Fallout: Equestria- Secrets of the Divide

“This is Yankee Bravo to any remaining Rangers. We’re in serious need of some air cover here! We’ve got dragons bearing down on us. We’ve already lost Alpha Lima and Papa November to those winged bastards. Can you send any Shadowbolts over here!?” -Equestrian Armed Forces Radio Operator Corporal Telegraph.

~ooo000ooo~

I can hear the sounds of incoming artillery rounds overhead as they raced through the skies towards their targets, bringing death to those who dared to attack the frontlines in the early morning dawn. The earth shattering impacts of the artillery rounds could probably be felt even by those who were miles behind the frontlines as they sat and strategized with their fellow officers. In the skies above flew pegasai as they engaged against the dragons that were affiliated with the zebras amongst the winter clouds. The clouds were dropping snow down upon the land with driving winds and stinging cold. On the ground, the crude trenches previously owned by the Equestrian Army were filled with the corpses of both pony and zebra combatants, their bodies frozen solid and barely buried by the previous nights’ snowfall. Charging through the trenches were five ponies from the 81st Steel Rangers, otherwise known as the “Trench Reapers”. We pressed forward with lethal precision and expertise as our assault rifles and combat shotguns filled the snowy air with death. The zebras who had stayed behind to stall the us were cut down in droves as the armored equine death machines broke through any forms of resistance put before us.

And amongst the wave of unstoppable steel was me, a lowly Ranger Initiate, thrust into the assault as a temporary replacement for a Ranger who was killed a week before I arrived.

Oh, my name’s Initiate Silver Streak. I’ve only been in the Steel Rangers for two months before my commanding officer shipped me out here, saying it was the perfect chance to get some real combat experience in before I was put into the Ranger armor. For as long as I could remember, we’ve been fighting back for this portion of northern Equestria for what seemed like years. Every day was filled with horrendous combat with no end in sight.

Oh how I wished for the beautiful Summer evenings in the urban hills of Applewood.

As an Initiate, I’m only restricted to Level One Equipment, meaning I could only use small caliber sidearms and small caliber rifles. As far as my armor went, I was only given a lightly armored jumpsuit to wear that had some minor armor plating on my chest and shoulders, but the plating is tiny and barely covers any large regions, just my upper shoulders and where my heart and lungs are.

So basically, if a zebra somehow managed to get a lucky shot on me, that means no more Silver Streak.

But, the Trench Reapers always fought as a single unit, always moving and always firing. When I was tasked with assisting in clearing out the trenches, the Rangers had decided to put me smack-dab in the middle of the pack to keep me safe from enemy fire. But it is very claustrophobic in the middle of the pack, and keeping pace with them is difficult enough without having to worry about an Anti-Machine sniper picking me out of the crowd and painting my fellow Rangers’ armor red.

“Keep up rookie!” barked Star Paladin Bullseye as he blasted a zebra trooper with his dual-drum magazine combat shotgun. The zebra buck crumpled against the trench wall as flechette shrapnel tore his stripped face to shreds, some of it digging deep into his skull and shredding his brain.

“I-I’m trying sir!” I panted, my legs screaming in pain, begging for relief from the continuous running.

“Incoming!” cried Paladin Roses. Above us, I spotted the incoming artillery around. To my left, Technician Sparks’ armored horn flared up and casted a shield spell over us. The large caliber round slammed into the shield, fire washing over the curved surface before turning into ash and soot. The shield soon vanished, dropping the soot all over us. A cloud of it got into my mouth, forcing me to cough my lungs out. My lungs were already on fire from the running, and having to cough out soot wasn’t helping them any.

“You okay kid?” asked Medic Cardiac. I gritted my teeth and nodded with a pained smile on my face. “Whatever y-” but before she could finish, the armor on her neck exploded into gore and steel shrapnel, forcibly decapitating the medical mare. There was a booming report of a heavy rifle immediately after. The headless body staggered before falling and rolling over itself in the snow.

“SNIPER!” roared Roses.

