"I dont want to set the world on fire..
I just want to start a flame in your heart..."
That song was stuck in her head again. Another fragment from what seemed dliek a by gone era. An era that she wanted desperately to run back to. A time where she felt more centered and sure of herself. She hated what they had done to her. What they had promised in return for her loyalty and service to the Enclave. She was used up and left for dead when it came to the final mission they had for her. She was to take over a water purifier located in the southern bay of Manehatten.
What they didn't tell her was that the Steel Rangers were operating in the area. Dead Loyalty and her squad met with heavy resistance when approaching the bay in their Vertibirds. There was anti aircraft fire coming from several batteries set up on the shoreline and five or more heavy fortifications set up in front of the entrance to the facility. They were able to overtake them at first. But soon after Ranger reinforcements had arrived and cut off escape out of the building.
And all of this for some Pre War notes on something called Project Pegasus. She had been raised inside of Stable 18 her entire life. She was made to believe that she had been born there when in reality she had been born out in the wastes. AT least whats she was made to believe for all these years. The truth would hit her harder then an apple truck. She almost hated them for lying to her. Almost.
Dead Loyalty was one of the few pegasi that could use unicorn magic. She always felt it was because of her specialized Pipbuck, but she was never really sure that was all it was. It was something she could never full explain to others, or more so, she never really felt like telling anypony. She felt it was better that way. Her long term memory was fragmented because of the cryosleep process. She hated talking about it. She wished she could remember it all. She knew she had been in a war, she had the scars all over her lower flank and her back to prove it.
Another image entered her mind right at the worst moment. "Get Down!" a voice yelled out. Loyalty saw herself engulfed in an explosion, green fire burning all around her. She grabbed the pony next to her and dodged the next balefire spell that was being launched in her direction.
"Get back to base and report in what happened!", She yelled back to the other armor-clad pegasus that was in the combat zone with her. Within moments the flashback was over. She always felt dazed when this happened. She was having these kinds of moments more and more since waking from Cryosleep.
Her only other flashbacks contained a mare with a dark purple mane and lavender coat. Dead Loyalty couldn't place it at first. There was just something calming about that mare. She felt peaceful. Almost at home when she thought of her. Every night she dreamed of her it was so lifelike. Like she could reach out and touch her.
Off in the distance, a lone mare could be seen approaching a deserted shack. She stared down at her PipBuck, checking the map that had popped up on the small screen to make sure this was the correct location. She looked around to get better acquainted with her surroundings.
Dead Loyalty was a little hesitant to enter the shack she found herself staring at. She had heard so many rumors about Stable 3 from several wastelanders that she had come across, It was enough to make fur crawl, and the skin underneath. Strange sounds coming from the shack, unearthly moans coming from the ground beneath the shack had spooked most of the ponies that she had spoken to.
It was unsettling to say the least.
One pony had told her that some sort of experiment had taken place there. It was also rumored to be the site and birthplace of the Super Alicorns that she and her friends had encountered numerous times during their travels through the wastes.
Once again she was getting herself into trouble by going this route. And what was that so familiar to her when it came to that super alicorn. Something that reminded Dead of happier times. from an era long past. It gnawed at her. From a simpler time. before all of this chaos.
Before she let all this horror seep into her life
Dead Loyalty had also taken notice of the Super Alicorn's Cutie Mark. It looked almost inverted as if the Special Talent of the pony in question had become the opposite of what it meant to the pony during its lifetime. Like it changed after the pony in question died when the Megaspells hit and was subsequently resurrected upon its death.
Get it together Loyalty, you have others waiting for you, she scolded herself.
If that were true, could that mean that the other two Super Alicorns, were once ponies of prominence? The whole thought sickened the mare, that the Super Alicorns that were showing up could have once been a large group of ponies that were alive over two hundred years ago. Not only that, but the idea crossed her mind that two of the Alicorns that she had encountered bore a near likeness to the former princesses Celestia and Luna.
No, they supposedly died over two hundred years ago, she thought to herself.
"Snap out of it Dead,", she found herself muttering under her own breath. before she got close enough to open the front door to the shack, she heard a noise behind her. She turned around in time to catch sight of a feral ghoul galloping hard in her direction.
