Fallout Equestria: Dracony Chronicles

Lazuli was back on her hooves as fast as she could be. Her mind was swirling in confusion, her eyesight blurry and shaking. Every step felt groggy, like she had drank ten times as much alcohol as she could handle, and she could barely make out Pearl’s body – the filly was backing away slowly, her hoof still pointed at the Dracony in front of her.

She rubbed her forehead with a hoof, struggling to stay standing…or awake. “Ngh…fu…what was…” She murmured, shaking her head a few times. Her mind began to clear, her blurry vision returning to normal. She just managed to catch Pearl’s sky blue tail vanishing down the road. “PEARL!” She yelled after her. Her first few steps were shaky, but as she picked up the pace her balance returned. As she trotted, she noted that fragments of some kind of explosive were sitting on the ground – based on how groggy the explosion had made her, it was some kind of concussion grenade.

That was the least of her concerns right now, though. Her trotting turned into a full-blown gallop, one that was less synonymous with a pony’s anatomy and more like a hunting feline. She ran as fast as she could, and reasonably should have been able to catch up to Pearl easily…but as she reached the top of the hill that the road inclined towards, she didn’t see the filly anywhere. Her head twisted from side to side, eyes darting every possible way. For miles in most directions it was just a vast expanse of Wasteland, with a few settlements far off in the distance. The only sizeable building she could see nearby was an abandoned factory, but she couldn’t see Pearl anywhere.

“PEARL!” Lazuli yelled again, her voice echoing far louder than she had intended, but she didn’t care about how loud it was. Her mouth opened to yell again when she saw a figure in the distance – definitely not Pearl, given the pony’s black colours, but there was an odd glint coming from it.

Thump.

Lazuli wasn’t quite sure what the sound was, at first. She felt something bump against her chest, and her eyes slowly curled downwards. There was a small syringe stuck to her chest, fitted on the end with a two-toned blue bit of fluff. She tilted her head as her vision began to swirl, bright colours overtaking her sight and making her wobble. She staggered from side to side, her throat creaking as she tried to yell once more, but instead slumped to the ground, falling completely limp.

Lazuli’s eyes shot open, her lungs inflating with air in the form of a deep, heavy gasp. She immediately tensed her front legs to lift herself up, but found that they were bound tightly against a wall, and she was sitting upright against solid concrete. She wiggled, but the bonds were tight, her hooves tied together behind her back and secured against the wall. “Son of a…” She murmured to herself, grunting and trying to wiggle her hooves out.

She heard something shift in front of her, and her eyes swivelled back to the front of the room. The door was obscured by a sizeable unicorn stallion, wearing some kind of light combat armour. He was far better outfitted than a raider, that was for sure, with a full bulletproof suit, a sidearm holstered at his hip, and what looked like some form of pump-action shotgun held to his side. When he spoke, he had a soft but stern voice. “Stop moving.” He said.

Her eyes locked onto his. He was a slim but clearly athletic stallion, and probably a few inches taller than her if she were also standing. His fur, from what she could see, was cream coloured, with a sandy blonde mane and tail. “Who’re you?” Lazuli asked, clenching her jaw. “And where’s the filly?”

“Filly? You mean the synth?” The stallion snorted. “She’s being held in a different cell.”

“I swear on Celestia’s grave, if you hurt her…”

“We haven’t harmed her. Even if a robot like her isn’t capable of feeling pain or emotion, we still don’t want to damage it any further.”

Lazuli’s scowl deepened. “She’s not an it. She’s a scared filly who has no idea what’s happening to her, and I need to see her.”

“Well that’s not going to happen. You’re meeting with the boss.” The stallion reached down and started to help her up. “Just in case you get any ideas about running…” He pointed down at her neck. She could hear a faint beeping noise from it, and looking down, she realized a collar was clipped around her throat. A bomb collar…she thought to herself. So they’re slavers. Fuck me…

As she was untied from the wall, she didn’t think it was a good idea to attack the guard. She complied with his non-verbal demands as he helped her stand, then shackled her front and hind legs to allow walking, but nothing more. Her wings were held down with strong chains, not allowing them to stretch. Her eyes briefly caught sight of the emblem emblazoned on the stallion’s uniform – the image of a unicorn staring straight out, its eyes glowing dull green. The letters R.O.D were written beneath. She couldn’t quite figure out what it was supposed to mean or stand for.

