Fallout Equestria: Total Eclipse

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1 Orders
Chapter 2 Fire

Prologue

Prologue

I could start my memoirs with the usual cliché of “war never changes” but I’m not completely convinced that it doesn’t change. To me, it changes constantly, just like the yearly seasons and the daily weather forecast. Who you fight changes, why you fight them, and how you fight them. Sure war is a constant. Ponies are never happy with what they have. Other species can also rival and compete for pony territory, which is what started the original war. Now, the war was pony kind against pony kind. The war of survival.

There is always two sides to a war, and every side somehow believes they are right and justified in what they are doing and why they are fighting. To me, we were always the 'good guys' but to ponies on the ground, we were considered public enemy number one; the ultimate end boss. To them, we were the traitors who closed the clouds and left the war. We are the pegasi.

About two hundred years ago, the pegasi cut off the skies cities. A massive, dense cloud cover divided the earth, from the heavens. Powered by tall towers, the thick clouds prevented dangerous radiation from rising up and poisoning the ponies who lived above, while the ponies who lived below, scampered into underground shelters they called stables. The ones who didn’t fit into the stables, died, or became radiated ghouls or mutated monsters; their fellow ground ponies leaving them to the mercy of the apocalypse. Massive and destructive megaspells burned up the ground, and any who were left above. They didn't' account for everypony, they left so many to perish and suffer, yet we are the bad guys?

Above the clouds, civilisation continued as it always had, governed by a council of elders and held together by a military division that became known as The Grand Pegasus Enclave. They made sure the skies stayed closed, and that the citizens above were protected from the wasteland below. None of our kind, were left to die except those who deserted, and foolishly stayed to fight the war. These days, we call any that desert us Dashites, after the infamous ministry mare Rainbow Dash, the first one to turn her back on pegasi kind to continue a fight that couldn't be won. What did her actions really achieve? Other than continuing to enable a war that would destroy everything she had cared about. Sadly, I can relate. I have her loyalty, but the surface ponies say mine is corrupted. Despite their negative view of what I was loyal to, The Enclave, I still couldn't stand by and watch everything I cared about destroyed, nor would I enable it. That's why I fight so hard for what I believe in.

Many on the surface saw the actions of the pegasi as traitorous. They felt that the flyers had abandoned the ancient war and left the ground ponies to fight alone and die. The pegasi, however, had a different view point.

The first city to fall to the massive megaspells had been a sky city, Cloudesdale. It had been considered the mighty capital of the heavens. History books said that after that, pegasi leaders begged the ground ponies to stop the war and find some way to make peace with the zebra who were attacking our lands. That peace was not seen as a viable option, and the pegasi, in their far reaching wisdom, foresaw the great fall of all of all of Equestria. Couldn’t anypony else see it coming? Didn’t they know that the fate of Cloudesdale would soon be the fate of every city they knew?

For whatever reason, when the pegasi’s plea’s remained unheard, they found a way to close the clouds. In essence, it was to protect the cities above, from the horrors below. No amount of underground stables were going to hold all the innocent ponies who were about to die in the inevitable holocaust. Not to mention, underground stables were no place for ponies who could fly. Too claustrophobic, too stuffy, far too cramped and shallow a grave for pegasi.

Our kind had no other choice.

I grew up knowing no other lifestyle than the one my forefathers had lived and many generations before me had. We were taught a history that included a necessity for continued survival and purity of our species. Some would argue that perhaps with the pegasi’s continued help, we could have beaten the zebra and won the war. I don’t agree. Even with all our technology and equipment, massive airships, laser powered rifles, organised Wonderbolts with strategic military attack plans, we were still no match for unicorn created mega spells that could annihilate an entire city in a single flash. Pony kind would still have lost. The lands above and below, would both be wasted. At least this way, we’d preserved some of Equestria’s former glory.

I’d joined the Grand Pegasus Enclave for various reasons.

To get away from my father! A high ranking military officer and not much of a dad,
Well, everyone in the Eclipse family joined the enclave. It was a given!
Pressure from family to fulfill number two, I had very little say in the matter,
To serve the skies and keep the citizens safe from the horrors below on the surface.

I had tried to focus on the last reason the most. We definitely had something worth protecting. Our cities were… awe inspiring. Beautiful. Amazing! True, I’d never spent much time on the surface to compare. Other than brief ground missions during training, it simply was not allowed with out orders from higher up. I loved the skies, the clouds, the sun, all our malls and theaters, farms, nice colorful homes, foals and yearlings running and playing in the cloudy streets. I’d grown up playing in the parks and playgrounds. True, I wasn’t a popular filly, but other than a few flight school squabbles among peers, it had been peaceful. That was a peace worth fighting for!