She unholstered her Colt 1099 sidearm and levitated the scoped revolver into the proper position. She decided to aim for its head, and promptly opened SATS. With a single shot to the head, she nailed the ghoul right between the eyes. The Feral ghoul dropped dead after the bullet tore right through its skull and exited out the back of the head in a bloody mess.
In a way she felt like she was doing them a favor. From books and other sources she had read, ghouls were just ponies whose bodies were adversely affected by the magic and radiation from the megaspells and balefire bombs that had been employed during the war.
Because of the magic radiation, their brains had rotted to the point where they were incapable of being reasoned with, so they just attack anything that gets near them. Dead Loyalty felt a tinge of pain shoot through her body as she thought about it. The thought that she was ending their suffering was both painful and a relief in disguise. She made a mental note that everytime she would kill a ghoul from now on she would recite the Prayer of the Sun goddess afterward.
She knelt down next to the ghoul's corpse and began reciting it. She decided it was better to say it under her breath lest she revealed her location to anypony that might be just around the corner. She had to play it safe given all the times she'd nearly been killed by Raiders that just so happen to wander into the area in search of prey. Thinking back to that time she saved those hostages did make her smile though.
She decided to do a perimeter check, just to make sure there were no other surprises waiting for her.
You have unlocked Better Criticals
+10 to Critical Hits when using a Scoped Revolver or Sniper Rifle in SATS
Before she could even get near the shack door Dead Loyalty thought she heard voices coming from the other side, somewhere just around the corner of it. Keeping out of sight, she spotted what she thought looked like a group of raiders. She spotted what appeared to be bodies nearby, and what looked like a pack brahmin with some crates scattered around it. Among the bodies, she saw movement from one of them. One of the ponies that must have been part of the caravan was still alive. But she wouldn't be if the Raiders picked up on her movements. The Raiders must have just hit the caravan before her arrival at the shack.
She could feel a pit form in her stomach. Dead Loyalty pulled out her binoculars and continued scanning the area until she locked eyes with a caravan survivor. She motioned to the pony to stay put and keep quiet by putting her hoof to her mouth. The pony nodded and with that Dead Loyalty got to work on dealing with the Raiders.
It was the only thing she could do to make up for all the horrible things she had done while serving with the Enclave. she could never fully erase her own past, but she could make up for it.
"you can do this,", She told herself.
Dead Loyalty pulled her sniper rifle and opened fire. She opened up SATS and targeted their thoracic regions, dropping them both in the first two shots. Another raider turned just in time to take a sniper round to the head, the back of his skull exploding in a bloody mess of brains and other fluids.
"Thank you,", the caravan survivor said. She could tell that this pony was thankful to be alive. Dead didn't mind really, she was getting used to all the thank yous by now.
Dead Loyalty pointed her in the direction of Shattered Hoof, which was nearby. the grey Pegasus gave her an old rifle she had found and some ammo and a health potion or 2. She escorted her halfway before they decided to part ways.
"Thank you again,", she said before kissing Dead Loyalty on the cheek and then trotting off in the direction Loyalty had pointed her towards. That peck on the cheek brought forth another faded memory of a lavender unicorn kissing her goodbye. She just couldn't remember the name right now.
Dead Loyalty finally got back to the shack and opened the door. She felt she was going to lose her lunch once the smell hit her nostrils. The air inside had the smell of decay about it. She had to use a breathing mask she had found earlier otherwise the smell might have knocked her on her flank. Dead Loyalty looked down to see a tripwire. She scanned the room and saw what it was connected to before deciding whether to proceed forward or not.
She noticed that the shack was separated into two or more rooms. The room near the door looked like a bunker. There were two sandbag barricades erected along the left and right sides of the room. There was a plasma rifle rigged to that tripwire she had just disarmed before entering. Dead also spotted three frag mines placed along the main pathway to the second room.
Plasma Rifle trap disarmed +12 XP
Frag Mine disarmed +6
Frag Mine disarmed +6
Frag Mine disarmed +6
After disarming all of the traps she noticed a maintenance hatch sticking out of the floor. On the side, it read Stable 3 Maintenance Shaft. As she opened it, Dead Loyalty thought she heard hoofsteps coming from the bottom of the shaft. She climbed down, making a mental note that the percussion from the machinery in the Stable made her dizzy for some reason.
