Fallout Equestria: Growing Darkness

Chapter 6: Council of Gildersone

Hotel ruins

“WATCH OUT!” An explosion ripped the pony apart.
A canopy of charred wood and flames surrounded Thunder Dasher. The roar of flammer nozzles and screams of the damned echoed all around. Armorclad soldiers galloped to and fro. Tendrils wriggled from the darkness, grabbing and tearing soldiers apart.
One soldier crawled for the safety of a nearby rock, only for a tendril to wrap around them, pulling them into the flames.

Thunder Dasher looked up at the sky. The dark shadow of a warship sailed through the sea of dark grey clouds. Cannon barrels glowed a vibrant green. Slowly, flames ate away the sky. Engulfing it. Soon Thunder Dasher’s vision was filled with burning vegetation, its flaming tendrils wrapping around his armor.

/ / /

Thunder Dasher shot up from his slumber, his heart slamming against his chest. The sweet scent of cut pine filled his lungs. Thunder Dasher spun his head around, taking in his surroundings.

The room was dimly lit, giving Thunder Dasher only the faintest of outlines of his surroundings. He laid on a decrepit, saggy mattress. Before him lay a pony on a similarly uncomfortable looking mattress, bandages covered the pony’s side. Thunder Dasher squinted, ‘Tornadowinds?’ The pony let out a snore akin to a thunderclap. Thunder Dasher smirked, ‘Eyup.’
Returning to scanning of the room, he noticed a starry night sky through a window to his left. A thin curtain cut him off from the rest of the room on his right. A light, purple glow emitted from behind the curtain.

‘Where am I?’ Thunder Dasher closed his eyes. The memory of his last fight coming to bare. Looking down at himself, his armor had been removed and his chest wrapped in bandages. Several other parts were wrapped up as well. A slow ache vibrated with his heartbeat. Splints held his wings close to his side, ‘Hopefully, somewhere safe.’

Taking a deep breath, Thunder Dasher pushed himself up. Several pops rang out from his body forcing a grunt from Thunder Dasher.

A small gasp came from behind the curtain, followed by a Thud!

‘Welp, so much sneaking.’ Thunder Dasher’s legs wobbled as he shuffled forward. Pushing the curtain aside, Thunder looked around.

A glowing, purple orb sat in the middle of the room. Enveloping the room in its faint, warm light. A large bed sat against the right wall, its covers tucked tightly. A desk sat opposite of the bed. Atop of it was a scroll stand with a small, metal candle holder in the shape of a dragon’s head next to it. Several books were stacked next to it. Two doors sat on the left and far walls. Lastly, Thunder Dasher noticed the edge of a hoof sticking out from behind the bed.

Thunder Dasher cleared his throat, “Hello?” No one answered. Thunder gazed at the bed, “I know you’re there. I don’t want any trouble, just want to say thank you.” He sat on his haunches, his legs beginning to scream.

The room was silent for a minute, then the pony stood up and Thunder Dasher caught his breath. At first Thunder Dasher saw the horn, a swirling teal rod twice as long as the average unicorn’s. A dark charcoal mane pulled into a ponytail hid the base of the horn. Then came the wings, massive blue clouds of feathers that fanned out around the being. Finally the rest of the body, tall and slender, its movement slow and skittish. Large, glowing yellow eyes stared wide at him. Thunder Dasher had only seen an false alicorn once or twice before, the memory of a massive form twice the size of the one before him flashing in his mind.

The alicorn raised her hoof, and waved, “H-hey, ther-” Thunder Dasher launched himself at the alicorn, his limbs screaming in pain, “Oh dear!” The alicorn vanished from sight.
Remembering where the alicorn’s neck was, Thunder reached out. His hooves felt the soft hairs of a mane, and latched on.

“Oh, nononononononono!” A strong force gripped Thunderdasher from all around. The pain from his injuries spiking. Reflexively he let go of the mane, and soon enough he felt himself flying. With a jarring stop, Thunder Dasher froze several feet above the ground, covered in a dark blue aura.
Taking a second to breathe, Thunder kicked and struggled to tear himself from the magical grasp. In the end, only succeeded in flipping himself upside down. With injuries burning, energy fading, and his stomach turning over Thunder Dasher stopped squirming. With a ragged sigh, he looked up at the ground, ‘Well, this could’ve gone better.’

“Y-You know, that was mean!” Thunder Dasher was spun around to face the alicorn. Now visible, she glared at him, “I’ve been working so hard to make a good impression, to make sure I don’t get all excited, or afraid, when I meet someone new. And all you do is attack me.” The alicorn sat on her haunches, folded her hooves, and pouted.

