Fallout Equestria: Duty

Fallout Equestria: Duty

Chapter 37

Severing Bonds

“No, you won't! You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self, I can protect my subjects... from YOU!”

~O~Frostmane~O~

The flight from the edge of the Everfree Forest was shorter than I would have imagined. The blue Alicorn mare carrying me was a decent flier, but my weight was slowing her down considerabely. Had she just waited a little, we could have gotten to Splendid Valley in half the time. As it was however, we arrived a little past noon.

It was quite the sight too. The once enormous complex that was Maripony was now standing on the edge of a mega-spell crater, and it looked like it might fall in at any moment. A good portion of the floors that had been above ground level had been reduced to ash in the blast, and I seriously wondered what kind of defenses Twilight Sparkle had put into place. I mean, a blast of this size would usually have wiped out the whole complex, but there was quite a good portion of it still standing. It was in a bad state, but it had not collapsed completely yet.

It was obvious upon our landing, and the mare releasing me from her shield bubble, that Maripony had not aged well. Had the building looked as if it was in a bad state from above, the labyrinth of debris we had to traverse to get from the courtyard to the main entrance made it look even worse. I spotted several strange holes in the concrete as we moved along, that looked as if something had exploded there. Was there a minefield here maybe? Any question to that end went unanswered by my silent escort however.

        “Geez... Talk about not being the social type...” I thought as I followed her into the ruined building.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The room I was brought to after we had reached the Maripony research facility was, to my great surprise, mostly intact. I had no idea what the Ministry of Arcane Sciences had worked on here, but it had apparently involved several gallons of a rainbow colored liquid. Why else would they have stored that much of it here? It didn't look like a waste storage room either.

Then a little tidbit of information Golden Sunshine had given me came into my mind. I.M.P. This stuff had to be I.M.P.! It was more commonly known as taint in the wasteland. A substance that caused severe mutations, and which my mother used to create her Alicorns.

While I still stood on the edge of a catwalk that ran around the room, looking down onto the vats full of Impelled Metamorphosis Potion, I started to wonder just why I had been brought to this particular room. I had only been here once during the war, and that had been to pick up some documents for the Ministry of Awesome, but I knew that there were living quarters for guests and researchers here. So why did my mother want to speak to me here?

What also unnerved me, was that I was not alone in the vast room. About a dozen of my mothers creations were staring at me from all directions. Only the one with the Pipbuck, who had brought me here in the first place, was miraculously absent. She had at least acted like she had a free will to a degree. The ones that were now keeping me company, were... strange. They barely had any auras, and the little bits of color that I saw emanating from their bodies all seemed to be connected to one of the vats.

        “OK look, I'm tired, hungry and kind of annoyed that you guys keep me waiting here. So is my mother coming or not, because there is a mare out there that I need to take care of.” I asked in a slightly irritated tone of voice to hide the chill that was running up and down my spine. Having all these eyes on me made me nervous for some reason, that I did not quite understand. It almost felt as if they were trying to see directly into my soul.

I got my answer in the form of a giant blue face appearing over the vats in front of me. It was the face of my mother, but it looked... wrong somehow. Her coat looked as if it was rippling and I could see the faces of other Ponies in the ripples. So that was Unity...

She wore an almost apologetic expression on her face as she began to speak, but all I could hear was the faintest of whispers in the back of my head. It was much to quiet to understand.

        “Ehm... what? I can barely hear you. And besides, a magical projection isn't really face to face. I didn't come all this way to talk to an illusion you know.”

Her expression changed to one of surprise, as a magical threat extended from her face to the Alicorn standing closest to me on my left. It was a green Alicorn mare, who began to speak in my mothers voice.

        “I'm very sorry Frostmane, but telepathy is the only way of communication I have left these days. It doesn't seem to work on you though...” the mare said. It was quite disturbing to hear a mare I had never seen before in my life, speak in my mothers voice.

        “What do you mean? You practically forced me to come here, and then you won't even show yourself? Why are you suddenly so desperate to see me? After you left, all I got from you were letters. You didn't come to visit once, so why now?” I snarled.

Nothing I said was untrue. She had not once tried to come and take me away from my father, or even visit me. I had never held it against her, but seeing how she was behaving now, I vouldn't help but feel a little irritated. She was acting as if we had never lost contact, and that irked me greatly.