After climbing down she thought she saw movement once her hooves made contact with the floor. She also thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. What the mare didnt see was the gas that was leaking into the room through the air vents. There was also a barely audible humming noise echoing through out the area as well.
"Is anypony down here?", Dead Loyalty said out loud, what she heard would have been enough to put a chill down the spine of some ponies. A soft and timid voice echoed from the darkness of the room. It sounded sad, and yet there was something disconcerting about it.
"Oh my,", the voice let out from the darkness," I didn't think anypony would find me down here,", it said. The mare that the voiced belonged to emerged from the darkness, it made Dead Loyalty take a step or two backwards when she saw who was in front of her.
It was like seeing a ghost emerging from one's past. The last pony anypony would expect to survive the End of the World. Dead Loyalty wanted to reach out towards her and make sure she wasn't just seeing things. She wanted to do more then that right now. She wanted to hug her more then anything in the world. Loyalty's memory started coming back to her.
It cant be she thought. Am i dreaming? Is it really... Fluttershy? She had to know that she wasn't dreaming. Right now she couldn't tell what was real anymore. She was desperate to know.
While was being confronted with what amounted to a ghost from the past. A mare stood outside of the gate to Shattered Hoof.
"Please, You have to let me in!", the mare pleaded," I barely survived an attack on my caravan by Raiders," she went on to say.
"Ah'm sorry ma'am but Ah can't let you just yet,", Calamity told her as she stood there. He had to be sure this wasn't a trick or something, he'd seen stuff like that before.
"I was directed to come here by a mare wearing prewar combat armor, she said her name was Dead Loyalty," She nearly started crying after uttering those words. If it hadn't been for the mysterious Pegasus she'd be dead or worse right now. She started up at him, the tears still fresh on her cheeks.
After hearing Dead's name, he opened the gates and had the sheriff meet them both as he escorted her inside. He scanned the area as the two of them walked into the town. He could tell she been traumatized by the ordeal and offered her some water before asking why this pegasus didn't return with her.
"My caravan and I were supposed to meet a supply merchant near an abandoned shack, when they didn't show up a few of the others started to get nervous, and right after we were attacked by a group of Raiders. Dead Loyalty saved my life, she said something about investigating the shack nearby, and escorted me halfway before giving me this rifle before going back to check it out,", He remembered that name from serving in the Enclave for a time.
She was wanted by command for going rogue and disobeying a direct order to kill another pony on site. She took the pony in question and fled with them. Before he abandoned the Enclave, last he had heard about her, she had become a Stable Raider and was somewhere close to where he was now.
"If it weren't for her, I know I'd be dead,", She lamented.
As she finished that sentence, something drew their attention back to the oncoming darkness brewing in Stable 3. The Voice that was softly speaking to Dead Loyalty belonged to a pale yellow pegasus with a ragged pink mane. One eye was covered by an eye patch, but other than that she looked rather well preserved for somepony that should have died over two hundred years ago. Or so it seemed.
"It.. cant be. F.. Fluttershy?" Dead Loyalty found herself stammering. but how did she know this Mares name? especially when she was supposed to be dead for 200 years?
You have unlocked Claustrophobic.
Gain +4 to SPECIAL stats while outside but you lose +4 while inside buildings.
Author's Note
Under going a complete rewrite.
Broken Pieces of the Past
Flashback to the Ministry of Peace
Main office
200 years ago.
"Id love to get together soon Rarity,", Fluttershy's cracked as she spoke to her friend over the speaker of the terminal in her office.
"It's been so long since we've had a spa day,", she finished lamenting into the microphone.
"I know Darling,", Rarity said, trying to maintain some form of positivity in her voice. It was hard doing that lately, what with the war raging and everything. It had been a few years since they had seen each other. She knew it felt like a part of her had died when this war broke out.
"Well, thanks for trying to be there for me,", Fluttershy said, a hint of remorse present in her voice. She had tried to be more assertive, but there were times she just wanted to run back to her cottage and her animal friends, and hide under her bed.
