Fallout Equestria: On Rust Red Shores

The green Alicorn that stood before us wore crude armor, made from what looked like random scraps that were held together by several belts. Hanging off her right side was a rusty looking shotgun, and on the other side was a bundled up chain with a brutish hook attached at the end. The look in her eyes was all we needed to know, we had seen it plenty of times before. ‘Do as I say, or be left blooded in the streets.’ Frankly, we didn’t like that look.

“Going to try and fight? That’s fine, I actually want to break that pretty face of yours.” Blood Ink said, jeering under her breath. “Braking ponies was always the best part of my old job. Well, that and the free snack cakes. Lemon custard is the best.”

*Tat tat tat tat*

We sent bullets at Blood Ink from the rust gun, but they only slammed into her green wall of magical energy. She responded by lifting her chain with her magic, spinning the hook around as she brought up and aimed the shotgun.

*Blam Blam*

The rusty shotgun let out two blasts. We managed to block most of it with the corpse of the raider we’d smashed before. A few pellets did manage to graze us, but it wasn’t that bad of a hit. Throwing the dead raider, their body smashed against Ink’s shield before crumpling down onto the ground.

“Why don’t you just go away?” We crocked. “Find somewhere else to live far from this place.”

Ink chuckled. “Sheltered, stupid, or just plain ignorant.” She shook her head. “We live in a world of only predators and prey. No matter where you go, there will be a fight, there will always be some pony out there looking to take what you have. So you have two options in this life. Wait for someone to take it all, or take everything from them first.”

“Life does not need to be that way?” The hook came flying at us as we spoke. Though we managed to move out of the way, it still grazed our neck and cut a little into our skin. Shortly, the chain pulled back under her magic, returning to its master and almost hitting us once more.

“Not here for a debate, so submit or die!” She snarled.

We pointed the rust gun at her again, but her shield came back up. “I don’t accept either of those options.” Placing the gun back into our saddle bag, we charged with the cutlass. With a wide swing, we hoped to end it quickly. Blood Ink oddly just stood still and smiled.

Something connected with our leg, and we were pulled down to the ground. Pushing ourselves up, we looked to see the other green alicorn, with another chain hook.

“I did good, right?” The alicorn said with an almost too cheery voice. “Just like you said, right?”

“Yes, now just hold her there and let me do what I do best.” Ink smirked as she came close. Taking the opportunity to strike, we swung our sword at her. But she simply beat it away with her chain. She used her magic to wrap the chain around the sword and bind it as she smiled. “Oh no, no, no. That is not how it goes.” With a tug, she wrenched the sword from our hold, throwing it to the side. With her chain free of the sword, she proceeded to raise the hook up high. The glint in her eyes, and toothy smile. She was going to enjoy this.

Almost like a deliverance from mother a voice cried out “Hey, look up!” It was familiar and stern in tone, demanding our attention.

Blood Ink stopped for a moment, and looked to the sky. An off white blur collided with Ink, leaving a trail of primary colors that slowly faded. We used this opportunity to shake off the hook on our leg, it making a clang on the floor.

Looking around, we saw Blood Ink smashed up against one of the large food containers. Sergeant Optical was pinned on the alicorn mare, hitting her repeatedly in the face. With a blast of magic from Ink’s horn, Optical went flying. We reached out and managed to catch in our magic her before she hit anything.

“Thanks for the save.” We told her.

“I like apple pie. I’ve only had it in snack cake form, so getting the real deal would be nice.” She pulled out the automatic Scatter beam rifle I had given her earlier. The rife revved up as both alicorns put out their shields. Instead of staying for the fight, instead the two took to the sky.

“Fucking cheaters.” Optical sighed, lowering her rifle for a moment.

“Should we go after them?” We asked.

“Yes.” She responded, but lowered her gun down at were the raiders had been coming from. “But the other raiders still need to be delt with. I need to push em back first, so if you can keep those two from rejoining the battle, we might have a chance to hold this hoard back. At least long enough until that vertibuck gets here anyway.”

Nodding, we flared out or wings and took to the sky, rising above the smoke shrouded battlefield. Spotting her in the air, we watched as Blood Ink pointed her shotgun at us and fired. We shifted our flight to dodge the shot, flying off to the side. Without the haze surrounding us, we cast our invisibility and dew the rust gun. Both Alicorns covered themselves in a green bubble, knowing that outside of the smoke they could not track us. Every now and then, they cast a glance near where we were, but we remembered one important thing from our time with mother. In the rare open sky of the wasteland, blue alicorns were nearly undetectable. We smirked as now we held the advantage.

