Fallout Equestria: Dracony Chronicles

Lazuli popped back into consciousness only about twenty seconds after being knocked out. She gasped painfully, her head feeling like a two ton weight was resting on the back of it, compressing her brain. Sparkles and lights danced in front of her eyes, and out of the corner of her vision she saw the bright white and gold unicorn, Crystal, running towards her.

Crystal inhaled sharply through her teeth as she saw the state of Lazuli, a dead earth pony lying beside her and the back of her head covered in blood. “Sweet Celestia…” She murmured, quickly opening her pack and pulling out a vial and a syringe.

She leaned down to Lazuli, who weakly squirmed and writhed in pain. Quickly, she filled up the syringe. “Sorry about this, but it’s a lot less painful if you’re asleep…” She stuck the needle into Lazuli’s shoulder as quick as she could, sighing in relief as the Dracony’s squirms slowed down, and eventually stopped.

Lazuli’s eyes were nearly blinded when she first tried to open them, searing white light burning into her pupils, which had been shrouded in darkness for hours. “Ungh…” She squinted, her whole face contorted in discomfort. Her head felt like she was floating in zero gravity, yet at the same time as if she was being sat on by an elephant. “Wh…f…rr…” She tried to make a proper word, but it came out jumbled, her speech slurred.

She heard a voice, but her vision was fuzzy and her ears felt like they had cotton balls stuffed in them. Her eyes blinked a few times in a lazy manner, managing to clear her head just enough to see Tempest and Crystal Harmony standing over her. The proper flesh-and-blood unicorn was scribbling down notes on a clipboard, looking down at Lazuli with a concerned expression. Tempest looked downright distraught, clearly having to resist the urge to grab the Dracony and hug her as tight as possible.

As her eyes properly opened, she groaned again. “Mmghs…Teemp…” She whined, looking between the robotic unicorn and the real one. Crystal made a gentle shushing noise.

“Shhh, Lazuli.” Crystal frowned a bit, putting a hoof on her forehead to check her patient’s temperature – then remembering she was cold blooded, and that she had no idea how to tell if she was feverish or not. “Don’t move too much.” She said quietly, her voice gentle enough that she managed to keep Lazuli from freaking out.

Lazuli’s head was swimming, a bandage tightly wrapped around the top part of it. She snorted a bit, her voice slurred slightly. “Whaass…I…nngh…”

“She’ll be a bit out of it.” Crystal said, turning to face Tempest. The robotic mare’s head gently turned from Crystal to Lazuli, each movement bringing a harmony of gentle mechanical clicks and whirrs.

“I see…but she’ll be okay?” Tempest asked.

“I’mmssss fiiiine!” Lazuli slurred, her head falling back against the pillow.

Crystal chewed on the inside of her cheek, then sighed. “I’m fairly sure, yes. Her brain wasn’t damaged – thank Celestia for that, I really think she should wear a helmet – but her skull was cracked. If the pipe had hit any lower she might have been paralyzed…but for now she’ll be fine. Just needs rest. Er…a lot of it. I’d say at least ten days in bed, and no combat missions for three or four weeks.”

Tempest, more out of instinct than the actual need for something to physically stimulate her jaw, nibbled on the metal tip of her hoof. “Goddesses…I should have never sent her out…”

“Commander, this was an extremely successful mission.” Crystal turned back to her. “Almost no injuries besides Lazuli, and we managed to free the slaves they were keeping. No injuries to them, either.”

Tempest didn’t seem convinced, her head shaking from side to side. “I just got her back…and she nearly died on the third day since I met her again.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Commander. You know her, you’ve told us about her. You know that if you had tried to keep her back, she’d probably go out on her own. And that might end even worse.”

Lazuli’s head began to clear, but her senses were still muddled. “Listeeeen…I’m fi…oh Celestia…” She tried to move, but immediately was hit by a wave of nausea as her head spun in circles. She retched, laying her head back down and breathing deeply.

“Laz…” Tempest stepped over to the side of the bed, again having to resist the urge to hug her. “You’ll be okay. But you have to stay in bed.”

“Mmnff…bed’s for…uuugh…” She grumbled again, struggling to center her vision on Tempest alone. “How many’s of you…”

Tempest winced slightly, and stepped back from the bed while Crystal gently wrapped her magic around the bedsheets, tucking the Dracony in like a foal. “She’ll be absolutely fine, I promise.” The unicorn shot Tempest a friendly, warm smile. “In a few days, I’m sure she’ll be well enough to talk properly…but for now, I think it’s best if she’s given some alone time.”

Tempest’s eyes focused on Lazuli, who slowly wiggled herself down lower in the blankets. “Mmmh…fluffyyyyy…”

The robotic unicorn sighed and shook her head. “Alright. I’ll need to hear the report, anyway…” She slowly trotted towards the door, her hooves clacking loudly against the tile floor as she and Crystal left. Crystal flicked the light off, leaving the sunlight filtering in through the curtains.

“Just rest, Lazuli.” Crystal said softly, and slid the door shut.

“Are you sure?” The voice of a stern, commanding zebra mare said, the absence of her voice afterwards creating a nervous silence within the walls of the office.

