Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 28

Brothel

“HELP!”

~O~Frostmane~O~

As I regained consciousness, everything was blurry in front of my eyes. For some reason, the world just didn't want to come into focus. I could feel a sticky warmness under me, and somepony working their magic on me frantically.

“Stop that bleeding already!” I heard a familiar voice. It sounded as if it came from miles away.

“Come on! Not like this Frostmane! Stay with us!” another voice said, as I felt myself being lifted into the air. Channeling all of my willpower, I opened my eyes wider and tried to raise a hoof. Just what the hay was happening here? Then.. the pain started. My flesh shifted as I was moved around on a field of levitation magic, and my eyes shot open as wide as possible as the pain hit me. It felt as if somepony was impaling me on a white head poker as a scream escaped my muzzle.

“She's awake! Quick! Honey, please. Calm down!”, the first voice called again.

“Memory orb! Get that memory orb over there!”, the second voice called out. A second later, the world around me fell away into blackness.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Being forced into a memory orb was a strange sensation. I had expected many things, but not that my host would have wings and a horn. She was staring at the floor panel of an elevator, and I could tell that my host was impatient about whatever it was she was here for. Finally, a soft bing could be heard and the elevator doors opened.

Had I been able to, my eyes would have widened as I saw the giant mainframe that dominated the center of the room. Cables ran from it to several of the smaller mainframes that stood along the rooms walls. The heat my host felt indicated that all of these computers were working on full output.

If this hadn't surprised me, the panorama window that was set in the far wall of the room surely would have done the trick. It looked out onto a giant airship hangar. An underground one at that. The Luna Dream would have fitted in there twice, and yet there was only one ship being worked on there. It was considerably smaller than the LD, and my host trotted up to the window to get a better look at it.

From my experiences with airships, this ones crew wouldn't exceed a hundred Ponies. Maybe not even that, when I considered the fact that the engines and armories had to be somewhere as well. I was clear to me, that I was looking at a military vessel, for it had several small cannons mounted onto the upper and lower side of it's wings. What baffled me was, that I couldn't see any kind of rotor, or even a bed of clouds on which the ship rested. It just seemed to float there.

“So you've found out about this one too? You know, at this point I shouldn't even be surprised anymore.” a raspy voice from my hosts side called out, and a cyan Pegasus mare with a prismatic mane came into view as the Alicorn turned her head.

“We do not know of which “other” one thou speakest of Rainbow Dash.” my host, Luna, replied. There was no doubt that she was lying. This had to be the hangar the Luna Dream / Solar Flare had been built in originally. A secret Ministry of Awesome hangar, in other words. Rainbow Dash trotted up next to the Princess, turning to the window herself. My friend didn't look at my host as she began to speak.

“You know Luna... The Solar Flare was supposed to be my last contribution to this war. She would have been damn well powerful enough to punch through anything the Zebras could possibly throw at her. Had that ship been finished, instead of being “Missing in action” on it's shakedown run, we could have ended the war by now. All we would have needed to do, was to fly that ship to Rom, and start taking their capital apart... Now it will be up to the Spitfire, and I will not allow you to take this one too. This ship is more special to me than you could ever know.” the prismatic Pegasus said in a soft voice.

“So you know about the Moon Skulls then? Did Frostmane tell you?” my host inquired, looking at my friend intently. Rainbow shook her head in response.

“She didn't need to. I keep track of all of my friends, and having a Ponies Pipbuck tag sure helps with that. No. I flew out the other day to find her, and see what you put her up to. I must admit, that it gave me quite the scare when that Stealthbuck array you installed suddenly deactivated, and I was hovering in front of a pure black Thunderhead.”

“The Luna Dream, as it is now called, will end this war. It might take longer this way, but it will surely work. What would have happened, if the Zebras had intercepted the ship with several dragons on your way to Rom? They would have taken it apart. Trust me, Rainbow Dash, this is safer.” Luna said in a reassuring tone. Now Dash did turn her head, and actually glared at the Alicorn next to her.