The mare she possessed hang her head, avoiding my gaze. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, her head shot back up, and she wore a look of determination on her face.

        “I understand that you are angry with me, but you don't know the whole story. And if you really want to see my real body... then so be it.”

What came next, almost made me throw up. One of the vats close to the center of the group standing below us was suddenly enveloped in a sheath of blue magical light. At first, I didn't understand what was happening, until I saw the fleshy blob emerge from the rainbow colored liquid. It looked not even remotely like a Pony anymore. The few patches of coat that this... thing still had were discolored and damp with rainbow colored liquid. Where a Ponys head would have been, was something else now. A fleshy growth, from which several Unicorn horns seemed to stick out. Some of which looked like they were actually penetrating the flesh from underneath, causing more of the rainbow sludge to ooze out of the wounds they caused.

What made my heart skip several beats however, was the single eye that looked back at me from the bulges of flesh. I would have recognized that eye everywhere. There was no face left, but I still got the impression that she was giving me a pleading look. A look that was full of pain and suffering. Deep down, I realized, she wanted her suffering to end. Her conscious mind would never have admitted it, but deep down she just wanted everything to be over. I only saw her for a second, before the glow faded and the fleshy blob, that had once been my mother, dropped back into it's vat, but I had seen enough.

        “As for your other questions... We have much to discuss, and I would like to speak to you in private. There is a lot I can do for you and, in return, you can help me.” the mare to my left said, as if the horrible scene from just a few seconds ago hadn't happened at all. Wide eyed, I turned to look at the mare.

        “I... won't help you. No matter what you have to offer, I won't help you do this to other Ponies. Is there even enough of you left in there to realize what you're doing? To realize that what you do is wrong?” I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper. What I had just witnessed, had caused a lump to form in my throat, that almost robbed me of my voice entirely. No matter how hard I swallowed, it just didn't want to go away...

        “I offer you the opportunity to serve your country. To rebuild Equestria into a land of eternal harmony. There will be no wars, no arguments... Everypony will live in peace. Isn't that what you want? Not to mention that, with you, I could finally create real Alicorns. My children are strong, but flawed. You could fix that.” she cooed, but I already knew that I would never be able to participate in something like this. My long talks with Golden Sunshine, and what I had seen just now, were all the reason I needed to refuse.

        “It looks to me as if you would get a whole lot out of this. What would be in it for me?” I asked, trying to stall. I had to find a way to get out of here, and refuse my mother. I doubted that I would be able to take out all of these Alicorns, and kill my mother. I mean... she was my mother after all, even if she was acting insanely. The green mare smiled at me.

        “That's quite easy actually. I will help you hunt down the mare you are looking for. In addition to that, you can be with your friend forever. My children are just waiting for my command to bring her and the others here to join Unity as we speak. You are immortal now, and she could be too, if you decided to join me.” she said in a tone that suggested she thought that she was offering me some kind of extra tasty treat. I shook my head to clear it, and the sadness in my heart over the state my mother was in, was suddenly replaced by fury. She had her creatures on the Alicorn, and wanted to make the Ponies under my protection... wanted to make Firestorm into one of them?

        “You will not lay a hoof on her, am I making myself clear? Nor on any other Pony on that ship. If you do, so Celestia help me, I will forget that you're my mother.” I shouted, my face contorted in a grimace of rage. The Alicorn my mother controlled backpedaled a few steps at this, and my anger subsided as quickly as it had risen. It was not that I suddenly agreed with my mother, or that I didn't fear for my marefriends safety. No. When the mare had backpedaled, she had almost fallen over, and I had been able to take a glimpse behind her.

Up until now, my view of the wall behind the mare had been blocked by her body. Now however, I saw a weapon leaning against the wall there. A weapon I knew only too well. It had belonged to a mare by the name of Razor Rose, who had been part of my Platoon.

A dark blue Unicorn mare, whose coat was so dark that it was almost black, with a Cutiemark that looked like the weapon she wielded. It was a ten feet long battle hammer, with a head that was decorated with Princess Lunas Cutiemark. We had our fair amount of fights, since she had been second in Command of our Unicorns, and always came to me when she wasn't happy about a decision Gingerbread had made.

I also distinctly remembered that she would never have left this weapon behind for any reason. We once had to turn the Luna Dream around and fly back to a facility we had cleared out, because the medical team that had brought her back on board, had forgotten to bring her hammer. For some strange reason, this weapon had always been more important to her than her own life. So... why was it here of all places?