All Thunder could do was cock an eyebrow, ‘Is… Is she.. Am I...’ Thunder Dasher’s thought trailed off as he watched the alicorn.

For a moment, there was silence as Thunder Dasher stared at the alicorn, and the alicorn glared at the ground. The silence was broken as the door on the far wall opened.
The walking corpse of a unicorn strode in. The old brittle skin, with patches of blue fur. The dusty grey locks of a mane that was only half there. The old, eternal gashes where flesh had fallen off a long time ago. The ghoul walked in, bowls of soup following in his magical grasp. Taking a second to look around, his eyes widened, “What in tartarus is…” The ghoul’s voice gargled like rocks smashing against each other. The ghoul turned to the alicorn, “Flatz!”
“H-He started it!” She pointed at Thunder Dasher.

The ghoul glanced at Thunder Dasher, “Flatz, put up your shield.” The alicorn did as instructed and a glowing sphere surrounded her. The ghoul lumbered over to Thunder, his eyes squinting at him, “I’m gonna tell you this once. You attack Flatz or I, and I will teleport you into the middle of the ocean without your wings. Understood?”

Returning the stare, Thunder Dasher slowly nodded.

The ghoul glanced back to the alicorn, “Let him go.”

A second later, Thunder Dasher fell out of the air. With a loud thud Thunder Dasher wailed out, “GYAHH!” He flipped onto his belly, checking his wings. Pain burned underneath the skin, but overall they seemed fine.

The ghoul loomed over Thunder, studying his injuries, “Hmm, another treatment or two and you should be fine.” As he spoke, the pain within Thunder began to recede, being replaced with a cool, refreshing feel, “So, how do you feel?” The ghoul grunted.

“Like I dragged myself out of a chariot wreck.” Thunder grunted.

The ghoul chuckled, “Good, good.” One of the soup bowls levitated over to the alicorn who took it in her hooves, “Flatz didn’t scare you much, did she?”
The alicorn stuck out her tongue at the ghoul, “The metal bird pony is the scary one.”

Thunder looked at the alicorn known as Flatz, “Not really, no.”

“Didn’t think so,” The ghoul stared Thunder in the eye. His green eyes almost glowing as he seemed to bore into the soldier’s head, “The enclave isn’t scared by anything, right?”

Thunder Squinted at the ghoul, “No, we’re not. Who are you?”

The ghoul lifted his hoof to his chest, “I’m Lone Wander,” Then he pointed to the alicorn, “And this is Miss Flatz.”

Thunder Dasher nodded, “I’m Thunder Dasher.” He gestured towards the curtain behind him, “That’s Tornado winds.”

Lone Wander smirked, “Well Thunder Dasher. Sit over here, talk with us.” Lone Wander walked over to the glowing orb and sat down. Flatz slid in next to him, her eyes fixated on Thunder as she slurped her soup.

Gritting his teeth, Thunder Dasher stood and trotted over to the orb, sitting across from Lone Wander, “So, Where are we, how did you find us?”

“The Sunny Side Grand Hotel.” Lone wander said as he swirled his soup around, “Nestled on the shore of Gildersone.”

“G-Gildersone?” Thunder Dasher said, taken aback.
Lone Wander nodded, “And to answer your other question. You fell out of the sky, splashed right into the ocean next to our boat.”

“Ten out of ten, best splash I’ve ever seen.” Flatz said with a wide smile.

“W-wait, the ocean?” Thunder thought back to the fight. A faint flash of blue crossed his mind, ‘How are we this far from Emadron?’

“Yep.” Lone Wander took a sip of soup, “There was a large ball of green fire, then you two hit the water. That was yesterday.” Looking over to the curtain he continued, “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly happened?”

The events of the operation played back in Thunder’s head, “My squad was ambushed. Some sort of… power armored unicorns. I was injured during the fight, and I lost consciousness shortly after.” There was a short pause before Thunder Dasher looked at Lone Wander in worry, “Wait, you said two? Only two?”

Lone Wander nodded, “How many of you were there supposed to be?”

Thunder Dasher’s eyes dropped to his hooves, “There were five of us including me and an officer.”

Lone Wander stared down into the orb. Shaking his head, he stood up and began for the door, “I’ll go get you something to eat. When you and your friend are ready, we’ll go and meet with the locals.”

Thunder Dasher Continued staring down at his hooves, ‘Cloudy Storm, Sky Snake, Lightning Strike, Star Shimmer, Windshear.’ “Alright.”

A rustling came from behind, “Thunder, everything oka-AH!” Tornadowinds screamed out.