“The SOLAR FLARE, had several systems still missing when you took her. The Shield array being only one of them. You installed Stealthbucks in it's stead... Trust me, Terror Claw himself wouldn't have been able to punch through a shield, that was generated by two thousand spell talismans!” the mare shouted, obviously angry with my host. “Now I've got all those Talismans lying around, and have no use for most of them! Good thing we still had the scrapped blueprints for the Spitfire, since the ones of the Solar Flare miraculously disappeared out of my office!”

Luna was stunned at the mares insolence, and I could tell that she was feeling more than just a little uneasy by how she was ruffling her feathers, and shifted her weight from hoof to hoof. My Alicorn friend had never liked it if somepony shouted at her. She just didn't know how to deal with these kinds of situations, without resorting to violence, or severe punishments. It was a good thing, that another Pony joined the two at that moment. I guessed that she had been drawn here by Dashs shouting.

“The Spitfire will remain with the Ministry of Awesome, sister.”, Celestia said calmly, as she approached. She smiled, but her smile did not reach her eyes.

“Celestia? I didn't... We didn't know you would be here as well. Thou must understand... This ship would be a great asset to out plans to end the war. If it were to join forces with the Luna Dream...” Luna began, but Celestia interrupted her.

“The Spitfire is not yours to take Luna. It isn't even the property of the Ministry of Awesome. I have just borrowed their facilities, and am financing the construction of this ship myself.” the older Alicorn said sternly. Luna was even more shocked at this. I could imagine that it felt like a slap to the face to her.

“For what purpose do you build a warship, sister? Besides, We could always confiscate it.” Luna said. I could tell, from her tone of voice, that she really didn't want to do so however.

“I have this ship build to go on a diplomatic mission Luna. It will ensure my safe return to Equestria, once my talks with the Caesar are done. And no, you can not simply confiscate this ship. It is powered by the power you sealed away so long ago. If you take the ship, then I will take the power, and it will be nothing more than a useless piece of metal to you.”, Celestia explained calmly, trying to avoid an argument. That didn't soften the blow she struck however.

Celestia had abdicated, and while many Ponies still looked upon her with respect, she had no official function in Equstria anymore. Not even that of an ambassador. Not after the last attempt at peace talks had failed.

“You... You found the Gem? But how? I never told you where...” Luna stammered, falling back a few steps. Celestia raised a hoof in a calming gesture. It was Rainbow Dash who pushed past the white mare, and began to explain however.

“We found it when we were digging the tunnels for our Hub under Baltimare. It had Celestias Cutiemark on it, so I took it to her. Now it's powering the systems on the Spitfire. Trust me Luna. I have never done anything that didn't end up benefiting your cause, so please just trust me on this. Let the MoA keep this ship, and I promise you that we can end the war before Winter Wrap Up comes around next year.” the cyan mare said, sighing.

The memory ended as Luna rushed out of the room, leaving Celestia and Rainbow Dash behind. Both mares had sad expressions on their faces, as they watched the ruler of all of Equestria storm off...

~O~Firestorm~O~

My body was itching all over, due to the dried blood that covered my coat. Sadly, the only way to wash it off, was by using the irradiated water in the toilets of the library, and I wasn't quite that desperate to get rid of it.

After Frostmane had been shot, I had fled the scene of the battle and headed east with her limp form in my hooves. Golden Sunshine had met me halfway between the library she had been investigating, and the shore, since I had informed her of what had happened over the radio.  Even with her almost unreal magic prowess, our Alicorn friend had almost been unable to save my loves life. The shot from that Enclave Pegasus had barely missed her heart, and singed part of her right lung.