Then I remembered the mare who had brought me here. Her stoic behavior, her patrol patterns... and the fact that she knew the access codes for the distress frequency... I rounded on the green Alicorn, flaring my wings and grabbing the hammer in my magic.

        “I won't join you. Not in a thousand years. The mare this belonged to... You forced her into your service, didn't you?” I roared, remembering Razor quite clearly. She had been the equivalent to a sleeping pill when it came to conversations, but on the battlefield, she transformed into a literal berserker. I had soon learned that it was wise not to appoint any other soldiers to a location close to her. When she was like this, she couldn't tell friend or foe apart. Not until the battle was over at least.

        “Pity. I thought I could make you see reason. Unity is the only way to save this blasted country.” the Alicorn said, as I floated Razor Roses weapon over her head and brought it down. The enchanted weapon literally pulverized her head, and the magical tendril that connected her with the fleshy blob that was my mother vanished. For the blink of an eye, I saw the ghostly figure of a Unicorn mare. She smiled at me, before fading away.

It was only then that I realized that my temper had, once again, gotten the better of me. I just couldn't help it. Whenever someone threatened my subordinates, or the ones I loved, I just saw red. It was also in that moment, that I realized that I had made a huge mistake.

The remaining Alicorns ignited their horns, and I could feel almost a dozen telekinetic fields form around my body. I tried to counteract them, but there were just too many of them.

        “You will join us in glorious Unity.” the Alicorns said in perfect unison, as Razors hammer was pulled out of my magical grip, and they lifted me into the air. I didn't like where with was going. My horn flickered as I felt my magic being drained and then... it went out completely.

        “Let me go you fucking monster! You're not my mother! She would never have forced me like this!” I shouted in a futile attempt to stop what I knew was going to happen. For a moment, it looked like the Alicorns were faltering, a look of sadness forming on their faces, but it was soon replaced by that emotionless expression I had seen on them the entire time I had waited for my mother to speak to me. Did my mother somehow... put her negative emotions aside? Did she bottle them up somewhere, leaving only unquestionable and fierce determination to reach her goal?

Then, it happened. My tail brushed the surface of one of the vats first, and I could see that the hairs on its end began to dissolve in sizzling puffs of rainbow colored smoke. Was that what was going to happen to my flesh too? Or would I simply mutate, and become a blob of flesh like my mother? Neither outcome was very appealing to me to be honest.

Then my plot hit the liquid, and to my astonishment, nothing happened. Well... not really nothing. My hide began to itch terribly where it came into contact with the stuff, but it didn't dissolve. Soon, all of my body was submerged in the I.M.P., and I was holding my breath. My eyes were shut tight, and I could feel how the armor and Power-Hooves Pinkie Pie had provided me with were dissolved. Sooner or later, I would have to breathe in, and I was pretty sure that it would be all over then.

That I could suddenly hear a multitude of voices in my head, that were urging me to give in to Unity, didn't help a bit. Being in physical contact with the stuff seemed to amplify the telepathic ability of my mother and her Alicorns. Just as my lungs began to burn, and I could hear the voice of my mother in my head clearly, a new voice joined the din. It drowned out the chorus of voices that tried to assimilate my very being.

        “GET OUT!” it shouted and, from one second to another, I could feel my magic return to me. In front of my inner eye I saw Luna, glaring down my mother, before I released a blast of telekinesis, shattering the vat my mother... no... the Goddess had tried to trap me in. Taint flowed around my hooves, as I opened my eyes and saw her Alicorns charge up their horns. They wanted a fight? At this point, I was more than willing to grant their wish. The surge of magic flowing through me should have been enough to wipe this entire place off the map, freeing the poor souls of the Ponies in Unity. The only thing that stopped me from doing so, was the voice of Luna in my head. She urged me to flee. To fly back to the ship and help my friends.

I threw one last look back at the vat that contained the bloated body of my mother, before I spread my wings and began flapping. The Alicorns on the catwalk tried to stop me, but I was too fast for them. Blasting a hole in the ceiling, I opened a way up to the next floor. It seemed to have been an administrative office, with little cubicles and terminals all over the place.

