Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 19

Grief

“If the empire is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Equestria. If hatred and fear take hold... ”

~O~Firestorm~O~

“Ginger, step aside. I'm going in there, if you like it or not!”, I said, attempting to just step around the red ghoul. He caught me in his magic however, and set me down in front of him again.

“I can't do that, and you know it Firestorm. She doesn't want to see anypony, not even you. Especially not you.”, he replied, sighing.

I stomped my hoof in frustration. This felt too much like when Frostmane had been in the MoP hospital in Hoofington, fighting for her very life. Unless I wanted to start a fight however, there was nothing I could do. I had left my armor behind in my apartment, and I wasn't confident enough to fight my comrade without it.

“OK, I'll leave... But I'll be back tomorrow.”, I told him, sticking my head past Gingerbread and shouting towards the door to the ICU, “I'll be back tomorrow! This jackass won't let me through today. Hope you're well!”, before turning on the spot and trotting away.

~O~Frostmane~O~

“I'll be back tomorrow! This jackass won't let me through today. Hope you're well!”, I heard Firestorms voice from the hall. I pulled the blanket over me further, since I suddenly began to shiver, and I didn't want anypony to see me like this. The sound of the door opening and closing came from behind me, and I could hear Gingerbread come trotting towards me. He sighed as he saw that I had, once again, encased myself in a full body blanket cocoon.

“Frostmane... this can't go on like this. It's been a week and you're scheduled to be released tomorrow.”, he said, sighing heavily.

“I tried to kill her Gingerbread, and I almost did it too. How can I face her?”, I sobbed quietly. Gingerbread sat down on the edge of my bed, putting a hoof on my right shoulder. They had removed the cybernetic leg and shoulder joint the Order had given me, and I was scheduled to get new ones this afternoon.

“You tried, Frostmane, but you didn't succeed. Staying away from her is only going to hurt the both of you. Besides, I'm not your subordinate anymore. I could just order you to see her, Vice-General.”, he rasped, squeezing my shoulder gently.

“Try, and I'll just quit the military.”, I replied. The ghoul sighed once more. It was a strange sound, since he didn't really need to breathe anymore.

“Don't make this harder on you than it has to be. Firestorm isn't blaming you for anything that happened. Well, maybe for running off alone, but that's about it. She's come here every day since she was released herself. Don't you think you should at least hear her out?”

I stayed silent for a moment at that. The events of that fight with Firestorm were still very fresh in my mind. Each time I remembered raising my hoof to end her life, and the feeling of joy that had rushed through me at that, I felt disgusted with myself. Violated even.

“She really likes you, you know.”, Gingerbread spoke up again, and I finally turned around to look at him. His dead looking eyes were staring out of the window, and he had a sad smile on his muzzle.

“What do you mean by that? We're friends, of course she likes me.”, I deadpanned, much to the stallions amusement.

“You really are one dense mare Frostmane.”, he said, shaking his head while chuckling to himself.

“If you are insinuating that she has taken a fancy to me, then I think you should think again. I've met her coltfriends, you know. Firestorm's straight, and so am I.”

“Are you sure about that? I've known you for a little over two years before all of this happened, and I've never seen you hang out with any other Pony then Jerakal.”

“I was your commanding officer, Ginger. Besides, it's not like any of you really wanted to hang out with me. Every time I came to one of Jerakals parties, you guys gave me a wide berth.”, I said, pouting a little. And again with the sighing...

“That was because you always looked as if you were evaluating us and our performance. Even when you were enjoying yourself, you never lost that “I'm your Commander” look.”, he explained, looking away from me again.

“Well... Jerakal didn't seem to mind that very much.”

“That's because she enjoys your company. Believe it or not, but she was almost as fierce as Firestorm when it came to standing up for you. It was rarely needed, but I've seen her beat the shit out of a recruit or two who had insulted you.”, he said, smiling again.

“That's news to me. I always thought you guys didn't really like me, which brings one question to mind. Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?”, I asked, remembering how he had always been the first one to call me names back in the day.

