Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 16

Defeat

“I hate loosing...”

~O~Frostmane~O~

Two armored Ponies threw me into a dark room. I slid across the floor for a few feet, groaning in pain slightly as the bandages around my body shifted. Just before the two of them closed the door, I raised my right hoof in front of my face. The bandage around it was already soaked in my own blood.

I tried to get up, but my missing left leg threw me off balance, causing me to fall face first to the ground once more. I felt weak. Whatever these... these things had done to me, I couldn't feel that darkness inside of me anymore. It was a good thing, but the price I had to pay was much too high. Not to mention that I hadn't asked for this.

“OK, standing doesn't work... Maybe some magic?”, I thought, trying to ignite my horn to cast a light spell. A spike of pain ran through my horn and into my brain at the attempt. My magic was completely drained for now it seemed... So I lay there, pondering what I could do to get away from here in my current state. No armor. No weapons and no magic... My future didn't look too bright as I lay there in the darkness...

~O~Firestorm~O~

I stretched my limbs out on the couch as I woke up, looking around the living room. Everything seemed to be the way it was before. Only one thing was missing. The armchair, on which Frostmane had wanted to sleep, was empty. I sighed.

“Couldn't even wait until morning, could you?”, I mused, trotting into the kitchen to look for leftovers from yesterdays feast. I knew a mare my age had to watch her diet even more closely, but that Cabbage stew had been just too good to resist.

“Morning...”, a very tired looking Homage yawned, as she came into the kitchen as well. The fillies sugar rush had finally worn off, and she was now suffering from the equivalent of a hangover.

“Good morning you little sweet tooth. So, how are you feeling?”, I asked the groggy filly as I put the pot with the stew onto the oven to heat it up. She looked at me, her eyes narrowing.

“Worse than Frostmane when she was foalish enough to rest in a pile of fungi.”, she snarked, sitting down at the table. The filly had to support her head with her forelegs, as to prevent it from falling onto the metal surface of the table. I chuckled.

“Let that be a lesson for you. You should really watch the sugar, and the alcohol when you are a little older. So, where's Golden? Is she still asleep?”

“Yeah... That mare, I tell you... Next time I sleep with you or Frostmane. She's so big that I almost fell out of bed several times, and once she actually knocked me out by flaring her wings out in her sleep.”, Homage grumbled, eying the pot of stew longingly.

“Well, she's an Alicorn after all. Of course she's big. But you knew that beforehoof, little one.”

“I did, but heck... I didn't expect this...”

“By the way...”, I began, turning around to the filly, “... how did you heal Frostmane from that fungus anyways? It could be useful information to have if any of us ever got it again.”

“Simple. That stuff reacts badly to hormones of any kind. When you got it, all of your muscles will slowly go stiff, and you will have a high fever. So, what I did, was give her one massage after another, to loosen her muscles again. A little stroking also does wonders, since it usually makes Ponies happy.”, she explained, as the smell of Frostmanes cooking began to fill the kitchen, before she added, “Well... you of course could have done much more effective things to her...”

“And what do you mean by that?”, I asked sharply, already having a very good idea of what she meant.

“Well... You love her, right? And well... my dad always said that what two Ponies who love each other can do, was the fastest cure for such an infestation.”, she said, blushing slightly.

I got the distinct feeling that, if I had met the stallion, I might have bucked him upside the head for telling his daughter something like this. It was simply indecent, for Celestias sake! Turning around to the pot again, to hide my own blush, I began to stir the stew to keep it from burning. I wasn't nearly as good as my friend was at cooking, but there wasn't much I could do wrong if I just heated the stuff up again, right?

“You're right... I have feelings for her, but please don't tell her. She's not against homosexual relationships, but she made it very clear to me that she was straight once.”, I said quietly. The filly just wanted to reply to me, when the doorbell rang.

“Watch the stew for a moment, would you?”, I told Homage, as I trotted towards the door. Shut Up was already there, standing by in case there was any danger. The little metal ball was certainly fast, I had to give him that. A stallion in military police barding greeted me as I opened the apartments front door.

“Yes?”, I inquired, feeling a little uneasy.

“Excuse me, but are you Vice-General Frostmane?”

“Ehm, no. My commanding officer is out at the moment. I'm Major Firestorm. Is there a problem officer?”, I asked, motioning for the cream colored Pegasus stallion to come in. His posture and overall behavior told me a lot already. Something was wrong, and he didn't know what to do about it. I led him into the kitchen, hurrying over to the pot of stew that was slowly bubbling over, Homage having fallen asleep with her face on the table.

