Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 14

Dreams of the past Part 3

“You know what your task is?”

~O~Firestorm~O~

„What the hay do you mean I can't see her?”, I shouted at the Ministry mare of Awesome, who had just told me that my friend had been retrieved, being the only survivor of her squad. My anger was rising, and had it been anypony else, I might actually have punched her right there and then.

“It's just as I said, Storm. The doctors say that it's a miracle that she's still alive and, as much as I hate to say it, I'm not sure that it's a good thing we got her out of there alive. It might have been a mercy to just put a bullet in her head when we found her.”, Rainbow Dash said, trying to comfort me. We were standing in the lobby of the Hoofington MoP hub, and passing Ponies were already turning to look at us. They quickly averted their gazes when I glared at them though.

“That's even more reason to let me see her! I know her better than any of you think you do! She can't stand being all alone...”, I tried to convince her, but she stood firm. Nopony was allowed to see Frostmane, other than the ministry mares and doctors. For whatever reason, the ministry mare of Arcane Sciences was also there.

“I can understand that you want to see your friend, but I can assure you that it wouldn't do you any good. You'd only suffer from seeing her like this, and I don't think she would want that.”, the lavender mare said, looking downtrodden. I shook my head in disbelief.

“You see this?”, I asked, pointing at the eye I had lost not too far from here. “I lost an eye for that mare! I have a bucking right to see her!”

“Please leave Storm... No matter how much you rant here, I won't let you through, and that decision is final. Please don't make me call security.”, Dash pleaded with me.

“I'd love to see them try, I'll.....”, I started to shout again, when Twilight Sparkle shook her head, exchanging a look with Rainbow Dash, before igniting her horn. Something struck me in the chest, and I could feel myself calm down. My eyelid became heavy as I fought to stay on my hooves. Finally, I fell to my side and the last thing I saw were several Orderlies rushing towards me...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Was that really necessary Twilight? I'm sure I could have made her see reason...”, I heard a voice say in the distance as I began to wake up.

“You saw her Rainbow, and I can't even hold it against her. I think I would act much the same if it was one of you guys...”, another voice replied, sighing.

“Yeah... It's always hardest for those who stay behind. Is there really nothing you can do for her? She's a good Pony. Frostmane doesn't deserve something like this.”

“Sorry Dash, but her injuries are just to grave. That table is all that keeps her alive for now, and it will run out of power in about half a year. Maybe it would be better to let her see her friend, and then take her off it. She would at least have seen a friendly face again, before she died.”, the second voice, which I began to recognize as that of Twilight Sparkle, said sadly. A hoof hit something hard, and I could hear the clattering noises of falling china.

“No way! You've seen her! Heck, I've seen her BEFORE she was all bandaged up. It will haunt me for the rest of my life Twilight. There's no way I'll just let her die like this. There has to be a way!”

“I hate to say it Dash, but I fear there is not. Fluttershy has some ideas, but the technology we would need for that isn't ready for use yet. If the stasis technology was ready, we could put her into suspended animation, until we have found a way to help her. But as it is, that procedure is more than unsafe. It would kill her. The only other alternative would be Project Steelpony, and you know how the last test subject turned out...”, Twilight Sparkle explained, adding, “Or would you put her through that, just to keep her alive?”

“No... Of course not. They had to come up with a painkiller a hundred times stronger than Med-X, just to keep him sane...”, the first voice, Rainbow Dash, sighed in defeat. “Is there really no alternative?”

“I guess not... I've put part of my own ministry to work on that, but you know that it could take years for them to come up with something. She doesn't have that long. All we can do right now is to keep her comfortable, and make sure she doesn't suffer too much.”, Twilight Sparkle said, and I opened my eye.

I lay on a couch in the office of the Ministry Mare of Peace, who didn't seem to be present herself. The two whith whom I had talked in the hubs lobby sat at a small table, drinking coffee. They noticed my wakefulness when I tried to roll to my hooves.

“Take it easy there, Major. The spell I put on you hasn't worn off completely, and I would hate for you to break your neck in attempt to walk out of here.”, Twilight Sparkle said, sipping on her coffee. Rainbow Dash was at my side in an instant, pressing me back down to the couch.