Ever since our first battle together, Frostmane had looked utterly exhausted. Not to mention that it was the first time I had seen her injured to a degree that threatened her very life. It was frightening. Had the blast of magical energy that struck her went only an inch to the right, she would have been dead on the spot. As it was, Frostmane had lost a lot of blood and would be unable to continue our travels for quite a while.

A white wing wrapped itself around me, as I was sitting on the roof of the ancient building and looked out over the campus. Wiping the tears from my eye with a hoof, I looked up to see Golden Sunshine smile down at me gently.

“What happened is not your fault, Firestorm. I must ask, however, where the filly is. Was she caught up in the crossfire?” the Alicorn asked. Her tone implied that she wouldn't have blamed me, even if Homage had been killed in that fight. I shook my head. I had seen the filly run away from what we had done after all, and told my friend so. Her expression changed to one of sadness as she looked at her Pipbuck.

“That doesn't make things any easier. Frostmane will be heartbroken if she hears about it. Not to mention what the DJ has to say about what you two did...” she said, trailing off.

“What did he say? And how does he even know? It's only been a few hours! There's no way Homage could have made it to Tenpony Tower in that time. She's just a filly.” I asked, trying to figure out what the hay was going on. DJ PON3 had known things he shouldn't have from the get go. It was almost as if he had eyes everywhere in the wasteland...

“He... He said that you two destroyed a trading caravan that was well known for doing the Las Pegasus to Brothel route. He also said that, while he had no evidence of what your intentions had been, he would advice everypony that saw us to approach us with extreme caution. I'm sorry, but... it looks like we have officially been branded as Raiders.” my friend informed me and I sighed.

“Did he say anything else? Something about the situation with the Order maybe?”

“He sure did. According to the DJ, the battles in Baltimare, Las Pegasus and even Manehatten itself have ceased. Gingerbread has eradicated their forces in Las Pegasus and Baltimare, while it seems the Manehatten contingent sent the Order running with their tails between their legs without any outward assistance. Seeing as I know that at least one flock of Alicorns helped them out, I know that part at least to be untrue.”

I shook my head. It didn't matter if the Manehatten contingent wanted to boast a little. All that mattered was, that they had managed to drive Gear Turns Ponies back. All that was left for us now, was to find the crazy mare, and make her pay for all the suffering she had caused. Then we could return to the Alicorn and retire from all of this fighting... A sudden thought struck me.

“The foals... I completely forgot about the foals!”, I exclaimed, jumping up and flaring my wings out. They were still in that awful prison on wheels. I just wanted to lift off to go and get them, when a harsh male voice from behind me called out to us.

“Oh you don't have to worry about them foals. My buddies are already collecting the merchandise to bring it where it was supposed to go.”

I spun around, as did Golden Sunshine, but we weren't fast enough. Before I had fully turned, my eye caught something gray and heavy looking rush towards my head in a horizontal strike. The sledgehammer struck me straight in the face, and I couldn't prevent myself from being knocked off the roof. While blood seeped into my vision, I could see Golden Sunshine spasm uncontrollably. Little silver spikes were protruding from her body where the Taser had struck her...

“So is this it?”, I thought, as the ground came rushing towards me. I didn't crash however. Somepony caught me in a red field of magic before I could break my skull on the ground. My head was ringing, and according to my armors doctor enchantment my skull had been cracked in two places. The last thing before I blacked out, was a red coated Unicorn mare who wore a battle saddle with two combat shotguns on her back. Her blue mane flowed around her neck in the soft early morning breeze, as her black eyes looked down at me in disgust.

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“You fucked this one up pretty badly. Doc, what're her chances of survival?”, I heard a voice from far away talk to somepony I couldn't see.

“Well, with modern medical technology she'll be up and about in a few hours actually. A little Hydra can do wonders with such serious injuries. As for the other two... well... I'm not quite sure about the Alicorn. She's still out of it, as is the Unicorn. The Unicorn has lost a lot of blood it seems, and will need quite some time to recover. Two weeks at least, I would say.”, an old stallions voice replied.