Thunder Dasher turned back to face his friend, “Tornado, wait!”

Tornadowinds was crouched, ready to jump. Tornadowinds looked from Flatz and Lone Wander to Thunder Dasher, “T-they’re fine?”

“Yes, they’re fine.” Thunder Dasher motioned to the other two, “This is Miss Flatz and Lone Wander.”

Tornadowinds looked at the others, “Oh.”

/ / /

“So, you’re an actual blue alicorn?” Tornadowinds asked as he eyed Miss Flatz up and down.

“Yeppidy yep!” Flatz pranced through the main foyer of the hotel, stopping right at the main doors. She turned to watch Thunder, Tornadowinds, and Lone Wander as they trotted toward her.
Thunder studied the room as they walked. Over the centuries the room’s once vibrant colors had been washed out and ruined by water damage. The smell of mildew sat heavily in the air. A massive chandelier had fallen a long time ago, now crumpled on the ground. Beyond the walls Thunder Dasher could hear the faint rushing of wind.

Lone Wander moved ahead of the two soldiers, “Now Flatz, we’re going into town for supplies. Mind yourself, alright?”

Flatz stuck out her tongue, “I know”

Tornadowinds leaned in to Thunder Dasher, “She’s a foal minded one if I’ve ever seen one.” He whispered.

Thunder Dasher snickered, “Only thing worse than a foal is a foal with the power to turn you inside out.”

“Gentlestallions.” Lone Wander called out as he made it to the door, “While you’re out and about, I request you be of your best behavior. You wouldn’t wish to anger these islanders with quippy comments and prolonged stares.”

Stopping a couple of feet away Thunder nodded, “Out of curiosity, should we be worried about our occupational status?”

Lone Wander paused for a moment, “Best not to gloat about it, but you won’t be surprising anypony about you being Enclave.”

Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds glanced at each other as Lone Wander pushed the door open.

Strong ocean winds smacked everyone in the face. Outside, massive ocean waves splashed against the nearby docks. The ruins of the resort city seemed to sagg from constant rain and waves, some of the buildings even collapsed into the ocean. Storm clouds poured swaths of rain onto the ruins.

Stepping out into the rain, Lone Wander’s horn glowed a dim green. A transparent green cover appeared above him, blocking out the rain, “Come, best not to leave’em waiting.”

Glancing to one another, Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds slowly walked under the cover. Flatz taking up the rear, “So, the townsfolk are expecting us?” Thunder Dasher asked as he scanned the nearby buildings. Most gave off the same old and empty feel, though on occasion, Thunder spotted small flares of colorful light from within. The four turned farther into the ruins, and soon enough, Thunder spotted what appeared to be a wall between two building ahead of them.

“Eyup, ” Lone Wander nodded towards the wall, “The tribe gets fidgety around most mainlanders.”

“Sister Screaming Star wasn’t happy.” Flatz stared at her hooves frowning.

“Sister Screaming Star?” Thunder asked, turning to Flatz.

Flatz looked up at Thunder Dasher and smiled nervously, waving one of her hooves, “Oh, it’s just a name. She’s nice, really.”

Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds looked to Lone Wander, but he just continued forward, “Right, just a name.” Tornadowinds said, humoring Miss Flatz with a smile.

The four made it to the wall, an untextured slab of dark grey concrete. Lone Wander looked from one side to the other. The outline of two doors glowed, and a moment later, the doors ground open. Lone Wander glanced back at Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds, “Stay close to me, and don’t stare.” With that, he trotted through the doorway.

Thunder Dasher walked through, then froze in his tracks. When he had heard about the town the idea of grizzled, enclave hating ponies, possibly even a pack of mutts entered his mind. Instead, he and Tornadowinds found the suspicious glances and glares of dozens of false alicorns.

Keeping an eye on beings, Thunder Dasher leaned in close to Lone Wander, “You forgot to mention the town was all mutants.” He whispered.

Lone Wander continued forward, “I didn’t think it important.” He gave Thunder Dasher a stoic look, “Remember that thing I said about staring.”
Warily, Thunder Dasher chose to study the town. Avoiding prolonged eye contact with the false alicorns. Inside, the town was covered by a canopy of tarps that angled into dug out waterways for the rain. Underneath the canopy was a main walkway, and built into the ruins on either side were cottages and huts. Small light posts with glowing orbs, similar to the one in Lone Wander’s home, lit the town. At the far end of the walkway sat a large yurt, the orbs around it glowing a dark red rather than the purple of the others.