I’d heard rumors of life on the surface, everything from citizens saying “Nothing is alive down there” to Enclave members saying “it’s filled with crazed radiated ponies, monsters, mutants, flesh eating lunatics and nothing good is alive down there” I tended to believe the latter to be true, confirmed by all the long winded, blow by blow stories my father told me about missions to the surface. How he’d risked life and limb for his team and had to fight off all the ‘bad ponies’ below who hated the pegasi.

I had it drummed into me that nothing good lived below, that it was a place of resources and not worth savaging beyond that. The ponies below created their own hell, did nothing to fix things and enslaved, stole from, killed and even ate each other. Oh sure you can judge me for believing only that to be true and then signing up for the Enclave, but you don’t know my story. For better or worse, I’m here to tell it. So before you close the book on me… Take a moment to hear my side?

Ebony Eclipse, Former Lieutenant of the Grand Pegasus Enclave.

Author's Note

Just a quick over view for those who have not read the original Fallout Equestria, and to introduce the story.

Chapter 1 Orders

Fallout Equestria: Total Eclipse

Chapter 1

“Ebony, you’ve got mail.” The courier pony dropped the envelope into my hoof.

I’d been waiting for that letter all week and finally it was here. It was my orders! I remember sitting and just staring at the envelope in my hoof for a good twenty minutes before I’d opened it, all kinds of wild idea’s wafting through my mind. Would I be stationed on one of those awesome Thunderheads? Or somewhere above the Everfree? Neighvarro? Seaddle? Or anywhere else really cool? Ya can’t blame me. I mean I was a young mare just barely out of the academy. When you’re nineteen and just on the edge of something new and exciting, you tend to day dream a little. I was a mare with high expectations. I gazed down at the name on the letter.

Second Lieutenant Ebony Eclipse, EMT. Yeah that’s me, and I was pretty proud of that title. I’d worked hard to accelerate through the basic training and the years of college degree training after. I was sent forward a year early. Maybe they’d just had a shortage of field medics in active duty or maybe I really was that good? Either way, I was looking forward to getting out into the real action.

I finally tore the letter open.

“You have been stationed on Point Lookout,”

Say what? A swamp? I’m going to nowhere land? But I was top of my class in combat and medicine. Why the fuck am I going there? Not even a sky city there to defend. Oh yeah, I was annoyed but that’s kind of just me. I tossed the letter across the floor. First mission. Bah! Although I really didn’t have a say as to where I’d go.

“What’s your problem Ebony?” Naturally my Dad had to notice my little bitch fit. I turned to face the heftily built black stallion, even darker in color than I was. I would call my own fur more of a deep midnight blue with a mane and tail that had bands of black, and electric blue through it, accented by my deep purple eyes. Dad? He was just all black. Eyes, mane, tail, you name it! Sometimes you could barely make out his expressions but you could guess that he wore a scowl, as that was his normal.

“It’s my orders,” I explained “They just came in and … What a shitty mission! They are sending me to Point Lookout! What’s out there that the Enclave would need to go there for? Nothing to protect in that shit hole…” My father just glowered at me. I could tell by the aura about his stance and the visible breath snorting out of his nostrils and hanging in the air around him. I couldn’t really make out his unseen facial expression.

“Ebony Amethyst Eclipse, every part of the skies needs protecting. We have to maintain a cloud cover over the entire wastes if we don’t want infiltrators to find their miserable ways up here. No order of the Grand Pegasus Enclave is a shit mission!” He approached me and loomed over me as he said it, making me take a tentative step back as he pointed his hoof right in my face. “And I don’t want to hear that kind of talk from you ever again, is that clear?”

Yeah, clear as mud, clear as the look on your unidentifiable face…. “Crystal clear” I answered then ducked by him towards my saddlebags, half packed for the mission and I snatched up the letter again. Maybe Point Lookout wouldn’t be so bad? At least I’d be away from Mr Congeniality.

Report to docking bay 94 to arrange transport to your station via Raptor. Orders are: Assist Captain Frost Haze in medical and help maintain the cloud cover. Side quests may include: away missions to collect salvage from below, most notably Punga fruit, and dispose of troublesome ground ponies. Report has it a group of ponies known as Tribals resides on the island that may need to be dealt with to secure the vicinity. A new base is being set up above the clouds to maintain order in the area. You will be under Commander Aquilla Night.