“I'll give her until tomorrow. If she's not ready to work off what she owes, the boys can have her. See if I care if they fuck her to death. After what she did to our caravan, that would be what the bitch deserved.”

I tried to stir at that, but my body felt sluggish. No matter how much I tried, my limbs just didn't want to do what I told them to. The Unicorn, the stallion had said. They could only mean Frostmane. I had to get out of here and safe her!

But... my body didn't seem to have gotten the memo. I tried hard, but all it did was make me even more tired than before. Finally, after several minutes of trying to move a single muscle, I fell asleep again...

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

“Wake up you piece of shit!”, a mare shouted at me, as she kicked me in the side. My eye shot open in an instant and I rounded on her. My hoof struck out, and I tried to activate my armor, but... nothing happened. My hoof was stopped an inch from her face by a chain that was attached to the wall, and my armor didn't respond to my mental commands. Neither did my Pipbuck. In fact, even my EFS was out of order for the time being. The mare began to laugh madly as her black eyes fixed on me.

“You're a cheeky one, aren't you? Oh I will enjoy breaking you.” she laughed, to which I bared my teeth at her. Then, I decided that it wouldn't do me, or my friends, any good to start shouting in this situation.

“Take off these chains. Release my friends and me, or you will rue the day on which you were born.” I threatened coldly. The red mares eyes widened for a second, before she took a baton from her belt and hit me across the face with it. Even though she was a Unicorn, she used her teeth to do so, which made me realize that there had to be some kind of magical dampening field in place here.

“Mind your place, bitch. From today on you and your friends are my property, and I'm free to do with you what I want. You guys killed my father and quite a few of my friends, so I think I'll have a lot of fun with you.” she spat, but her anger was betrayed by the wide grin that was splitting her face.

“What do you want with us?”

“You don't know, huh? Well... let me tell you, bitch. You're in Brothel. The biggest adult amusement center in the wasteland, and you just became one of our main attractions.” she singsonged, putting her baton back into her belt. A moment later a chain was fastened on the collar on my neck, while the chains on my legs were taken off the wall.

Immediately I tried to resist, by throwing myself at the red Unicorn, but was repelled by what looked like a mobile shield talisman. The mare didn't even flinch as I barreled into her, and the shield absorbed my attack.

“Did you really think I would come here unprepared? You're quite the foal, aren't you? Now come. I'll give you the big tour of your new home.” she said, before securing the other end of my chain leash to a collar around her own neck. She was strong, I had to give her that. No matter how hard I tried to pull into the opposite direction, this mare simply walked on as if I wasn't even there.

After a while I gave up and followed her out of the tiled room I had been imprisoned in. That was more to the fact that my escape efforts were crushing my own windpipe, more than anything else however. The hallway she led me into was... dirty. A once red plush carpet lay on the floor. Now it was nothing more than a dirty rug with a lot of holes in it. Walking on it alone was pretty uncomfortable, as there were puddles of something white and sticky here and there. I did my best to try and avoid stepping into those.

“What's your name?” I asked, trying to get some information out of the mare. With a speed I wouldn't have believed possible, she spun around and hit me with the baton again.

“Don't you dare talk unless you are addressed, or have the permission to speak! And from now on, you will address me as “Mistress”. There is no need for a piece of meat like you to know my actual name.” she shouted, as she ground my face into one of the puddles with her right foreleg. The smell of semen, that had been nauseating before, was now  being pushed into my nostrils. Some of the already cold stuff even got into my mouth and I started to gag.

From one moment to another, the “Mistress” let go of me, and I caught a glimpse of her Cutiemark as she turned away from me to continue the “tour”. It was a broken black heart.

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I had to admit that I had expected the rest of “Brothel” to be as disgusting as the hallway I had just been dragged out of. That was not the case however. The main lobby of the place looked as if the Ponies running this place knew quite a bit about working with wood. There was not a single hole in any of the walls, and even the carped looked as if it was cleaned on a regular basis.