Tornadowinds trotted up close to Thunder Dasher and began to whisper, “I’m seeing a lot of blue here, with a little green and purple as well.”

“Great.” Thunder mumbled.

Flatz hesitantly waved to each of the other alicorns. The alicorns only gave her cold stares, and she chose to focus on her hooves. Slowly, she began to shake.

The next minute stretched into eternity. Silence and cold stares barring down from all corners of the group. To top it off, an uncomfortable warmth radiated from the yurt.

As they reached the door of the yurt, Lone Wander turned to Flatz, motioning for her hoof. Legs wobbling, she held up her hoof, and Lone took held it in his, “Look, you’ve done nothing wrong. You’re not in trouble, and there’s no reason for them to be mad at you. Don’t be afraid, this is your family.” Patting her hoof, Lone stared her in the eye.

Slowly, Flatz was was able to control her shaking. She gulped, “O-Okay, you got it Lone.” A smile crept up on one side of her face.

Smirking, Lone placed Flatz’s hoof back on the ground and turned to Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds, smirk gone, “Are you stallions ready?” Slowly, the two nodded, “Alright. Be polite, and hold your cards close to your chest.” Lone Wander’s horn glowed, and the yurt’s door crept open. A wall of heat and light smacked the group in the face, temporarily blinding the group.

Blinking away the blind spots. Thunder Dasher gazed into the yurt. The main room was round and spacious. Bright, yellow light orbs hung from the ceiling, illuminating the inside. Round tables speckled the room in a disorganized pattern with a short, wide table at the far end. Sitting at the table were a hoof full of alicorns. A green alicorn clad in patchwork armor and covered in scars sat at the far right. A purple alicorn in dirty, old robes sat on the far left. Next to both of them was a blue alicorn each. One wore a black, close fitting jumpsuit reinforced with combat plates, along with that her eyes were covered by a black cloth. The other blue alicorn wore rags of a wastelander, a few map tubes sat on her back. The final alicorn in the middle stole Thunder Dasher’s attention.

Her coat a haunting ghost white, and her mane a raging inferno. The alicorn wore a charcoal chestpiece. As Thunder Dasher stared at the chestpiece more, he recognized it as three Enclave power armor plates fused together. She towered over the other alicorns by a couple of feet. Her eyes burned into Thunder Dasher, seemingly searching his soul for some unholy truth. Unblinking, Thunder Dasher returned the stare.

The group stopped a couple of feet before the table. Lone Wander and Miss Flatz bowed their heads, “Sister Star, Sister Shade, Sister Sight, Sister Shield, Sister Light.”

The alicorns bowed back, “Brother Wander, Sister Flatz.” They said in unison. The alicorns turned to Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds. This time the white alicorn spoke, “These are the visitors of our island?” She spat out the question like a bad taste in her mouth.

Lone Wander nodded, “Tornadowinds and Thunder Dasher.” Lone Wander motioned for the two to step forward.

Thunder Dasher walked forward, “I’m Sergeant Thunder Dasher. Leader of Chimera Squad.”

Tornado stopped next to Thunder, “I’m communications specialist Tornadowinds of Chimera Squad.”

The white alicorn looked the two up and down once more, “You are of the Enclave, yes?”

The two noded, “Yeah, that’s us.”

“Then, will you enlighten us as to how it was that one of our own found you two so close to our island?” The alicorn bared down on Thunder Dasher with fiery eyes.

Thunder Dasher simply stared back, “During an operation, we encountered powerful magical beings in black armor. When the tides turned against them, they tried to run through a portal. Tornadowinds and I followed them, afterwards we lost consciousness.”

“Where was it that you had been before the teleportation?” The white alicorn continued.

Thunder Dasher noticed Tornadowinds glancing at him, “Just outside of a city known as New Trinity City.”

“You fought mere unicorns, and then found yourself thousands of miles from your last location. Is that what we are meant to believe?” The other alicorns murmured to each other. Glancing at the enclave members every couple of seconds.

“You know, it just hit me. Thinking back on their abilities and height, I’d say they seemed closer to your kind.” Thunder Dasher retorted, “False alicorns in fucked up armor.”
The white alicorn narrowed her eyes, “Is that so. Tell me, who’s to say you aren’t a reconnaissance party?”

Tornadowinds and Thunder Dasher glanced at each other, “What exactly do you mean?” Tornadowinds asked.

The white alicorn placed her forehooves on the table, “You’re enclave, you know about what had happened a few decades prior.”

Tornadowinds’ eyes widened and Thunder shook his head, “Operation Goddess’ fall.”

