Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 27

Blood&Tears

“Can you ever forgive me?”

~O~Homage~O~

~O~23 years later~O~

“So y'all are sure that this is the place?”, Calamity asked me, as I climbed out of the skywagon. The stallion had agreed to give me a ride here, since I didn't want to travel all the way alone, or with an escort I didn't trust.

“Yes, I'm sure.”, I said, looking over the burnt patch of shore that lay before us. Most of the remains had rotted badly in the twenty three years since I had been here, but one of the wagons was still standing. The rusted remains of an armored carriage were half buried in the sand. A lone testament to the slaughter that had taken place here, oh so long ago...

“I'm just askin' cause this here is where I fought my first patch o' Raiders is all.”, the buck said, surprising me. “Were unable ta kill'em, and when we chased'em off, it was ta late.”, he added.

My gaze fell, once again, on the armored carriage. Just what had been in there? I had never seen it from the inside, so I trotted up to it, taking a look into the open hatch at the front of it. What I saw made my eyes go wide. The inside of the thing was divided by a steel wall that created two separate compartments. On all of the walls, I could still see chains and bolts where similar ones had ones been attached. It took a lot of effort for me to keep my lunch down, as I remembered where these Ponies had been headed.

“Brothel...”, I muttered.

“Come again?”

“Brothel... It was a small settlement near Manehatten, about twenty years ago. About a week after this happened, the settlement went dark. I went there later, only to find that everypony had been killed. And yes... it was what the name would make you think...”, I said, shaking my head in disgust.

These “traders” had been so nice to me when we had traveled with them. I still remembered Chain Whip fondly, who had taught me about Terminals and Pipbucks. Gray Sentinel, the mare who had first explained to me how mare on mare relationships worked, and who Frostmane had almost beaten into a pulp when she had walked in on the two of us. They had all been so kind to me... but... if I could trust my eyes, they had been slavers...

“Everythin' alright Homage? Yer cryin'.”, Calamity said, stepping up to me. His eyes widened as well, when he saw the chains.

“I was here. Before and during the attack. Those “Raiders” you fought... be glad you're still alive...”, I muttered, levitating out the memory orb Frostmane had left me. Her and Firestorms diaries had no mentioning of this incident, only an instruction. It said to watch the memory orb.

“Watcha mean? We outnumbered'em.”

Turning around I looked at Calamity. He was seriously bewildered at my statement, and didn't understand what I meant.

“You are a great shot Calamity, and I know you can handle yourself in a fight, but if those two had been serious... then we wouldn't have met. There was a Pegasus mare with them, right?”, I stated, and my friend nodded, “She was a former Shadowbolt, and one of Equestrias elite fliers during the war. When she fought, she was fierce and gave no quarter. Retreat was not an option for this mare. Her name was Firestorm.“, I said, floating out Firestorms silver dog-tags next to the memory orb.

Calamity took them into one of his hooves and examined them. After a moment, he returned them to me, a frown on his face.

“But... if she was such a good flier, and did this to slavers, then where the hay was she during the whole Red Eye business?”

“I can.... I can only guess, but I think she's dead.”, I said, tears flowing from my eyes before I added, “Calamity, please keep a watch for a while, will you? I think I have to watch this orb.”

“Ehm... sure... but, ya really think this here is the right place for that?”, my friend asked as I turned my back to him and stepped into the remains of the armored carriage. There was a big hole blown into the back wall, and I lay down beneath it.

“I think this is the only right place to watch this...”, I said, shifting my magical focus onto the orb as the world fell away around me...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A strange sensation assaulted my senses. My host was a Unicorn mare, but she was much stronger than me in every aspect. Her muscular body felt strange to me, but there was something else. A stirring feeling in her stomach, as if two creatures were battling each other there.

When my host opened her eyes, I saw that I was in the same place I had been when I had latched onto the memory orb. The beach stretched out endlessly in both directions, and the caravan had set up camp for the night. It wasn't hard to recognize who I was. Frostmane was my host for this ride. Her eyes fell onto a small gray Unicorn filly that slept cuddled up next to her. I could feel a gentle smile find it's way onto her muzzle as she leaned down and placed a kiss on my filly selfs head.