Down below, the militia were finally beginning to retake control of the top deck. Though the raiders had already taken some ground, they no longer were pushing forward. They just had to hold out as long as possible, we could not let them in.

Circling around the two greens, our stalemate felt certain to never end until some pony made a move. This, we were not going to wait for, so we flew up. High, higher, higher still. Cold air filled our lungs, and our breath made a small cloud as we exhaled. Looking down, Blood Ink looked far smaller now. We pulled out another bottle of hard cider from our bags, one of the three left, and drank the whole bottle as fast as we could. It reinvigorated us, dulled the pain from the wounds we’d received, and made what we were about to do feel slightly less insane than it actually was.

Throwing the bottle away, we closed our wings and let ourselves drop. The fridgid air quickly rushed by as we gained speed, descending down that them at a quick clip. Opening our wings, we used them to push ourselves faster, and adjusting our aim at our target. We descended onto Blood Ink like some bird of prey, and for making the metaphor earlier, she didn’t see us combing.

With a thunderous crash we hit her bubble, and it shattered under our weight. Our invisibility spell was dispersed by the impact, and pain shot up through our legs, and into our body. It was so much pain, but so worth it. Pain didn’t matter to us as we collided with Ink, her only able to give us a flash of shock before being driven down with us. She slammed into the ground with us on top of her, and we felt a fair few snaps from her body as we came to a stop.

“Do you yield?” Pushing ourselves up off of her and taking a few steps back, we spat on the former slaver turd alicorn.

Blood Ink groaned. “Got to hoof it to you, I didn’t see that coming.” She struggled to get up, but one of her legs was bent in a painful direction, and some of the bloody bone was sticking out. She was finished. “But you’re too late. You’re already finished.”

“What, your leg is broken?” We took a step forward, and pain shot up through our legs. “Shit.”

“Ha! Thought so.” Ink spat out. “Though so. You can’t pull off a slam like that without hurting yourself. But that’s not what I meant. She should be here soon, and then you’ll see.”

“Who?”

The other alicon suddenly landed over Ink, sending her protective green bubble over them both.

“Who do you think? Razor Strom’s got a big surprise for you and you alone. And let me tell you, it’s a doozy.” The other green alicorn picked up Ink, placing Ink up on her back. Still sealed in the bubble, the green alicorn trotted off over to the edge of the ship. Even with Ink across her back, the alicorn flared her wings and jumped off, disappearing into the smoky haze.

Having them get away was annoying, but it was still a victory. Looking around, there were a few raiders looking as us, awestruck.

“How Disappointing.” A stallion from the within the haze called out.

We whipped around to come to see Grease Fire approach us. There were four raiders standing around him, all four of them were decked out in bones and skulls, with each one pointing a spear at us.

“But that’s what happens when you send outsiders to do the job of clans ponies.” Grease Fire shook his head. “They lack the vertebrae to do the job right, or at least, to die trying.”

“We didn’t see the need to kill innocent ponies.” We responded.

Grease Fire chuckled “I’m not going to proselytize on who is or is not innocent. That’s a merry-go-round that is about as fun to ride as a rusty one I found as a foal. No, no. You speak of innocence, but that’s simply an excuse one gives themselves to break a deal, or to stab another in the flank. But don’t worry, I understand, the lure of the hero is intoxicating indeed. I should know, I answered the calling myself.”

“You, a hero?” We found the notion humorous.

Levitating a rag from his pocket, he cleaned some blood from his hoof. “Quite so.” Looking at his guards, he waved his hoof at them. Hesitantly, they all lowered their spears. “Depending on how you tell it, it can be a long story, but I’ll give you just the notes. If it’s not too much of an interruption?”

We shook our head, the raiders spears trained on us was enough to temper any rage we had to fight for the moment.

“Good” Grease Fires replied. “Long ago, a little foal and his kin of hunters found themselves betrayed by their neighbors and sold into slavery. The young colt was clever, and managed to slip away, later finding himself in the company of other wayward foals looking for a place in this cruel world.”

“What’s the point of…” Grease Fire raised his hoof and cut me off.

“Well, that colt grew up into a stallion who was both strong and smart. He made caps from odd jobs, until one day, he saw his kin in chains, withered to the less than the proud hunters they once were. So the stallion tried to plead for the freedom of his kin, but the owner ignored him. He tried to buy the ponies freedom, but the owner mocked him for his lack of caps. So he rallied the town to his cause, having generated good will from many of them. But the law stated that this slaver’s right to ownership was true, and nothing could change that. So even with all he did, he could do nothing to free his imprisoned kin.”

Grease Fire sneered, but that sneer quickly grew into a smile.