“It's because I respect you, Frostmane. At first, I really hated you. I'd been a captain before joining the Moon Skulls, and suddenly I was a lowly Private again. But then... Frostmane, you got us through so many battles, and never risked the life of a soldier, even if it would have meant an advantage for us. Each time one of us didn't return from one of our missions, you shut yourself up on the observation deck, and nopony was allowed to disturb you. Did you really think we didn't notice this? Some, like Gear, never lost their grudges towards you, but even she trusted you to get her through our next battle alive. I think, shortly before we were iced, every one of us would have followed you into Tartarus itself, had you asked us to do it.”

“But... why? You guys certainly never showed it.”, I said, blushing a little. Of course what he had said was true. I had mourned each and every one of my Ponies who had died, going so far as to write personal letters to each and every ones family. In my eyes, it was the least I could do.

“Because we trusted you, Vice-General. No matter how bad a fight got, you always stayed level headed. If you ordered a group to fall back, even though their position seemed to be a good one, they did so without question. If you told them to advance, even though it looked like they were in an exposed position, they advanced. We weren't blindly following orders because you were our CO. We had seen, in countless battles, that you knew what you were doing, and that you weren't willing to risk our lives. That is what put you apart from regular officers. Jerakal saw that, and approached you.”, he explained, turning towards me once more before adding, “And we all were thankful for it, since we all knew that you needed a friend.”

I was dumbfounded by that. Had they really watched me that closely?

“I don't understand... I always thought Jerakal only wanted me to look the other way, while she smuggled Whisky onto the ship.”, I said, and Gingerbread snorted.

“It was an additional benefit for her that you did, but mostly Jerakal just enjoyed being with you. Well... and to mess with you at times. Seriously, if I didn't know better, I'd say she was trying to hit on you.”

“She did hit on me... more than once. Or at least she tried, but I'm not into mares!”, I exclaimed.

“As I said before, Vice-General, are you sure about that? Have you ever been with a stallion or a mare for that matter?”, he asked, turning all serious all of a sudden. I shook my head, not counting my father. He looked a little shocked at that, but continued anyway, “Then you can't be sure. Besides... you're... what... thirty-eight? Thirty-nine? Where you waiting for the right Pony to come along, or is there more to this?”

“I... I don't think this is any of your business, General.”, I said, blushing something fierce.

“So something else then, huh?”, he sighed, “You know... if it is what I think it is, then I think it's best it's been almost two hundred years. Otherwise I'd send out a squad of Ponies to liquidate the fucker.”, he stated, and my ears perked up. The only Ponies I had ever told about what my father had done to me, had been my doctor, Firestorm and Jerakal. Had Jerakal told him?

“Oh don't look so shocked Frostmane. There aren't many crimes in this city now, but when I arrived, this was one lawless shit hole. I've seen my fair share of raped mares in my time and, believe me, I wasn't kind to the culprits. By the law of this city, rape is punishable by hanging.” My ears drooped, and I sighed. Since he had already guessed, I began to explain my foalhood to him. I had to stop a few times, to collect myself, and I could see that Gingerbread' expression was growing ever darker with each word I said, but after about half an hour, he knew all of it.

“So what you're saying is that, thanks to that plothole of a father, you can't have kids?”, he asked, and I nodded, tears in my eyes. “And that's why you haven't been with anypony?”, I nodded again.

“It's not like I never wanted to, but each time I thought about a stallion that way... all those memories...”, I sobbed, and Gingerbread put a hoof on mine, squeezing it gently.

“I meant what I said earlier Frostmane. Firestorm isn't just a good friend to you. That mare adores you. If you had asked her to go up against Celestia herself, she would have done it. No questions asked. And that's why she's coming back every day. She wants to see you, to hold and comfort you. Does she know what you have just told me?”, he asked, and I nodded, unable to speak through my tears.

“I'll go and get her. Would you like that?”, he asked as softly as his raspy voice allowed. Once more, all I could manage was a nod.

“Good. And Frosty... give that mare a chance... She's held that torch for so long now, that it's ridiculous...”, he stated, before leaving my room to go and get Firestorm.