After a long pause the line on the other end when dead. All she heard was nothing but constant static. Fluttershy tried calling Rarity back, but all she got in response was dead air. It was like something had caused the transmission to fail. Then she heard something coming from outside the window to her office. Something that reminded her of a story that her mother had read to her when she was a filly and still living in Cloudsdale.
That was when she heard the sirens blaring outside of her office window, the sound was just like what she remembered from that story her mother had read to her. She turned to look outside just in time to watch something that seemed like it was right out of a horror story. Something that clawed at her soul. She could only stand there in that building of brick and mortar and watch as several mega spells hit the outskirts of Fillydelphia.
No.. No.., the timid pegasus quietly thought to herself. This cannot be happening, not now she kept thinking. But it was. She had to get out of here.
She watched in horror though as one of them detonated just down the street from her office building. She tried to scream out to anypony that was down to run, but they couldn't hear her. She was just another silent witness to the atrocities that were heaped upon her own kind. She tried to scream again but to no avail.
As she finally got to the elevator and made the trip downstairs, she kept thinking to herself that this war should have been over years ago, that something should have happened to stop it before it started. Fluttershy could feel the building shake from the concussion of the blasts going off. it was like living in a nightmare that was never going to end. If she could make it to the bunker, she'd be safe. She had no idea what would happen if she made it that far. She knew that some of their friends like Lyra and Octavia and a few others had made it to one of the Stables located just outside of Ponyville but didn't know if anypony else had made it to any of the others nearby.
She looked outside of the nearby window when she finally got to the bottom floor of her office and could only stand there frozen in shock just in time to bear witness to hundreds of ponies disappearing in a blinding flash of light. They were just blinked out of existence in a huge and blinding flash of green and orange light. She could feel another piece of her die inside just thinking about it.
Fluttershy had always tried to be the reserved one, albeit her timid nature eventually allowed her to finally become more assertive and sure of herself down the road. But experiencing this was something else for sure. Seeing the carnage unfolding across Equestria was enough to finally break her.
How would she feel if she found out that someone close to her was somehow reincarnated in a newer body? How would Fluttershy react if they ever had the chance to see each other again? She was going to find out soon. She had been accepted into one of the local Stables due to her status as a member of the Ministry and because of her time as an Element bearer. She didn't realize that they were going to cryogenically freeze her for almost 150 years.
Fluttershy woke up to hear hoofsteps. her Cryochamber had opened a few years ahead of schedule and she found herself alone in the Stable. Skeletons were scattered all over the place. She clutched her chest, hoping that this was nothing more than a horrible dream. It wasn't. Fluttershy turned the corner in time to see a grey and dark maned pegasus approaching her. It was like looking into a mirror.
The mare in front of her looked just like her Rainbow Dash. Her first friend and the only mare that she had ever truly loved since then. What's more is that this mare seemed to know her name as well. It was as if fate had brought the two of them back together for one final time.
Fluttershy reached a hoof out to touch this mare's cheek. She wasn't hallucinating. She couldn't believe it at first. She felt her back legs give out on her. The mare in front of her caught her in her forehooves. The two of them could only stare into the other's eyes.
"Fluttershy.. Is it really you?" the mare asked the timid pegasus.
"yes.. Yes Dashie, It's me," Fluttershy regained her balance. Why did she call her Dashie though? They looked similar, but she realized this mare wasn't Rainbow Dash but more likely a possible descendant. It didn't faze her though, the mare did something Fluttershy wasn't expecting. She pulled her into a kiss. The two of them melted in the other's hooves.
"Yea, its me kind of, don't ask how. I just know i woke up in a new body and a new name. But it's still me in here. For the most part. I guess you could say we survived the end of the world. I just wish the others were here Flutters." Fluttershy could only smile now. New body or not, they were together again.
"What happened, i mean after we drifted apart, i mean,"Fluttershy was still coming to terms with the fact that their friends and everypony else they had ever known had died but the two of them had somehow survived for the last 200 years. It was all so surreal for her.
"I ended up getting drafted into the war, got beaten up a bit, and was told by Twilight that she could clone me a new body. I didn't think she would of actually done it, but i guess i was wrong,", the answer took Fluttershy by surprise. Of course this was Twilight they were talking about. She was always determined when it came to science. It was still a shame what had happened to her and Pinkie's relationship. The two had grown distant after Pinkie got herself addicted to Mintals.