As she was led out of the cell, which opened up into a surprisingly well-kept corridor with full lighting and linoleum floors, she spoke again. “So who are you guys, then? Armour’s a bit fancy for run-of-the-mill bandits.” She knew she might have been pushing some boundaries, but right now she just wanted to make sure Pearl was okay.

“Our organization is known as the Riders of the Dusk.” The guard replied. Lazuli’s ear twitched slightly, but he kept speaking. “A group focused on the preservation of old Equestrian values, and the betterment of Equestria so it might be brought to its former glory.”

Lazuli raised an eyebrow. Something about the name made her feel a bit uneasy…or was it anxious? She couldn’t be sure. “Riders of the Dusk?”

“Our leader decided on the name. I don’t know what it means. She simply said it was an homage to friendship.”

“…Right.” Okay, so they’re insane then. She decided, and continued to trot along beside him…until he spoke again, this time in a more inquisitive tone.

“Apologies for how I spoke earlier. The leader made it clear that we shouldn’t treat prisoners like that. But…if you don’t mind me asking, what are you?”

Lazuli turned her head towards him as she walked, snorting. “So now you’re all friendly?” She realized it wouldn’t get her anywhere to be aloof, though. “I’m a Dracony. Pretty sure there aren’t any more of us around, anymore…”

“…Dracony…” The stallion fell quiet, walking in tandem with her. “That’s…that sounds familiar. I…huh.” He shook his head, leading her through a few different bends and doorways.

Lazuli glanced through a large door as they passed it, then stopped. It opened out into a large and rather extensive room that she could only assume was a training hall, where she watched multiple ponies – earth ponies, unicorns, even a few pegasi and, to her surprise, the occasional zebra – sparring or practicing close quarters moves. Some of them were also just exercising, or training with weights. “Training room?” She asked, turning her head to look at her guard, who had stopped with her.

The unicorn nodded. “Yeah, that’s where we practice. The shooting range is outside, so don’t get any ideas about guns in there.”

“Guns aren’t really my style, anyway.” Lazuli started to walk along beside him again. “So what do you guys do, exactly? You said you uh…preserve old Equestrian values and stuff, but are you a militia, a task force, or…?”

“We’re more of a militia.” The unicorn answered with a slow nod. “We work to keep the peace, but we’re not a huge organization now. Only about a hundred and fifty strong so far.”

“So…you help towns and civilians and stuff?” She asked.

“When we can, yeah. We’ve taken on Enclave patrols sometimes, but they seem to stay away from this area anyway, so…”

Lazuli snorted. Enclave. She had despised them from the beginning, and was at least glad to hear that these ponies were against them as well. “Right…okay. So uh…why exactly did you see it fit to drug me and knock me out?”

“You were approaching the base, and your er…” The guard hesitated. “Filly looked quite aggressive. It’s just protocol, I hope you don’t mind.”

“And am I going to be allowed to leave?”

“Hopefully, once the leader meets you, yes. Though it will be your decision. We were looking through your bags, by the way…your gear bears a striking resemblance to-…” He paused, then cleared his throat and looked forward again. “I- er…nevermind. I’m sure the leader would explain things much better than I could.”

Lazuli stopped as her armed escort did, the two of them ending their walk at a large pair of metal doors. He cleared his throat. “Right. So. I need to explain something before you go in there.”

“You’re not leading me in?”

“No, I’ll be staying out here. The boss requests to see prisoners like you alone, just to assess their eligibility to enlist.”

“Enlist? I can tell you right now it’ll be a waste of my time then.” Lazuli shook her head. “I’m not enlisting.”

“Well, she wants to see you regardless, and I’m sorry to say you can’t leave until you meet her.”

