Fallout Equestria: On Rust Red Shores

The sun rose from the east. Under clear skies, the light glistening on the frost that covered Bold Harbor. The night had been colder than we had ever felt before, like all the warmth had been sucked out of the air, replacing it with a still, harsh cold that gave the feeling that death itself had passed by. As though summoned to meet up with the rising sun, wind began to blow from the west, salty and bitter cold.

Stepping out onto the deck, Optical had already gathered the militia. Earth ponies and pegasi standing side by side in five long rows. There was no strict uniformity among them, and many held worried looks on their faces. Optical’s soldiers were flying around and inspecting the militia, now and then descending on one of them to adjust or wake up a pony that was dosing off.

Optical saw us and waved us over. “Good you’re up. I hope you got enough sleep, because things are probably going to get hectic soon.”

We shook our head. “We don’t sleep, but we did spend all night recovering.” Pulling out one of the four bottles of the radioactive zap apple hard cider, it was almost empty. “And preparing.” We pulled out a bunch of tin cans connected to strings, and the laser rifle that we had taken last night. Passing Optical the rifle, we kept the cans. “Star showed us how to make cluster grenades. We got two bunches of them, so even if they’re not very strong, they should still help to clear an area.”

She took the rifle, and nodded. “I like it. If those raiders bunch up, that should mess them up.” Placing the rifle on her back, Optical looked back at the militia. “Were going to need every edge we can get, most of these ponies only have a few hours of training. The best we can do is have them take defensive positions and let my ponies do the heavy hitting.”

“If only we had more time.” We commented. “can’t we just lock them out?”

Optical sighed. “One of my scouts reported that they had made crude bridges and ladders. Meaning that they’re planning to take back their ship by all means, so just blocking them will not help. Still, we’re going to have a barricade down below, automatic guns, and explosives. Once the defensive line is about to fall, the ponies below are to fall back to the lower deck entrance and blocked it off. After that, the fight will likely move up here onto the ship.” She looked back at us. “If you can save those grenades for any ponies holding ladders, send them to Tartarus for us.”

“Got it.” We nodded. “We will do what we can to help.”

“Thanks.” Optical said, sounding a bit exhausted. “Oh, and do try to stay out of the line of fire if you can. Turning invisible may help keeping them from shooting at you, but it also means we don’t know where you are.”

An explosion echoed from far away, and we shared a look of concern, the skull Hunters were on their way. Optical turned her attention the militia, barking orders on where they need to be. We on the other hoof, trotted back the large house we had spent the night in. Star Charter had already exited the front door, her mane a mess of curly green, and the smile on her face seemed just a bit too wide.

“Is it starting?” she said, again sounding a bit too cheery.

We took out the bottle of sparkle-cola we had in our saddle bag, and gave it to her. “Yes, and you’re going inside the ship with the other foals.” We could tell she was giving a displeased look at us through her frizzy mane. “No arguing, now get going.”

She groaned, but obeyed, running off with her bottle of cola. Taking a step inside the house, the cutlass and rust gun sat on the table, along with four fresh extra magazines for the gun. Taking them in our magic, we stepped back outside.

Spreading our wings, they felt better than they had in a long time. Along with our legs too, actually. The Zap wine did the trick, pumping our body with both radiation and taint, giving us the energy to properly heal. Much of the pain from our journey was gone, and our fur was already starting to grow over the scars. We were sure the scars were going to remain on our legs, as the chains had dug deep down to the bone. But even so, we were glad that fur around them was starting to look smooth again.

Flying up, we looked down on the ship, seeing all the ponies scramble about. Passing by the tower, we saw Mhambi sitting in what looked like a captain’s chair and looking over a map. Micro Fission was there too, looking like he was repairing a large radio.

Hovering in place, we looked through an opening where a window would have once have been, some attempt to block the wind had long been given up on. Mhambi gave us a knowing glance, the open space only a few footsteps away from her. “They’re on their way. Optical wants us to hunt the raiders that have long ladders in order to keep them from boarding the ship for as long as possible.”

Mhambi looked up from that map, her eyes looking strained and a bit red. “Yes, I heard about those ladders. It’s likely that they’re made of rope or chain, so keep an eye out for them bundled up if you don’t immediately spot them.” We nodded and turned around. “Oh, one more thing. Good luck out there. I don’t want to lose another friend so soon after making one.”

A smile crept on our face as we spread our wings and flew up again. Going invisible, we glided over Bold Harbor, keen on helping spot the raiders. The militia was already taking position, with ponies holding long rifles stationed along the edges of the ship’s deck. Down below at the entrance to the boat, ponies pushed together a blockade, and took defensive positions behind it. Pegasi flew back and forth, delivering boxes, and dropping mines in front of the barricade, working quickly to help lock things down as much as possible.