“You little sleepy head...”, Frostmane mused, as she watched my younger self sleep. Suddenly, the filly cuddled closer to my host, burying her face into Frostmanes side and muttering a single word in her sleep.

“Mommy...”

Shock overcame my host as her eyes widened. I, on the other hoof, was pretty sure that my body was blushing right now. I had indeed seen Frostmane and Firestorm as my new parents of sorts. They had protected me, fed me and most important of all, they had loved me.

“She's still sleeping, huh?”, I heard another voice say from behind my host, as the mare turned her head. A Pegasus in blood red Power-Armor stood there, her helmet visor open and a smile on her face. My host nodded.

“Then let her get some more rest. She's been through a lot recently. I just hope that, once she's in Manehatten, she'll be safe.”, Firestorm whispered, as she leaned down and nuzzled my younger self.

For a moment, I stopped paying attention to what was going on around me. They had intended to bring me to Manehatten and leave me there? Was that the “business” Frostmane had talked about so often? Had I been the package she had intended to deliver? It took me a moment to understand it. Frostmane had intended to bring me to safety, so I wouldn't be in danger while they went and hunted after the Order of Machina. Being a few years older now, I could understand their reasoning, but I didn't like it one bit...

Frostmane had stood up, stretching herself out and forming her armor. It felt as if somepony had just emptied a bucket of ice water over my head, as the magical Starmetal flowed over her body, but she didn't seem to mind. I guessed that, after feeling the same thing every day, for years, you got used to it.

She threw one last look back at Firestorm, who had now lain down next to my younger self, before trotting off. I realized that it was her turn to keep a watch over the camp, as she began to patrol the perimeter. Golden Sunshine, I remembered, had flown off the previous evening, wanting to investigate a nearby library. The Alicorn hadn't been present when all of this had happened.

Frostmane yawned as she walked around the camp for the fifth time, but kept one eye on her EFS at all times. The Ponies of the caravan were all sleeping soundly, knowing that there were two very capable mares watching over their sleep. What they didn't know, was that these two also meant their demise...

A creaking sound alerted my host to movement in the camp, and all traces of drowsiness were gone in an instant. The mare was alert and watchful once more, as her head snapped around into the direction of the sound. A few more blips had appeared on her EFS, and I felt how she cocked her head in confusion.

“What the hay?”, she muttered, as she made her way towards the armored carriage in the center of the camp. It's front hatch was open, and I assumed that the creaking sound had been caused by it. Now that my host was a little closer to it, she could also hear other noises. Muffled crying, and the scraping of hoofs on metal. The jingling of chains could also be heard...

Frostmane leaped into action, galloping towards the open hatch and activating her helmet lamp. I heard it come to life with a soft click. What she saw, as the light of her lamp cut through the darkness of the carriage, was horrible. There were four rows of foals, fillies and colts, chained to the metal walls of the carriage. They looked as if they hadn't eaten anything in days, and some just lay there, unmoving.

I could feel how Frostmanes stomach lurched, as the smell hit her nostrils. These foals had been forced to sleep in their own excrements, and it showed. My host gritted her teeth as she swung her lamp around, catching a buck in the back of the carriage in it's light. It was Chain Whip. His green eyes widened as he saw her.

For a moment, it seemed that time itself was standing still. The gray Earthpony buck was looking at my host with terror in his eyes, while he pressed a young Pegasus filly to the ground with his forelegs. Her rump was in the air, and it was unmistakable what the stallion had intended to do...

“What the....”, he said, before I could feel an immense wave of anger and hatred rush through my host. Her eyes widened, and tears streamed down her face.

“You BASTARD!”, she shouted, followed by a scream that was scarier than a whole group of feral ghouls. Frostmane jumped forward, crushing Chain Whips head on the far wall of the carriage. She didn't stop hitting the stallion, until his head was nothing more than jelly, and she had actually blown a hole into the back of the armored carriage with her Power-Hooves. Through it, my now panting host, could see the other Ponies that belonged to the caravan. They had been awoken by her continuous beating against the steel wall of the carriage.

All of their blips on my hosts EFS turned to red, once they saw what she had done. Several of them produced firearms, and started shooting at her. The bullets impacted on her armor, and fell away harmlessly. Still seething with rage, Frostmane leaned down to the filly Chain Whip had intended to mount and whispered in her ear as calmly as she could.