“Get into cover!” ordered Bullseye as he searched for a piece of cover. Spotting a side entrance, he signalled the remaining four of us to dive into the little alcove, just as a second sniper bullet impacted into the ground near his hooves. Our sudden appearance surprised the zebra sitting at a radio inside the alcove. But before he could relay our coordinates, a single nine-millimeter round slammed into the side of his head, killing him instantly. The lifeless body slumped forward, his snout hitting the field radios’ power button and turning it off.

I blinked, looking at my armored comrades to see who made the shot, but they were all looking at me through their snow encrusted visors. Blinking again, I looked down at my holster to see that it was empty. I then realized that I was using my magic and looked a little above me to see my pistol floating in a field of my sapphire colored magic.

“His first kill.” said Bullseye simply.

“They grow up so fast!” said Sparks in a false, choked up voice, his armored hoof wiping an imaginary tear from his visor.

“I’m surprised that he didn’t hesitate. The noobs usually hesitate.” said Paladin Roses in a matter-of-factually tone. I floated the sidearm back into my holster and looked back to the dead zebra, giving a small shrug.

“We’re in a war. There’s no time for making moral choices within a split-second.” I said simply. The air seemed to get colder with that statement, and Sparks gave a hard shudder to confirm this.

“Should put that in a book, kid,” he said with a chuckle.

“Enough chit-chat, we need to keep moving. Roses, I want you to cover us. If that sniper pops up, you pop him.” Bullseye ordered. Roses nodded and kicked her built in battle saddle. The siding of her saddle popped open, and a small tube with a firing chamber extended from the compartment within, which then began to extend her .50 caliber rifle. Roses reached into an armored compartment and withdrew the barrels’ muzzle, screwing it onto the end of the tube. A small box on the side of her helmet opened up to allow a sniper scope to extend and secure itself over the right half of her visor. Trotting forward, Roses peaked around the wooden support beam, her scope and rifle barrel being the only parts of her armor looking out. Above us, the terrifying roar of a dragon could be heard, followed by the heavy striking of artillery.

But something seemed off about the sounds of the impacting rounds.

“It’s clear.” Roses announced. Bullseye nodded and began to trot forward with Sparks and myself in tow. Suddenly, a blinding light and a burning heat engulfed Roses, cooking her within her armor. The internal ammo storage for the sniper exploded, blowing apart the left side of her armored torso. Roses screamed in pain as her failing armor crumpled to the snow, turning the powder from a marginally dirty white to a deep red.

“Dragon!” screamed Bullseye. He began to stagger back just as a large talon crashed into the snowy ground before him. The talon freed itself, then pulled back and lunged for Bullseye, breaking through his armor and impaling him through the chest. The Star Paladin screamed in agony as he struggled to free himself from the serrated appendage. Sparks gawked in horror as he watched his commander be dragged away with a trail of blood following his wake. Sparks turned to me, fear in his eyes. He looked like he was about to say something, but his mouth suddenly became filled with the tip of a second dragons’ talon as it stuck the back of his head and broke out of his throat, dislocating his jaw entirely. The talon jerked out of him, sending his blood spraying all over me, his eyes rolling over in their sockets as shock and trauma overtook his body. I stood there in terror, instinctively drawing my pistol as Sparks’ lifeless body collapsed to the ground before me, landing in the red snow. I aimed the sidearm towards the entrance of the alcove, expecting death to come for me next.

And as if on cue, the dragons’ head dipped down into the trench, glaring at me with its’ emerald green eyes. Scars adorned its’ features, a large one coming down across its’ snout,  revealing the dragons’ sword-like teeth. My aim began to shake as my mind began to panic, unsure of what to do. The dragon sneered and opened his mouth, getting ready to release his fire. I could see the flame beginning to spark deep within his belly, brewing itself to a flesh searing temperature. I tensed up and looked away, ready for the burning death. I could hear the fire surging forward, coming to meet me…

Then everything went silent.

