Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 13

Travel

“We're apples to the core!”

~O~Firestorm~O~

I was flying at a low altitude as we left the canyon behind for good. Homage had tried to argue with me, that the Order of Machina Ponies were still a threat, and that we should take them out, but I had put my hoof down. Frostmane still hadn't woken up yet, and Golden Sunshine said that she had most likely suffered magical burnout. She would need some more time to rest. Since her armor was still active, and we had lost the negation Talisman, Golden was teleporting food and water into her stomach in regular intervals. The waste removal Talisman in her armor took care of the rest.

It worried me a bit that I had been unable to locate Star Paladin Raspberry and her group, but there really was nothing I could have done about it. They had deactivated their Pipbuck tags, and were most likely hiding somewhere until we were gone.

“Fine then...”, I thought, watching the Alicorn and Unicorn filly trot along below. Sunshine was carrying Frostmane on her back, along with what was left of our possessions. It wasn't much, but it would keep us from starving for one or two days. If we didn't find anything until then, we were screwed. Of course I knew that we could always hunt, but I didn't know if my two companions would agree with the idea.

I let my gaze drift over the horizon, spotting nothing but a barren wasteland as far as my eye could see. My cybernetic implant was able to detect some movement above the clouds, but they left us alone, and so I smothered the urge to fly up there and give them a piece of my mind. They could wait, but Frostmane needed me right now.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

We had left the canyon behind about an hour ago, when we came to an old road. According to my newly restored Pipbuck map, it was Highway 99 that went from one end of Equestria to the other. The next town, according to my map, was Muzzleton, but I didn't know if it still existed after the apocalypse. But... even if it didn't, we might be able to find something useful there. I swooped down, landing next to the pair of Ponies waiting for me.

“What's the plan now? The Motel I met Frostmane in isn't that far away. Only about an two hours trot to the north east of here.”, Homage said, pointing into the general direction.

“No. We're heading to Muzzleton. If I remember correctly, there was a MoP hospital there, and we sure could use the medical supplies. I'm almost out, and Frostys armor can't be too well off either, considering how many injuries she has suffered lately. Do you know anything about the situation there?”, I explained, looking at Homage and Golden. Golden shook her head, while Homage's eyes widened in terror.

“Do you seriously want to go there? The town is  Raider territory! As soon as we get close to them, they'll mow us down!”, the filly shouted hysterically. I pondered what she had said for a moment. Raiders... The DJ on the radio had talked about them before, mentioning that they thought that Pony entrails made for good decoration. Was I really willing to risk facing an entire town full of them just on the off-chance that we could get the supplies we needed there? Not to mention that our supplies would not last for a round trip. We only had two cakes, which I saved for Frostmane, a can of Pineapples and two packages of military rations. Golden had said that she didn't need to eat or drink, but I wasn't so sure about that, since I had seen her sneak a sip of water earlier...

“If I may suggest something?”, the Alicorn in question asked, bending her neck down to look into my eye. I nodded.

“Raiders are usually not too smart, and most of them can only point a gun into the right direction and pull the trigger. I don't think they are much of a threat to us if we are careful.”, the mare tried to assure me, but Homage pushed her head out of my face with a hoof so I could see her instead.

“It's insane I tell you! Even the Rangers from Trottingham avoid going there, and they are much better armed than we are.”, she said, her eyes shrunken to pinpricks due to her fear. She was, of course, right. Golden Sunshine was a force to be reckoned with, yet I doubted that she alone could take out an entire town, and my own armament was more than lacking. The weapons the Steel Rangers had given me were unfamiliar, and even if I had training using them, there was still the problem of ammunition. I turned to the filly, sighing in defeat.

“So, do you have any other ideas? Any other places we could go except that motel? I don't really like the idea of contracting the same fungus Frostmane did.”, I asked, checking my Pipbucks map for any other pre-war settlements nearby. The only other one would have been Haunchington, which was a suburb of Trottingham, and it would have taken us at least three days to get there. The gray Unicorn filly thought for a moment, before shaking her head.

