Fallout:Equestria - Burning Hope

Chapter 6: Graves Unearthed
“It is beyond even our understanding.
That’s not very reassuring.”

“You can’t run, you can’t hide. You know Fireflight….I don’t know why you try. I will always find you, and then you shall suffer.” His smooth voice mocked me, words coming from an invisible mouth.

“The prophecies say that one of flames and fury shall fall. I don't know anyone else who fits the description.” Even though I couldn't see him, I could tell he had a smug face.

“What prophecies?” I asked, after having thought of which question to ask first.

“That is not for you to hear. All you must know is that she knows all, and she sees all.”

“Why are you in my head? You spoke long ago, and then you stopped. Why the fuck are you talking to me now?” I struggled to keep my voice low. Midnight and Sunbeam were busy packing stuff for the journey, and the last thing I needed was them thinking I was crazy.

“Ah, that is for another time. For now, let's just say I'll be sticking around a while.” And with that, he shut up.

I scowled and began to dig through an old chest, which I had crammed random crap in over the years. But of course, there were some gems in amongst the rubbish. Stuffed in between a box of ammo (the type of caliber that I don’t use) and a broken rocket launcher was my old combat barding. It wasn’t that fancy, but offered decent protection from bullets and shrapnel. Though, as I lifted it in my mouth, I was reminded that it hadn’t been washed in..well…. forever.

Dropping it on the ground, I stuck my head back into the box but found very little stuff that was actually useful. My ears flickered as I stood up straight and turned around, to see Midnight and Sunbeam whispering to each other. Two glistening magenta eyes stared at me.

“Fire, before we run off scared, you need to tell us exactly what this is about.” she scowled. I sighed and flopped down onto a chair, watching as the others did the same.

“What do you want to know?” I said grumpily, this was really not something I wanted to talk about.

“Who are the Guild?” Midnight tapped her hoof on the table nervously.

“A gang. They employ the best assassins, bounty hunters and mercenaries the wasteland has to offer. Provide them with equipment, contacts to high ticket jobs, the only thing they want in return is help in raids that benefit them. Attacking rival gangs, capturing towns, that sort of thing. They have some sort of agenda, not sure exactly what.”

“What do you have to do with them?” Midnight looked down at the table, and my eyes drifted away from my friends.

“I used to work for them.” I admitted “I was one of their best in the area, it brought in more money, so Midnight and I could survive.”

Midnight stared at me before her horn lit up and a bottle of wild pegasus whiskey landed in front of her. She popped off the cap and took a large gulp of it.

“What went wrong?” Sunny pushed the whiskey towards me “I can only assume something went wrong by the way you reacted.”

“I tried to leave.” I took a sip of the lovely alcohol “They thought I knew too much, so they tried to kill me so I wouldn’t spill any secrets. I escaped, so they’ve been hunting me.”

“Well, that clears things up” she blinked. Midnight stood up quietly.

“I’ll go pack the rest of the supplies.” She mumbled before walking to the other end of the shack, packing canned food into saddlebags.

Sunbeam stood up and walked to me before kneeling down. She gently began to unwrap the bandages around my waist, revealing two small scars along my sides, scars that were almost certainly new.

“Looks good.” she smiled slightly, her eyes glistening like crystals. The mare then leapt off to help my unicorn friend prepare for our journey. We were to return to Manehatten, try and find my target, and survive.

I stretched one of my wings and looked at it. A few bent feathers, a few dislodged ones. Shifting my head slightly, I bit down on a bloodstained feather and yanked.

*Pluck*

Why am I dragging Midnight through all this?

*Pluck *

Why does she stick around with me?

*Pluck*

The Guild is going to catch me at some point, why does she stay?

*Pluck*

This contract, why am I doing it?

*Pluck*

Am I a bad pony?

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

I was snapped out of my strange trance and turned towards the door. Midnight lifted Black Magic in her hazel glow, and Sunbeam stepped towards the metal shutter.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Sunny gripped the bottom of the rusted metal shutter and threw it up. The safety of Midnight’s revolver clicked off.

A brown unicorn mare looked into the shack, her navy blue mane tossing about as she moved her head. Over her back was a huge sword, her magic curled about the handle.

“This is the home of the pegasus known as Fireflight, correct?” she snapped, her voice tense. Before we had a chance to speak, she drew her sword.

“The traitor shall come with me, or die.” the mare glared at me, her eyes filled with hatred and blood.

I guess she hadn’t noticed Black Magic, because the next second, the mare had a brand new hole in her skull. The gun smoked slightly as Midnight stuffed the gun back into it’s holster.

“Well, now what?” Sunny asked me. I didn’t have any smart plans, no sophisticated ideas. The one word that filled my mind, a single instinct.

“Run”

Level Up

New perk:Horse Sense-You’re a swift learner (By idiot standards) You gain an additional +10% whenever experience points are earned.