Opening my eyes, I looked to the dragon again. The fire was frozen in mid-air before me, mere inches from my snout. The close proximity of the flame forced me to stagger back and rear up, pressing my back to the wooden trench wall. The dragons’ face was contorted in rage, his jaw hyper-extended to allow the flame to fly from his throat. However, his features seemed to glitch, like that of a terminal having issues with its’ hardware. Looking down, Sparks’ dead body was beginning to be engulfed by the flame when it froze in its’ advance, covering his lower half in the glitching fire. Stepping forward, I skirted past the dragon, watching it carefully in the case that he suddenly sprung back to life. But as I left the alcove, the dragon remained frozen in place, the body of Paladin Roses beneath him. I looked up and followed his long neck up and around the lip of the trench where his body was resting with the impaled corpse of Star Paladin Bullseye clutched in his grasp.

Nearby, I spotted a stack of crates, sharing the same glitching at the dragon. The headless body of Medic Cardiac looked like a distorted picture as the glitching stretched portions of the limp body. To my left was a set of stairs that led out of the trench. I climbed up them, watching as they glitched beneath my every step. When I emerged from the trench, I gasped in shock at the surrounding environment. Everything was frozen in place and glitching; artillery rounds were paused in their archs, troops from both sides were clashing in a small No Pony’s Land, and the air battles above looked like blurred paintings rather than living beings.

Suddenly, the winter gray skies turned a blood red, pulsating malevolently. The next thing to emerge was a line of computer text in a large, white font set before the pulsating red.

“O:SP- Trial #3556449392736: Error. Simulation paused. Purging Initiate from Simulation. Please consult a EQAF technician to reset the program and resume your training.”

“What is going on…?” I muttered beneath my breath. Suddenly, things began to dissipate and vanish from the land. Soon the snowy terrain had pixelated and turned into a flat paneled surface. The wintery sky had dissipated into a paneled dome that loomed above me, seeming to stretch on for miles. A blinding light began to grow from the horizon, approaching fast. I turned on the spot and began to run from the light, convinced that the light was coming to kill me. However, my run was short-lived because I had ran into a wall of sorts. I clambered against the wall, trying to find something to climb up on. I turned and saw the light was seconds away from me, and I pressed my frame against the wall and braced myself.

~ooo000ooo~

The light engulfed me without any pain or sound. But I couldn’t open my eyes due to how bright the light was. Soon, the sounds of beeping computers and humming machinery began to fill my hearing as the light dissipated from the world. Blinking, my new world was filled with the sight of a clear dome right in front of me and steel cradling me. Outside was dimly lit, the warehouse light right above me flickering ever so slightly.

“Where am I?” Is what I meant to say, but my throat felt tight and my jaw seemed to be locked up, making speech damn near impossible.

Looking around, I saw that wires were laid around my body, some of them covering my limbs like a blanket made of wires. A majority of the wires were hooked up to a device that was sitting on my head. I tried reaching up to remove the device, but my forelegs were as heavy as lead, not wanting to move as my muscles strained to lift them. I could hear the sound of hissing air as it escaped from somewhere within the pod. As the hissing air began to quiet down, I watched as the glass above me began to lift away. Silence filled the air as the glass came to an upright position. A couple minutes later, I could hear the sounds of roaring air quickly approaching my pod, and soon a robot painted in medical white with red secondary coloring loomed before me, staring at me with three metallic eyes.

“Good afternoon! I am Pinkerton, and I have been assigned to rehabilitate you!” said the robot in a cheerful, professional voice. I simply swallowed, unsure of what to say. I opened my mouth to ask a question, but my throat gave a weak croak. “Oh dear, it seems you’ve been in the simulation for far too long!” said the robot as he reached into the pod with three tendril like arms and began to disconnect the wires with a set of metallic pincers. The wires around me were removed with a series of electrical pops, filling the air with an acrid smoke. My snout scrunched up as the foul odors assaulted my sense of smell. Pinkerton reached up and  removed the device on my head and set it outside the pod, then reached in and removed me from the pod. Once I was out, the pods’ lid began to close itself as the robot carried me away bridal style through row upon row of similar pods. As we passed by them, I tried to look inside the pods to see if there were any inhabitants within, but most were either empty or had a metallic shielding covering the pods’ glass.