The mare clenched her teeth together and inhaled deeply. “Okay. So what do I need to know?”

“Our leader isn’t a physical pony, but she deserves all of the respect of one. She uploaded her consciousness into a hard drive some time ago, and while she doesn’t speak much about her past, we know she used to be involved with the Equestrian Army.”

“…You mean like…pre-war?” Lazuli’s ear twitched. This sounded like a big scam to her. Somepony taking advantage of righteous-minded ponies under the guise of someone who had survived the war.

“Well…yes.” The guard nodded affirmatively.

Lazuli snorted again. “Yeah…okay then. So I just go in?” She tried to lift her hoof up and open the door, then remembered she didn’t have that luxury. With a flash from the unicorn’s horn, her shackles suddenly came off and neatly laid themselves across the guard’s back. “Uh, you sure that’s a good idea?” She asked.

“She wants visitors to be un-bound.” He shrugged. “Orders are orders. You can go in when you’re ready, but if you try anything, keep in mind that she has full access to your collar and can detonate it the second you try.”

“You guys really know how to convince ponies, huh…” Lazuli rolled her eyes, bringing her hoof up and pushing the door open.

The stallion remained at the door as it closed behind her, nearly silently. The room itself was dark, and warmer than the rest of the building from what she could tell…something she greatly appreciated. The rest of the building felt cold, and her cold blood was grateful for a warmer room.

The noises in the room were soft, but computer…ish. That was the best way Lazuli could describe it – occasional blips and whirrs broke through the din of hardware spinning, clicking and working, and at the far end of the whole room was a very large computer screen up against the wall. The walls were lines with large metal boxes that she could only assume were hard drives and other computer parts. Lighting was low, except near the computer screen.

Lazuli’s hooves clopped loudly against the tile floor as she approached, her eyes surveying the room. She stopped a few feet from the screen, tilting her head slightly. It was blank at the moment, nothing but a black screen. She almost felt stupid trying to talk to it, but she did anyway.

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat. “Hello?”

There was no response for a few seconds, until a voice came from the screen. “Gah! Sweet Celestia, I wasn’t expecting visitors this soon, my apologies.” The voice was somewhat mature, definitely the voice of a leader…something about it sounded familiar, too.

“Er, hi.” Lazuli looked around. “You uh…you don’t have a picture, you know that right?”

“Oh, wait, I can’t see you either. Uh…this is really unprofessional, my bad.” The voice stopped for a moment.

Suddenly the screen flickered to life. Lazuli had been staring at a black surface the whole time, so the sudden flash of light made her wince and squint her eyes. “There we go!” The voice said, a bit more clearly than before. “Right…so…shall we g-…” The mare stopped again, this time it seemed of her own fruition. Lazuli rubbed her eyes with her hooves, letting them focus in on the screen.

“Gah, geez, you could have warned me…” She murmured, letting her gaze fully rise to meet the one who was staring back from the computer.

It took several seconds for Lazuli’s mind to fully wrap around what she was looking at. The mare on the screen was only a head, her neck disappearing from the bottom of the monitor. The image was far from detailed, and barely even recognizable, but a few major features stuck out from her pixelated visage.

Her fur, or she supposed her pixels, were a dark purple colour. Her mane was styled upright in a pinkish purple mohawk, and while the pony was clearly a unicorn, her horn was broken. A scar ran across her right eye.

While the computer didn’t seem capable of a full projection of a pony, or even a high-definition image of her head, the mare herself was clear – albeit a bit pixelated. Both mares had no doubt in their minds about the identity of the other, and the two of them sat there staring for nearly a full minute.

Lazuli was the one to break the silence. Her mouth closed as she swallowed, her voice almost a whisper. “F-…Fi…Fizzle…?”

“…” The mare on the screen’s expression shifted from complete shock to an ears-back and somewhat sheepish smile, tears welling up in eyes that failed to properly reach the physical realm, yet portrayed a clearly perceptible level of emotion. “Laz…?”