Fallout Equestria: Duty

As Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 11

Forgiveness

“Can ya ever forgive me?”

~O~Frostmane~O~

“Wait, wait, wait... You can't possibly expect me to believe that. I know I'm not the brightest bulb, but I'm not THAT stupid. You and those other.... things, tried to hurt me not even an hour ago, so excuse me when I find it hard to believe what you're saying.”, I argued, rubbing my temples with my hooves. The Alicorn I had captured earlier sat upright in front of me, having regained the use of her body only minutes after I had rejoined Homage. My ribs were still hurting, but I had decided to kill the mare, as soon as she had begun to move again. What stopped me, was a little gray Unicorn filly, that put herself between me and my intended target.

Homage had argued that the mare was not showing any signs of wanting to attack us, and that killing her now would be nothing more than murder. I had tried to argue back, but that had been when the mare had cleared her throat to get my attention.

She had indeed turned out to be non-hostile, which was confirmed by her blip on my EFS. The mare had then gone ahead and introduced herself as Golden Sunshine, claiming that she had not tried to attack me back there, but to stop her sisters from doing just that. Some of the things she told me didn't make a lick of sense to me, but Homage had sat down between the two of us, effectively putting herself in the way of any attack I could throw at that moment.

There were terms like Unity or Goddess, that made me suppress my laughter, since I didn't believe in any otherworldly beings. Her description of that Unity however made my blood freeze in my veins. According to her these Alicorns were gathering up Unicorn Ponies to transform them into Alicorns, and therefor become the loyal servants of their Goddess...

It made me sick to think about that. It sounded too much like what Luna had told me, when she had revealed the secret of her creation to me. One thing however struck me as odd.

“If you are supposed to be a “loyal” servant to that goddess of yours, then why aren't you trying to bring me to her right now? That blue one back there claimed that your “mother” had commanded it.”, I asked harshly, making the other mare flinch a bit.

“Well... We are not perfect. It is true that our mother commanded us to bring you to her after she sensed your magical aura, but she also gave us explicit instructions not to hurt you. In fact, we were commanded to keep you from harm. It was also the last order she gave me. When the others lost their minds and became violent towards you, I was to try and get you out of there in one piece. But as it turned out, you didn't need my assistance after all.”, she explained, removing a strand of her pink mane from her face with a hoof.

“Ehm... lost their minds? Not perfect? You know that you're not making a lot of sense, don't you?”, I said as my head began to hurt even more. All of this was making my poor brain spin, and all I wanted was to rest.

“You see... We Alicorns are a pretty recent creation of our mother. Many of us have inherited more magical power than our bodies can handle, driving many of us to insane acts of violence. I on the other hoof have only a fraction of the power that my sisters have. When they have long lost the ability to hear the voice of our mother, I can still hear it.”, Golden said.

I didn't know what to make of this. So there was somepony who claimed to be a goddess and that wanted to see me because she had sensed my magical aura? It was interesting, but why didn't they just ask the inhabitants of the canyon if they had seen me? In my opinion that would have made a lot more sense, and would have been much easier than to slaughter so many of them. I voiced my concerns, and of course the Alicorn mare had an answer for me.

“When we arrived here some time ago, my sisters were still lucid minded, just like me. But the first group we encountered, met our attempts at diplomacy with hostility. Our hooves were forced when we chose to defend ourselves. We killed many of the Steel Rangers that attacked us, but as a result many of my sisters that arrived here alongside me, expanded their magical potential. As soon as their bodies began to replenish their magical reserves, they began to loose their minds. Soon I was outnumbered, having to go along with their violent antics if I wanted to stay alive. Two of my sisters were killed after speaking up against Moonsinger after all. She is the one in charge of our group.”

“Has that Moonsinger also gone insane?”, I asked, starting to believe the mare. I knew that even Celestia and Luna had been created in a lab, so it wasn't that far off to think that these Alicorns had come into being by similar means. The part about them going insane also made a lot of sense to me, since Luna had told me about that phenomenon once.

“Yes, she has. But this information is of no use to you either way. There is no way of saving my sisters at this point. Our mother has experimented for years, but she still hasn't figured out a way to keep us under control.”, the white Alicorn mare in front of me offered sadly. I sighed. I really didn't have much of a choice here. If these Alicorns had indeed gone insane due to having to much magic in their systems, there were only two ways of helping them.

The first one was to fight them without killing any of them, and forcing them to use as many spells as possible. I quickly decided however, that such a course of action was out of the question. I wasn't nineteen anymore, and such a prolonged battle was beyond anything I could manage at my age. Ut pained me to admit it, but the only other option was to kill them all. I looked over at Golden Sunshine, seeing the same realization in her red eyes.

“What about you? Can you still hear your mother, or do I have to put you down too?”, I asked flatly.

“Frostmane!”, Homage protested, stomping one of her little hooves. In another time and place, this would have made me exclaim how cute she was but there was no time for that now. Golden just shook her head.

