Fallout Equestria: The Good Fight
Chapter 1: Loyalty
“They’re not exactly the element of loyalty”
Balefire, it has one purpose, to kill. It kills indiscriminately. Even the mightiest, the invincible are reduced to ash in its cruel wake. It’s a quick, brutal killer. You never see it coming. Manehattan didn’t see it, neither did Cloudsdale. Balefire left the surface an irradiated disaster.
Rainbow Dash was told she wouldn’t survive, but she didn’t listen. She disappeared under the clouds and was never seen again. We want to help, but not at the cost of the pegasus race. That’s why we closed off the sky.
We haven’t given up on our grounded brethren. Nor are we cowards. We want to help them. But we’re not ready to save them. Discretion is what kept the pegasi alive. Through our discretion we were able to rise out of the ashes of war like a phoenix and prosper. We want to help ponies, at least I believe the Enclave does.
We’ve sent down supplies every now and then to try and help those unfortunate souls below the cloud cover, but there was always at least one pegasus that didn’t come back. Not many of us were willing to risk going below, at least not yet. Every team that came back told tales of cannibalistic ponies, intense radiation, taint, and mutated abominations that killed indifferently. I wasn’t sure if we were prepared to save them. I was even less sure if they could be. I had faith our leaders’ caution was warranted.
* * *
We are Strong,
We are United,
We are Saviors,
We are Pegasi,
We are Enclave!
I read the inscription taped to the inside of my locker one last time before I fished out my helmet. I pushed back my black and purple mane and slid it over my head. It powered up and my Eyes Forward Sparkle appeared at the bottom of my visor. I reached back in my locker and pulled out my saddlebags, checking each one to make sure they were loaded with healing potions and Med-X. I looked at myself in the mirror one last time, the large red cross stamped on my helmet caught my eye. Doubt anypony will care I’m the medic, might as well be a bullseye. I hated suiting up in power armor, it made me feel like I was going to war, that I wasn’t coming back. “Ready to see the surface?” I turned to see a sage green buck grinning at me.
“Yea, I can hardly wait,” I said flatly, using my armored tail to shut my locker. I was rather conflicted; I did want to get down there and start helping, but I was also scared of being eaten, blown up, shot, dismembered, mutated, or melting into a pile of radioactive goo. “Steelwing, aren’t you at least slightly worried that we might not come back?”
“Lucy, you worry too much. It’s really simple, we go down there, give the friendly ponies food, water, medical supplies, make nice, then come back. Easy as pie.” I hated when he called me that. I think that’s the only reason he still did.
“That’s not my name, you treat me like I’m still a filly.”
“You’ll always be my little pony.”
“I gotta admit, I feel better knowing you’re watching my back.”
This made Steelwing beam. “You’ll always be safe with me, I’ll always be there to watch your flank.” He started to blush, I only snickered and walked past him. “Back! I meant back!”
“Slip of the tongue there Steel?”
“Uh, yea.” His gaze lingered on my eyes for a moment too long. I chuckled nervously. I turned away. Goddesses, what should I do? I started to say something but quickly shut my mouth. I couldn’t just stand there awkwardly, so I did the next best thing. I changed the subject.
“C’mon slick, lets go get geared up.” The door to the armory slid open in front of me. I slipped into my battle saddle, beam rifles on both sides of me. The only thing I’d ever hit with these rifles had been scrap metal targets on the shooting range. I looked over the different types of ammo in the armory, I finally decided on taking the surplus charges, they weren’t as powerful as regular ones but they also were gentler to my rifles, and required less maintenance afterwards. I was going on a simple supply drop mission, I wouldn’t need to shoot anything right?
I looked around the armory and saw Steelwing scooping up some normal charge packs, clearly he didn’t share my way of thinking. I also saw my Sergeant, Air Raid loading up on overcharged packs. “Planning on going to war?” Air Raid looked in my direction and grumbled, he turned and walked off towards briefing room. Why would anyone use overcharge packs? Those things are a nightmare for your weapons. “What’s his problem,” I asked Steelwing as I put the last of the packs into my saddlebags.
“Dunno, maybe he’s more scared than you.” He smirked and gave me a playful nudge, then headed in the same direction the Sergeant went.
I looked at the overcharge packs, maybe I should bring just a few? But I’ve never hit anything other than practice targets. I shouldn’t need them anyway, a simple supply drop right? I looked at the beam rifles at my sides, would I even be able to kill somepony if the need arose? I want to help, but not with violence. I’m a joke, an Enclave soldier who’s scared to use her guns. I decided against the overcharged packs and trotted off towards the briefing room as the door began to close, almost locking me out.
There were nine other pegasi in the room. Why were there so many? A supply drop shouldn’t need nearly this many pegasi.The Sergeant stepped up to the podium in the front of the room and began his speech, “listen up troops, today we’re going underneath the clouds. I want you all to stay focused and stay alert. Let your guard down for a second and you’re dead. Pay attention to your visor, any red dots on your E.F.S and it’s shoot first ask questions later, we’re not taking any risks. We’ve lost at least one pegasus every trip down there, I want this trip to be different. If everything goes well our higher ups might consider sending a more constant stream of supplies.” All of the pegasi in the room listened intently, except for Steelwing, he was starting to doze off. I playfully pricked him in the hindquarters with the stinger on the end of my tail. He emitted a barely audible yelp. I could only imagine the glare he was giving me from behind his helmet. I smiled to myself in satisfaction before motioning for him to pay attention.
“This is where we’ll be going,” the Sergeant said, motioning towards a map with one of his wings. “A small settlement popped up near a Red Racer facility outside of Trottingham. Apparently it’s rather prosperous given its circumstances. If we can help them out then we can start building relations with them, and perhaps gain a foothold in the region.” An Enclave base under the clouds? Perhaps we really were ready to help after all. “I don’t want anypony to play hero. If there’s hostiles we pull back to the ship and evac, don’t stay and engage them. I don’t care if you shoot back, as long as you’re making your way to the ship. You miss the evac don’t expect a warm welcome if you manage to fly back here. I don’t want to hear any second opinions about this. I also want to stress one final point before we head out, pay attention to your E.F.S. It’s better at seeing enemies than you are. Any questions?”
A buck raised his hoof and called out, “So when do we get to shoot something?” I couldn’t help but facehoof, there’s better ways to help than shooting everything. Ponies like this are part of the reason I prefered to be alone. Sometimes I feel like their stupid will rub off on me if I stay too long.
Steelwing wasn’t amused, “ponies like you are the reason why almost nopony below the clouds trusts us. Cut the shit and don’t speak unless you have a legitimate question.” Damn Steel, that’s a little harsh isn’t it? Steelwing and the buck just glared at each other, neither backing down. I braced myself for beam rifle fire, but the Sergeant stepped in.