“Erm…” An earth pony cleared his throat shakily, his hoof toying with his chest.

“Stop touching your chest.” Ayize said, her eyes not once leaving the dark green stallion in front of her.

“Y-yes ma’am.” He quickly put his hoof back down, a bead of sweat running down his cheek.

“Was that a ‘yes, I’m sure’ or you saying yes to what I asked you?” She leaned forward on her desk, the solid metal hoof attached to her right side gently tapping against the wooden surface.

The stallion swallowed. “T-to the first one, ma’am…and…a-also the second.”

“Mmhm.” Ayize stood up, her hoof thunking against the carpeted floor. “So…you’re telling me that Lazuli joined up with the Riders?”

“Y-…” The pony’s voice caught in his throat. “Y-yes.”

“For fuck’s sake, would you stop being so scared?” Ayize rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I’m gonna kill you. You’ve brought me very valuable information…” She stopped at the window on the right side of her desk. It spanned almost the entire wall, giving her a full view of the factory floor far below. “Hm. And she was with others?”

The earth pony nodded. “Well…er…she also…uh…got hit. By one of the raiders. Er…well…one of us.”

“Oh?” Ayize raised an eyebrow, turning her head to look back at him. “You?”

“U-uh, well, not me, but- um- another pony…he hit her in the head with a pipe.”

“Ooooh…” Ayize’s eyes closed, a somewhat malicious smile crossing her lips. “Just a second, I need to savour that…” After taking a moment to envision the Dracony’s head being beaten in with a metal pipe, she opened her eyes again. “Not dead, obviously, or you would have opened with that.”

“Uh, I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “But…definitely injured.”

“Hmmh…and you got away because their medic decided to heal you as well?”

The stallion puffed his chest out with a nod and a confident smile. “That’s right!” He said cheerily, but his confidence faltered as the zebra stepped a bit closer, her expression not changing a bit.

“And you came to me…” She said slowly, the grin returning to her muzzle. “Of all ponies.”

“Well…I…I was…aware of y- um…I’ve…b-been here before, and you said I didn’t have anything t-to offer, so you s-sent me away…”

Ayize paused and tilted her head. “…Hrm…I thought you looked familiar. Jade, yes?”

“Y-yeah, that’s me.” Jade swallowed as his rump bumped against the back wall.”

“Well, Jade…” Ayize stepped closer. She was a bit taller than him, and her chest was nearly touching his as he backed up as far as he could go. “You’ve done nicely, but you’re not fitting into my group with all of your parts still attached.”

“…I-…I b-beg your pardon…?” Jade’s voice was quiet, and a small squeak escaped him when Ayize’s metal hoof wrapped around his shoulder.

The zebra’s smile was as terrifying as the rest of her, even more so, Jade decided.

“See, I’ve got a rule here.” She pulled him away from the wall, throwing him backwards so he landed on his back. Shifting forward, she sat down on his chest, pinning him. “No one gets to be a member of my group without giving something in return. A bit of a…” She waved her hoof in the air for a few seconds, trying to find the right word. “Show of loyalty, let’s put it that way.”

“U-um…” Jade squeaked again.

“So, my question is, what’ll it be?” She asked casually, as if she were serving drinks. “A leg? Two legs? Front or hinds?”

“W-wait, I-I never said anything ab-“

“Though I guess I could just decide for you.” Ayize giggled, her metal hoof pressing down on his right foreleg. “Ooh, you know, you’d look really nice with some proper implants…maybe reinforced bones like mine.”

Jade was panicking now, his breath quickening and sweat pouring down his face. “N-no, wait, I-I don’t want- um, I-I changed my mind! I-I gave you the information, c-can I just go now?”

“Ooooh no, see it doesn’t really work that way. You’ve gotta make a choice.” She leaned forward, resting both of her elbows on his chest and leaning down so her chin was resting on his muzzle. “Mmm…personally, I’d say a hind leg. Earth ponies like you with even more kicking power is always good to see. But there’s always the chance you want to let me decide…”

“I-…p-please…don’t…” Jade whimpered quietly.

Ayize snorted. “You’re no fun. Fine then, I’ll choose.” She stood up to get off of him. He started to scramble to his hooves…

And Ayize spun back around. He wasn’t able to see what she held in her hoof until it was already in his face – in the most literal way. Pure, unbridled agony rippled through his skull as a sharpened letter-opener was impaled directly through his left eye, digging nearly six inches into his socket. Blood poured out of the wound as his hooves immediately shot up to hold it, but Ayize yanked the weapon out as fast as she had put it in.

The zebra snorted again as Jade fell to the ground, howling and clutching at his eye, hind legs kicking wildly and his body rolling back and forth. “Oh, come on. You were the one who let me choose.” She looked down at the letter opener, soaked in blood. With a gentle hum, she tossed it back onto her desk. “Can’t have you screaming like that when I start digging around in there, though. Consider yourself lucky.” She raised her metal hoof over her head, slamming it into Jade’s temple. The writhing Earth Pony was mercifully knocked unconscious, and Ayize went about preparing a syringe of proper sedative so she could take him to her lab.