The white alicorn nodded, “Enclave thought they had killed us off, and we didn’t wish to test their strength a second time. We’ve lived on this island in peace, but now two enclave soldiers stand in our gathering hut.” The white alicorn stared into Thunder’s eyes, unflinchingly, “How will we know that you won't simply tell your superiors.”

Thunder Dasher frowned, “Our word of silence wouldn’t be good enough?”

The white alicorn smirked, “You must think us fools. It would be simpler to just end you where you stand.”
Thunder Scowled, his hooves began to move forward, ”You… Don’t you dare threaten-” Thunder Dasher paused looking at the alicorns before him. The white alicorn held fast, merely watching him. The other alicorns leaned away, expressions of worry shown on all of them. Thunder Dasher lowered his head, “P-please, I am a father. My wife and daughter may be in danger. My friends could be dead. I need to find them, make sure they are safe.”

The white alicorn’s smile grew, “Well then. Perhaps that can be arranged. Tell me, what are you willing to give up for them? Your wings perhaps? Maybe your eyes, so that you may never look upon them. Would you be willing to return to them if it meant you were nothing more than a brain encased in steel and biogel?”

Memories flashed through Thunder Dasher’s head. Windshear in her wedding gown, Star Shimmer’s first steps, racing from air ship to air ship with Chimera team. The more the remembered, the easier it was to say, “Yes, I would.” Thunder Dasher’s eyes shot up to the white alicorn, burning hate filled his body, “If it meant I could never hold my daughter, never love my wife, never help my friends through the darkest of times. I would gladly give up myself, just to make sure they are safe.” Through throbbing pain, Thunder Dasher stretched his wings out as far as they could, “Go on, take’em. Tear them off, rip me to shreds. Just give me a single chance to go look for those I love!”
Snickering, the white alicorn held up a hoof, “You have spirit Thunder Dasher, I will give you that. That look in your eye says you may actually be serious as well. Perhaps, we can come to an agreement.”

Thunder Dasher’s gaze softened, “Wh-what do you mean?”

The alicorn’s smile slowly faded, and she soon became a stoic wall, “We will still require to sacrifice a small part of you, but it will not be any physical feature. Rather, I will simply demand that we remove your memory of this place.”

Thunder Dasher looked up in surprise, “Wh-what?”

Tornadowinds brought his hoof to his chin, pondering, “You mean the memory orb process?”

The white alicorn nodded, “We have the means of erasing, and even replacing memories of ponies. You will simply wake up on a fishing pony’s boat, believing yourselves to have been found there. Even if you did have the slightest bit of memory, it would simply be a small shadow at the back of your mind, the fading thoughts of a bad dream.” The white alicorn tilted her head, “That would suffice, your memories for your freedom.”
Thunder Dasher let go of a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. Slowly he nodded, “That’s fine, take them. Thank you.”

Tornadowinds bowed slightly, “Thank you for this, we can be out of your mane then, none the wiser.”

“Good.” The white alicorn stretched out her wings, “By the end of the day, you’ll be on a boat sailing towards Emadron.”

“Sister Star,” Lone Wander stepped forward, “I will be joining them back to Emadron.”

Thunder Dasher and Flatz glanced at Lone Wander. The white alicorn raised an eyebrow at him, “Really, why?”

“These beings that they talk about are unusual. I am going to look into what or who they might be.”

“L-Lone!?” Flatz Slid in next to Lone Wander, “But, what about me?”

“I would like you by my side,” Lone wander shook his head, “But that is not my decision.”

Flatz looked up to the alicorns behind the table. Fear laced in her eyes, “S-sisters?”

The white alicorn gave Flatz a stern look, “That is something we will have to discuss privately. Lone Wander, take the Enclave back to your home.”

Flatz’s eyes widened, “W-wait, Shouldn’t Lone be here?”

Lone Wander patted Flatz on the shoulder, “Flatz, look at me.” Flatz turned to Lone Wander, her chest heaving, “You’ll do fine, but you have to start doing things on your own. If you can convince your sisters to join me then you’ll be more than capable of journeying out.”

Flatz looked down at Lone Wander, “U-um...” Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to calm herself, “O-okay.”

“You’ll do fine.” Lone Wander smiled at Flatz, then turned to Thunder Dasher and Tornadowinds, “Good job, you two get to go home. Come on, I’ll get you two a drink.”

Tornadwinds smiled, “Well damn, lead the way.”

The three left, beginning the walk back to the hotel. As Tornadwinds and Lone Wander talked, Thunder Dasher simply followed, thoughts of his family running through his mind, ‘Windshear, Star Shimmer, where are you?’