“Both of you calm the fuck down. If everything goes right nothing’s getting shot.” The Sergeant continued yelling but I stopped paying attention, it wasn’t directed at me so I didn’t care. The Sergeant finished his rant and stepped down from the podium, the doors to the briefing room slid open.
After everypony slowly shuffled out of the briefing room I confronted Steel, “what was all that about Steel? I’m sure you’ll find enough enemies in the Wasteland, you don’t need to make more.” I didn’t like playing mom but if someone didn’t keep him in check there’s no telling what kind of trouble he’ll get into.
“You know it’s true. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that nopony wants us around. That’s why we don’t have a base of operations in any major city, hell, anywhere. Not because it’s uninhabitable. I bet we could’ve been down there for years, and you know what? We’d probably be a lot better off.” The more I talked to Steel the more I thought he’s a Dashite.
Oh Celestia no. I really didn’t just think that did I? Steel is the most loyal pony I know, he wouldn’t abandon the Enclave. He has so much to live for up here, and his father’s reputation to uphold. He wouldn’t risk his father’s position as head of security for ponies who might try to stab him in the back as soon as they got the chance would he? “You can’t blame the Enclave for being cautious, you know they’re just trying to keep us safe. Who knows, if everything goes well.. maybe... maybe we can start healing Equestria.” Why did I feel like I was lying to Steel? Why was that so difficult to say? I wanted to help those tortured by the Wasteland, but why was I so reluctant to go down there?
“Maybe, you know me, I like to help people. These past few days I’ve been researching about the Wasteland, digging up all the info I could. Its got me thinking that maybe it’s time we started doing something with our lives other than sitting here with our heads in the clouds.” Steel sighed and turned towards the galley. “I’m going to grab something to eat before we go, wanna join me?”
“Can’t, I got something I need to take care of. You enjoy yourself though.” Steel looked disheartened and I turned avoiding his gaze. “You okay Steel?” I finally said before he disappeared behind the door.
He didn’t look at me. “Yea, just fine,” he said after a small chuckle and a slight grin.
We still had at least an hour to kill before we departed and I intended to make that hour count. I flew to my families living quarters and was almost immediately tackled by my sister, Starlight. I didn’t even see her coming, only a lime green streak. Only after she tackled me could I make out her vivid blue mane with white streaks all along it. “Sis, you’re back! Where’d you go? What’cha do today? Did you see Steel? Next time you do tell him I said hi! Why are you in your armor? Are you going somewhere?.” Questions accompanied by the occasional statement came flying at me in rapid succession, they didn’t stop until the filly ran out of breath, and had to take a deep breath before she passed out.
“Yes Star, Sis is going away for a while,“ Star’s ears dropped and she lowered her head. “Don’t you worry, I’ll be back before you even wake up tomorrow, I promise.” This didn’t improve her mood, her ears still drooping. Droopy ears always tugged at my heartstrings, “wanna play your favorite board game before I have to go?” That got her attention, her ears perked up and her lips tightened into a grin. “Go grab it, we’ll play a few games.”
Starlight frowned and stared at me, “the cabinets locked.”
I raised an eyebrow, “has that ever stopped you before? There should be some bobby pins next to my bed, you know where the screwdriver is.” I knew where the key was, but this was more entertaining. I have no idea where she learned how to pick locks, but it sure was something to watch.
Starlight left momentarily and returned holding a bobby pin and screwdriver in her mouth. She walked over to the cabinet and inserted both into the lock. Slowly adjusting the bobby pin and moving the screwdriver ever so slightly the door let out the signature click. No matter how many times she did it I was always amazed. How she managed to do it using only her hooves and mouth left me dumbfounded every time. She swung open the cabinet and stuck her head inside. She pulled out an old worn box, the words on it faded long ago before the war.
The game was simple enough, your field was hidden from the other players. You placed your pieces on the board and then guessed a square, if a piece is there on the other players field you ‘hit’ the piece, if not you ‘missed’. Starlight was unfathomably good at this game, I swear she cheated.
I regretted letting her go first, “cloud 3,” and just like that she took the lead in the first turn.
“You rained on my cumulous,” cheater.
Star grinned, “sky five,” another hit, really?
“You found my seagull,” you may be better than me at this, but I’m still older.
Now Star was beaming, “cloud two,” this is just getting ridiculous.
“You zapped my weather pony,” if she hits another piece I quit.
There was barely any room left on Star’s face to fit her smile, “cloud 9,”
I buried my face in my hooves. How is this fair? “You stung my bumblebee.”
“Sky three,” and just like that Star got my thunderbolt. What did I get? Well, I didn’t even get a turn.
After about five or so consecutive losses I finally called it quits when Starlight let out a yawn. I had forgotten how late it was, she shouldn’t have even been up when I walked in. “I think it’s time for somepony to get to sleep.” Starlight frowned but didn’t protest, she simply sauntered over to her bed and jumped in.
“Goodnight Sis.”
“Goodnight Starlight,” I said softly as I gripped the blanket in my mouth and pulled it over her. I rubbed my hoof against her mane, “now you be good while I’m gone or else I’ll send you to the rainbow factory.” Star glared at me, I chuckled at the empty threat and gave her a kiss on her forehead and turned out of the room.
Starlight was stunningly smart for her age, she didn’t even have her cutie mark yet but she was already figuring out how the world around her functioned and was beginning to dismantle it. I didn’t understand how she does most of what she does but I couldn’t be more proud of her. I glanced at Starlight one last time as I stepped out of my quarters, she looked so peaceful. I closed the door behind me and started off for the hangar. On my way there I decided to take a detour back to my locker. I rummaged through the few things I bothered to keep in it, among them a Wonderbolt poster, an aged picture of Daring Do, and some food wrappers.
After relocating the trash in my locker to the garbage, and moving around the remaining contents I found what I was looking for. It was a picture of me and Starlight. Her face buried in cake, pink frosting all over her mane and more of it flying through the air. I was standing there mouth agape as my sister devoured an entire cake by herself, pink frosting dotting my sky blue coat.
Looking at the picture I started to get a sense of why I didn’t want to go down there. I loved Starlight more than I wanted to help the wasteland. I couldn’t let her down by getting killed. I avoided conflict all my life for her. More often than not I shied away from arguments and made myself seem weak so I would remain untouched. It may have been humiliating but at least I was still able to care for Starlight, and that’s all I cared about. “I’ll be back soon,” I whispered, gingerly tucking the photo safely into my saddle bags.
* * *
In the hangar supplies were being loaded onto the Skyfire. A variety of boxes were traveling along the conveyor into the ship’s hull. Some had a large red cross just like the one on my helmet, others had a bright red apple on them, and some had a water droplet. Hard to guess what’s in them.