“So what is the matter, ehm... Sergeant Bitter Bite?”, I asked, stirring the stew once more after checking his name tag. It was almost ready for consumption. The buck sat down in a chair next to Homage, before addressing me once more.

“We have received reports that the chapter the order of Machina has in Trottingham has increased their activity since yesterday. In addition to that, secondary commander Jerakal has gone missing. The last thing we know is, that she wanted to come here to see the Vice-General.”, he informed me, and I froze mid stir. It wasn't the fact that these Ponies had known where Jerakal was, and we had simply forgotten to ask anypony, or even the fact that this crazy mare had made it to the position of secondary commander.

“The Order has a chapter here?”, I asked in disbelief. Sergeant Bitter flinched a little at my tone.

“Ehm... yes. We are quite aware that there have been... tensions between you and them. They have formed a separate faction of the Steel Rangers about thirty years ago. According to military regulations, they are free to do that, so our Commander is unable to do anything about it. We know that they are potentially dangerous, but as long as they abide by the laws of this city, we tolerate them. Now however, it looks like they have chosen to act up. The secondary Commander and their Elder have always been at odds with one another, as far as I know, so her disappearance is most troubling.”, he explained to me, throwing a look over at the sleeping filly.

“And you didn't think this was important information to have? Why didn't you inform us earlier?”, I asked harshly, “They were after our heads back in the canyon, and I don't think they'll just back down now. Have you tried to locate Frostmane? You should have her Pipbuck tag after all.” The Sergeant blushed slightly in embarrassment.

“At first we thought the guard at the gate was trying to pull our tails when he reported your arrival. I mean... you don't look like a ghoul, or as if you were over two hundred years old. Took us some time to confirm your identities.... And yes, we have tried to locate her, but with no result. She seems to have deactivated her Pipbuck tag. But some Ponies saw her going towards district 12-F last night, so I have some of my Ponies look for her there at the moment. I had just hoped she had returned here by now.”, he sighed, taking off his helmet and revealing his short orange mane.

“12-F? That's not where she wanted to go!. 66-G would have been her destination if she had really gone to the secret hub.”, I thought, taking the pot from the oven, and setting it down on the counter. Just as I wanted to tell the stallion that, his broadcaster crackled to life. I listened to his side of the conversation, and I didn't like the look on his face as he turned his attention to me again.

“Any news?”, I asked. The buck nodded his head grimly.

“We've found her Pipbuck... and her left foreleg...”, he informed me. I had been standing with my rump to the counter as he said this, and as soon as my brain registered what he had said, I slumped to my haunches. Tears began to form in my eye, as my legs refused to support my weight any longer. The Sergeant was at my side in the blink of an eye, putting a hoof on my shoulder.

For almost ten minutes all I could do, was stare blankly into the distance, not noticing Homage and Golden who both tried to calm me down. When I had finally collected myself enough to speak again, I turned towards the MP officer.

“Bring me to your leader.”, I said, murder in my voice as tears flowed freely from my one organic eye...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Several of the guardsponies in the high command building tried to stop my advance, but soon were nothing else than knocked out heaps on the floor, as I stomped towards the Commanders office. His secretary put herself between me and the door, but the young Unicorn mare was no match for me. My tail flashed forward, embedding itself in the wooden door next to the mares head.

“Step aside.”, I threatened coldly, as I noticed a dark patch appear on the lower part of the mares Uniform. She did as I said, and I pulled my tail out of the door. Before I could storm inside however, it was opened from the other side. The slightly rotted looking face of a ginger Unicorn stallion eying the damage to the door reproachfully appeared in the door frame. My muzzle fell open as I recognized him.

“You know Major Firestorm, you could have just called. I wanted to talk to you anyways. There was no need to put a hole in my door.”, Gingerbread rasped as he turned to me.

“G...Ginger? But.. how? And what the buck happened to you? You look like a corpse!”, I exclaimed, momentarily forgetting why I was there. My fellow Moon Skull chuckled dryly, stepping aside and motioning with one of his hooves for me to come inside. As soon as the door had closed behind us, he sat down behind his desk and looked at me sternly.