“There used to be one named “Sewer Town”, near Muzzleton, but I don't know if it still exists. Haven't heard from the place in ages, so I guess it could have been overrun by the Raiders of Muzzleton.”, she said thoughtfully. I was once more amazed at how mature this foal was acting as I thought about it. There was really no other choice than to head to Muzzleton after all. If Sewer Town had been overrun, than it wouldn't have made a difference either way.

“OK, we're heading to Muzzleton after all. If what Golden said is right, it might be enough if we kill a few of them for them to leave us alone. Besides, there really isn't any other option, if we consider our limited supplies.”, I said, looking in the face of a very scared looking filly. Golden just nodded in agreement, accepting my decision without question. I began to stroke Homage with one of my wings.

“Don't worry. If they're more than we can handle, we can always just fly away.”, I said, trying to reassure the filly.

“I can't.”, she deadpanned, earning herself a chuckle from Golden.

“Golden can carry Frostmane, and I'm pretty sure I can carry you, so don't worry. I told you already, I won't let anything happen to you.”

“Are you sure about that? Wouldn't want you to overexert yourself, granny.”, the filly teased, my face becoming beet red.

“I'll have you know that I'm in my best years!”, I replied, raising my muzzle to the heavens. All three of us broke out in laughter only a few seconds later, even though Homages sounded more than forced...

~O~Frostmane~O~

It was a strange sensation. I knew that I was dreaming when I walked through the long halls of the Luna Dream. The ship looked like it had on the first day I had set hoof in it. The gray walls shone, as if somepony had polished them, and the gentle hum of the cloud engines could be heard from down below. The only thing missing, was my crew... No matter where I looked, there was nopony there.

When I was on the bridge, I had tried to check the readings on some of the Terminals, but what I had seen didn't make any sense. The Terminals only displayed rubbish, and didn't seem to work at all, but through the windows of the long room I had seen that the Luna Dream was moving at intercept speed, which meant that the engines shouldn't have been humming gently. They should have been screaming...

The only times we had ever used that kind of power, was when the Zebras had launched a surprise attack, and had brought a few dragons along. When we had to get there fast, in other words. But the ship wasn't even in a state of alarm. Every system I inspected seemed to be in idle mode, as far as I could tell without the Terminal readouts.

“What the heck is going on here?”, I muttered to myself as I decided to go to the observation deck. If I was dreaming anyway, there was no harm in just enjoying the view. However, when the door to said deck slid open, I saw that I wasn't alone after all. A beautiful midnight blue Alicorn mare stood at the far end of the room, looking out at the landscape passing below us. Her sparkling mane and tail flowed out behind her in a non-existent breeze, like they had always done.

“Luna?”, I asked dumbfounded. From what I had heard, the Princesses was dead, killed in the Zebras attack on Canterlot. But... this was a dream. Was I dreaming about her, or was she visiting my dreams like she had so many times before? The feeling of this dream was certainly familiar. She turned around, smiling at me.

“Not quite, my faithful soldier, but close enough. Come, we need to talk.”, she said and suddenly, with a wave of her hoof, a full dining table appeared in the middle of the deck. She sat down on one end, and motioned for me to do the same. I obeyed, as I had done most of the time. When I had taken my seat, she began to talk.

“You look quite surprised to see me. I on the other hoof, have been expecting you.”, she said, taking a sip of wine from a glass that had appeared out of nowhere.

“Ehm... You said you are not “quite” Princess Luna. What did you mean by that?”, I asked hesitantly. The Alicorn at the other end of the table put a hoof to her chin, thinking for a moment.

“How should I explain this to you in a way that you would understand what I am talking about? Mhmm.. Yes, I think that will do.”, she murmured to herself, and suddenly her horn ignited. A glowing ball of magical energy appeared in the air in front of her.

“Let's just say, for the sake of argument, that this is Princess Lunas soul.”, she began, as a tiny bit of light separated from the sphere. “And this...”, she floated up a knife from the table. “...is your armor.”, the light embedded itself in the knife, making it glow faintly.

“Wait... You're a fragment of the Princesses soul?”, I asked, my muzzle hanging open. The “Fragment”, stomped her hooves on the table lightly in applause.