“Ready?” I nearly jumped out of my suit at the sudden voice. “Easy there twitchy, It’s me.” Steel was probably beaming underneath his helmet.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that, I nearly stabbed you.” My barbed tail lowered from its striking position.
Together we started walking to the ship. The pilot was already in his bubble, wearing his aviator glasses. He gave us a little salute as we walked towards the loading ramp. “I’ll keep that in mind, c’mon everyone else is already on board.” The Skyfire was a striker class ship, one of the smaller ones in the fleet. It was made to be quick and nimble, while being able to transport a decent number of troops. It also had dual front mounted balefire cannons directly under the bubble the pilot flew in. They weren’t as powerful as other ships but they could level a decent sized building with a few shots.
The ship’s cabin was packed with the nine other pegasi from the briefing. There was barely any room to move around, let alone sit. The hold was even more packed with supplies. Soon after the hatch closed we started lurching forward, the lights went out only to come back on in the form of one bulb emitting an eerie red light. Why couldn’t they pick a less ominous color?
We had a few hours flight so I got as comfortable as I could and prepared for bouts of anxiety. I tried my best to stay distracted, thinking about anything I could, but my mind started to wander back to the thought of dying. I had a lot of time to think. I tried to think of the positive things, seeing Starlight upon my return was among the most favorable. After I ran through the short list of positive things in my life my brain couldn’t help but drift towards the bad.
What if I didn’t come back? Who would take care of Starlight? How was I going to die out there? Would it be painful? Images of my mutilated body kept creeping into my mind, along with Starlight bawling her eyes out over my lifeless corpse. Damnit brain! Why can’t you go back to thinking about that buck with the nice ass you saw loading supply crates? Or even the apple you had for breakfast this morning. Something, anything except for this! “Lucid, you ok?” I turned and looked into the teal eyes of Steelwing.
“Couldn’t be better.” No, I’m not okay. I’m flying to my death, how could I possibly be ok?
His mouth curled into a frown, “you’re shaking. Take some deep breaths and get a hold of yourself, you’re gonna be fine.” How ironic, giving me of all ponies medical instructions.
“You’re telling me everything’s going to be ok. If everything was going to be ok why am I needed?” I tried to put on my big girl saddle and push this creeping fear of death to the back of my mind. But I couldn’t find it. The truth of the matter was I was scared.
“You’re worried about her aren’t you?” Steel could see right through me. Was I really that easy to read?
“Yea, I’m all she’s got Steel. If I don’t come back she’ll be devastated. She already had to go through losing both her parents, I can’t put her through that.” I had to deal with their deaths as well, but I wasn’t in the same position as Star, I didn’t have anypony else to be a mother figure.
“I told ya I’m always watching your flank, you’re not going to get hurt as long as I’m around.” I was a little creeped out that he actually went there, but I did feel better knowing somepony would be there for me.
“Steel, I want to ask you something,” he gave a small nod. “If I don’t make it back I want you to take care of her, okay? Can you do that for me?” I lifted my helmet and our eyes met.
Steel wasn’t quick to respond, I was scared he’d say no. “C’mon Steel, remember all I did for you? What about when we got our cutie marks together? Back when you were interested in watching out for more than my flank.” Steel seemed lost in thought, I had an idea of what he was thinking about. “Remember back when I was too small to fly? Back when Dawnstar was chasing me all around Flight School? And how he wouldn’t stop?
“You mean the Sergeant's bratty son?” The mere mention of Dawnstar was enough to get Steel’s attention
“Yeah... that’s the one.” I checked over my shoulder to make sure the Sergeant wasn’t listening in.
Dawn Laughed as he pinned me down. “You can’t even fly yet. You’re a disgrace to the Pegasi.” he shoved me further off the edge. I felt a sudden rush of vertigo as he tilted me beyond the edge . I shut my eyes tight. I didn’t dare look down.
“That bastard was really going to drop you off that cloud, wasn’t he?”
“And if it wasn’t for you...”
“Put her back back on the clouds now!” I heard Steel’s voice call out.
“Hehe, guess you could say I’m your knight in shining armor or something.”
“Oh please. Half the time you nearly got yourself killed in the process of ‘saving’ me. You’re more like a knight in tarnished armor.”
Dawn just laughed, “and what are you gonna do?”
“Hey, can’t expect me to come out of a tussle like that, with hooves flying, unscathed do you?”
When they landed Steel broke free from Dawn’s grasp and flew up into the air. Dawn disappeared into the clouds and Steel followed. Dawn emerged from the clouds a couple hundred feet away, Steel in hot pursuit. Steel caught up to Dawn and clamped onto his tail with his teeth. Dawn shrieked in pain and struggled to stay airborne as Steel stopped flying and became dead weight.
“You put up a good fight though. You got a few good hits in.”
As they fell they became a tangled mass of flailing hooves. Steel came out on top and proceeded to bring his hooves down on Dawn’s stomach. Steel got one good stomp in before Dawn grabbed Steel’s wing in his mouth.
“A few! I taught that punk a lesson!” Steel stomped a hoof as he finished his sentence.
“If I remember correctly he flew away from the fight, you didn’t.”
Dawn twisted and rolled, Steels wing in his mouth. As Steel flapped desperately trying to break free a sickening snap ensued, Steel fell onto the cloud, rolling in pain. Dawn stood over the helpless Steelwing, blood oozing from a cut above his cheek. Dawn brought his hooves down on Steel once and flew off, “later fucker,” was all he said.
“Yeah yeah, I still won. “
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
Steel adopted a more serious tone as he looked into my eyes, “You remember what happened next?”
I looked at him for a moment, “how could I forget?”
I ran over to Steel as fast as my legs could carry me, first aid kit in mouth. He began to pick himself up, yelping in pain as his injured wing limped loosely at his side. I began to patch him up, starting with small cuts, working my way to the more serious injuries when I was stopped by a small shine on his side. “Steel your flank!” As he glanced back a gilded shield with elegant wings sprouting from it materialized on his flank. Steel stared in awe, seeming to forget my presence.
“I got my cutie mark because of you,” Steel paused, letting out a sigh. “I still owe you for that.
I raised an eyebrow, “you do remember what happened right after you got your cutie mark, right?”
I stomped my hooves, trying to get Steel’s attention. “Steel... Steel... Helloooooo, Steel!” His attention snapped back to me, “on the count of three I’m popping your wing back into place. Ready?”
“I remember you hurting me more than Dawn did.”
“Oh please,” I chuckled, “you cried every time you stubbed your hoof.”
“Is it going to hurt?” A worried look took over his face.
“You didn’t even count right!” Steel stomped his hoof as he whined.
“I’m a medic, not a math pony.”
“One... three,” I twisted his wing and a snap almost as gross as the first one filled the air.