Soon, the robot had carried me down a hallway. As we traveled, we passed by a wall mounted sign that said ‘Infirmary’ with a red arrow pointing in the direction of its’ location. We soon came upon the infirmary door and it automatically cycled open, allowing us to enter. The interior of the room had simple furnishings and some minor medical equipment, making it look like a small school nurses’ office rather than a high-grade infirmary. The robot gently laid me down on a padded bed and used some nearby controls to lean me up and forward. The robot flew away for a bit, then came back with a clipboard in one of its’ pincers. It looked down at the clipboard and scanned it before speaking to me.

“Initiate Silver Streak, male unicorn pony, age nineteen. Born in Applewood and joined the Equestrian Army at the age of seventeen using false documents. Served for two years before volunteering for the Steel Rangers at the rank of Captain. Was an Initiate for two months before being assigned to virtual training on October eighth.” said Pinkerton before looking at me. “Did I get that all correct?” he asked. I simply stared at him, giving a slow nod, unsure how they found out about my false recruitment papers. “Well then, let’s get you back on your hooves, shall we?” he asked before floating away to a nearby box mounted on the wall. The box had a trio of pink butterflies set before a red medical cross. He opened it and retrieved a large needle from within it before closing the box and floating back to me. “This is a simple cocktail of vitamins, minerals, with a dose adrenaline to get your heart pumping. This should get you back in working order.” he said. Reaching me, he simply slammed the needle right into my chest, the needle striking my heart and injecting the cocktail. My world suddenly became clearer as my heart began to pound away, working my blood through my veins and around my body. But as soon as the effects started, they wore off almost as quickly as they started. “Hmm, interesting. Most patients go into shock and die when the cocktail is injected.” said Pinkerton simply as he disposed of the used needle. My lungs expanded and deflated rapidly and my heart raced as if I were a hummingbird. I could feel my blood being driven through my veins and arteries, saturating my muscles with fresh oxygen and vitamins. Eventually, my heart began to resume its’ normal pacing along with my breathing. When I was ready, Pinkerton helped me off the bed and onto the floor, steadying me as the lead like weight in my legs slowly ebbed away. My knees trembled harshly, threatening to give out from under me. After a series of small walking tests, I got to the point where I could trot at a steady pace, but not quite ready to completely run. I looked to Pinkerton, gesturing to my throat.

“Ah, your voice. Allow me to fix that.” he said, floating to the infirmary sink. He got a paper cup and filled it with water. After, he retrieved a canister labeled ‘Salt’ and poured a bit of it into the water. A quick mix later, and the robot gestured for me to approach. I did as ordered and he passed the cup of saltwater to me. “Gargle this for a bit and spit it out.” he said simply as I took the cup with my hooves and knocked the saltwater back. I gargled the salty mixture for about two minutes before spitting it out into the sink. Rubbing my throat a bit, I cleared it and spoke in a quiet voice.

“What happened…?” was the first question that came out of my mouth.

The robot simply stared at me, seeming confused.

“Whatever do you mean?” he asked in a confused tone.

“The simulation. It seemed so real. It seemed like I was in there for years…” I said, trailing off.

“Ah, there was a small malfunction within the program matrices. It seemed that some data was corrupted while being processed, resulting in an automatic shutdown of the simulation and purging you from the simulation to prevent any mental injuries.” explained Pinkerton.

“And where am I?” was the second question that came from my mouth.

“You are currently inside Fort Talon, just outside of Applewood. This is where any Steel Ranger Initiates come to receive their Power Armor training.” said Pinkerton.

“That’s right...I remember now. Elder Cork had assigned me to come here and to get my training finished up.” I said as memories of standing in the elder’s office flashed through my mind.

“If you have no more questions, please report to the Quartermaster to retrieve your belongings. Afterward, you may use the Officer’s Lounge to relax and recuperate, or you may simply go home.” said Pinkerton as he approached a charging station that was situated in the corner of the infirmary. Once there, his three eyes drooped down and his arms curled up as he simply dropped onto the charging pad, a small ping accompanying his shut down.