“Easy there Storm. Stay here and rest a bit. Afterward, I want you to return to the barracks. There's nothing you can do here, unless you want Twilight to knock you out again.”, she said, half jokingly. I sighed. There was really nothing I could do as long as that Unicorn mare was there. She would just have put me to sleep again.

“Alright...”, I said, a tear forming in my eye.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I had not returned to the barracks. Instead, I sat in a bar, not too far away from the Hoofington MoP hub. Five empty mugs of strong Apple Cider stood in front of me, and my sixth was almost ready to join them.

“Don't you think you've had enough?”, the bartender asked me, as I chucked down the rest of my mug, and ordered another.

“That's none... of... your business... Just keep... it coming.”, I drawled, hard pressed to keep my head up. Sighing, and knowing that I wouldn't just go away, the buck brought me another mug. I was still trying to process what I had overheard. The ministry mares were doing their best to safe my friend, but hadn't come up with a way to do so yet. I was thankful for their efforts, but it simply infuriated me that they wouldn't let me see her. Dash had said that only the sight of my friend, when she had found her, would haunt her for the rest of her life...

“Just what did those damn striped do to you Frosty?”, I thought, resting my head on the counter for a moment. I was pulled out of my reverie by a hoof nudging me in the side. The unexpected touch startled me, and I whirled around, grabbing the foreleg that hoof was attached to. The stallion looked more than surprised when I twisted his leg, put him on the ground and pressed one of my hindlegs into his back.

“Hey! No fighting in my bar!”, the bartender shouted over the counter at me, and I let the cream colored Unicorn stallion go. I felt dizzy as I stood up, and it was hard to keep my eye focused on the buck. I could make out a red mane and, strangely enough, a mustache of the same color. My vision was too unfocused to see his Cutiemark however.

“It's alright. It was my fault, dear sir.”, the stallion called over to the bartender, who decided that there wasn't going to be a fight after all.

“Who...*hick* who are you, and what... do you want?”, I drawled, trying to hold on to one of the chairs to keep the world from spinning.

“Ah... what a splendid question, young mare. Let's just say, I'm a friend who just so happens to have heard your argument with two particular ministry mares earlier. I might be able to help, if you tell me what that was all about.”

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I woke up to the smell of vomit, sweat and... something else. My head was pounding in what had to be the worst hangover ever, as I slowly opened my eye. My lower body felt... weird. A feeling I knew, but couldn't quite place just then.

I lay in a bed, a puddle of vomit next to it. The morning sun shone through the only window of the room, burning into my skull like a lance of fire. Turning over to my other side, I rolled out of the bed and away from the puddle of filth. Just staying upright was hard to manage, due to the nausea that hit me as soon as I was standing.

I looked around again. Where the hay way I? My dark purple Uniform jacket lay on the floor a little ways away from the bed, looking as if it had been ripped off me in a hurry. Smacking my lips a bit, I began looking for something to drink. There was a terrible taste in my mouth, and I wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible.

In the end, I had to take a drink of water from the faucet in the bathroom, since there wasn't anything else here. Looking into the mirror over the sink, gave me a start. My long mane and tail were in complete disarray, and there was something on my face. It wasn't hard to spot, for the white substance was a stark contrast to my black coat.

Even through my hangover, I suddenly realized what that substance, the taste in my mouth and the feeling in my nether regions meant. I had sex. A lot of it by the looks of it. But... with whom? I wrecked my brain for anything, but the last thing I remembered was that cream colored stallion, buying me one drink after another. Did he take advantage of me? Taking another look at my reflection, I decided that it was most likely the case. The bastard had really messed me up good, and didn't even stay for breakfast...

I didn't like it that I didn't remember anything about last night, but there were other things on my mind right then. Rainbow Dash had told me to return to the barracks, but here I was, a total mess and definitely late for my next shift. Taking a shower, I tried to make myself as presentable as possible, before heading back to the barracks.