“Impressive. I didn't think you would get it that fast, but yes you are right. Did you never wonder why there was almost nothing that could penetrate your armor? It is because it is a Souljar.”, the mare explained, a pleased expression on her face. My mind was reeling to keep up. My armor had a piece of Princess Lunas SOUL in it? But how? How was such a thing even possible, and why had I not known about this? With a little difficulty, I voiced my question, much to the Alicorns amusement.

“It's quite simple. You have heard that Luna believed that you would never betray her, right? Well that was because I was here to keep watch over you. As long as you have those Talismans in your body, you are literally unable to betray her.”

“So you're CONTROLLING me?”, I asked indignantly.

“Oh, no. Let me rephrase that. You can't betray her, and live. You still have your free will, but one of my tasks was to stop your heart, the moment you turned on her. Don't hold it against her though, she was just being careful. Besides, that wasn't the only reason for me being here. I am also responsible for your safety.”, she replied in a off hoof manner, taking a bite out of her salad.

“But why now? Why do you reveal this to me now?”

“Isn't it obvious? I was ordered of course. Princess Luna may be dead, but her soul is still in this world. She contacted me last night, giving me instructions to pass on to you. The only way I could do that, was if I revealed myself. I'm not one for mind-games after all...”

“Instructions? Still in this world? But why? She should have moved on, or does this have something to do how she... ehm you... argh... how she was created?”, I asked, wrecking my brain to remember what Luna had once told me about her origins.

“No... This time I fear her soul would have moved on, if she had been allowed to, but it is trapped somewhere. Before you ask, no I can't tell you where, and she doesn't want you to come looking for her. She was quite insistent about that part for some reason... No, what she wanted me to tell you was, that she thanks you for your faithful service, and that you are hereby relieved. Go and have a peaceful life somewhere, and try not to get into trouble.”, the Fragment said, taking another sip of wine.

“What? I'm fired? Well... that comes about two hundred years late I fear. Have you even seen the wasteland? There's not much left of what once was Equestria, and it is partially OUR fault. I can't just sit back and enjoy he rest of my life! I have to help the Ponies of the wasteland. It's my duty as an equestrian military officer.”, I barked, not believing what I had just been told. The Alicorn just cocked her head at me.

“Didn't you listen to me? Ignoring the fact that there is no equestrian military anymore, I just relieved you of your duty. You don't have to feel obligated to do anything anymore, you stubborn mare.”

“You know... you don't act like Luna at all. She would have understood that we must take responsibility. If there is anything we can do to help Ponies out there, then we have to do it!”, I shouted. The mare at the other end of the table wiped her muzzle with a napkin before sighing.

“Look... I'm only a Fragment of Lunas soul, but even I can see her reasoning. You are one of the last Ponies left from back then, and she wants you to live a happy life. Let her worry about the Ponies of the wasteland. You have more than fulfilled your duty to her, and the Ponies of Equestria. Heck, most of the ones you knew are dead anyway, so why would you refuse this?” the mare argued, clearly annoyed at my refusal. Something she said however piqued my interest.

“What do you mean, most of them? I know Firestorm is alive, but you don't mean her, do you?”, I asked, narrowing my eyes. With the Princess I would never have dared to act like this, but this wasn't her. Well, not all of her at least.

“You don't want to know this.”

“Oh yes I want!”

“OK, but don't say I didn't warn you.”, she said, igniting her horn. A rectangular illusion manifested in midair over the table. It was like I was looking at a TV that displayed security footage from the Luna Dreams crew stasis area. The walls were lined with pods, each one of them holding one of my subordinates.

“This footage is about thirty years old. I downloaded it from the Luna Dreams mainframe shortly before the ship crashed. Being trapped in a suit of armor that is connected to a Pipbuck with a Broadcaster has it's perks. Watch carefully.”, she said. I watched as one of the pods slid open, the red emergency light at the side of it blinking. It indicated a problem with the pod, and that the emergency release had been triggered to keep the occupant alive. A very familiar Zony mare stepped out of the pods after a few moments. She looked like she had the worst hangover ever, but she seemed to be alright otherwise.

“Jerakal? What the... Why didn't she wake the others? Why didn't she wake me?”