“Our mother has severed her connection with me, but I am no threat to you. As I said before, my last order was to protect you at any cost, even if that meant fighting my sisters or sacrificing my own life. If you like it or not, but you're stuck with me, unless you want to kill me that is.”, she said in a serious tone of voice. It was a show of dedication that I just couldn't understand. She had admitted that she had been turned against her will, and yet she was willingly following orders given to her by the one who had forced her in the first place... It just didn't seem right. This was the sort of blindly following orders that I had always resented.

“And what would you do if I decided to kill you right now?”

“I would let you do it. My life means nothing in the greater picture. Sooner or later you will see that Unity is the only way for the wasteland to heal.”, she explained, and I had to suppress a gag at that.

“You're not going to kill her, are you Frostmane?”, Homage piped in, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

“Hey! That's not fair!”, I exclaimed, holding my hooves in front of my face to block her from view. After a few moments, I peeked and saw that her lower lip was no quivering and she had her ears plastered back against her head. “No FAAAAIIIRRR!! OK, fine, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt, just stop looking at me like that!”, I added, admitting defeat by overwhelming cuteness.

The filly dropped her act instantly, jumping at me and giving me one fierce hug that made my ribs hurt again. I groaned, making Goldens ears perk up as she dared to come closer to me for the first time since her paralysis had lifted. Homage had also noticed it, and had released me from her hug, looking at me with concern in her eyes.

“Did my sisters injure you?”

“Yeah... But it's nothing serious... I assure you...”, I wheezed through the pain, taking in a sharp breath every now and then.

“Sorry!”, Homage said worriedly.

“Let me have a look.”, Golden requested, but didn't wait for me to agree with her, before her horn flared to life and enveloped me in her magic. It was of a gentle golden color, but I still tried to fight back with my own magic out of instinct. The only problem was, that the pain I was in pretty much shattered my focus, and the other mares magic was stronger than anything I could muster at that point. The little gray filly only watched in awe as I was lifted off the ground and found myself floating in front of Goldens face.

“Mhmm... Two of your ribs are cracked. Not quite broken, but of you let them heal like this, you will be in pain each time you draw a deep breath for the rest of your life.”, she stated, and I noticed that her eyes had changed from red to blue.

“I know that already, now let me go you overgrown horned chicken!”, I cursed as I tried to free myself once again, and failed. I couldn't even move since Golden kept my armor still, in turn keeping my limps in place. I could sense power behind her magic, but there was also a kind of gentleness that surprised me quite a bit. Her magic was keeping me from moving around too much, fixating me like on an operation table...

The feeling made me very uncomfortable. Just as I began to wonder what she was about to do, a sickening crunching sound echoed through my ears, and Goldens horn flared even brighter for a second. I'm pretty sure that my scream could be heard all the way to Canterlot...

~O~Firestorm~O~

I was standing in the ruins of what had once been the town of Horseshoe, seeing what the Alicorns had done to the little town. I didn't like it one bit. Dead Ponies and Zebras lay everywhere. Some of them looked like they had been cut open and left to bleed to death, while others had been burned to a crisp. It was seriously sickening. What got me the most however, were the dead foals I found. These little ones had never done anything to harm anypony, and yet these monsters had slaughtered all of them. There was not a single survivor. I hadn't known most of them, when I had seen the kids of Mayor Cider Barrel among the dead, I couldn't help but cry. These foals had been alive only a week prior, and now there was barely enough left of them to be recognized.

“At least they had a decent meal before they died...”, I though as I stroke the mane of a little filly I had played hide and seek with. I distinctly remembered her, since she had complained about me using my EFS to find her...

“Anything?”, I asked aloud as one of Raspberries Rangers came closer to me.

“No ma'am. There were some supplies we could scavenge, but all of the technology was destroyed in the attack. Even the fields up on the canyon side were burned to the ground. It almost looks like they wanted to make an example of this place.”, the stallion reported, seeing the tears that dripped off my chin.

“Alright. Call Raspberry. We're leaving. We should head north, since Glitter Tail hasn't reported in yet. Once we meet up with Frostmane, we can form a plan to get rid of these Alicorns.”, I said, but the Ranger didn't comply.

“Ma'am, excuse me for asking, but why would we need her? You have already proven that you can take these monsters on.”, he asked instead. I rounded on him, pushing up visor so he could see the rage in my eye.

“I have her signal on my EFS, even though log range communication still isn't working. I may be able to out fly these guys, but there is no way in Tartarus that I could take on all of them! And, don't get me wrong, but you Rangers aren't much help either. You're training leaves a lot to be desired, and you would be lost without SATS in a firefight. Believe me, we need her!”, I shouted at the stallion, who immediately ran off to do as he was told.

I was angry. Very angry. These monsters had killed everyone, no matter how old or what gender they were. Even the Moon Skulls, as ruthless as we were at times, had never done anything like this. The young and the elderly had always been safe from us, unless they took up arms against us. And even then we had usually just disarmed them.

There were other reasons why I wanted to intercept Frostmane however. If she saw this, she could go on a frenzy again, and I wasn't too sure if I could get away in time if that happened. Last time one filly had been endangered. This time, several dozen had been killed in horrible ways. I sincerely doubted that she could stay in control long enough to warn me... Frostmane simply loved foals, which was made even more tragic since she was unable to get pregnant herself. She had once told me about what her father had done to her, and the internal damage it had left behind...