“You should still be able to count to three.” Steel muttered.
“Oww, what the hell happened to two!” Tears began to well up in Steel’s eyes.
“Hey, I fixed your wing! Stop complaining.”
“Hey, your wings back in place isn’t it? I never really liked two anyway.” I started to wrap his torso and wing in gauze. His eyes widened as he stared at me, what did I do?
“Your malpractice got you your cutie mark. I guess it was worth it.”
“Lucid, your flank!” Why was he looking at my flank! I turned to look at what was so interesting. A pair wings similar in size and shape of the ones on Steel’s cutie mark materialized before me, both of them intricately wrapped in bandages.
“I figure we’re even then, huh?” Steel asked.
“Not even close. You’re always there for me, I can’t ever repay you for that.” Steel turned away from me, blushing. “Thank you Steel,” I said as I nuzzled him.
“Don’t mention it,” he wrapped his wing around me in an embrace. “Lucid, for the last time, you’re making it back. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.” The hug lasted for a few good minutes. Perhaps Steel was right, maybe I was overreacting. I’ve never been down there myself. I’ve only heard stories, their legitimacy was questionable at best. I felt a lot better and my shaking slowed, our ‘moment’ was interrupted by the rest of the pegasi on the ship.
“Get a room!”
“Can’t it wait?”
“Lucid, put your lady wood away!”
“Can I get in on this?”
“Hurry up and kiss each other, we’re landing in less than five minutes.” What the fuck, did everypony have to voice their opinion?
I blushed as I hurried to put on my helmet. I could only imagine Steel was doing the same as he fumbled with his. I looked away and hid behind my visor out of embarrassment.
* * *
The pilot wasn’t gentle in his landing. A loud thud followed by me being thrown off my hooves signaled that we had landed.
I looked out the sole window on the ship, through which I caught my first glimpse of earth ponies, both of which appeared yellow on my E.F.S. This was already going better than I had expected it to. I had been expecting to have my E.F.S swarmed by red ticks.
One of the ponies was a dark red with a grey mane and carried a pathetic excuse of a revolver with only half of the chambers loaded in his mouth. His clothing covered most of his body, including his cutie mark. The other, of similar color, with a black mane carried a rusty rake, he didn’t hide his cutie mark like the latter. From what I could see it looked like a stack of poker chips. Carrying a rake like that couldn’t be healthy, or taste very good.
The pilot looked at them and gave a friendly wave, and motioned for them to move toward the side of the ship. The yellow ticks turned to green. Wow, my expectations of the wasteland had been shattered.
The hatch opened and the other pegasi in the ship snickered at me as they walked out single file. Apparently being comforted by a friend while on the verge of a mental breakdown is funny. I was the last off the ship, behind Steel. The battered landscape was a stark contrast between the serene sun filled sky above the clouds. Everything was a dull brown color, the sky, the mountains, the ground, even the water. I looked around at the ‘settlement’ we landed at and couldn’t believe that this would be considered prosperous. There was a small field in the center of the settlement where a few withered plants lay. Small shacks that couldn’t fit more than two ponies comfortably at the most were scattered around the perimeter of the field. A long building stood towering over the shacks at the far end of the field. I could only imagine what it was used for.
The two earth ponies heads kept sweeping back and forth from the ship to the group of pegasi before them. Neither of them could find words, and the one carrying the rake had long dropped it. “I am Sergeant Air Raid of the 32nd wings division of the Enclave. We come bearing supplies for your settlement. Might I ask who I’m addressing?” He could be quite formal when he chooses to.
“I... I’m Chip, and this is my brother Rags.” The pony who once held the rake said, while Rags holstered his revolver.
Steelwing was the next to speak. Enthusiastic as ever he stuck out an armored hoof to Chip, “I’m Steelwing, pleasure to meet ya sir.” Chip met the armored hoof with his own, albeit rather reluctantly.
Chip turned back towards the collection of shacks, I could see multiple yellow ticks on my E.F.S, “It’s okay guys they’re friendly!” Chip had quite a loud voice, It rang in my ears long after the echo died out. Slowly earth ponies and unicorns of all kinds crept out from their hiding spots. Some wore tattered rags, others makeshift armor made out of scrap metal and cloth.
Chip turned to me, staring intently. “Um... can... can I help you?” I was trying my best to avoid his gaze but he just kept staring.
“That mark on your helmet, you know something about fixing up ponies don’t ya?” I breathed a sigh of relief, at least for the moment he wasn’t plotting how he was going to cook me up.
“I know a little, need something?” I looked around, where could they possibly keep sick ponies? Then I remembered, large building. Duh.
“We got some sick and a few injured ponies up in the Longhouse. You think you could go and give ol’ Cherrybomb a hand?”
“I’ll see what I can do. Sarge, wanna toss me one of those med crates? I might as well bring one over.” I turned to see that the Sergeant was way ahead of me, and already carrying a crate on his back walking straight towards me.
Steelwing stood next to me and whispered quietly into my ear, “anything goes bad you drop those supplies and run, run as fast as you can. Don’t worry about them and don’t do anything brave. You don’t owe anypony anything.”
“Then what am I supposed to do with these?” I fluttered my wings, a small cloud of dirt flew into Steel’s visor.
“Right... those... use them too.” He turned away, avoiding my eyes. He caught sight of a group of unicorns mares admiring the ship and left to, as he put it, make nice. As he began talking to them I could only imagine what he was saying. He could barely form coherent sentences talking to me, I cringed at thinking what he would say.
The Sergeant loaded the crate onto my back, it was a hell of a lot heavier than I thought. I hadn’t been prepared for the weight and nearly collapsed when the Sergeant transferred all the weight onto my back. He turned his attention back to Rags, “Any chance I could speak to who’s in charge around here?”
Rags stiffened up and looked the Sergeant right in the eyes, “Lookin’ at him.” Chip motioned for me to follow him as he started off towards the Longhouse. I tried my best to follow, every step was a struggle under the weight of the crate. I soon started to fall behind.
He looked back and waited for me to catch up, as I walked up beside him he lowered himself, “let me carry that for you, it’s impolite for me to let a lady do the work.” I shot him a scornful look under my helmet. What’s that supposed to mean? Is he calling mares weak? I could name at least ten that could overpower him. I didn’t protest though, the crated seemed like it was only getting heavier. Once the crate was Chip’s problem he rose with ease, he wasn’t hindered by its weight in the slightest. Ok maybe not ten mares, but I’m sure at least a few could.
We passed by a decaying shack, I was mesmerized by the fact that it was still standing. The sheet metal roof was brittle and rusted beyond reason. It had already started to cave in at some parts, and it was littered with holes. Every window on the shack was shattered. Broken glass lay scattered around the perimeter. The door wasn’t even the right size for the doorway. The shack looked like it was on the verge of collapse, I could probably knock it down just by walking too close. The shack looked like it was on par with all the others. “It’s a real looker isn’t it? Thinking about moving in?” Chip’s voice broke me out of my enchantment. Was he crazy? Nopony should live like this. I don’t think I could ever manage with so little.
