Fallout Equestria: Screaming Eagles

Chapter 2: Blood on the Risers

“Gory, Gory what a hellava way to die.” Blood on the Risers chorus

We were walking along a ruined road heading towards the base of Canterlot mountain in silence. My mind was plagued by questions about this world, why were these ministries important, what did they do, how had the world been destroyed, what was this war about, who were the combatants, and what else is out there.

   “So uh, where are ya from?”   Jameson asked awkwardly.

    “We’re on an alien planet surrounded by colorful talking ponies...and you want to know where I’m from.”   I said.

“Well I’m bored and you’re the only one I too. So I’ll ask again where ya from?”

   I groaned    “A ranch near Dallas Texas.”   He stopped and gave me, I swear the biggest shit eating grin.

    “So you’re a fuckin’ cowboy.”   Ah Christ here we go again. He began asking about Texas and if I’d lived like a cowboy.

We heard the sound of a distant firefight.   “Is it one of ours?”   Jameson asked.

    “There’s only one way to find out, come on.”   We ran towards the firefight, passing a destroyed wagon along the way.  It took us five minutes to get to the field, we were behind the attacking ponies. The ponies were attacking another group of paratroopers who were hidden on top of a fallen bridge raining fiery death from a top their position with an MG. We hadn’t been spotted at this point. I moved behind a pillar and signaled for Jameson to wait and toss me his tompson. He tossed it to me along with the ammunition, in turn I tossed him my M1 and ammo.  I peeked around the pillar, five hostels in front of us, one with an ax and the rest with guns. I got back behind the pillar and signaled Jameson ‘five in front wait for my mark’ I moved to get a little closer to the ponies  ‘MARK’

I stepped out from behind the wall I hid behind and opened fire. The ponies died before they had a chance to react. Jameson moved to a nearby ridge and gave me covering fire from afar as I moved closer into the fray. I ran across the terrain to get closer to the other troopers killing the attacking ponies along the way. I jumped into the makeshift pillbox the troopers made   “Are you boys alright?”   I asked as a bullet hit a wall not to far from my head.

     “We’re alright sir, but Gareth got hit in the arm!”   one of them said, there were five of them, only two of them had weapons and that was counting the MG.

    “How many of them are there?”    I asked and  bullet struck a few feet beside me.

“Twenty-five sir! We’ve been holding them off since we got here.”     He replied.   I asked if they had enough ammo.   “Yes sir we’ve got plenty of ammo. It’s just these bastards are staying low, I think their gonna try to wait us out.”   He responded.

I began to look around, trying to formulate a plan. There was a small ridge that was elevated above the battlefield. If we could the MG up there then we can lay down some serious fire.    “Can we get the MG up on that ridge?”   I asked as several bullets flew above our heads. The other trooper, which it only just now occurred to me to ask these troopers their names   “Also what are your names?”   He gave their names, the one I was talking to was Irving then there was Marston ‘the one on the MG’, miles ‘a medic’, and Vineyard.

After introductions he returned his attention to the matter at hand   “We could if they’d stop shooting at us!”   as he finished a bullet glanced off his helmet.

We were interrupted by the sight of Jameson running towards us taking fire    “Shit give him covering fire!”    I yelled as I let out a burst of fire from the thompson. He jumped into the pillbox and crashed into my side   “The hell were you thinking!?”   I chastised him.

He responded with a shit eating grin, then said that he’d spotted what looked to be a large group of ponies coming our way   “I’ve got good news and bad news. Bad news more of them are coming from the east and from the looks of it they brought a lot of firepower. Good news is I think I found a way out of here.”    He told us about a small passage to the west that looked like it would lead out of here    “But downside is we’ll have to go one at a time it’s too narrow for anything else.”    Dammit why couldn’t this be easy.

The plan changed    “Jameson, remember the wagon we passed on the way here?”    he nodded    “I want you to lead these boys there, while I draw the enemy’s fire.”

  He began to refuse     “Sir, with all due respect...”

I cut him off by saying    “That’s an order soldier.”     He nodded and told the rest of them to get ready to move out.

They were ready to move out I tossed a grenade and yelled   “Go!”   They jumped out of the pillbox and Jameson led them towards the exit. I let loose a barrage of fire upon the ponies. Making sure they couldn’t get a clean shot on my fellow soldiers.     “Come on you bastards!”   I yelled as I jumped out of the pillbox and made my way towards the enemy.

BOOM.  Something exploded from where Jameson’s group was. I back peddled and made my way there tossing another grenade into a group of enemies. I fired a three round burst into a piss-yellow pony with a sharpened shovel in her mouth.  Her head exploded, blood and brain matter covered not only the wall behind her but me as well.

I reached the passage   “No”   the passage had collapsed, I couldn’t get out this way. As I looked frantically around for another way out I got shot in the lower back. I let out a scream as the bullet exited my flesh.    “I’m not going to die in this place.”  I spun around and let loose a burst of fire at the pony who shot me. Hitting it in the chest and eye.

I ran out of the passage and more ponies started to shoot at and chase me. For every shot they took at me I took one at them, though I wasn’t necessarily aiming so it was a miracle when I actually hit them. There was an old building that was covered by the fallen bridge. The building’s door and windows were boarded up. Thinking quickly I threw another grenade behind me and ran for the building.

Somehow I pulled one of the boards off of the window, if I had to guess I’d say it was the adrenalin pumping through my body. I pulled off enough boards for me to slip through but kept enough of the boards on to keep the ponies out as I slid through I got shot in the leg. I poked the thompson slightly out of the window and opened fire click

   “Shit!”  I pulled back and reloaded. Looking into the building I saw that only half of the building was still standing but the ponies couldn't get to me.