It didn’t sound like the most amazingly interesting mission, but the thought of traveling there in a Raptor was exciting! Seems my job would be to patch up the wounded, that’s why I chose to be a field medic after all, and I’d get to see what the surface was really like at its worst. Sure, we’d had some basic training missions to the surface during hoof camp, but I was pretty sure the area’s they took us to were reasonably tame in comparison to what was really out there. New base huh? Maybe it all wouldn’t be so bad. I mean it was adventure and I liked that idea.

My father was reading it over my shoulder. “You will never be the soldier that your brother is!” He growled close to my ear. Here we go again. The old rivalry and comparison between siblings bit. Oh yeah, Dad was not pleased I chose field medicine over front line gunpony. Even though I’m very sure medics had saved his life a number of times. They were important. I mean without the medic in the team, they wouldn’t even make it back alive. I think for Dad, he had his reputation and ego to think about. The scarred up stallion had commanded many harsh battles and ruled his household with an equally iron hoof.

My brother, Onyx, and I, didn’t have this rivalry. We got along reasonably well for siblings, with the usual disagreements. I was the middle foal, so I was never quite as good as my older brother, or as well treated and coddled as my younger sister. After Mom died, I was the one who had to step up into that role and run the household. In that sense, I probably grew up a little too fast. This is most likely why I clearly didn’t fit in at flight school, and anypony who hated the enclave, also hated me and my family. I’d learnt to put up a tough exterior to deal with all that, but at home, I had far worse to deal with.

“Stop it Father, field medics are very necessary” but I soon found out that my orders were not the only thing on his mind. He was very close. I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck and that always made me shudder. Dammit not this again…

“I think you need to give your Dad a proper goodbye before you leave” he said, in a very sinister sounding voice that never took no for an answer. My eyes rolled back at him anxiously, ears flattening as I caught my breath in my throat and froze. Then I felt him nip my ear as his hoof slid down over my flank in a way that a stallion only touches a mare when he’s ready to mount her.

Yeah, I really wanted to flinch away, kick out, turn and scream at him, but that only ever made things worse. He’d have his way with me no matter what I did. The more I’d resist the worse it would get and the more he seemed to enjoy that. Report him? Nah, useless. He was a well respected military commander who had often warned me not to stain the Eclipse name with my … MY indecent behavior! What the fuck? It’s not l like I wanted any of this.

Yeah, life was so much better above the clouds, but we had our own set of horrors at times. You may think I lived a cushy, pampered, spoilt life on a well protected cloud cover, never wanting for food, never needing to fight to survive, but i lived in my own private wasteland when my Father used me to replace the loss of my Mom. I really… hated… my Dad.

*************

I’m not going to go into details of what happened next, but maybe I could tell you about what it’s like to learn to blank out and freeze. In those moments where you know there is no escape, no one to turn to, nothing you can do. Can you pretend it’s happening to somepony else? Distance yourself from it… then feel so damned guilty after that you somehow ‘let’ it happen because you didn’t fight it and you didn’t say stop; but lack of a no never means yes.

I was pretty young when it all started, and I’d learned to do all of the above. It became an instinct reaction to abuse. Find that place inside yourself where no pony can touch you and stay there til it’s all over with and safe to be you again. Then to the rest of the world… make sure they think you’re tough, that you can withstand anything, that you are titanium. Nopony gets close, nopony is allowed inside your inner walls. It’s a barricade you erect around your heart and mind because nopony out there can be trusted into your secret garden.

When the very pony who was suppose to protect you from all this, is the perpetrator? Your life suddenly becomes a very unprotected wasteland. Thus, I had a reputation for being the “tough bitch” with so few seeing what lay beneath the hardened, well armored surface.

After he was done I just scrubbed myself in the shower. I’d long ago given up the after crying that I’d done as a young filly. Now it was just, get rid of his scent! Get it the hell off of me. I scrubbed over my cutie marks. An eclipse, but not just any eclipse. The moon had nightmare moon in it. It had become quite a legend, how Princess Luna had been banished to the moon for a thousand years after trying to take over equestria and put it into eternal night, but my cutie mark had more than that to it. The blinding light of the sun was coming out from behind. That’s what an eclipse was after all. There had been a few above the clouds since the cloudcover closed.