“I bet the rents cheap.” Hell no, I am not staying here! Sorry Chip, I want to help and all but I have a filly to look after back home.
“Actually it’s free for somepony to move in, Girder used to charge rent on it, but he’s not around anymore.”
“Oh? Where’d he head off to?” I tripped over a broken, half buried plow sticking out of the ground as I finished my sentence. Chip merely let out a small chuckle.
“Well, his bodies over there under that tree,” he motioned to a withered mass of dead bark behind us, near the Skyfire. “As for his head, there’s not much left of it. Raiders weren’t kind enough for that.” How could somepony joke about something like that? Somepony being decapitated? Revolting. Wasteland humor at its finest I guess.
Enough talk of death, I had to change the subject. “Ever get anything to grow in that field?” The thought of a pony’s head being ripped off at the hooves of another crept into my imagination.
Chip’s brow lowered and his eyes narrowed, “grow? Shoot, if we could have anything grow around here we’d be on easy street. There’s no room for easy street in the wasteland. No, Girder used to spend his days scavenging food and water for us. Guess I’m gonna have to take his place now.” I cringed at the thought of that, Chip seemed like such a nice pony, he didn’t deserve having to risk his life for something as trivial as a meal.
“We brought more than meds, there’s food and water in the ship to.” Chip didn’t give me the look of approval I was hoping for, instead he continued frowning.
“And when those supplies run out? I appreciate what you're trying to do, and can’t thank you enough, but your only providing a short term fix to our problem.” I thought about that for a minute. He was right, what were they going to do once our supplies ran out? It’d be like we never helped them in the first place.
“You’ll have fresh seeds, and water. Perhaps something will start to grow,” I was hopeful, but Chip’s facial expression took any hope I had, killed it, and locked it in one of the shoddy shacks, never to see daylight again.
Chip looked towards the horizon. I followed his eyes, a large, mostly intact building was the only structure standing in the barren landscape. “Can’t, the soils dead and full of radiation, just like everything else out here. Our best bet is trading what we scavenge for food with the ghouls up at the Red Racer building.” A purple unicorn crossed our path, saddlebags bursting at the seams with scrap metal. She gave Chip a friendly smile while completely ignoring my existence, either out of fear or hatred. I couldn’t decide which. What in the name of Luna was a ghoul? Apparently they’re friendly enough to not kill, so I wasn’t against the idea of Chip trading with them, at least not yet.
Chip could tell I was confused, he smiled and explained it in terms that even I couldn’t misinterpret. “A ghoul is a pony that got a little too much radiation. They look dead, but they’re still alive and kickin’. Most ponies avoid ghouls at all costs, me however, the only ghouls I don’t associate with are ferals.” He lost me at the word feral. After a sigh he finally explained, “a feral ghoul is one who’s completely lost it. The only thing they’re capable of is killing. Regular ghouls, however, are just like you. Only they look a little different.” Trading with corpses, what other surprises did the wasteland have ready to throw at me?
I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about these ghouls, and I was glad I didn’t have the time to debate the ethics of it with Chip. We reached the Longhouse and I made my escape from the conversation. I took the crate from Chip and headed inside, leaving him to converse with the other pegasi outside.
The Longhouse was, well, a long house. It was a sizeable building for being only two floors. When Chip said a ‘few’ ponies needed my help I assumed two or three. Instead there were at least fifteen ponies inside. As I walked through each one seemed to be in more dire condition than the latter. An aged tan unicorn with a brown mane and a cutie mark not unlike the red cross on my helmet walked to bed after bed, talking to each patient, trying her best to calm them. “Excuse me, are you Cherrybomb?” The mare nodded but looked scared, I couldn’t imagine why. I was only in black armor with two beam rifles and a barbed tail. I took off my helmet and placed it on a nearby chair. I hoped that showing I was a pony just like her would ease the tension in the room.
Cherrybomb breathed a sigh of relief and trotted over to me, she extended a hoof and I met it with my own, “why yes I am. Nice to meet you ma’am, might I ask, who are you?.”
“I’m Lucid Sky of the Enclave, Chip sent me here to help. I brought some medical supplies with me in the crate, anything you need me to help you with?.”
“Well, I can’t tend to everypony at once, so just go ahead and take a look over my patients. Help those you can.” I looked at the first bed, closest to the doorway. The gray buck in the bed looked at me apprehensively. Multiple bandages were wrapped around his torso and hindquarters, should be simple enough to fix right?
“Trust me, I'ma doctor.” The buck winced in horror and tried to squirm away from me as I approached, a healing potion in hoof. “Hold still!” The buck didn’t listen and continued fighting me. The bandage around his hindquarters loosened and I saw the extent of his injuries, the place where he used to proudly display his cutie mark was now a festering mass of exposed flesh and bone. I dry heaved at the sight, barely holding down the vile bile creeping up my throat. The buck turned away in shame, closing his eyes to avoid looking at me. He no longer paid me any attention, which made my job that much easier.
I set the healing potion on the bed as I lifted my right fore hoof. A small syringe extended from a slot on my leg and into the purple liquid. The potion was transferred from the bottle to the syringe and I was ready to go to work. As I injected the buck just above where his cutie mark should be he let out a yelp and glared at me, drawing the attention of everypony in the room capable of turning their heads. The wound on his flank slowly closed up and turned a dull grey, matching the rest of his coat. His cutie mark didn’t come back but he was thankful none the less. after a meek, “thank you” he closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep.
Moving onto my next patient, a unicorn mare with a fever. I didn’t have any antibiotics on me so I did all I could, set a wet cloth on her forehead. She was riddled with small cuts but I didn’t pay them any attention, there were bigger problems to attend to. She twisted in discomfort but I ignored her, moving on.
Next was an earth pony with multiple broken ribs, they were set properly however so all he needed was a healing potion, “Can I have some water?” His voice rasped. His eyes moved greedily towards the bottle just out of his reach
I pretended to ignore him, big problems first, little ones next. Next up on the list was another earth pony, this one with a broken leg. I cringed looking at it, the bone began to heal but it wasn’t set properly. Oh how I hated my job. I sighed and looked at him, then back at the med crate. I went back to it and poked around inside, hoping to find something to lessen the pain I was about to inflict upon him. I fished out a splint and some Med-X
I walked back to the buck, a smile on my face and a terrified one on his. He knew what was coming, “can’t we just leave it as is?”
“Only if you want to walk with a severe limp the rest of your life.” The legs getting snapped, whether he wants it to or not.