~O~Firestorm~O~

I was standing in the kitchen of my own apartment, trying to produce something edible for the three of us. After I had been released, I had gotten this place with the money on my bank account to be closer to the hospital Frostmane lay in. It was pretty frustrating that she didn't even want to see me after all of this, and the carrots in front of me had certainly felt my wrath. Instead of slicing them into equal pieces, I had hacked away at them.

“Here, let me help you.”, Golden Sunshine said, pushing me aside gently and putting the mess I had produced into a bowl. “I think you are in no state to cook right now. Let me take it from here”, she added, motioning with her wing for me to go and keep Homage company while she worked. I sighed, acknowledging that she was right.

“You think you have all the stuff you need, or should I send the robot to get some more?”, I asked, before leaving the kitchen.

“No, I think I already know what I can make with this.”, she replied, before taking the lid off a pot, and coughing at the burned onions inside. I could only chuckle and wish her good luck as I made my way to the living room.

Homage was watching one of the DVDs I had bought the other day. “The little Seapony” was a classical movie I had always liked when I had been younger, but I could tell that the filly didn't share that sentiment. She seemed to enjoy the story, but not nearly as much as she liked the songs that went along with it.

“You really like music, don't you?”, I mused as I stepped up behind the sofa.

“You bet! Why else do you think I like listening to DJ PON-3? He at least broadcasts some useful stuff and music. Most of the other broadcasts are usually only wartime distress signals. Nothing interesting there.”, she replied, and an idea came to my mind. Along with the TV and the DVD-Player, I had also gotten a few records.

“Would you like to hear some of my favorite music?”, I asked, pointing at the gramophone in one corner of the room. The little Unicorn looked skeptical for a moment, before nodding slowly, so I paused the movie via the remote, and went over to the almost ancient apparatus. As soon as the voice of Sweety Belle filled the room, Homage' eyes widened. It looked like she had never heard anything like it.

“Like it?”, I asked, as Sweety Belle was singing about second chances. The filly nodded in agreement, and soon she was rifling through the small stack of records I had bought. The pony at the store had apparently bought them from a scavenger, who in turn had found them in the ruins of Las Pegasus. That had been what the stallion had told me at least. The fillies smiling face almost made me forget about how hurt I had been when Gingerbread had turned me away once more, and finally made me understand Frostmanes fascination about foals...

A knock at the door drew my attention away from the filly, who had, by now, spread all of my records across the living room floor, and was reading through the tracks on them. Chuckling a bit at the fillies antics, I trotted towards the door, opening it. A smiling Gingerbread stood just outside the door.

“She wants to see you, Storm.”, was all he said. In fact, it was all he needed to say. Before any of the others could react, I had already stormed out onto the balcony, spread my wings and taken flight towards the hospital...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

When I arrived at the hospital, sweating a little, a nurse was just pushing Frostmanes bed out of her room. My friend lay on it. I rushed towards her, a tear rolling down my cheek as I motioned with one of my wings for the nurse to wait a moment.

“What's going on? Is everything alright?”, I asked her, and the nurse nodded.

“No worries. She's just getting a new leg. The one the Order put in her had a nasty little device in it, and so we couldn't let her keep it.”, the nurse explained in a reassuring tone of voice, adding, “Are you a family member?”

I shook my head, explaining who I was, and why I was here. The mare looked a little surprised at this. Apparently it was pretty uncommon for subordinates to come and visit their superior officers in the hospital these days. I didn't care. All I cared for was that Frostmane was going to be alright. She was already sedated, and therefor didn't notice it as I squeezed her hoof gently.

“I'll be here when you wake up.”, I whispered, following the pair towards the operating room. I was, of course, not allowed inside, but there was a small waiting area just outside of it. I hadn't thought to bring anything to keep myself busy while I waited, since Gingerbread hadn't said anything about an operation.,so I decided to put in my Earbloom in my ear and listen to the radio for a bit. The familiar voice of DJ PON-3 soon reached me over the ether.