[img][url=https://www.deviantart.com/ebonypegasus/art/Ebony-Eclipse-cutie-mark-742476848]https://www.deviantart.com/ebonypegasus/art/Ebony-Eclipse-cutie-mark-742476848[/url][/img]

Yeah my family were named Eclipse after my father's name, Galactic Eclipse, but even as a blank flank I didn’t expect to have that particular cutie mark. What did it even mean? That I was just a dark shadowy nightmare over the sun? At least mine had some sun. Dad’s was just a blackened circle, completely blocking the light and you guessed it, barely visible at all on his black coat.

I got out of the shower and shook, ruffling out my deep blue feathers and grabbing a towel. I then began to carefully brush through the tangles of my wet mane and tail.

“Hey sis, you heading off soon?” It was Middy, my younger sister. Her fur was equally as dark blue as mine, but instead of electric blue streaks in her mane and tail, hers were a nice shade of jade, which matched her eyes. Midnight Jade Eclipse, one year younger than I was. Our mother, Sapphire Eclipse, had included a gem name for each of us. She'd been a jeweler not an enclave soldier.

“Middy what are you doing here? I thought you were moving in with Aunt Aurora?” I gazed at her with a bit of a frown on my face. She was the one thing I was the most worried about having to leave behind! I’d always had to protect her from Dads unwanted attentions. Just keep him focused on me, and maybe he’d leave her the fuck alone. With me gone, I was super worried he’d turn his eyes on her with inappropriate intentions.

“I couldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye. Don’t worry Ebby, I’ll be back at Aunties as soon as you leave.” She gave me an affectionate hug and I held on tight to her. “You’d better write often” she ordered me.

“Every day, I’ll miss you more than anypony else, but it won't be long before you graduate from the academy yourself. Maybe someday we’ll get stationed together.” I gave her a soft nuzzle and lifted a hoof to wipe the tear out of her eye. “Stop it Middy or you will make me start, and you know I hate tears!”

“Dads not here to see you off?” She asked, gazing about my room at the disheveled bed, ramshackled closet and messy bookshelf.

“He’s… sleeping” I told her. Yep, he always slept after he’d had his way with me. I was glad of that. Gave me some recovery time alone. I didn’t share that with Middy though. I’d rather she was blissfully unaware of the dark secret I carried. I glanced up at the clock. “I gotta get going Middy, I’m glad you came by” I brushed a strand of mane out of her eyes and hugged her again. “Best sister friend forever…” I whispered to her. I had no idea where that saying came from, It had been around the cloud cities for decades and we had always used it when we referred to each other. I reluctantly let her go.

Grabbing up my saddle bags I threw them over my back and headed out the front door at a trot. My pace quickly turned into a gallop as I neared the Enclave base, and slid to a stop causing the clouds to spray out under my hoofs. The guard posted there just raised his eyebrow at me and said nothing. I showed him my tags and identification and with a nod, he let me through the gates.

The Enclave base was behind large chain link fences, made out of clouds naturally, and because obviously any pony could fly over that, it also had a chain link roof. Once beyond that there were more clouds to walk on and you’d pass the training grounds with various obstacles set up for the recruits. There was the barracks for those ponies who slept on base, a mess hall right beside it for meals, and a string of offices and other buildings, some with second and third floors and every one of them looking stark and official! Nothing like the brightly colorful buildings of the towns and cities. They were … grey. And the walls inside, also grey. Even the furniture was grey.

I glanced down at my officers uniform, also grey… with a slight tinge of brown in the fabric. Officer hats ranged from the same brown grey, to white depending on if you were in “dress uniform” or just regular work attire.

I was wearing my greys. I always had my mane and tail plaited, even when I didn’t have to stuff my tail into power armor. Just seemed better, as less likely to get caught in things or in the way! Another side benefit is that a plaited tail makes a really effective whip when you lashed it at somepony. I don’t know how other mares coped with their forelocks hanging in their eyes during combat. Mine was harshly pulled back from my face and plaited into a long running braid right down my neck that hung in a blue and black rope over one shoulder. My uniform had not a single wrinkle in it. Solar powered irons did wonders!

As I entered through the gates I gave a crisp salute to the Enclave flag. You had to do that, even if you didn’t think anypony was watching. If said flag was being raised, you’d have to hold your position in salute for the entire duration of it going up, while the Enclave anthem played. It was a full five minutes of completely wasted time! You were suppose to be thinking about your loyalty and oaths to protect the clouds and the pegasi and respect all things Enclave, but most ponies spent that time thinking about their next date, or how awful the music was, or what they wanted to order for dinner. Thankfully It was past flag raising time so a quick salute was all that was needed then I moved forward.