“I'll get all of you out of here. Just hold on a little longer.”

After that, she rushed outside, were Firestorm was already defending herself against several of the slavers. The Pegasus mare didn't know what was going on, and didn't shoot to kill. Her shots merely crippled her opponents, as she backed further and further away from the camp. One such stallion lay in Frostmanes way, as she made her way towards her marefriend. The mare didn't run, nor did she hurry. The small arms fire from these Ponies was not enough to punch through Firestorms armor, and she knew it.

Instead, she looked down onto the screaming stallion, whos right foreleg had been blown off by one of Firestorms shots. He looked back at her in fear, but the hot rage was gone from her now. Only cold and calculating blood lust was left. Placing her cybernetic hoof, which she had used to stroke me so often, on the stallions head, she slowly began to push downwards. The slaver struggled, screamed and begged for his life, but Frostmane didn't even listen to him. She didn't stop until a crack, and a splattering sound ended his struggles.

A moment later Firestorm was at her side, screaming at her.

“What the buck? Frostmane! What's going on!”, she demanded, shooting another volley towards a mare who was carrying a rifle in her magic. The mare dropped, a bloody stump on her forehead where her horn had been only seconds ago.

“Look into the carriage... then you know why... I'll kill them all... with, or without you, Storm...”, Frostmane said calmly, moving onto her next target. It was the mare Firestorm had just dropped. My host didn't kill her outright. Instead, she used her strength to crush the mare piece by piece, starting with her hips and rear legs. Bullets were pinging off her armor all the while.

As the mare exhaled her last breath, Firestorm had rejoined the fight. She wasn't trying not to kill their opponents anymore. Instead, she was making them suffer.

“Where's Homage?”, Firestorms voice came out of my hosts Earbloom. The Unicorns eyes widened once more, as fear overpowered her.

“I thought she was with you!”, she called back, as I could see how Firestorm plunged her Hoof-Claws into a stallions chest, ripping him apart.

“No! She went to relief herself. Haven't seen her since!”, the Pegasus answered.

It was true. I had awoken shortly after Firestorm had taken Frostmanes place at my side, and had climbed up the small rocky cliff of the shore to relief myself. On my way, I had placed my saddlebags at one of the caravans carts, so I they wouldn't get dirty if they fell off my back. When I had come back later, I had seen from above, what I was now experiencing first hoof. I had seen the two mares I had come to accept as mothers, slaughter Ponies who had been kind to us like common Raiders.

They had ripped them apart, stomped and shot them... It had frightened me. Then, Frostmanes head whipped around, and she saw my frightened form stand at the edge of the cliff. The screams of the slavers had ceased, and it was only her, looking into my wide eyes. She could see that I wasn't only frightened by what I had seen... I was scared of her... Retracting her armor, Frostmane took a step towards me.

“Homage...”, she whispered, a tear of relief forming in her eyes. “You are...”, but she didn't get to finish the sentence. My younger self turned tail and ran. I remembered that I ran as hard and far as I could, hiding myself in an abandoned building. I hadn't slept that night, crying my eyes out. For hours on end, I had asked myself why they had done it. It was then, that Jokeblue found me...

Frostmane wanted to charge after me, but a burning pain in the right side of her barrel stopped her. She looked down on herself, seeing the hole in her side, and the blood pooling under her. Her gaze drifted upwards, and she saw a Pegasus in Power-Armor darting towards her. I recognized Calamity. His next shot was deflected by Firestorms armored wing, as she jumped in between him and Frostmane. She too was full of blood from head to hoof.

“Don't you die on me now Frosty!”, she shouted, before turning around and grabbing onto my fallen host. I could just make out how they lifted off any flew away, as the memory faded to black....

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“So, was it worth comin' here?”, Calamity asked, as I stepped out of the armored carriage. I looked up into the blue sky before answering.

“It sure was... I think... I'll have to correct a mistake of mine. An old one too...”, I said, already planning a special broadcast to clear their names. When I had talked to Apple Candy, my predecessor as DJ PON-3, back then, I had told him everything I had seen, and he had gone ahead and said that the silver knight had fallen... It looked like Littlepip hadn't been the first one I had accused of having killed innocents after all...