“Did you really think you two were the only ones who escaped the Luna Dream? Over the last 187 years, about a hundred of us have escaped. And as for what happened to me... well... it's a long story. But to keep it simple, you are quite right. I'm a walking corpse. When I escaped, only two weeks had passed since the mega-spells had dropped, and I had the misfortune to land where Haunchington once was. The radiation turned me into what you see in front of you now. But I guess that's not why you're here, is it?”, he asked, his voice sounding dry and unpleasant.

“No. We can catch up later. Right now, I'm concerned about Frostmane. Any new leads on her whereabouts?”, I blurted out, but my comrade just shook his head.

“I fear not. I know that a patrol has found her leg on the edge of district 99-H, but there wasn't much blood present. The leg was deposited there. No sign of her body has been found yet, and there's always the matter of Jerakals disappearance. Right now, I have every available soldier looking for the two, but if Gear Turn has something to do with this, then I doubt we'll find a body.”

“Gear has escaped too?”, I asked, remembering the crazy Pegasus mare. At some point during the war, she had willingly cut off her wings to replace them with cybernetic chainsaw arms. Even the more violent members of the Moon Skulls had always kept their distance from her.

“Yes she has... Escaped shortly before Jerakal did. Damn, I can't begin to explain how much of a fuss these two have made since they got here. Especially Gear. She's the one who formed the Order of Machina, claiming that it is technology that will save the wasteland, and not hard work.”, Gingerbread explained, tapping a few keys on his Terminal. I couldn't see what he was doing, but I suspected that it had something to do with the search for my friend.

“So, what are you doing then? The Order has a grudge against Frosty, ever since she took out four of their Rangers in Horseshoe, and Gear has always disliked her. If you suspect that they have something to do with it, then go and search their place!”, I demanded, earning myself a shake of the head from Ginger.

“What do you think my Ponies are doing right now? They're conducting a search in all of the buildings associated with the Order, but so far nothing has come up that would suggest that they had anything to do with it. Right now, it's just a gut feeling I have.”

“Have you combed district 12-F yet?”, I asked, and my comrade nodded.

“Of course we have. We found signs of a short battle there, but no clue as to where the participants went afterward. Some crates in one of the storehouses were destroyed, and we found blood. One of my Ponies even found this...”, he said, pulling out a small plastic evidence bag from his desk. In it, was my Shadowbolt Insignia. I could tell that he knew it was mine by the look on his face.

“That's... that's my Insignia...”, I stammered, stepping forward to take it from him, but the Unicorn swiftly floated it out of my reach.

“Sorry, but I can't return it to you right now. It's evidence. Where did you see this Insignia last?”

“I gave it to a Steel Ranger stallion whom I sent for Frostmane, back when we were in the canyon area. He was to show it to her as proof that I had sent him, but he never met up with her. Up to now, I had suspected that he had simply been killed on the way.”, I explained.

“Well... He was most likely an Order spy or something. They've tried, for some time now, to get into a Ministry of Awesome facility under the city, but all the Insignias they found failed to work. I figured that this was because they tried the silver ones regular soldiers wore. Yours however, is one of the golden officer ones. Would it work?”

“Yes. This Insignia identifies me as a high ranking officer inside the MoA. Any door in a ministry hub would open at my approach, and all automated defenses would deactivate as long as I wore it.”, I said, and Gingers eyes narrowed.

“Then let's hope they haven't used it yet. I don't know what the MoA did here in Trottingham, but I was quite surprised when I read their files some time ago. Looks like that ministry wasn't as useless after all...”, he mused, looking over at his Terminal once again.

“So... what now? I want to help any way I can! I just know Frostmane wouldn't die so easily. She's most likely just injured.”, I said.

“With that special armor of hers, even that is a miracle. No Storm. You have to face the possibility that she's dead. Whoever was able to get through that armor of hers, would surely be able to kill her too.”, the rotting stallion said, adding, “And no, I don't want your help. Go back to Frostmanes apartment and await further instructions. I'll sent a few Mps over to ensure your safety, and to make sure you don't do anything stupid.”

“But...”, I protested, but Gingerbread cut me off.

“No buts. You're emotional about her, and I can understand that, but I can't use you in this operation.” I turned to the door to leave, as he called after me. “Oh and Storm... Please don't rough my Ponies up too much...”

~O~Frostmane~O~

The door to my little prison opened, light filtering in. I had to close my eyes due to the pain in my head as I heard hoofsteps approach me. They were light, but there was another sound as well. The low buzzing of a saw...

“Come to finish me off, have you Gear?”, I rasped, my muzzle as dry as sand. My body still refused to obey me, so all I could do was lay there.