As an officer, even a new one, I’d receive plenty of salutes from recruits and enlisted as I passed by. You’d give them a salute back in mutual respect, so let’s just say our forelegs got a really good work out! I’d salute anypony higher ranked than I was first. It was just expected. I’m amazed anypony managed to get anywhere when we were almost always on three legs! Ok so that’s a wild exaggeration, but also a running joke around the base.

My orders had required me to seek out docking bay ninety four, where a raptor was apparently waiting to start me on the journey. The ship’s name was… Bismarck. Apparently named after some famous Enclave chancellor or something. It was a huge vessel painted in, you guessed it, various shades of grey with the Enclave’s symbol on the side. Turrets stuck out above and below, ready to blast anything out of the sky that got too close. We still had to watch for griffon and manticore attacks and the like. The Turrets were more than just for ground missions. It sat on a landing bay cloud with it’s engines already rumbling as enlisted ponies flew back and forth, readying it for it’s eventual take off.

There was a ramp leading up to the interior and I headed straight for that. The feel of the sky metal under my hoofs felt odd compared to the clouds and caused my hoofs to make loud clips and claps upon it. Everyone could hear you coming and it was against the rules to use your wings to fly in. I showed my orders and ID to the guard at the bottom and headed on up.

The interior of a Raptor is something to behold! Everywhere you look there is a flurry of activity. Maintenance crews working on the engines, cleaning ponies wiping over windows, or power armored soldiers on their way to some destination or station. Part of our training in hoof camp was to wear power armor, but I had yet to be issued my own. I assumed that was the first step, even if I was suppose to be in the med bay for the duration of the journey. I was also going to get issued with a nova surge rifle, or… some kind of weapon. Even a field medic needed something to defend herself with.

I glanced down at the digital map on the electronic device I’d been given and followed that towards the med bay.

Captain Frost Haze was a pale blue coated pegasus with brighter blue mane and tail, her colors reminding me very much of the sky. She was at her desk in front of a small computer and studying records, orders, or something else intently. I approached her and gave her a salute.

“Second Lt Ebony Eclipse reporting for duty Ma’am” I said, trying to sound crisp and official.

She gazed up at me, looking somewhat bored and disinterested in my presence and muttered. “About time Eclipse, your uniform for the day is over there on the bench. Get changed quick smart and I don’t want to hear a single complaint. Got it?”

OOoooo k. So she was nice and friendly. NOT! It was irrelevant, I really wasn’t expecting a welcome party with gifts and rainbow cupcakes. My reply was simply “Yes Ma’am” and I walked over to the bench, looking for scrubs, or maybe some kind of special medical uniform. Instead I found the skimpiest, most provocative, inappropriate, nurses costume? Say what? I glanced over at the Captain but she was busy gazing back at her computer and paying no attention at all to me. I picked up the outfit with a hoof, what little there was of it. The thing was hemmed with ruffles and laces and there was a pair of white sheer stockings with little red bows at the top. No way…. I’d never worn stockings in my life! Much less something that mildly resembled a dress. This had to be a joke. I gazed around looking for the real uniform, but found only sheets, towels, and medical equipment. Then I jumped as I heard the captain speak again.

“What’s the hold up Lieutenant?” she didn’t sound very patient. It made me wonder if her bedside manner was equally as brash.

“Umm Ma’am?” I questioned. “Are you sure this is what I’m suppose to wear?” It was a reasonable question. I mean this looked like something you’d see in a strippers club,not on an enclave military ship, heading into dangerous unknown territory.

Frost Haze just peered at me over her small reading glasses and said “I gave you an order, I expect you to obey it. You can change in the mares room” She pointed a hoof towards a door dismissively and then went back to studying the screen.

Ok. So this sure wasn’t something they’d prepared me for in the academy! Maybe I needed to take the matter to higher command? I glanced between the exit and the mares room for a moment. Then with a scowl… yep my usual scowl, I snatched up the outfit and headed into the mares room.

Struggling into stockings was something I had absolutely zero experience with, so I’m sure it was a very comical sight if anypony had been there to see it. These ones attached to a frilly garter belt which connected around my flanks and snapped them securely up my back legs. Then there was the task of getting on this scanty dress. I struggled into it, feeling very awkward and far from graceful. “This is purely ridiculous” I muttered to myself. How could this possibly follow proper protocol of an elite military unit? None if it made any sense. Was it just… some weird nightmare or something? Then I heard Captain Haze banging on the door and addressing me.