“Good afternoon my fellow wastelanders, this is your faithful bringer of the news, DJ PON-3 once more! Damn my job is really getting enjoyable these past few weeks. It's been a while since we heard from the silver knight and her Pegasus companion, but this morning I received a report from the Commander of Trottingham. Boys, was I surprised to hear from the rotting buck, but hey, always to hear news straight from the source, ain't I right? Well, according to him, our potential heroine has, once more, bucked some fanatic Steel Ranger outcasts to the moon.

In other news: The Order of Machina is now officially outlawed in Trottingham, and all of their remaining members have been executed. Reports from Fillydelphia, Hoofington and even from my very own neighborhood, the Manehatten area support that statement. The Steel Rangers and the Order of Machina have never been on good terms with each other, but now it seems it has finally come to blows between the two factions. Elder Cottage Cheese of the Manehatten Contingent of the Steel Rangers refused to comment on this. I have to warn all you you though. Better stay away from any large gatherings of Steel Rangers for a while, at least until they have killed each other. Looting them is still OK. And now have some Saphire Shores, singing about how the sun can't hide forever!”, the buck said, sounding much more energetic than he had before.

I was happy to hear that Gear Turn would have a lot on her plate for some time, but it also worried me. The last thing the wasteland needed, was another war, and knowing Gear Turns military history, I was sure she wouldn't hesitate to attack civilians either... Frostmane wouldn't like it, and I already knew what she would say. Find her, and take her and these strange mares out. But... these mares... they were another thing that made no sense to me. They weren't registered anywhere in Trottingham. The only thing we had been able to find out, was that they had most likely come from Stable 60, which was located directly under the city. I sighed.

“Looks like I'll have to so some exploring later on.”, I thought, making a mental note to ask Gingerbread for any details he could give me about the facility.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The operation had been a success. I hadn't expected anything else, as I sat on a chair next to Frostmanes bed. She still hadn't woken up yet, but I could tell that she would be pleased with her new leg. The doctors here had even put the Talisman that had belonged to her original leg, and her old Pipbuck into it. The device was working again, now that it was connected to her nerves once more.

While the leg the Order had implanted into her body had been a bulky civilian model, this one almost looked like the one she had lost, if one ignored the gaps between the shiny, light blue metal plates. I wasn't quite sure what model it was, since I had never seen anything like it, but it strongly resembled combat models I had seen back in the day. Expensive and hard to make, in other words. Gingerbread came trotting in quietly, as I ran the tip of my left wing over the shiny metal surface of my friends cybernetic appendage.

“She can feel that, you know.”, he whispered as he came closer. I immediately pulled my wing back, afraid that I would wake her up.

“Seriously? I thought that the transition between the nerve endings and the metal alloy was impossible.”, I whispered back, my eye widening.

“We've made some advances in cyber-technology since the end of the war. It was necessary, since many soldiers who returned here had lost limbs or were injured in some other way.”, he explained, looking at Frostmanes sleeping form.

“So... the nurse mentioned some nasty device in the other leg earlier. What was it?”, I asked, and the stallion cringed at my mentioning of it.

“It was a syringe that was attached to a catheter. It ran from her shoulder right to her heart, slowly administering it's payload of adrenaline. It would have kept her awake for at least a week, if she hadn't simply died beforehoof. In combination with that strange song of these mares, it transformed her into a killing machine...”, he said, shaking his head in disgust. “Jerakal had one of those in her body as well, but she wasn't as lucky as Frostmane. They had to actually replace her heart. Not an easy procedure at her age. I've been telling that mare to retire for at least ten years now, but she's stubborn like a mule.”

I chuckled at this. It sounded much more like the Jerakal I had known back in the day. We had never gotten along very well, but she had brought the occasional smile onto my face regardless.

“About those mares, I'd like to talk to you about them later. But... tell me, how is Jerakal doing? The doctors were pretty insistent, that she wasn't allowed to have any visitors.”, I asked. Gingerbread sighed, sitting down next to me.

“Right now, it could go either way. They've replaced her heart, and it certainly works, but we're still not sure what the Order did to her. Over the course of this last week the doctors had to reanimate her five times already, since her internal organs just seem to fail one after another for no apparent reason. The Auto-Docs in this place have been able to fix the problems each time so far, but the doctors don't have much hope for her. She's fifty-nine, for Celestias sake... That's no age in which a Pony should die from the failure of internal organs. Yet, it's happening. Just before I came here, her liver gave out, and they had to put even more tubes into her to compensate until they got her into the Auto-Doc. I swear... if I get my hooves on Gear Turn...”, he explained, his voice breaking.