“Not really. I just wanted to let you know that my Unicorns have started their work on your armor. Pretty interesting piece of arcano tech you had in your body there. As soon as they find out what makes it tick, the Order of Machina can finally rise from the shadows.”, my former subordinate purred.

“You'll never figure all of it out. Princess Luna herself was involved in it's creation.”, I replied weakly. My throat burned, but I refused to show her in how much pain I was.

“Oh, and I think that's where you are mistaken. We've already managed to activate it. Quite impressive really. Even though it's not in you anymore, it still takes your shape.”

“That's because it's a custom job you idiot. Put it in another Pony, and that Pony will die.”

I began to cough hard as my body tried to get some moisture into my throat. Gear Turn snorted in disgust as something cool was pressed against my half open muzzle. Water began to flow down my burning throat, and even though I knew it was a bad idea to drink something an enemy gave you, I couldn't help myself.

“I don't want you to die Frostmane. If I had, it would have been your head instead of your leg. No, you are too precious. A well trained fighter, and brilliant tactician. Come on. If you join the Order, we can conquer the Wasteland together. That's the only way to make Equestria whole again. We have to unite it under one flag.”, she tried to bait me, but I didn't bite. I chuckled instead.

“I don't think your masters would be very pleased with you making that offer. They didn't seem to like me very much.”

“You'd be surprised. They were quite impressed with your performance as well. They think you could be a great asset to us, even though there is something in you that they don't seem to understand.”, she said. I remembered the three mares that had drained the darkness from me. They certainly were no ordinary Earthponies. Their singing had made my darkness leave me, along with most of my magic.

~O~The night before~O~

Upon stepping into district 12-F, I noticed something strange. There were no Ponies patrolling the dark streets. No sign of any MP officer anywhere. I also felt as if I was being watched from the shadows. 12-F was a district full of warehouses, so it should have been protected around the clock.

I trotted through the dark streets, my helmet lamp illuminating the dark corners I passed. Nothing. No Pony seemed to be here at all. Then, I heard singing from one of the warehouses and decided to investigate. My magical senses acted up as soon as I approached the building. Something was wrong here. I could sense dark magic in the air...

When I entered the building, I saw three Earthpony mares, lost in their song and not acknowledging my presence. A green mist covered the entire floor of the warehouse, and my EFS just winked out as soon as I came into contact with it.

“What the...”, I cursed, but was interrupted by something hitting my face from the right. It threw me off balance, making me stumble for a moment. The humming sound of two small engines came to life, and I was hit once again before I could right myself.

“What the hay is going on?”, I thought, as I struggled to get a glimpse of my attacker. My body felt sluggish all of a sudden, and I began to feel weak. Then, I saw her. She brought both of her chainsaws to bear on me, swinging them in an upward angle to cut me to pieces.

I was confident in my armors ability to protect me however, and so I raised my left foreleg to block the blow. Pain shot through my shoulder as the twin chainsaws cut right through my armor, separating my leg and Pipbuck from my body. I screamed in pain.

“Not so tough anymore when your armor doesn't protect you, are you... Vice-General?”, Gear Turn chuckled, her magenta eyes fixated on me. Her separating my Pipbuck from my body was a bad thing, since I was now unable to order my armor to apply first aid or inject me with a dose of Med-X.

The Starmetal that had formed the armor around my separated foreleg liquified, and flowed back to me, sealing the wound I had received. I could only imagine that it was Lunas soul fragment acting up to help me as best as it could.

Another blow came my way, and I rolled to the left to avoid being cut once more.

“Why Gear? Why are you attacking me? You're a Moon Skull! You even still wear our Insignia on your flank!”, I pressed forth between grit teeth. My armor might have stopped the bleeding, but the pain was still immense.

“You were always too softhearted to lead a Unit like the Moon Skulls! It should have been ME! But now, I have a chance to unite Equestria once again, and I don't want to risk you standing in my way.”, she replied, lunging at me once more. I reared up, hard pressed to keep my balance as I hit the side of her chainsaw with my right hoof to knock it off course. She stumbled a bit, but was much faster to right herself again than I had been earlier.

“Damn it! What's wrong with me? How can she cut through my armor?”, I thought, as Gear came towards me again. My balance was way off, due to my missing leg, but I still managed to twist my body enough to make her miss me. As I fell to the ground, back first, I flicked my armored tail at her face. It hit it's mark, and knocked the other mare back a step.