Razor Roses hammer floated up through the hole after me. It was the least I could do for the mare. If I ever met her again, I'd end her existence and use her beloved weapon as her grave marker. She wouldn't have wanted to be forced into servitude. Nor would she have wanted to have most of her free will removed to become the puppet of some mad Pony. It pained me to think about it, but I wanted to do right by her.

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The escape from the complex was easier than I would have thought. Some of the Goddesses Alicorns tried to pursue me, but some giant dogs had come out of the ground and kept them busy. They looked like the one I had thrown through a building in Manehatten. They were, I soon realized, mutated Diamond Dogs.

They did try to shoot me down as well, mind you, but I still welcomed the distraction they provided. Splendid Valley and the crater next to the remains of Maripony soon disappeared on the horizon as I flew towards my new home as fast as I could. All the while Lunas voice was urging me to make haste in the back of my mind. Every inquiry on my part as to why I could suddenly hear her that clearly, went unanswered however. It was as if she was either not hearing me, or wanted to make sure I understood the severity of the situation.

Either way, I decided that an explanation could wait until I had made sure that Firestorm and the others were safe...

~O~Firestorm~O~

This was simply insane! About five minutes ago, I had been on my way to the dining hall with Hope, accompanied by two Alicorn mares, then the ship had suddenly begun to shake violently. The two mares flanking us had overbalanced and fallen over, and I had used that opportunity to grab a hold of Hope and gallop towards the nearest exit. It hadn't even taken long to find one, since many of the luxury suits had balconies. The only problem was, what I was seeing now. There were two Raptors hovering above the Alicorn, and the source of the shaking earlier had been the impact of one of their canons firing on us.

Several groups of Alicorns were swarming the two airships, but the much smaller and faster Pegasi were able to outmaneuver them pretty easily. There was just no way I could bring Hope through this battle without her being able to fly herself.

        “Are they here to help us?” the young mare piped up from my back. I grimaced.

        “I doubt it. They're most likely after Frostmane and me.” I replied, observing as one of the Alicorns got hit by the blast of a rocket launcher and got flung through the air towards one of the Raptors. Before she impacted on it's outer hull her horn flickered one last time, and a blast of fire soared towards the airship. It struck true, causing a minor explosion on the lower decks and, a moment later, I saw how the cloud that held it aloft began to dissipate.

My eye widened as the airship began to fall directly towards us. I barely made it as the Raptor, with its magical canons still firing wildly, struck the side of the Alicorn and utterly crushed at least five of the high class rooms. It didn't penetrate any further, instead falling backwards into the water.

The opening it's impact had caused, was the perfect was for several Power-Armor clad Pegasi to board the ship, and they sure didn't waste any time. I dove for cover as the first group of Ponies opened fire on me, but with the additional weight on my back, I just wasn't fast enough. Hope cried out in pain, as one of their shots grazed the left side of her barrel. I looked back, seeing that the wound wasn't that deep, but that she needed some medical attention soon if she wanted to avoid an infection.

My EFS was flooded with red bars. There was no means for me to escape without leaving Hope behind, and I was not willing to do that. Sighing, I accepted that I only had one viable option left. I had to hide Hope somewhere, and fight the Enclave. If I could manage to get aboard the second Raptor, maybe I could use its systems to shut down their armors.

Just as I galloped through the corridors towards the lower regions of the ship, I caught sight of Rainbow Dash fighting two Enclave stallions. They didn't stand a chance as the former Ministry Mare of Awesome knocked both of them out without killing them.

        “Raibow!” I shouted, and she turned around to look at me.

        “As long as those Enclave guys are around, call me Mare Do Well. I don't want my cover to be blown after all.” she said, looking over my shoulder at the young gray mare that was clinging to my neck for dear life.

        “Can't your ship come and help us? You said it was on standby for such an occasion.”

        “Sorry Storm... I think the Spitfire won't come... Never again... I tried to contact them when these guys here arrived. Nopony answered my call. I guess that... well... I guess the Enclave has finally discovered one of our bases of operation. Rotten luck with the timing though. Loosing that ship... it's a disaster...” she said angrily. I could tell that she felt the loss of the ghouls who had worked with her for almost two centuries. I imagined that it hit her pretty hard.

        “I'm sorry for your loss... But right now... I'll bring Hope to safety, and then I'll fight them. Can't you deactivate their weapons by remote control?” Rainbow Dash shook her head.