I shook my head. There was no time for this now. Frosty was approaching our position according to my Pipbucks map, so we had to hurry.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Twenty minutes later, I was rooted to the spot as I saw a white coated Alicorn floating the limp form of Frostmane next to her. The mare was chatting animatedly with a little gray Unicorn filly that was walking by her side. Since Frostmanes helmet was retracted, I didn't dare to shoot. I wasn't that good with these new weapons, and a stray bullet could kill her. I didn't want to risk that. That's why I ordered the Steel Rangers to stay behind, while I stepped out from behind our cover, blocking the mares way. The chatter died as the two noticed me, the little Unicorn filly eying me with a questioning look on her face.

“Release her.”, I demanded coldly, readying my battle-saddle. A shield came into life around the Alicorn mare, the filly and Frostmane.

“Who are you, and why are you threatening me? I do not wish to fight.”, the Alicorn asked me, looking at me as if she was trying to figure out if she could take me on.

“If you don't wish to fight, then release my friend this instant.”

That was when the filly chimed in.

“Stop it you two! Golden, that must be Firestorm. You know? The one Frostmane was talking about?”, the little filly chastised the much bigger Alicorn and myself. It was almost comical.

“Is that true? Is your name Firestorm?”, the mare asked, not lowering her shield just yet. I nodded, turning slightly and revealing the Insignia on my flank that matched the one on Frostmanes armor. Seeing it, the Alicorn mare relaxed and dropped her shield. She didn't release Frostmane however.

“I apologize. Frostmane has spoken your name before she passed out. Do not worry, I don't mean to harm any of you. I have indeed healed this mare from an injury she sustained during a fight with my sisters. Right now she is resting due to a slumber spell I cast on her. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Golden Sunshine.”, she explained to me, bowing her head low. It was pretty unexpected, since it resembled the behavior of a commoner addressing a noble.

“So... You're not trying to kill her?”, I asked, confusion obvious in my voice.

“No. None of us intends to kill her. My orders however, vary from the ones my sisters have. I am her protector.”

After a few minutes of this, Golden Sunshine and the filly Homage had explained everything to me. Frostmane had met the filly in an abandoned motel, and she had healed my friend from a fungus that was pretty common in this area. The Alicorns story however, was more than hard to digest. Apparently this Alicorn was now separated from her sisters, and her only wish now was to protect my friend.

The Steel Rangers in my company were very suspicious of the two, but I put them in line with my best drill Sergeant tone. Not even the Star Paladin had dared to talk back to me after that, even though she outranked me.

It was funny really. Here was funny really. Here was a mare whos rank was equal to that of a captain, and she was taking orders from me. I didn't trust the mare, so I decided to keep an eye on her. If it ever came to blows, I wouldn't hesitate to kill her. It was pretty obvious to me that this was only a temporary alliance, and when it came to an end, it wouldn't be pretty...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Rangers were guarding our little camp, while Golden Sunshine had taken flight and kept a lookout for any of her sisters. She had told me that she didn't relish the thought of having to fight them, and that she would rather not do it, but that she would do what had to be done. The little gray filly had curled up next to Frostmane, who was still asleep.

Trotting over to my friend, I watched as her sides rose and fell gently. It was surreal to see her this peaceful. More than once since the Luna Dream had crashed, I realized that this was actually a good thing for my friend. She had lost a lot of responsibility that she never wanted. The only things she had to worry about now, was her own safety. No more tactical meetings, night long planning sessions or having to sign condolence notes to the families of fallen soldiers.

Frostmanes past was not a happy one, but the mare had always handled her sad memories. Only rarely did she show that they affected her more than she was willing to admit. In those times it had usually been me who had stayed with her, until she was promoted to Vice-General that was. For some reason I had thought that her rank made a difference. How stupid I had been. Frostmane was my friend, and no rank or title could ever change that. Even the fact that she had lied to me didn't matter at that moment. She had her reasons for it, and I had deemed them to be good ones.

When I was about to trot back over to the fire, I saw my friends eyes flutter open. It was obvious to me that she was still drowsy, and wanted to go back to sleep, but the sight of me seemed to be enough to keep her from doing that.

“Hey...”, she said quietly, not meeting my eye. I sighed heavily. This mare was impossible at times, especially in socially awkward situations. I lowered my head until I was on eye level with the pale blue Unicorn that had once been my commanding officer, and kissed the upper end of the scarr that ran across her face.

“Don't you worry. Everything's alright. I just can't stay mad at you for long.”, I whispered. My friend blushed a little, turning her head away from me.

“I always knew you were a filly fooler...”, she replied teasingly. I bopped her on the nose with a hoof, chuckling slightly.

“You know that's not true. But sometimes I can't help but feel like you're more than a friend to me. And now sleep some more. You deserve some more rest. We will keep watch for tonight.”, I stated, flaring out my wings and taking to the air.

What I had said to Frostmane wasn't quite true. I did have relationships with stallions in the past, that was true, but what she didn't know was that there had been one or two mares as well...

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

No Status change.

Firestorm:

Level Up!

New companion: Golden Sunshine (Alicorn mare)