On my way there, a few things kept bugging me. Who the hay had that stallion been? What had he wanted with me, and what the hay had ridden me to let him take advantage of me?

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“There you are, Storm! About time too. I had Cloudchaser take your shift for today. Oh dear Celestia, you look like shit. What happened? Got in a fight or something?”, my commanding officer asked me, as I walked into the barracks. His loud voice didn't do anything for my hangover, and so I just waved a wing at him to indicate that he was too loud for my taste. He immediately caught on, and began shouting at me in his best drill Sergeant voice.

“Hangover, huh? Ha! Always knew you couldn't hold your liquor! So you think you'll be ready for duty anytime soon, or shall I get a body bag?” I turned towards him, annoyance flaring up inside me. Had it not been the ministry of awesome, such behavior could have earned me a month in the brig. As it was however, I knew he was only worried about me. What he didn't know was, that I was aiming for his job, and had been practicing my own shouting for some time now.

“Just shut the hay up, Swift Breeze! I'm hung over, and have no idea what happened to me in the last few hours. All I want now, is to get a few hours of sleep. AND NOW GIVE ME TWENTY!”, I shouted back and, much to my satisfaction, the stallion actually dropped to the ground and began doing wing push ups. He had already reached fifteen, before realizing what he was doing.

Swift left me alone for the rest of the day, rescheduling my shifts after I had told him about Frostmane, and what I had overheard. The old stallion might have been a hard nut, but he understood that I was hurting inside...

~O~Two months~O~

I was in our barracks gym, pushing weights with my wings, as the door slid open and a familiar prismatic maned mare stepped in. There was nopony else there.

“Firestorm, I need to talk to you.”, Rainbow Dash said in a low voice. After what I had overheard the other day, I was pretty sure what this was all about. Frostmane had died. Putting away the weights, I stood up from the bench. It wasn't my usual exercise, so my wings were hurting a little as I greeted the other mare with a quick salute and a tear in my eye.

“She's dead, isn't she?”, I asked, my voice breaking. To my surprise, Dash shook her head.

“We don't know. Yesterday evening, when the nurse wanted to change her bandages, she was simply gone. We have already searched everywhere, but couldn't find her. It's unlikely that she left on her own accord, but just in case, I wanted to ask if you knew of any place she might use to hide.”, Dash asked, looking tried.

“Gone? How can she be gone? You told me that she was in such a bad state that she was barely alive!”, I shouted at her, tears flowing freely from my eye now.

“She was and, as I said, it's unlikely that she left on her own. I say this because somepony deleted all the security footage for the time between three and five in the afternoon. Somepony took her, but we have no idea who. Any thoughts about that?”, Dash asked, but I couldn't think of anything...

~O~Three weeks later~O~

“Your highness!”, I exclaimed as Princess Luna herself came trotting into my room. I had been laying on my back, reading a book to take my mind off Frostmanes disappearance. I had been out all day, looking for her, but we hadn't found a trace.... again. When I saw the Princess however, I had jumped up, and stood at attention.

“At ease. I'm not here on official business today.”, the Princess replied, looking around my room. I had decorated it with pictures of Frostmane and me, a few Wonderbolts posters thrown in here and there. A picture of my parents stood on my nightstand.

“Ehm... Your highness... may I ask you a question?” The Princess nodded in agreement. “Some time ago, one of my friends went missing, and I was wondering if... well... if you knew anything that we have been unable to find out?”, I asked, not hoping for an answer. I got one, but not from the Princess. A voice came from the corridor, and out of sight. I would have recognized that voice anywhere.

“If... if you really want to know...”, the voice said shyly. Princess Luna stepped aside, and I rushed outside, tackling the first Pony to the ground that I saw. But...

“Who are you?”, I asked, dumbfounded, looking into the blue eyes of a light blue Unicorn mare, that was now lying on her back.

“Hey Storm, missed me?”, the mare chuckled nervously. My brain just stopped working at that moment, as I tried to figure out what the buck was going on.

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

No status changes

Firestorm:

No status changes

Golden Sunshine:

No status changes

Homage:

No status changes