“I can live with that.”
“With a limp you’ll be lucky to live for what? A week?” I injected him with the Med-X as he closed his eyes and bit down onto his pillow. “Nice and easy, on the count of three okay?” The buck didn’t look up but nodded. I wrapped my hooves around his disfigured leg. “Ready? One... three.”
SNAP!
The sickening crack sent shivers down my spine. The newly broken leg flopped in my hooves. The buck writhed in agony and screamed into his pillow. I injected him with more Med-X, slowly it took effect and his screams of pain died down. I was able to set his leg properly. Once the leg was set and locked in position I administered a healing potion directly into his leg. The magic slowly took effect, bonding the two severed halves together. Time was the only thing that could heal a broken bone completely, short of unicorn magic, but healing potions sure did expedite the process. The buck lay face first in the pillow, tears running down his cheek. “What the fuck happened to two!” Clearly he was mad.
“Hey, your legs back in place isn’t it? I never really liked two anyway.” I looked up to see Cherrybomb standing over a small colt no older than Starlight, her eyes closed in focus and her horn aglow. I have to admit seeing magic for the first time scared me a little. “Fuck!” Cherrybomb’s eyes opened and she immediately began pressing on the colts chest with both hooves. I rushed over as fast as I could, the colt had no heartbeat. Our window of opportunity closing fast.
The one good thing about surplus charge packs is that they short circuit when they get wet. I ejected a charge pack from both beam rifles, they clattered onto the floor. Quickly I crawled under the bed and scooped them up. I broke off the protective casing around each pack, the magic contained inside clearly visible. My suit began to tick, warning me of the radiation. I pressed them against the colt’s chest. “Cherry! Hold them there,” Cherrybomb wasted no time, the packs were held in place by orange magic before I finished my sentence. I ran around the room frantically searching for water. The earth pony with the broken ribs was still reaching out for his water, his tongue barely able to reach the bottle. I rushed over and grabbed the bottle of dirty water of the nightstand beside the bed and ran back to Cherry.
I dumped the water on the dismantled packs. Pink bolts of magic sparked off the batteries and arced across the colt’s chest as the packs released all the magic contained inside, searing the flesh along the path they took through the colt. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. His eyes opened wide as he sat up screaming in pain and shaking violently. Before he could do anything more I shoved a healing potion into his mouth. I held him in my hooves as he sat there drinking. His shaking subsided and his breathing slowed to a normal pace. He reminded me of Starlight, cradling a bottle. He was safe, for now. Did I ever mention how much I hated my job? Why couldn’t I be a farmer or something? Nopony gets sad when plants go into cardiac arrest. It’s a hell of a lot less stressful too. Cherrybomb looked at me with a mixed gaze of puzzlement and amazement, “where in the name of Celestia did you learn that?”
“Just a little something my dad taught me,” Goddesses be damned I missed him.
“Tell him I said thank you. If it wasn’t for him Branch would be dead.” Her words cut deep. Memories of my dad began to fill my thoughts, I felt like I was on the verge of tears. I put my helmet back on and hid behind my mask of black metal.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pale yellow earth pony, the whites of her eyes had turned almost the same color as her coat. The pony couldn’t focus on any singular object for more than a few moments. Her eyes kept darting around the room. She sat there, shaking and rubbing her forehooves together. “Oh don’t mind Twitchy, she’s just a little off. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Cherrybomb’s words didn’t make me feel any better about the demented pony before me, I kept my distance.
A small filly barely able to walk entered the room and walked right up to Twitchy. “Wanna meet the new ponies with me Twitchy!” The filly’s words were badly formed, probably due to her lack of teeth. She couldn’t be more than a few months old. Twitchy nodded and set the filly on her back as they walked out of the Longhouse.
“Yes. Meet the new ponies. Meet them. Meat.” Twitchy spoke almost too fast for me to understand, that sure was one messed up pony. I kept my eye on Twitchy through a nearby window as she and the filly walked towards two armored pegasi.
Cherrybomb began talking to me but I barely listened, my attention was mostly devoted to Twitchy. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the filly hiding behind Twitchy as the pegasus before them remove his helmet, it was Steelwing. “Excuse me Cherry, I gotta go.”
I stepped outside and listened in on the conversation between Twitchy and Steel. I got a good look at the other pegasus beside Steel, it was the Sergeant. Chip walked up to me, a smile on his face. “Well, how’d it go with Cherry? Help anypony?”
“I helped a few, although I’m sure at least one of them hates me now.” I frowned under my mask, yes I broke his leg but it’s better than never being able to walk again right?
Chip chuckled, “I’m gonna take a wild guess and say it was Deputy? The one with the broken leg?” I simply nodded and turned my attention back to Twitchy. “It’s in our nature to put up with an inconvenience, or even minor pains our entire life to avoid one great pain. It may not seem like it but he’s thankful, trust me.” Another pegasus joined Steel and the Sergeant.
“He’s sure got a funny way of showing it.” I went through the list of profanities he threw at me in my head.
I turned to watch Twitchy again and saw Steel bent down low talking to the filly, his unarmored head right next to Twitchy’s rear hoof. “Are you hungry little buddy,” his voice was soft, “would you like some food?”
“Food!”
Twitchy’s ears shook and her eyes went in different directions. She let out a primal yell. Her teeth sank into Steel’s neck. His beam rifles fired rapidly into the air disappearing above the clouds. “Steelwing!” I collapsed on the dirt, was this really happening?
Blood poured down Steel’s neck and Twitchy’s chin as she bit down harder. Steel screamed for help. Flesh beginning to tear away from his neck. The third pegasus pulled Twitchy off of Steel. A large chunk of flesh came with her. Twitchy gobbled down the meat hungrily as the pegasus threw her to the ground.
The Sergeant took aim at Twitchy and fired, the overcharged shots incinerated the mare, turning her into a harmless pile of ash. Steel was lying in the dirt, blood pooling around him, pouring out in rhythm with his heart beat. He opened his mouth to scream but all that came out was blood accompanied by a revolting gurgling. I could see his trachea. Torn strands of skin flopped in the breeze. Before I could move the third pegasus had already poured a healing potion over his throat, scooped him up and flew him to the ship. I heard the Sergeant, “get Steel to the ship. Then burn this place to the fucking ground, none of these fuckers deserve any mercy!”
The filly that accompanied Twitchy was now trying to copy her friend, she chewed on the Sergeants hoof with her toothless mouth. Unlike Twitchy the filly wasn’t insane, she picked her bites. Clearly she was still capable of thinking. The Sergeant however didn’t think like I did, he pinned her under his hoof as she squealed in pain. She didn’t deserve to die, Twitchy maybe, but nopony else.