“Hurry up in there Eclipse you have a long line of ponies waiting for their medical evaluations and you’re already ten minutes late starting.” So let me get this straight… I was expected to greet, and examine pretty much everypony on the raptor dressed like this? Bad enough I had to wear it in the first place. Talk about anxiousness about a first impression on the crew.

I stuck my head out the door and was immediately greeted with Captain Haze putting something on my head. Just to add insult to injury, it turned out to be a tizzy little nurses hat, with white lace and the first aide cross in the center of it.

“Ok that complete your uniform” she informed me, sounding frightening serious given the ridiculousness of the situation. “But you have to wear the underwear inside out. Step it up, I don’t have all day” She ordered in a manner that suggested that this was all just perfectly normal! I gazed at the growing line at the sliding glass doors of the med bay, a string of mares and stallions all waiting for their med check.

“O…. k” I responded before slipping back to pull off what was essentially just a g string, and turning it inside out before replacing it. The lace on it itched and tickled at my nether regions as a constant reminder that it was there.

When I re emerged, Captain Haze continued her instructions.

“Each pony needs a full check up, including all vital signs, full urine test, including a test for STD’s, chem and alcohol usage, pregnancy for the mares and any other infections. Also do a radiation scan. Check for inguinal hernias, breast cancer lumps, and thoroughly examine the wings for any misaligned bones or muscle weakness. We need to make sure the crew is all in tip top condition for this mission. I want a full scale report on each of them”

Well, that was a pretty routine procedure but when you’re dressed like a pole dancer it wasn’t exactly the easiest set of orders to follow. Heck even walking out of the mares room door to face the gathering ensemble of patients was highly challenging at this point. I wonder if my brother had put them all up this. It would be so like him! However I knew he wasn’t even stationed anywhere near here. This kind of ‘joke’ wasn’t something my father would set up with either. I just gave a sigh and uttered a very uncertain “Yes Ma’am” and walked out with as much dignity as I could muster, grabbing up the clipboard and calling the first name.

I had pulled the hospital curtains around me in the examination area and taken to calling each ponies name on the list one by one, going over them all and doing awkward things like yep… checking they had two testicles or no lumps around their breasts. After performing check ups on the first few, many of who seemed to be stifling grins or chuckles, I was pretty ready to blow my fuse about the outfit and storm up to the cockpit to complain to the commander. Surprisingly I kept my cool. Taking an extra deep breath as I called the next name on the list.

“Airpony Third Wheel” I yelled to the closed curtain and I’m sure I sounded less than jovial by now. This was when, to my surprise, a chestnut stallion with a blond mane and tail trotted in, but unlike my previous patients, he was wearing… No. Surely not. Was that a maids outfit? His underwear, which was a lacy black and white set made primarily for mares was also on inside out. He wasn’t scowling like I was, he was actually wearing a very silly grin on his face. He saluted me, not wiping the smile off his face at all.

“Woah, I see you’re new too!” he exclaimed as he eyed my outfit and circled around me, seemingly checking me out. I must have had a very obvious frown on my face, ears pinned back and not looking overly impressed, but I had to admit seeing another dressed inappropriately was somewhat of a relief! “Airpony Third Wheel E-2 reporting for medical exam, Ma’am” he said sounding more official now but still looking way less than serious.

“Yes it’s my first day on duty, but so what?” I said in a manner that rivaled Frost Haze in terrible bedside manner. The stallion kept a light tone as he answered.

“The others explained to me that everypony on their first day of active duty under Colonel Aquilla Night gets dressed up like this. Some kind of initiation ritual or something.” He wiggled his flanks a bit so that the slight black and white lacy skirt moved back and forth over his cutie marks, three wheels with the central one zipping between the other two and knocking them sideways.

“Not exactly what I was expecting but you gotta admit… I make a cute filly!” he chuckled as he flipped his mane out of his eyes. How could he be so free and easy about this?

“Cute filly or not, strip so I can examine you” I ordered, grabbing out the clip board and looking over his medical history. Didn’t seem to be any signs of mental illness so that clearly wasn’t it. The guy was obviously just a class clown. I hoofed a sample bottle to him and said “Urine sample” Not bothering to say please.

The stallion smirked. “Well peeing in a cup is one of the easier orders I’ve been given today.” he joked “Fare easier than dress like a prench maid,” He then chuckled and added “but doing a strip tease? Do I get mood music? Or a pole?” I wasn’t laughing though. This wasn’t exactly the way an enlisted should be talking to a senior officer. I opted not to chastise him verbally and just gave him a look of cold hard steel instead.