“So, being the hero, I snuck into the owner’s home and chopped off his worthless head. Now, even for all I’d done for them, after they found the headless corps and all the slaves gone, the town did not like this outcome at all. The cowardly bastards put a bounty on my head, labeled me a criminal.” He levitated out a cigarette, and a lighter. Even with all the chaos going on around here, he tipped the open pack toward us.

“You want one?” He asked with a remarkable calmness to him. Looking around, the other raiders glared at us, so we shrugged and nodded. The lit cigarette hit our lips, and we breathed in the smoke, our body unsure if we should be enjoying this or not. Grease Fire pulled out another cigarette and proceeded to smoke. “So I burnt down the town, and hunted down the survivors. Which solved the bounty problem, as there was no longer any ponies to pay it.”

“From there I got my former kin back into shape as we went out and looked for the others.” Taking a long drag, Grease Fire let out a rather large cloud of smoke. “At first we’d higher raiders to help, but later found it much more cost effective if we just took them over and forced them. One group at a time at first, but soon I had many raider bans under my flag. After a while, I even rebuilt my old clan. Last on the list was to gain vengeance on those who betrayed us. After that, the plan was a return to better times.”

“Better times?” We asked.

“Yes,” He nodded, taking a quick drag of his cigarette. “when we lived without relying on others. Hunted our own food, made our own cloths. But sadly our home is currently being occupied rats we wish to see gone.”

“And why tell us this?”

“Simple really.” He too out a cap, and tossed it to us. “You agreed to hear us out at the start of this. And though you didn’t keep your end of our bargain, you also didn’t conspire against us.” The metal bottle cap making a ting sound on the floor. “I’m giving you a chance to go because you aren’t like these rats. Leave us, and take your filly with you. We left some supplies for you back at our base camp, so nothing is tying you here any longer. But if you do wish to stay, you can join my side, be my mare. No pony will come after you or your filly, as long as you agree to be mine.”

Stretching ourselves out, and standing as tall as we could, we responded. “And if I chose to fight instead?”

“Simple.” He smirked as the four guards lifted their spears at us. “Then you die. Slowly, as I ravage your cunt.” Grease Fire fiddled with a knife in his magic, grinning wildly “To tell the truth, option three is my favorite. I once kept a mare alive long enough to birth me a foal. I fed the tike her flesh and blood after the milk ran out. Maybe I’ll do the same with that filly of yours?”

Our stomach churned at that. “Barbaric.”

“But effective.” He said with a cocky tone. “If they’re still alive when this is over, about a fourth of the foals on the ship are already my children, as well as some of the troops fighting by my side. So you can say that not only am I trying to get my home back, but also my children.” Looking over, he eyed at the raider next to him. “Isn’t that right, Bone Knife? You want your brothers and sisters back, don’t you?” The raider guard grunted with a nod. “So what is it, run, stay, or die?”

We sighed. “We chose nothing.” Casting invisibility, the raiders spears came at us. We managed to grab two with our magic, and use them to perry the remaining two. Spitting our cigarette, we wrenched the spears from the guards, and thrust them at the old raider. But something prevented us from delivering the killing blow. Grease Fire who had not budge an inch, looked at us with what we guessed was pity.

“Oh, my little Greasy. How many times have I told you not to toy with your prey like this?” Slowly, we looked behind us. It was Razor Storm, but she seemed bigger, and the air around her felt heavy. No, not the air, but her magic. We could feel it, the magic around her was thick and heavy, similar to that of mother, but... wrong.

Razor stepped over to us, wrapping her wing around us. “I have to admit that I’m impressed on how you took out blood Ink, almost enough to spare you. Almost.”

We suddenly jolted to the side, crashing s into the container we had delivered the day befor. Our body leaving a sizable dent into it.

“But you have obstructed me long enough, and I will make you pay for it.” Looking at Razor Storm, she was definitely bigger than before, like an alicorn who had absorbed more than her share of radiation, but still different. She looked more red then purple, her body thicker, more strong than elegant. From her mouth she drooled a rainbow liquid that reeked of the foul stench of the place we were made. Taint, she reeked of taint.

With a chuckle Razor tilted her head up. “I see you have noticed my change. Good, good.” Her voice had a sick satisfaction to it. “I thought to myself, if mother lived in the taint, what would happen if I drank it, and by it, a whole barrel I mean. And to tell you what, I’ve never felt so powerful before!”

Her magic grabbed us by the throat like a vice grip and dragged me over to her. “You’re going to be the first example of my power, in the bloodiest way possible.” She looked us up and down with a self satisfying smile. “Yes, that will be just perfect. A good message of what I plan to do to your pegasus friends. I’ll start by ripping your wings off.”

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Foot Notes:

Quest Progress: Line in the sand %50