Enough was enough, my wings spread out and I took off, a cloud of dust behind me. I beat my wings as hard as I could. I flew only a few inches off the ground, my hooves occasionally scraping against the scorched earth. My wings kicked up dirt behind me with every flap.
I slammed into the Sergeant as he put all of his weight on the filly. Her ribs snapped, blood and organs shot out of her sides. The Sergeant and I rolled for at least twenty feet before coming to a stop, I stood on top of him. “You fucking murderer!” I looked around, the once peaceful settlement erupted into chaos. The other pegasi were gunning down unarmed ponies. Red beams of death crossed through the air, striking bucks, mares, colts, and fillies indiscriminately. The lucky ones were vaporized instantly, others were forced to suffer on the brink of death. There were only blue ticks on my E.F.S, not a single red line appeared.
Paying attention to the chaos around me I soon found myself pinned under the Sergeant, he was a lot stronger than I, “After what they did to Steel? They deserve slow painful deaths, all of them!”
I struggled under his hooves, I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, I flicked on my coms, everypony needed to hear this. “There aren’t any red ticks, what the fuck are you all doing! Fucking murderers, every single one of you!” The Sergeant brought his hooves down on my helmet, my E.F.S flickered.
The responses that flooded into my helmet weren’t kind, “fucking Dashite, you deserve to die like the rest of them.”
“Fuck what color the ticks are, they all deserve to die.”
“These ponies don’t deserve our help.”
“We never should have come here, fuck this place.”
“Is it a bad time to mention I’m colorblind?”
The Sergeant’s visor stared into mine, in a low voice he said, “there’s always one pegasus that doesn’t make it back.” The overcharged bolt seared right through my wing’s armor, and disappeared into the ground behind it.
The smell of burning feathers filled the air as the orange around the edges of the hole in my wing slowly faded. I twisted in pain, gritting my teeth, holding back a scream. I refused to give him that. As I arose the Sergeant brought his hoof down on my wing. A grotesque snap I was all too familiar with ensued, I almost couldn’t bear the pain. I opened my mouth to scream but the Sergeant brought his hooves down on my helmet before I could do anything.
The Sergeant threw me down once more and took off for the ship, “saddle up soldiers, we are leaving!”.
Screams of agony filled the air, bodies lay all around me, some moving, some not. One by one the shacks began to catch on fire as the pegasi swept through the settlement. I arose slowly, my legs quivering under me, my wing screaming in pain.
As quickly as the Skyfire had arrived it was gone, disappearing above the clouds.
I limped over to the nearest pony, my mutilated wing flapping lamely at my side, shooting pain through it with every step. The green unicorn was badly burned, a searing bolt had struck her face, melting her eye. I threw her over my back and carried her to the Longhouse. As I hobbled towards the Longhouse my legs finally gave out from under me. I fell face first into the dirt, dropping the unicorn beside me. I couldn’t keep this up. The mare struggled to her feet, blood seeping from her eye socket, tears pouring from the other. She began to hobble away but stopped to look at me. With a sigh her horn ignited in magic and I was lifted off of the dirt. Together we made our way to the Longhouse
Inside Cherrybomb was huddled in a corner, four fillies lay behind her crying. The unicorn set me on the nearest empty bed, Cherry ran over. I disconnected one of the beam rifles from my battle saddle and slid it to her, “anypony comes in, aim and pull this,” I pointed to the trigger with the tip of my good wing. Cherrybomb nodded and picked it up in her magic. I fished a healing potion out of my saddlebags and downed it. Slowly my strength returned. With a groan I rolled out of the bed, only to be scooped up in Cherry’s magic and returned to it.
“You’re not going anywhere.” Cherry looked at me with deep concern.
“I have to help,” once more I rolled out of bed, “it’s my job!” Cherry didn’t share my thoughts, once again I was forced back onto the bed.
“Lucid please, your wing needs to get looked at immediately if you ever want to fly again.”
My legs ached but they still obeyed me, for the third time I rolled out of this bed. If Cherry picked me up again there was going to be trouble. “This is all my fault! I can’t sit here and do nothing!” I threw my saddlebags off me and limped to the door.
Cherry didn’t do anything. She just sat there dumbfounded, “Lucid, how...” I didn’t get to hear the end of the sentence, the door to the Longhouse closed behind me.
Back outside I saw Chip struggling to carry an earth pony on his back. I hobbled as fast as I could to him and took the pony off his back then returned to the Longhouse, my lungs and wing screaming in pain, my legs protesting every step.
Outside once more I was face to face with Chip, “sit,” he demanded. I don’t have time for this! I tried to sidestep him but he kept blocking my path. I finally obeyed as he set his hooves on my injured wing. I cried out in pain but he ignored me. One snap, some dirty rags, and some crying later my wing was set and bound. I gave my lone healing potion to Chip, my wing needed more than that to heal, his leg however needed it. The two of us drudged through the settlement, gathering up pony after pony in the Longhouse.
I passed a burning shack and heard a whimper. A colt was trapped under a section of collapsed roof. I bucked the door but it didn’t budge. The colt inside screamed for help. Flames licked my flank as I bucked the door again, it began to buckle. With a burst of pain numbing adrenaline I bucked the door one final time, it flew off its hinges and slammed against the back wall before falling harmlessly on the floor.
The flames were barely noticeable, but that soon changed when my armor began to heat up. I ignored the pain as I threw scrap metal and wooden beams off the colt, I threw him over my back and fled from the burning shack. Most of my skin was burnt, pain shot through my entire body. I dropped the filly as soon as I realized what I was doing, if my armor was burning me I could only imagine what I was doing to him.
We ran side by side to the Longhouse, well the colt ran, I limped. We didn’t stop until we were safely inside. There must’ve been at least thirty ponies inside, each one injured. Cherry was kind enough to give me the last healing potion. I took advantage of my suit’s direct injection system and connected the healing potion to it. As the healing magic entered my bloodstream a soothing calm passed through me, my burns became a distant memory. I wanted to lie down, I couldn’t take much more of this. My lungs were burning, my legs were numb, I could barely stand. Pain still emanated from my wing.
I braved the outside one more time, searching for more survivors. I saw Chip frantically running back and forth doing the same. As I was running like a madmare I was stopped by the sight of the filly’s corpse and Twitchy’s ashes. The small body of the filly was crushed, ribs protruding out of the filly’s stomach. Organs lay in a small radius around the body, her face stuck in a twisted expression of pain. Her eyes were still open. I couldn’t bear it anymore, I started to cry. She didn’t deserve this, she wasn’t even a year old. I imagine she lived her short life watching her friend, Twitchy slowly turn to insanity. Then was lucky enough to see her snap and be killed before her own eyes. Shortly after her friend's life was taken she was in the same position. It wasn’t fair.
