filling the cave now.

"Guess that is a sign to find a new place to sleep?" Scarlet sighed, wiping her eyes once the adrenaline had simmered down. With a hint of reluctance, we relocated into a less infested cave and hunkered down once more for the remainder of the night.

The morning came quicker than any of us would have liked. Then again, with the skies being nothing more than a bleak grey abyss; it made it difficult to tell what was morning and what was night.

"Alright team, it looks like we're on the final leg of our journey. Just have to turn these talismans in and we can call it a day." Juniper said with a sigh of relief. We all felt better to be out of the stable and to be heading back to Shattered Hoof was actually almost a comforting thought. At least at Shattered Hoof the risk of getting shot or ambushed by radiated creatures was substantially less. I personally didn't trust Deadeye but we had very few other options but to hope that he would hold up his end of the bargain.

Finally, we had returned to Shattered Hoof Correctional Facility; its gates slowly opened up to us once we drew closer.

"Well, I must admit that when we hadn't heard from you ponies in such a long time, I was worried y'all didn't make it." Deadeye gave a wry grin when he looked to our newest additions to our little team. "And it seems you made some new friends as well..." he chuckled before I set the talismans down onto his table.

"We did our part. Now where is Ambrose?" I demanded. Deadeye only seemed to raise a brow while he began to recollect who Ambrose was before he nodded.

"Ah yes, terrible business about that. You see, while you were gone, the current owner had stopped by and requested to purchase her for a fine sum of caps. I can pay you as compensation for your efforts if you wish, but the zebra is with her proper owner." He said as if he was discussing the possession of a lifeless object.

Scarlet slammed her hoof on his table and drew her rifle. "Her proper owner should be her damn family! Not some raider! We made a deal!" She growled, all of us were on the verge of tearing him apart if not for the fact that we were more than likely being watched from the outside.

"Our deal was that I "may" be able to retrieve your friend for you. I tried my best but he wouldn't take no for an answer. It is unwise to deny a reaper what they desire." Deadeye moved nonchalantly to his personal fridge to pour himself a drink and offered a glass to us now. "Tell you what, stay here for the night and we can discuss it more over a drink and some entertainment. I was lucky enough to get an alleged descendant of the singer Sweetie Belle to perform for me later tonight; I can perhaps disclose some information on her whereabouts there." He nudged a glass over towards me now and raised a brow, waiting for my response.

I let out a reluctant sigh and cursed under my breath and lifted the glass up into the air.

"Fine..." I muttered through gritted teeth and drank.

Footnote: LEVEL Up.
New Perk: Hunter: Deal 75% more critical damage towards animals and mutated animals