“Still have some fight in you?”, she mused, not missing a beat as she charged at me a third time. I was in a pinch here, so all I could do was roll on the floor, evading the strikes of her chainsaws. She didn't give me a moment to collect myself, and my escape brought me ever closer to the three singing mares. I noticed that they were smiling wickedly at my approach...

“They must be what makes me so dizzy!”, I concluded, kicking out with my rear hooves. One of them knocked the weapon aimed at my belly off course, while the other one struck Gear Turn in the face head on. She cried out in pain as she landed on her back, a few feet away from me.

I in turn stumbled to my hooves, making my way towards the three mares. I never reached them. As soon as I was only a few paces away, my heart began to pound. An urge to kill and torture rose in me, and I recognized the symptoms. My other self was about to break free. I did my best to restrain it, but it was too strong, and the fight had worn me down too much. Not to mention whatever it was these mares were doing to me.

To my surprise, my body didn't change at all, and I stayed in control of my actions. Instead, the green mist on the floor suddenly turned pitch black, and disappeared into the necklaces the three wore. Their eyes changed to those bottomless black pits I had seen so many times, and I began to shiver. Suddenly all of my energy was gone as my three remaining legs simply gave out from under me. Something was pressed against my horn from behind , and I could feel how my armor retracted against my will. Looking up, I saw that Gear Turn stand over me, pressing a Talisman that was embedded into one of her Chainsaws to my horn.

“Check mate, Vice-General.”, she said in a mocking tone, before knocking me out.

~O~Firestorm~O~

It had already been two days since Frostmane had disappeared, and there was still no sign of her. Ginger had come by earlier to inform me of the situation. His Ponies had been unable to find anything while searching the Order of Machinas facilities. At least nothing illegal or related to this incident.

“Do you think she's going to be alright?”, I heard Homage ask Golden, as I lay on the sofa, holding Frostys Pipbuck in my hooves. Ginger had his Ponies dissolve the remains of my friends leg, so they could get at the device, but it didn't seem to work anymore. The screen was blank, and it didn't react to anything.

“I honestly don't know. The two of them have known each other for over twenty years. There's no telling if she will get over it.”, Golden replied. I could feel the Alicorns gaze on my back, but I didn't turn around to return it. Right now, several feelings fought for dominance in my chest. Loss, sorrow... anger... Gingerbread had posted ten officers here. Two in front of the door and eight around the building. They were here to keep us “safe”, but I knew he just didn't want me to run around and interrogate Ponies.

“So... What now? I'm worried about Frostmane too, but we can't help her if we just sit on our plots all the time.”, the filly argued, the tears evident in her voice.

“We'll just have to trust the General. He seems like a capable stallion. But I understand your sentiment. I'd prefer to be out there looking for her as well. All this waiting is frustrating.”

I stopped listening to them. Just what had happened? Frostmane had once jumped into the open maw of a dragon, and the beast had been the one to die, not her. She only had a few bruises and burns, so what the hay had been able to cut off her leg? Especially if her armor was formed.

Something that could penetrate her armor... It hit me like a mega-spell as I realized how somepony had been able to hurt her.

“The Talisman!”, I exclaimed, and both of my friends looked over to me.

“What Talisman?”, Golden inquired.

“The negation Talisman! The Zebras in Princess Lunas old school gave me one of those. It was able to negate Frostys armor! It's the only way I can think of how somepony could do this.”, I explained, waving the Pipbuck in front of me.

“But... if you had it...”, Homage began, “... then how could they have gotten their hooves on it?”

That made me think again. The Talisman had been taken by Star Paladin Raspberry and her Ponies... She had said that she didn't belong to the Order of Machina, but had I actually seen any proof of that? I wrecked my brain, and came to the conclusion that I had been tricked. A clever trick too... All the puzzle pieces suddenly snapped into place in my head, and my ears drooped.

The mare had claimed not to belong to the order, but what if she had just been sent out to look for us? Maybe make us fight the Alicorns that were threatening their chapter in the canyon? And then she discovered that Talisman among my belongings. No doubt she knew what it was, and brought it back to their headquarters in Trottingham. But... then there was also the possibility that she was, as Ginger had suggested the other day, a spy for the Order, operating in the ranks of the Steel Rangers... It was at least a chance. I knew her name, and I had her Pipbuck tag. Without a second thought, I called Gingerbread to relay that information to him.

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

Maximum Level!

Firestorm:

Maximum Level!

Golden Sunshine:

No Status Changes

Homage:

No Status Changes