        “No can do. These two have their mainframes locked down for some reason. No incoming or outgoing data signals will be accepted. Only manual input, and I'm down to my last Stealthbuck. I need to use that one to get away from here. I can't let them capture me.” my old friend explained, looking torn between staying and helping, and escaping for the greater good.

I didn't know why it was so important that the Enclave didn't get a hold of her, but I trusted my friends judgment.

        “Can you take Hope with you at least?” Again, the prismatic mare shook her head.

        “Where I'm going, she wouldn't survive. I have to go to Shadowbolt Tower, and the only entrance I can use is in the core of Hoofington. I can get myself through it but... sorry...” she said, hanging her head.

        “Don't worry... I'll contact you when I've cleared them out. Now, get out of here. And the next time we meet, you'll explain everything to me. No more need to know basis with me, alright?” I said, earning myself a small smile from the cyan colored Pegasus ghoul.

        “You bet.” was all she said, before activating her last Stealthbuck...

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I dodged another shot by performing a barrel roll in the saloon of the Alicorn. The room was big enough to fly around in, and that I did. The Enclave had chosen the worst possible moment to attack us. After I had brought Hope to safety on the lower decks of the ship, I had begun to hunt down our attackers.

That however, wasn't as easy as I had thought. They were numerous, and they seemed dead set on capturing us alive. Only the Alicorns who had patrolled the corridors to keep any of us from escaping were taken down quickly. They were strong, but even a giant must fall under the attacks of hundreds of flies.

The five I was now facing in the saloon, were proving much more skilled than the ones I had fought the other day. They were actually working in tandem to try and corner me, while avoiding my shots quite skillfully. Each time I tried to get close to disable their weapons with my tail, at least two of the others would cut of my way with their rifles. It was quite frustrating to be honest, and I was starting to tire.

What was even worse, was that my EFS was flooded with red bars that were all converging on my position.

The humming of tiny engines from behind me caught my attention, but I couldn't react to it. Three of the ones I was fighting were charging at me, preventing me from turning around. It was a clever ruse, as I realized all too late.

I was flying low, trying to weave through the tables and use them as impromptu cover, when I saw a shadow fall over me. The next thing I felt, was a searing pain in my sides, and the roar of chainsaws in the air. I hit the ground hard, my snout impacting on the bar. The last thing I heard before I fainted, was the impact of two fleshy objects close to me.

~O~Frostmane~O~

        “No....” I mouthed, as I stood on the shore of the eastern sea. The Alicorn was visible on the horizon, the flames on the upper deck illuminating the night sky. A downed Raptor was floating in the water next to the ship, it's position lights flickering in and out of existence. Spreading my wings, I abandoned my plans for a quick rest and made my way over to the ship.

Upon reaching it, I saw that it was, in fact, only the outer deck that was burning. A flick of my horn caused a load of seawater to float up and soon, the fires were extinguished. I landed, taking in the devastation. Even without the downed Raptor, it was obvious that this damage had been caused by magical energy weapons.

Calling up Firestorms tag on my Pipbuck, I looked around, hoping to find her. All I got, was an error message, telling me that the tag I was looking for could not be located. There was, however, a single yellow bar on my EFS. I galloped towards it, hoping to find a survivor.

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For once, my prayers were heard. When I opened the room to one of the cargo rooms in the belly of the ship, my Pipbucks light spell fell on a cowering gray filly. She was trying to hide behind a box, shivering in fear. It wasn't hard to recognize Hope.

        “Hey... Little one. What happened here?” I asked, trying to keep my own panic out of my voice. When she heard me, Hope jumped up and actually managed to tackle me to the ground. I could see that she was injured. Nothing major for a soldier, but I could imagine that the gash on her barrel must have hurt pretty badly.

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It took me almost two hours before the little filly was able to tell me what had happened. Apparently they had been taken by surprise by two Enclave Raptors. The Goddesses Alicorns had downed one of them with a lucky shot to its cloud generator, but had been taken out soon after. Sadly, Hope was unable to tell me what had happened to the other Ponies.

I however, had a pretty good idea of what had happened. While Hope was riding on my back, I had trotted around the ship. Most of it had stayed undamaged, due to it's automatic fire suppression systems, and so I was able to find a lot of evidence of the struggle that had taken place here. The saloon was the worst. The carpet was drenched in blood, and I spotted two dead Pegasi in one corner of the room. They were the only corpses I had found so far, but the fact that their wounds had been cauterized by magical weapons fire, made me realize that they had not been the cause for all the blood.