“She'll pull through. You just said it. Jerakal is as stubborn as a mule. There's no way this will kill her.”, I tried to reassure the stallion next to me. He looked at me out of those dead eyes of his.

“You know what the worst thing about being a ghoul is? I can't cry. If she dies, I can't even cry...”, he stated, his head drooping.  I was at a loss for words at this. There I was, sitting next to the loudmouth of the Moon Skulls, and he was looking at me like a little lost colt. I realized something then.

“You and Jerakal...?”, I asked, and he nodded solemnly.

“We're married.”, he said, and my muzzle dropped to the floor. It had totally escaped me that a ghoul could have a romantic relationship with somepony... or Zony in this case. Before I could ask him about it however, he stood up again, ready to leave the room.

“I'll go check on her again. Besides, I guess you two have a lot to talk about.”, he said quietly, and my ears perked up. My gaze drifted down towards Frostmane again, who was looking at me from her half lidded blue eyes. A smile formed on my face, as our comrade trotted out of the door.

“Hey.”, I whispered, not knowing what else to say.

“Hey.”, she whispered back, her voice still weak from the sedatives she had been given.

“You really gave me a scare there. What was up with not wanting to see me?”, I blurted out, trying not to let an uncomfortable silence fall between us.

“I tried to kill you, remember?”

“That wasn't really you. You were controlled by those monsters. You'd never hurt me on purpose.”,  I tried to reassure her, tears flowing down my face. She, however, just shook her head.

“I am not sure Storm. Usually I'd think so too... but what happened back there... I'm just not sure anymore.”, she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“If you ever act up like that again, I guess all I have to do is kiss you once more.”, I said, only half jokingly. Frostmane blushed slightly at that, which confused me a bit.

“Ginger said something about you earlier, and I wanted to ask you if it's true.”, my friend asked hesitantly.

“Oh dear Celestia, what have you told her?”, I thought, as I motioned with my wing for her to go on.

“He said... He said something about you being into stallions.... and mares.”, she said, and I swore, at that moment, that I would give that meddling Ghoul a piece of my mind the next time I saw him.

“Yes... Yes it's true. My barn door swings both ways. What else did he tell you? You know, I'd really like to know all of it, so I have a good reason to strangle him.”, I said, trying to hide my embarrassment at the thought of my two comrades discussing my sexuality. Frostmane didn't look at me when she spoke again.

“He said you were following me around, because you love me.”, she said so quietly, that I barely heard it, and I didn't like the sound of this. It made me sound like some crazy stalker Pony, even though I had to admit that it was at least partially true.

“It's... part of it, yes, but I also follow you, because you're my friend.”, I said, trying to save at least some of my dignity here. My friend smiled, but still didn't look at me or open her eyes. Instead, her metal leg came up slowly, wrapping itself around my neck, pulling me down. It was only a weak pull, but I followed along, as to make it easier on her. What I didn't expect was, what she said as our muzzles were only an inch apart from one another, nor what came next.

“If you ever use that scorpion tail on me again, I'll spank your sorry flank with this hoof.”, she whispered, before closing the distance between our lips by raising her head slightly. For some reason I suddenly had the urge to get my armor, and see if she would make good on that thread as I returned the kiss.

Frostmane:

Trait Lost:

Monster: The darkness that caused your transformation has been sucked out of you. Due to that you do not have to watch your negative emotions as closely anymore. You are now in full control of your magical ability, and do not loose control over your actions during combat anymore.

Spell Lost:

Dark Moon: Due to the removal of the darkness in your soul, you are no longer able to transform to cast this spell.

New Trait:

Cyberpony: Your left foreleg has been replaced by a cybernetic implant, increasing your strength, while using that leg, by 4.

Firestorm:

No Status Changes

Golden Sunshine:

No Status Changes

Homage:

No Status Changes