~ooo000ooo~

After leaving the infirmary, I trotted down the dull halls until in complete silence. The hallways seemed empty, almost as if nopony was here except for me. The only sounds that filled the air besides my clicking hooves was the humming of the air recyclers. Eventually I came upon the Quartermaster’s distribution window. I rang the small silver bell and waited for the Quartermaster. After about five minutes, I looked over the counter and saw that the robot was destroyed by a fallen chunk of ceiling. The fact that a maintenance pony hadn’t noticed the crushed robot took me by surprise. Looking up, I spotted a locker with the label ‘S.Streak’ on the door. Hopping the counter, I approached the locker and was amazed to see that it wasn’t locked. Opening the locker, I found my officers’ uniform hung up and clean, along with my officers’ cap on a small shelf above the uniform. Resting on the lockers’ bottom was my saddle bag, the silver lighting clasp glinting in the light. Beside it was a holster with a nine-millimeter pistol resting within it. I smirked at the iron forged sidearm and began to pull everything out of the locker.

Once dressed and rearmed, I opened my saddlebag and saw that everything was still inside; some bits, my identification papers, and my daily planner. After opening the planner, I smiled at the photo that was tapped to the inside of the cover. It showed a pretty magenta colored earth pony mare holding a smiling unicorn filly; my soon-to-be wife and filly. I had planned on asking her to marry me after the power armor training. Closing the planner, I returned everything to the saddlebag and threw it over my back. Hopping the counter again, I trotted to where the Officer’s Lounge was to pick up a Sparkle-Cola. As I made my way, I passed by a large observation window that opened to a large missile silo.

A large, empty missile silo.

The soldiers of Fort Talon all knew of the megaspell warhead that sat in the fort’s only silo. Hell, I even knew of the missile and had only been on the base for a day, mostly due to the fact that a technician kept bragging about it, saying it was the first practical megaspell delivery system ever installed on a megaspell. The residing soldiers had even come up with a nickname for the missile, naming it ‘Titan’. They even went as far as to sneak into the silo one night and paint the name in large lettering along the side of the missile.

But now Titan was gone, leaving its’ massive circular housing empty.

“Maybe they took it apart for repairs.” I muttered to myself as I continued my trot to the Lounge. I eventually reached the lounge and opened the door. To my left was a smaller room, and to my right was a single booth for sitting. Entering, I trotted to the Sparkle-Cola machine and fished out some bits from my saddlebag. After slotting the bits in and retrieving my drink, I turned around ready to leave when my eyes passed over the booth…

...and over the three skeletons that were sitting within the booth.

My soda fell from my telekinetic grip and shattered on the tiled floor. My blood ran cold as my eyes locked with the empty sockets of one of the skulls. I noticed they were all wearing officer’s uniforms, but they were heavily torn and tattered. There were two Colonels and one Three-Star General. One of them was a unicorn, while the other two were earth ponies. The unicorn skeleton was slouched and looked ready to fall out of the booth, a .357 revolver laying on the table before him. All three skeletons shared a common feature; there was a jagged hole somewhere in their skulls. The two earth ponies had holes right between their eyes, while the unicorn had a hole coming from the back of his skull, suggesting that he had shot his two subordinates and then ate his gun afterwards. Splattered black paint decorated the wall behind the two earth ponies, while the booths’ backing was stained black behind the unicorn, with a hole from where the bullet left his skull and entered the booth.

Panicking, I raced out of the lounge, wanting to get away from the dead ponies as quickly as possible, maybe to even try and alert someone to the bones resting in the lounge. My hooves were blurs as I ran, trying to find somepony in the empty hallways. My running eventually led me to a closed door with a terminal mounted to the wall next to it. Panting, I approached the terminal and powered it up. Text crawled across the screen and the option to open the door eventually appeared. Selecting that option, the door cycled open with a metallic squeal and I stepped out…

...which led to me suddenly falling towards a large fissure that split the earth. The maw seemed to grow wider as I fell, ready to slam shut once I was within.