“Because she couldn't. The ship was in lock down, remember? It wasn't for a lack of trying though. She stayed aboard for several weeks, tempering with the ships systems in an attempt to wake all of you up, but to no avail.”, the Alicorn mare explained, and several more images appeared in the air in front of me. They showed Jerakal working on the life support systems of the Luna Dream, while others showed her trying to hack into the mainframe. In one image, she even tried to start one of the Raptors that were parked in hangar eight. All of her attempts failed however.

“Why didn't she just hit the emergency release buttons?”, I asked, looking at the mare I had spent so many enjoyable evenings with scavenge food from the kitchens.

“Not all pods had such buttons, and I doubt that she knew yours had one. They were only installed on the pods of high ranking officers after all. All others... well the mainframe controlled their stasis.”, the mare explained to me, as the images changed once again, showing Jerakal in the deployment area of the ship. She had a defeated expression on her face, and she wore her Power-Armor. The saddleboxes she wore were full of supplies and weapons. Her battle-saddle had been equipped with two M-55 tactical machine guns.

I couldn't blame her for taking everything she would need to survive from the ships storage rooms. I would have done the same after all. Before she stepped into one of the deployment shells, she looked directly at the security camera.

“If you ever see this Frosty... You owe me a drink. I've done all I can, but I just can't stay here. Communications are down, and the ship is in a pitiful state. If you ever wake up, come and find me, Vice-General...”, she said, a tear running down her face as she stepped into the shell and put her helmet on. A moment later, I could see how the shell dropped through a shaft that was directed downwards. A very uncomfortable way of deployment, but the fastest one we had in those days. The images disappeared, and I shot a look at the Alicorn mare.

“So you're saying that she's still alive?”, I asked.

“It is at least possible. She was well provisioned and armed. I doubt anypony could have taken her out easily. According to the logs, the shell was dropped over the Trottingham city center, and the operative inside disembarked safely. That's really all I can tell you.”

My next course of action was set. Thirty years had passed, but I would go to Trottingham. I would go there and look for any evidence of Jerakal. It was the least I could do.

“You're already planning to go there, aren't you?”, the fragment asked, shaking her head.

“Of course. If she is still alive, I have to find her.”, I stated flatly.

“It's been thirty years, Frostmane! Even if she is still alive, I doubt that she would have stayed there. Do you really think that, after all this time, you can find some clues as to where she went? You're even more foalish than I thought you were...”, she spat at me, stomping her hoof on the table so hard that it almost fell over.

“It's called loyalty, you bitch. Jerakal always had my back, no matter what happened. Even when others feared me, she kept me company and made me laugh. I owe her.”, I declared. The mare sighed again.

“As you wish... it's your funeral... I guess I won't have another choice than to help you with this, even though I don't like it one bit. You know what is in Trottingham, don't you?” I nodded.

“Ministry of Awesome secret hub number one-hundred, but what does that have to do with anything?”, I asked confused.

“If your friend is still alive, the surveillance equipment there can help you find her. It's connected to some equestrian spy satellites, and should be able to locate her Pipbuck tag anywhere. If all of that still works that is...”

“Don't worry. Rainbow Dash was pretty adamant when it came to the durability of our equipment.”

“OK then... I guess we're done here. If you manage to get into that secret hub, I can try to access it's systems and find out what you want. And now, I think your friends need you...”, the fragment said, waving a hoof at me. Before I could ask what she meant, the world around me faded to blackness.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I awoke with a start, the wind roaring in my ears as I tried to take in my surroundings. I was being held in place on the back of another Pony, by that Ponies saddlebags, as it flew threw the air, dodging bullets from below. It took me a moment to figure out that I was on Golden Sunshines back. Her white coat and pink mane kind of gave her away.

“What the heeeellllllll....?”, I shouted, as she banked to the left to evade a missile that was aimed at her. For a brief moment, I could see Firestorm a little distance away, having Homage on her back. She tried desperately to keep herself between the bullets and the filly, who wore no armor at all. I looked down, seeing a town I knew from somewhere, but couldn't quite name at that moment.