The ponies had stopped pursuing me at this point and I’d been walking for an hour, I also lost a lot of blood and was limping badly. I leaned against a wall   “I just need to rest for a minute…”   I slid down the wall, I was dying, my body was plagued with exhaustion, I was coming down from the adrenaline rush of combat, and I was bleeding out.

I faintly heard footsteps, looking up I saw a pink mare with a well kept yellow mane, several bags on her sides, and a small gun in her mouth. I weakly leveled the thompson at her. She mumbled something around the gun. Wait they can’t talk while their using their guns, that seems problematic and strangely cute.

She holstered her gun   “You’re hurt.”   she got closer, I moved the thompson to keep her in its sights. She sighed and began digging in her bags. I think I consciousness because the world went black and when I came back the mare was bandaging my leg. Do to exhaustion I lost consciousness again.

I was walking through a starry void and I could hear a little girl crying. Following the sobs I came across a little blue filly with wings, a horn, and a picture of a crescent moon on her flanks. I bent down and asked if she was okay   “I-I’m lost and I can’t find my sister.”    She sobbed even more.

I pet her gently   “Hey it’s gonna be alright I’ll help you find your sister.”   I said as I picked her up and held the little filly in my arms.

   “Thank you mister.”   She said and I walked further into the void. I don’t know why I decided to help this filly but something told me that it was something I needed to do.    “Mister what’s your name?”   She asked.

    “George Winters, what’s yours?”

  “Luna.”   And with that Luna closed her eyes and quietly drifted to sleep in my arms.

I woke up in a wagon wrapped in bandages and covered up by a blanket. Where am I, what happened to my weapon… Jameson, oh God what happened to them. My thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the pink mare   “Oh you’re awake. That’s good I was worried about you for a second there.”     She said with smile after she set a bucket of water down.

I eyed the mare cautiously   “Where am I and who the hell are you?”   I demanded.

She walked up to me and offered a hoof    “Names Strawberry Diamond, what’s yours?”   I told her my name and mimicked her actions which it turned out to be a pony version of a handshake.  She told me that she’d heard about strange creatures on the radio and figured I must be one of those creatures.   “And after you passed out I bandage you up the best I could then brought you here.”   She said.

I tried to stand up as the wagon came to a stop and almost fell from the pain that shot through my leg. Strawberry helped me to my feet and out of the wagon.   “Where’s my stuff?”   I asked.

   “Oh I put it all in my footlocker so no pony would get into it. I Can get it for you if you want.”    she said and I nodded.

I looked around at the ponies who were a part of this caravan, they weren’t like the ones we’ve seen before they weren’t trying to kill me, not wearing grotesque armor, and in general seemed like decent people. The ponies were eyeing me with a mixture a curiosity and fear.   “Ah don’t mind them, once they see you won’t try and kill us they’ll open up to you.”    She said warmly as she led me to another wagon.

  “Okay I’m confused.”     I finally said.  She raised an eyebrow   “Everyone of you ponies I’ve seen so far have tried to kill me and yet you didn’t. You did the opposite and healed me. Why?”   I asked.

   She climbed up onto another wagon and went into it while saying,    “Well that’s because you’ve been in raider territory and we’re the only caravan that's come this way in about. Uh. Two weeks.”    She dragged out a footlocker and opened it. The locker had not only my things but some of her’s as well, I waited for her to take out my things. She set all of my stuff out and I took it all ‘I felt better with a loaded gun by my side’. She told me about Raiders and other groups in the wasteland.

I’d been traveling with these ponies for a few hours, they’d already told me that I’d been with them for three days and according to the pip-buck they were right. A calendar yet another thing this pip-buck can do.

The caravan stopped   “I think your friends gonna want to see this.”   One of the ponies at the front of the caravan said. I went to the front, with help from Strawberry. There was a dead paratrooper on the ground, he wasn’t shot, his chute had failed to open and he’d plummeted to his death.

    “Did you know him?”    Strawberry asked.

I knelt down in front of the corpse and turned it over so he’d lay on his back. I took off his dog tags "corporal O'Brien, age 20", I put his tags in my pocket and took his equipment, even the faulty chute.  I didn’t like taking from the dead especially a fellow American but I wasn’t going to get resupply anytime soon and I’m probably the only one around for miles who’s going to pay him the proper respects.

   “I’m burying him.”   I told Strawberry and grabbed the M1928 folding shovel and began looking for a good spot to bury the body.

   “You can barely walk and you're gonna try to dig a grave!?”    Strawberry said astonished but when she realized that no matter what she said I'd still bury him, she  grabbed her own shovel and began to help.

As I dug I wondered how many of my fellow troopers were dead in this place, how many of them died like this, how many were killed by the wastelands inhabitants, had Jameson and the others been killed by raiders, or were they under the impression that everything in the wasteland wants us dead and accidentally attacked another caravan. What of the Captain had he been under the presumption that all the ponies were like the raiders, had he and fellow troopers adopted a shoot first ask later policy, and was there anything worse than raiders out there.

  “I think that’s deep enough.”   Strawberry said snapping me back into reality.

The grave was more than deep enough.   “Y-Yeah...”    I got out of the grave and carefully and respectfully laid the corporal's corpse into the grave. I tied two lead pipes together to make a cross and using it as a makeshift headstone, I set his helmet on the top of the cross after he was buried.

   “You never answered my question.”    Strawberry said as she sat beside me, in front of the grave.

I sighed    “No.”

Footnotes:  level up.

new perk added: Lunar guidance.

                           You’re not sure what your hallucination meant (if anything) but you gain a +1 perception during the night.