The last conversation that Fluttershy had ever had with Twilight didn't go as well as she had wanted back then. Twilight seemed distant, almost disconnected from those around her towards the end of the war. Fluttershy found it hard to talk to her sometimes.
"Twilight", Fluttershy said in an all too familiar tone," Are you alright?" She was really worried about her. Twilight could tell and tried to reassure the mare.
"I'm Fine Fluttershy, I've just been busy with work is all," She sounded somewhat annoyed and she probably figured that Fluttershy could tell by the change in her voice over the terminal link. It was the voices and sounds in the background that caught Fluttershy's attention.
"Commence Launch sequence," a voice could be heard saying in the background. What was she working on Fluttershy thought to herself. And why was it filling the mare with dread?
"What's happening in the background Twilight?", FLuttershy started feeling worried that Twilight was doing something dangerous.
"It's something that Princess Celestia gave me authorization to work on", Twilight said through the Terminal's speaker. That didn't really help Fluttershy feel any easier to be honest. It had to be something related to war effort. Most of Twilight's work had been deemed classified lately. After her break up with Pinkie she threw herself into her work. The pink pony's death had affected all of them. But Twilight took it the worst of them all.
The only other one that she found herself caring about was Rainbow Dash, but that ended up changing her for the worse. She had become jealous of Fluttershy and Dash's relationship. So much that she decided the only she could have Rainbow to herself someday was if she cloned her.
Her answer to Fluttershy's question though left the mare still feeling unsettled. After a short pause Fluttershy finally got a more satisfactory answer out of her friend. And it chilled her soul.
"To be honest I'm working on a Nuclear Missile." Fluttershy nearly fainted on her end when she heard Twilight speak that last word. A Nuclear Missile. She had remembered her lunches with Lyra and recalled the eccentric unicorn had mentioned that word as well. She had been doing research into humans and had found a video cassette that documented their history.
The entire race had wiped itself out in a Nuclear war before Ponies became the dominant species in Equestria. "It's also augmented with Alicorn Magic, which brings up the nuclear yield significantly," Twilight finished. She felt that last explanation was satisfactory.
"Oh by Celestia, isn't that taking things too far?" Fluttershy found herself chewing on a lock of her hair in hear as she kept talking over the terminal's intercom. What her friend said next was enough to take the oxygen out of the room.
"War is hell Fluttershy." When she said, Twilight's voice was devoid of warmth.
Those words had nearly seared themselves into Fluttershy's mind after all this time. There was no love in Twilight's voice. Just a coldness that sent a chill through Fluttershy's heart. Fluttershy realized that the Twilight that had been her friend for so many years was now a completely stranger to her.
The cracks in their friendship had begun to show after Pinkie's death. They might have kept in touch afterwards, but it was never going to be like it used to be. They had been through so much, but Fluttershy came to accept it was never going to return to the way it was. She wanted to cry right then and there but decided to save that for later.
They had started to drift apart as soon as they had been given their individual Ministries. They'd have lunch every so often. But it never felt the same. And they each knew it.
Fluttershy wasn't sure how much longer her heart could take this abuse. That's what it felt like inside. She wanted to reach through the Terminal and slap the mare. She wanted to yell at Twilight to stop this madness. She could almost picture herself right there in front of her old friend, telling her that this wasn't the way to handle things.
This was no longer the Twilight Sparkle that had touted Friendship as being a powerful force. That mare had died years ago Fluttershy thought to herself. This was just a shadow and a mockery of her former friend. She had tried to deny it for years, but the revelation dawned on her in the end.
"Please, don't go through with that Twilight,"Fluttershy pleaded,"It'll bring too much suffering."She finished.
"Like there isn't enough of that already,", Twilight barked over the Terminal's speaker. " No, this ends Flutters,"Twilight drove those words into Fluttershy's heart like a stake. She was going to be the one to end the world on her terms. She took it one step further before the line went dead on her end.
"I Will not be stopped, not till the Zebrahan nation is engulfed in nuclear Hellfire. They either surrender, or i will burn their world to ashes." The line went dead after that.
Author's Note
Yay. More work.