The atmosphere had grown tense enough that we felt that we could taste it. It tasted like iron, and salt. Another explosion could be heard further into the town, closer than the last time. Our ears twitched, locating the direction it came from, and with a push of our wings, we quickly headed in that direction.

The cloth cover the town had, obstructed our vision. Something that I hoped would be removed once this whole mess was resolved. Pulling out the cutlass, we cut ourselves an opening big enough for us to slip through. Descending as slowly as possible, we landed on one of the buildings. Looking down, we could see the raiders ahead were slowly advancing.

At their front were earth ponies with collars on, simply trotting forwards, their eyes masked. It took us a moment to process what we were seeing, a moment too late as one of the ponies stepped on a mine. Her leg blasted to bits, and the rest of her was ripped apart by the blast. She fell to the ground, dead in a bloody heap. The raiders were using slaves to clear a path through the mines as they sat back and followed in safety.

We could see the Skull hunters advancing slowly, some of them drinking bottles of what looked like water. Even from here we could smell the alcohol, the putrid moonshine was potent enough to sting our nose from here. The raiders stopped as they reached the freshly dead slave mare. A brown stallion among them pushed out another slave. With a poke in the behind from a spear, the slave stallion burst out running, faster than the mare before. By the time the first mine he triggered went off, he’d already triggered two more. The hit from the first blast sent him tumbling, the other two finished him off. A severed leg flew a bit further, triggering a fourth mine. As the ringing from the blast wore off, I could hear as the display had sent the raiders into a roar of laughter.

We couldn’t watch anymore of this. We pulled out one of our grenades bundles, arming the explosives. With a soft throw, we tossed one down onto the raiders. There was a clattering sound of tin on metal and dirt, and the raiders were at first confused at what just fell around them.

“Grenades!” One shouted right before the small explosive went off.

It was not as loud as the mines were, but the tin grenades had a satisfying pop to them. As the haze cleared, we could see that the explosives had done their job. A few of the advanced raiders were left dead, a lot were injured. Unfortunately, a small lucky hoof full were unharmed as well. The walls around them were peppered with little holes from the blast, and the ground had scorch marks. This made us wonder how much damaged the tin grenades could do if they had more powder in them, or another type of explosive was used. Something to consider for another day we supposed.

A raider looked around for a moment before they arced back and threw their javelin. To their credit it actually nearly hit us, and forced us to duck down.

“The blue whore is here, keep an ear out, she may ghost walk, but she can’t mask her steps!” The pony, mare or stallion we could not tell, had a black robe on, with a radigator skeleton draped over it. A noose dangled around the pony’s neck, connecting the lower jaw of the skeleton with the skull. The pony was armed with five more javelins from what I could count, and already held another one in position to throw. “Whoever kills her, claims her bones. But, you capture her alive, then you earn the first turn with her. Just remember to not break her before we all get to fuck her!” The others laughed at her barbaric remark. “Sharing is caring of course.”

A cold shiver ran down our spine as the raiders cheered, seeming unpassed by our attack. Not only that, more raiders had joined this group. Quickly, another slave was sent running ahead of them. It was not long until we heard the sound of another mine going off. Swords, spears, clubs. The weapons the raiders were using were primitive, but there were a lot more raiders then we remembered. Too many.

Flying further into the town, we found that the raiders numbers far outnumbered that of the militia. More surprisingly, not all of them decorated themselves with skulls. Some of the banners hoisted with them were not of the Skull Hunters.

A black flag with a skull and noose was the most common, but there were others. A red flag with a teddy bear impaled on a spike. A pink flag depicting a heart stabbed by a knife, a blue flag with a jar full of eyes, and a flag made from a whole pony hide with a big smile painted on it. That last flag nearly made us puke, as it looked like the pony had simply been flattened, and turned into a banner. Their fur, mane, tail, and even the cutiemark of some sort of bird was all still there.

From on top of another building, we scanned the crowd of raiders and spotted what we were looking for. A raider hauling a coil of rope. We didn’t waste time and flew over them, dropping a couple of grenades before flying back onto another, further away building. We were not going to nearly get hit again by another skeleton skull hunter.

The explosives when off, sending a haze of smoke into the air. We watched through the blast to see our success as the raiders scrambled about. Our hopes dropped as the haze dissipated, revealing a glowing green barrier around the pony. With them, stood a green alicorn. The alicorn raider scanned the rooftops. Her eyes stopped the moment they gazed in our direction before she pointed at us with her hoof.