“Oh, you're awake! Good. Hold on, we're getting out of here!”, Golden shouted over her shoulder, as she angled herself upwards to gain altitude. I could tell that she was trying to get out of range of the Ponies below, but I also knew that she wouldn't make it. With me and the saddlebags on her back, she was too heavy to ascent fast enough. I sighed inwardly, wriggling out from under her saddlebags. All that kept me on Goldens back now, were my hooves around her neck.

“What are you doing?”, she shouted, as a bullet hit my back, pinging off my armor harmlessly.

“Saving your blank flank!”, I shouted back, throwing myself backwards and going into a full dive. I knew my armor would absorb most of the impact, but it would still hurt. I fell past Firestorm and Homage, who both turned their heads towards me in shock. For a moment it looked like Storm wanted to halt her ascent and come after me, but I waved her along with a flick of my tail.

Like I had predicted, the impact hurt! Not as much as I had anticipated, but still enough to make me take in a few sharp breaths as I extracted myself from the rubble of the building I had crashed into. My Broadcaster crackled to life a moment later.

“Frostmane, what the hay?”, Firestorms voice came over the radio. “We were almost out of there!”

“No you weren't. Golden was too slow, and had I not been there, she would have a bullet in her head now. Never forget Storm, that Alicorn does not have the same training as you! So where the hay am I, and where can we meet up?”, I asked, stumbling a little. My body might have been mostly alright, but that didn't mean that a drop from about a hundred feet didn't make me dizzy a little.

“Muzzleton. You're in Muzzleton, a little way away from the towns border. I'll send you a location marker. Meet us there. We'll try to cause a distraction so you can get away.”, Storm said, and my Pipbuck beeped, indicating that it had received a new location marker.

“You will do no such thing! Homage and Golden Sunshine don't have any armor or weapons. Storm, they're basically civilians. You can't drag them into this. By the way, why where they shooting at you anyway?”

“No time to explain. And yes I can do that. Golden is more than capable of handling herself in a fight, and Homage is safe with me. Now get your sorry plot out of there, my “distraction” is about to happen.”, she said, cutting the connection.

“Damn you Storm... and I thought I was the insubordinate one...”, I thought, taking a look out of the door of the building. It was only a small one story house, and my crash had destroyed most of it. The street outside was lit brightly, lanterns hanging from something that had been strung from building to building. On closer inspection, I saw that the lanterns had been made out of rib-cages, and that the stuff they were hanging on were in fact stretched entrails... It almost made me puke as I noticed the stench of the place. This was Muzzleton? What the hay had happened here?

Slowly but surely, I made my way out into the street, keeping a close eye on my EFS for any hostiles in my immediate area. The problem was, that hostiles were about the only thing my EFS showed me. I was surrounded by one solid wall of red.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Muzzleton wasn't that big, and I had managed to sneak past most of the Ponies I saw on the way, when I heard a wooshing sound from above. I looked up, seeing three missiles aimed right at the buildings ahead of me. I suspected that this was Firestorms “distraction”, as I saw three different buildings explode. Some of the red blips that had blocked my path disappeared, and I could only congratulate my friend on her choice of targets. She had cleared a way for me, and distracted these ponies with one attack.

Ten minutes later, I reached the location Storm had sent me, meeting up with Golden Sunshine and Homage. The filly jumped at me, almost knocking me over as I stepped around the corner and into view of her. She was crying, and I could tell that it wasn't because she was glad to see me. She was afraid, which was more than understandable.

“I told them, I told them!”, she cried, while clinging to me like her life depended on it. I stroked her mane with a hoof, trying to console her, while shooting a glare at Golden.

“What's she talking about?”, I asked, not liking the implications.

“She told us that this place was dangerous, but I thought we could take them on. Guess I was wrong. They don't even seem to mind if you shoot a whole bunch of them, they just keep on coming.”, came Storms voice from above shortly before she landed in the middle of our little group.

I sighed, putting a hoof to my face.

“And you thought it was a good idea to ignore the advice from someone who knows this area better than any of us because....?”, I began, asking for a an explanation from my friend. She dug at the ground with her hoof for a moment, not looking at me as she answered.