“Steelwing... I... I’m sorry,” I was the one who started all this, I knew Twitchy wasn’t right. I knew she was trouble yet I said nothing, I remained silent and look at what it got me. I had to step over dead bodies to get to alive ones. I had to dig through dead bodies to find ponies who were barely hanging on to life themselves, all because I didn’t say something. I was responsible for the death of at least thirty ponies. Steelwing’s mutilated body crept back into my mind, thirty one.
Still sobbing I passed a hoof over the filly’s eyes, closing them forever. I looked over at Twitchy’s ashes, the cannibalistic pony had been turned to a useless gray pile. The breeze picked up and Twitchy’s ashes were carried away with the wind. The pile in front of me shrunk as the ashes danced through the air. They lingered for a while, it was as if Twitchy was still there, mocking me, bragging, saying ‘I won’. The ashes were soon carried away in the breeze.
Chip walked up beside me and put a hoof on my shoulder, “let’s get inside,” he didn’t know I had been crying, or what I was thinking. Thank Celestia for that. We were at the door to the Longhouse when Chip stopped in his tracks, “Rags!” He turned around and sprinted towards a burning shack.
A low hum filled the air, the Longhouse exploded in a hail of debris and green balefire. I didn’t even have time to react. The Longhouse was obliterated, along with everypony inside. I was lucky enough not to be caught in the explosion, but I didn’t escape the shock wave. I was thrown into the side of a nearby shack. It creaked and groaned as it was pelted by debris from the Longhouse, partially burying me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Skyfire retreating into the clouds, smoke trailing from the balefire cannons. The shack had finally had enough, the supports and walls gave out, effectively submerging me.
A little pony appeared on my visor, a melancholy look on her face. All of her limbs were flashing red. My suit kept ticking, telling me I should move, warning me about the radiation. But I couldn’t move, my body refused. Strangely I was okay with this, as my body slowly numbed, pain left my body, death seemed welcoming. I could see light seeping through the cracks in the pile of debris on top of me. Black crept into my vision, starting in the corners of my eyes. Soon it consumed everything.
* * *
My eyes opened slowly, keeping them open was a chore. My vision was so blurry. I couldn’t make out anything. I heard the sound of metal being thrown, I felt the weight of the pile lessening. Light broke through and I could see a friendly face, Chip. I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore, it’s too much effort. I felt myself being pulled free, the only weight I felt now is that of my armor, but still my body refused to move.
My body screamed in pain as Chip set me onto the dirt. I tried to convey this pain through my mouth but no sounds came out. My stomach churned inside of me from the radiation. Chip removed my helmet, the cool breeze felt nice against my face. I opened my eyes once more to be greeted by a look of worry. I turned my head and heaved, bile came up and out of my throat pooling in the dirt next to me as my body tried to purge itself of radiation to no avail.
Chip fed me a healing potion but it did nothing. Chip yelled something but I couldn’t understand him. He threw me over his back as he began to walk. Radiation was slowly taking a hold of me, pulling me into my grave. My body began to numb itself again, the cool fingers of death welcoming me once more. I didn’t fight it, my vision faded to black.
* * *
The worst is over. Chip’s walking now, the burning ruins of his home far behind us. He put my helmet back on, that was nice of him. I can hear him crying, I try to turn my head to see his face but it’s too much effort. I don’t know if he blames himself for this, but I know he shouldn’t. I want to comfort him, give him a shoulder to cry on, something, anything. He’s a good pony, he doesn’t deserve this.
He moves like a mule, steady, unwavering. He walks like it’s automatic, it’s anatomy. He walks with a kind of inertia, a kind of emptiness, a dullness of desire , conscience, hope, and sensibility. He’s weeping uncontrollably but he soldiers on, toiling up hills. He carries his own life, almost as heavy as me. He doesn’t break, he keeps walking. For all the ambiguities of the wasteland, all the mysteries and unknowns, there was one certainty. We would never be at a loss for things to carry. I have no idea where he’s taking me, but I have no choice. I close my eyes and drift back into the blissfulness of unconsciousness.
* * *
It’s dark out, barely any light left. We’ve stopped moving. Chip set me down, very gently. He stepped back a bit and fell on his haunches. I felt my helmet sliding off once more. He greeted me with a small smile. He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a small rag. He pressed it against my forehead, I felt the pressure of it. After a few moments he pulled it away, the once white rag was now stained red. My body is no longer in pain, there’s no more room for it.
His eyes began to water. He reached into his saddlebags once more and pulled out a small piece of paper and set it down in front of me. It’s a picture of a green filly eating pink cake, a cerulean pegasus with a jet black and amethyst mane stands behind her with a mix of shock and awe on her face. I began to cry, I’ve failed Star.
The realization hit me like a train, I’m not going back. I’ll never be able to see Star again. I’ll never enjoy a fresh apple, watch the sunrise with Steel and Star, watch the moon come out as stars dot the night sky, I’ll never see my friends again. I was trapped, stuck in a hostile environment, there was no sun, no moon, no stars, only clouds. I can’t die now, that’d be too easy. There’s no room for easy in the Wasteland. I knew I was going to survive now, the cool fingers of death began to recede and are replaced by skewers of pain. It exploded through my whole body. The pain doesn’t last long, soon darkness consumes my vision once more.
* * *
I’m on the ground now, Chip is standing no more than a few feet away from me, my beam rifle clutched firmly in his mouth. His hooves are spread out, ready to fight. My helmet lay on the ground next to me.
Chip fired a bolt of red energy, I heard sizzling behind me, hot ash mixed into my mane. I need to help, I need to move. My body screamed in protest. Chip fired again and again, blood explodes out of his back leg. He doubled over in pain.
Several ponies wearing the skeletons of their kin as armor surrounded him. He tried to rise up, to fight back. He bucked one of them in the face, blood and teeth flew towards me, staining the dirt red. He shoved another back, and bucked another. They swarmed him. Even though he’s hopelessly outnumbered he doesn’t stop fighting. I have to help, I have to move. My body refused.
The club shattered Chip’s ribs, he falls to the ground doubling over in pain. It falls upon Chip over and over, each hit recoiling him. Blood began to drip from his mouth as the magic finally fades from the club as it travels back to a nearby unicorn.
My body finds its strength. It’s not much but I can move. Pain coursed through me, every inch of my body screamed. I had to save Chip, I had to save my friend. My hooves began to function. I’m able to slowly roll onto my back. Just in time to see the butt of a gun being brought down on my face.
___________________________________________________________________________
Footnote: Level up!
Perk added: Black Widow: +10% damage to the opposite sex and unique dialogue options with certain characters.
(Huge thanks to Kkat for Fallout Equestria and Somber for Project Horizons. Without them I wouldn’t have been inspired to write this. Also a shout out to donald trump card & Honey Mead for making this chapter readable.)