My EFS and Pipbuck were still out, so I just had to follow this mare around as she showed me everything. It was also an opportunity for her to show off her newest... employee, as she called me, to the customers at the bar. Their eyes widened as they saw me, and I could see that they were pretty excited about the prospect of a Pegasus mare working here. One only had to look a little lower to see just how excited they actually were... It disgusted me.

“Hey, I'll pay a thousand caps for that one. Lemme buy her. It's not everyday that you get the chance to have one of my own kin after all.” one of the stallions at the bar called out. He was dressed in a dirty brown coat and wore a hat on his head. The wings on his sides  told me that he was a mustard colored Pegasus. My captor shook her head however.

“Not a chance Flare. This one and her friends owe me more than twenty thousand caps. Only if you are willing to pay her debt, would I give you the chance to buy her.” she said. From her tone I knew that this wasn't the first time she had this kind of talk with the stallion.

“Fifteen thousand. It's all I have. Take it or leave it, you greedy cunt.” the stallion shot back, before taking another sip of his drink. The red mare seemed to consider that for a moment, but shook her head once again.

“Twenty thousand. Minimum. If you don't have enough, then don't even bother to try and barter with me.” she replied, dragging me off into another corridor.

All the mares we encountered on our way had empty and resigned looks on their faces. None of them even seemed to acknowledge our presence. All they did was move from table to table in the bar, serving the customers, or going somewhere with them. It was quite obvious that these Ponies had been broken. Would I end up like one of them too? No. I would never give in like that. I was a Moon Skull after all.

Then I saw her. A mare that was obscured from head to hoof in some kind of black leather suit. The first thing I thought was, that this was some kind of weird fetish, but then I saw that the only piece of her hide that wasn't covered, was her Cutiemark. I stared as she walked past me, shaking her head ever so slightly. I knew that Cutiemark! A bowl of whipped cream with a cherry on top. There was only one mare I knew with such a mark on her flank.

However, I didn't call out to her. The shake of her head had been so subtle that I doubted the red Unicorn dragging me along had noticed it. But what the hay was she doing here?

All thoughts of the mare left my mind when we entered a long hallway with doors on both sides of it. I concluded that this building once had been some high class hotel, due to the fact that the doors had numbers on them. What made me panic however, where two groups of three stallions each who carried stretchers. On them were Frostmane and Golden Sunshine. Both of them seemed to be completely out of it.

“What are you doing to them?” I roared, trying to get to my friends. My captor didn't hit me this time. All she did was turn her bored gaze on me.

“They haven't woken up yet, so they're useless to me. The boys will have their fun with them, and then dispose of the bodies. It's how we do things around here.” the mare stated flatly, and my heart sank into my stomach.

“Take me. Let them have me instead. Don't hurt my friends.” I said in a low voice.

“Oh? Could it be that we have a little fillyfooler here? How interesting. Well... you need to be trained properly anyway, so I suppose I could grant you this one wish.” she replied, motioning for the stallions to stop as we reached them.

“Bring those two back to medical and let them heal. You can have all the fun you want with this one when you come back. I'll put her in room 391, so don't keep her waiting.” she ordered, and the stallions obeyed. They didn't look too happy though. They seemed to have looked forward to Golden Sunshine.

The mare did as she had said, and brought me into a rather nice room. The bed was made, and easily big enough for five Ponies at a time. She fastened my leash to a bolt in the wall over the bed, before turning to me with a sad expression on her face.

“I don't like you, but I can respect what you just did. I just hope you don't regret it later.” she said, before leaving me alone in the room. The stallions were back before I knew it, and all six of them had eager smiles on their faces. One or two of them were even drooling as they advanced on me...

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

Maximum Level

Firestorm:

Maximum Level

Golden Sunshine:

Skill update:

Medical: Your medical skill has increased to 80.