“Well... you were hurt, and I thought they would leave us alone once they saw we were superior fighters... I mean... I shot about twenty of them in the first five minutes after they opened fire at us, but they just kept coming!”

“Storm... as far as I can see, they have a town full of Ponies on their side. Why would they just leave you alone? They have numbers on their side. All they had needed to do was, to wait until you were out of ammo, and then take you down. It may not be the most intelligent way to fight, but it's certainly efficient.”, I said, pulling the still crying filly into an embrace.

Firestorm slumped down in front of me, looking at the ground.

“I messed up, didn't I?”, she asked, still not looking at me.

“Yes you did. You brought a foal to a place that you knew was dangerous, and you didn't even plan anything for the case that you had to retreat. Just flying away doesn't always work Storm, you know that. What if one of their bullets had hit you in the wing? Homage can't fly, and you would have plummeted to your death...”, I said evenly. I wasn't angry at her at all, since I knew that she had only done what she thought was the right thing. I wasn't a Pony to hold ones mistakes against them, but I expected them to Pony up and take responsibility for them.

“Sorry, Ma'am. I...”, she began, but I cut her off.

“Don't apologize to me. Apologize to them. I understand your reasoning, and had it only been the two of us, I might even have agreed to your plan, but these two...”, I looked at the filly in my hooves, and the Alicorn who was standing behind Storm, shaking her head to indicate that I should cut my friend some slack. I sighed.

“And don't Ma'am me... Alright look, you screwed up. Let's just leave it at that and never talk about this again, OK?”, I asked.

Homage agreed, obviously wanting to forget what had happened while she was holding onto my friends neck. I got the distinct feeling that I had a third shadow now, since, as we started to make our way around the town, the filly stayed close to me. So close in fact, that I almost collided with her once or twice while walking.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“So... you're really not angry with me?”, Firestorm asked, trotting next to me. I sighed. She had asked that exact same question five times by now.

“No I'm not. Look, you are a great flier, and a great commander, but you don't know much about earthbound combat. I had to learn that, and the difficulties of aerial battles, when I took command of the Moon Skulls. I'm sure that, if you had to sit through the same boring lessons I did, you would have made a different decision. I trust you Storm, and now please drop the subject. We have to find a place to spend the night, and I don't want you worrying about this anymore. You know how you get when you don't get enough sleep.”, I said, teasing my friend a little. She was usually an early riser, but whenever she hadn't slept well or enough, she became absolutely useless. It wasn't that she lost her skills or anything, but she was always on the verge of falling asleep whenever that happened.

“OK...”, Storm said quietly, looking over at the filly that trotted along on the other side of me. Homage didn't even look at her. I nudged the filly with a hoof, to show her that she was being impossible. Storm had gotten her out of there without a scratch after all, and she did feel bad about the whole thing. The little gray Unicorn turned her head and looked at me sternly.

“Look, sweetie, Storm's sorry. She didn't mean to endanger you.”, I cooed in my best, reasonable adult voice, but the filly didn't buy it.

“I almost died out there, even though I told them it was dangerous! I hate being ignored.”, the filly huffed, pouting a little.

“I certainly won't ignore you anymore. I've learned my lesson. Never ignore Homage.”, Firestorm chimed in, much to my surprise.

Soon after, Homage was at least talking to Storm again, but she still refused to get closer to her. I suspected that she didn't enjoy the flight, and feared that Storm might toss her onto her back once more.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I took first watch, since I was the one who had slept for over a day, as the others slept on the benches of an abandoned roadside diner we had found. There even were some cans in the back that were still edible, and so our supply situation wasn't as desperate anymore. We would still have to get more when we reached Trottingham.

I hadn't told Storm about Jerakal yet, or my plans to enter secret hub #100. She had never really gotten along with the Zony, but I just had to know what had become of her. After that, I would try to convince my friends to head to Manehatten. I still wanted to see what the city I had grown up in had become...

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

No Status Changes

Firestorm:

Maximum Level!

Golden Sunshine:

No Status Changes

Homage:

New Perk:

Wasteland survivor: You have traveled around the wasteland, and know it like the back of your hoof. Thanks to this, you don't get lost easily.