The blonde stallion seemed unintimidated by it. He gave a slight blush as he collected the urine sample then hoofed the jar back to me for testing. I then went through the motions of vital signs then wing check ups, which could get highly awkward considering how sensitive a pegasi’s wings can be, but it wasn’t til I grabbed his tail, lifted it, and did the inguinal hernia check that things became even more problematic. Both his wings shot up in two very ungainly wing boners.

I rolled my eyes. Typical! Not the first time it had happened to me, but this time the embarrassed blush on the stallions face and the way he said “Oopsie, s.. so… sorry ma’am” was just a little too much for me to handle.

I laughed. Something very uncommon for me and way out of the ordinary. Interestingly the stallion started to laugh too, til both of us were hiding behind a wing and finding it very hard not to laugh. Finally I said “get dressed little filly your in perfect health.”

“Thank you Lieutenant” he said, getting unceremoniously back into his frilly little dress, struggling far more uncomfortable than I had in the mares room. This only resulted in more wing snickers from me, which granted, were very unfair considering I was in the same situation.

“Sorry Third Wheel” I eventually said, my guilt at laughing at him getting the better of me but the stallion just smiled seemingly without a care in the world.

“You can call me Wheelie” he said as he exited with a brief salute at me.

After that, each examination seemed a lot easier. The precariousness of my outfit didn’t seem so bad, knowing I wasn’t the only one facing it. I met a few other obvious newbies whose first day it was on the raptor. Some of them grumbled and whined to which I answered “Live with it.” and sent them on their ways. The rest of the crew had obviously been through this kind of thing themselves.

I met the next notable pony after I called the name “First Lieutenant Lexicon” In walked a sleek, charcoal grey coated mare with wavy mane and tail in two vivid shades of gold. To top it off, she had the most vivacious emerald green eyes that sparkled at me when she smiled. The first thought that came into my head was ‘hot’. Oh did I mention that I totally swing in the direction of mares? The barn door doesn’t operate in the other direction at all. My eyes went straight to her very generous wing span and, despite that she was a senior officer to me, I completely forgot to salute. I was too fixated on the way she strode in with the sexiest sway of her well formed, curvaceous hips. She didn’t tell me off though, she just… giggled and gave me an unofficial wing salute which I stiffly returned.

“First Lieutenant Lexi reporting for med exam” She said, in a voice that caused my tail to slightly rise. I quickly clamped it back down but I was pretty sure she must have noticed. Now everypony of the skies knows, that during nice sunny weather, we have no problems what-so-ever prancing around without wearing anything at all and it's completely accepted and normal, but when you’re dressed in a hot nurses outfit, with lace around the flanks that cause your mare parts to just barely peek out from under the scanty fabric… that’s extremely different. It’s made a lot worse when your standing right in front of a very sleek, attractive mare who was clearly quite physically fit with every curve moulded together perfectly.

“Second Lieutenant Ebony Eclipse” I said back to her, giving myself an introduction. “Could you undress and please give me a urine sample” I requested, snatching up the clipboard to give myself something to focus on other than the sight of her slipping slowly, and provocatively out of her uniform. Nope... not going to watch it out of the corner of my eye, as it slid enticingly off her sleek thighs and dropped to the floor and revealing sensuously curved flanks that had the most amazing dapples arranged over her rear end and a cutie mark of a an open book with a speech bubble coming out of it.

I peered at it curiously and she apparently noticed my interest as she said "It's a book of languages. That's my talent. I'm fluent in Batpony, Griffon, Hippogriff, Diamond Dog, Zebra, Dragon, Yak, and a few other languages as well. Comes in very useful for ground missions." She shook her flanks at me to show off that amazing cutie mark.

I gave my wings a good shake. No wing boners Ebony, you’re on the job and you’re a professional, I reminded myself, trying to think about anything except an ash colored mare in front of me whose tail had the perfect arc as she carried it just high enough up, and to the side that you’d get a decent view of the treasures beneath.

“Ebony, nice name” she coo’ed as she stripped, in slow motion. Ok it was probably not actually in slow motion but it might as well have been from where I was standing. Control yourself Ebony.