We jumped off the building, spreading our wings to glide over the crowed. Behind us we heard a pop, followed by the sound of revving engines and metal grinding on metal. Looking back, we saw Razor Storm, her spear shoved right were we had been standing. Finding a new position, we ducked down low, no longer confident that our invisibility could protect us. Razor Storm spat at where we had been, and teleported away. Her being a purple was going to be a major problem, but at least we were sure she could not go invisable.

Looking down below, the second green alicorn had appeared as well. She was parting the crowd with Grease Fire in toe close to her. Grease Fire jumped onto their back, grinning wildly as he used them like a podium. He began looking around and scanning not only the crowd, but also the roof tops.

“My compadres, my amigos, my friends.” He held onto the ‘s’ almost like he was hissing like a snake. “We have reached the end of our prosperous journey. And though the plan had been nearly ruined by the interference of the enclave, we endured, and now we are at the jaws of victory!”

The crowd cheered, and as they died down, we could hear another explosion further back, prompting the crowd to cheer yet again.

“Now, now, save that energy for the fight ahead, or you won’t have the energy to entertain your new wives.” There was a groan from the mares in the crowed. “Oh, don’t be that way, you can claim your own toys too. But we must still focus on increasing our numbers. It’s up to you if you want to stay back and pop us out as few foals, or fight up front with the rest of us.” Snickering and laughter could be heard from the crowed, followed by swift snaps, cracks, and thuds.

“Good, now that you're all at attention, you must be wondering who these two lovely green fake goddesses are. And the answer to that, is that they are our victory.” The two alicorns looked a bit embarrassed as the crowd cheered at them, a few shouting lewd words at them. “But that’s not all, oh no it’s not. For fortune favors us, and what was once lost, has returned to us!” His voice grew louder, and more excited as he spoke, making the crowed of raiders go tense, enthralled by him. “Yes, the rumors are true, she has returned to us, the Death Huntress herself, my grandmother, Razor Storm!” With a flash and a pop, Razor Storm appeared in front of the crowed, sending them into a frenzy of cheering.

“SILENCE!” Her voice boomed. The raiders quickly came to attention, and even we were impressed at that. “How pathetic. Our once great gang, now broken up into weak and petty raider bands.” She stopped and scraped the ground with her hoof, her face twisted into a snarl. “If it weren’t for the fact that you managed to clear out Reka, I’d have culled the whole heard of you right here and now. Even now I remember how the merchants of Reka betrayed us, how they cowardly poisoned us, captured us, sold us to slavery. All for what, caps? The cold steel of caps that they grew weak, fat, and lazy on. That winter, they proved themselves unfit to survive, but we were made to pay the price for their weakness.” She stomped the ground even harder. “But our thirst for revenge will finally be sated. Through a baptism of blood, we will once more be unified, and what remains of Reka will be nothing more than food for the mirelurks or slaves to bear our young.” The crowd roared in excitement as Razor flared her wings, making her look even bigger and more intimidating then she had before. “And to those who aid our prey, they shall be given no quarter! Cut them down, fill them with our hate, and if they yet live, drag them to the deepest darkest place you know, where they shall never again see the light of day.”

Her eye scanned the roof, stopping on us. She smiled and winked at us, before teleporting away. Scrambling, we jumped from our position, but Razor Storm didn’t appear, leaving us hovering over the crowd of excited raiders.

Grease Fire spoke up, his voice barely carrying as far as Razors had. “You all know what to do! Rip and tear, turn the water red with blood. But Winterberry is mine. Capture her, beat her down if you must, but she is mine to brake. I want to see how many foals I can pop out of her before she withers and dies.”

That was it, we have heard enough. Turning ourselves around, we flew up, cutting another hole for us to escape from. More explosions could be heard as we flew back to the ship. They were close now, and the battle was about to begin. The fortified bridge came into view, and we could see ponies poised and ready for when the raiders attacked. Landing behind them, we started them enough that they turned their guns at us.

We pulled out Stars rust gun, and loaded the chamber. “Don’t look from our enemy, they will be here soon.” The ponies relaxed, and returned to their firing position. “No matter what, we must not let them win, or all will suffer.” Crouching behind one of the barriers, we pointed our gun down the docks, ready for them to appear. But what our attention was most on, was when Razor Storm will appear and seek to kill us. “Just remember what you must protect, and don’t fail them.”

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Footnote:

Level up – lv 4

- Melee skill up

- Gun skill up

- New perk - Dual Wield – Resolved to fight, Prism now understands that she will have to bring all she can to not only survive, but to protect. She can now use two weapons at once, be it melee or gun. -10 to accuracy when wielding two weapons.