There were only two possibilities, and I didn't like either of them. One was, that my marefriend had died in the struggle and that her corpse had either been incinerated above, or it had fallen into the sea. The other was, that she had been taken prisoner, and her tag deactivated. I sincerely hoped that it was the latter one.

To make sure, I boarded the downed Raptor. I had wanted to leave Hope on the Alicorn, but the filly had clung to my neck as if her life depended on it, and so I had taken her along. The airship was... almost undamaged. Only the cloudgenerator was busted, and there were a few holes in its hull here and there. Apart from that, I didn't understand why they had left the thing behind.

As I had hoped, the bridge was completely intact, and its backup generator had kicked in, supplying the mainframe and consoles with enough energy for emergency operations. It was laughable, really. Upon booting up the main command console of the thing, I saw that they were using a slightly modified version of Awesome 3.4, and called it Enclave 3.4. The user interface was almost exactly the same, and it even accepted my Moon Skull access codes.

        “What are you doing?” Hope piped up from my back, looking over my shoulder and observing as my magic pressed the keys on the keyboard rapidly.

        “I'm trying to access the Ministry of Awesome surveillance network. With it, I hope to find out what happened to Firestorm. It can detect any Pipbuck, even if it's tag has been deactivated. Kind of a fail safe, in case a Pony turned traitor.” I explained, as I entered my authorization codes. It didn't really surprise me when the main command hologram in the middle of the bridge came to life, displaying a holographic depiction of the ship and various damage reports. A flick of my horn, and a few button presses later, and the hologram changed to a map of Equestria.

        “Do you think she's alright?” the filly on my back asked, her voice shaking slightly. I wanted to reassure her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I entered my marefriends Pipbuck tag. The hologram changed back to a 3D view of the Raptor, indicating that her Pipbuck was on board. My heart fell at this.

        “I hope so, little one. Now... listen... I know you don't want to stay alone, and I promise I won't be long, but I have to check something out. Can you be a big girl for me, and stay here for a few minutes?” I asked instead, levitating her off my back and readying Razor Roses hammer. The system didn't show any other tags on board, and my EFS confirmed that we were the only living beings here, but I didn't want to take any chances. Neither did I want Hope to see Firestorms dead body, if I found her.

The young mare didn't like it, but when I showed her how she could talk to me over the Raptors public address system, she relented. I think she understood even then that I wanted to protect her from something potentially horrible.

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I found Firestorms bloody Pipbuck in the captains ready room, along with both of her wings. All three items were nailed to the wall behind the captains desk. On the desk, was a note that was addressed at me.

Hey Vice-General,

I'm hereby resigning from the Moon Skulls. Big surprise, huh? Your little mare put up quite a fight, but she's just second rate after all. I never understood why you would put such a mare in charge of the Pegasi. Maybe because you have the hots for her? Huh? Yeah, I've been watching you, and I know it all. You really are a disgrace for the equestrian military. If you want your little fuck toy back, then come to the coordinates I put on her Pipbuck. You have a week. After that, all of the Ponies that thought that they were safe because they were under your protection, will die.

In disgust and hatred

Fleet Admiral Gear Turn

I read the note again and again. She had known. She had known that I would use this Raptors systems to find Firestorm. It was the only reason she had placed this here. I had always known that Gear Turn was a psycho, but how the hell had she convinced the Enclave to...

Then it hit me. She had done something similar in Manehatten after all. She had most likely used a recording of one of the Sirens songs to influence them somehow. That didn't explain how she had gotten above the cloud-curtain however, since she had sacrificed her own wings for those cybernetics of hers.

My horn flared, and the note went up in flames. There was nothing I could do right now. I had to make arrangements for Hope, so she had a safe place to stay while I went to finish things with Gear Turn, and I had to rest. I had to eat something and lick my own wounds before I went off to end this once and for all. The Goddess had her reasons for not giving me time to rest before we met. She hadn't wanted me to be at full power. Gear Turn was banking on me being so angry with her that I threw caution to the wind and charged after her as soon as I read this too.

I must admit that I was more than willing to do so. Had it not been for Hope...

Footnotes:

Frostmane:

Maximum Level!

Firestorm:

Status unknown