“And even nicer outfit” she observed, circling around me much like Third Wheel had. Did she just peek under my tail? Nah I was imagining it. Maybe she was checking the inside out G string I’d been forced to wear. She also sure did seem to be eyeing off my flanks. Probably just trying to get a better view of my cutie mark which was barely peeking out from under the white lace that edged the pale pink nurses skirt. “First day?” she asked, but it was obvious she was familiar with the initiation attire. “I must say you wear it well compared to the last mare who had it on. Pale pink on dark fur is so alluring”

She was teasing me, in more ways than one. I clamped my tail down harder as I said “well yeah, I’m not use to wearing anything this tizzy. How long do I have to parade around like this?” Lee giggled. It was a very pleasant sound that eased my tension.

“It’s usually just the first several hours, depending. That’s very much up to our commander.” I pulled her wings out one by one, impressed by the strength in them and the quality of the muscle tone. This was an experienced, strong flyer. Flawless.

“So the commander actually condones this?” I asked “I assumed it was some prank of the lower ranking officers and enlisted ponies or something.“ I grabbed the otoscope to check each one of her ears.

“The commander does indeed order it.” Lexi explained “ She has her reasons. I’m sure she will explain them to you herself. So tell me Ebony, what do you know about Point Lookout?”

I was glad for the change in topic. “Not much,” I told her as I pumped up a blood pressure cuff around her left foreleg. “Just what the orders said. Some ponies there named Tribals to deal with, some fruit they want us to gather, and a new base being set up. I also know it’s mostly swamp lands below.”

“Probably not what you were hoping for on a first mission huh?” she said, confirming how I’d felt when I first read the orders. “I’ve been stationed there a while and read over the back history. It seems the main problem there is minor breaks in the cloud cover. Not gigantic ones but enough to cause concern.”

“The island is just a little bit too far from the borders maintained by the S.P.P towers, we suspect this is causing little fluxuations and opening here and there. but the cause is not confirmed. They are sending in a team to manually close those the old fashioned way if necessary. We are still pegasi after all, and we can still move clouds about by hoof.”

“However, because of the additional amount of sunlight leaking through to the surface, a special kind of fruit is growing only on that island and nowhere else in the wastelands. Radiation levels are high there, even above the clouds, but this fruit has developed an uncanny resistance to it, and when consumed, helps reduce it in a pony. It has a more powerful effect than standard Rad Away and It also has physical healing properties to it.”

“ For this reason, it’s become a resource of great interest to the Enclave. The Tribal ponies have claimed some kind of monopoly on it, preventing other ground ponies from having free access to it. My job, is going to be to face those bastards down”

The way she said the last sentence made me perk my usually laid back ears at her with interest. She sounded pretty fearless about the idea and even like she was looking forward to it. I’d been recording her heart rate and noticed a definite rise in it at the prospect of kicking ground ponies ass!

“So what’s special about these Tribal ponies that they stop other groundies from getting near the fruit?” I asked, very interested now in the mission as it had just taken a huge hoof step up the ladder of ‘not so boring after all’

“They’re crazy” she answered with a half smile on her face as her eyes met mine with that same dazzling sparkle I’d noticed before. “Extra crazy for ground ponies. You can recognize them by the very noticeable scar on their heads where they have all had, what you call in medical terms, a partial lobotomy. Literally!”

“No shit” I said trying to fathom that. “Why would any pony have that done? Disease? Cancer?” I could think of no other logical reasons for having a piece of your brain removed. Lexi chuckled.

“Neither, it’s part of their initiation ritual into their cult. And you thought wearing a sexy dress was bad! To become one of them, you have to have the so called negative thoughts removed to purify you and cleanse your mind so that it can become enlightened or some such shit. Like I said, crazy.” she jumped down from the examination table and raised her tail for the inevitable breast cancer check.

I moved up behind her hoping that the very slight blush on my cheeks was not noticeable, which on dark blue fur, came out a radiant shade of purple.

“These ponies actually believe that untrained brain surgery will enlighten them?” I queried as I moved up behind her. “Do they even have sterile instruments or proper laboratories down there?” I asked, a little gob smacked at what I was hearing. Sure my Dad had told some pretty wild stories of the surface but this took the cake.

“Not even close” Lexi confirmed. “They live in a very dirty swamp land. They are the epitome of ground scum and we plan to completely wipe them out of we can. Now I’m no fan of groundies, but this lot will trick as many others into their ways as they can, thinking they will somehow find that great beyond to take them to where ever the dead princesses are for a miraculous return to harmony.” she rolled her eyes dramatically.

I noticed a slight wing flutter as I stuck my hoof between her back legs to examine her breasts. No lumps, except that one in my throat! I coughed to clear it and gazed up at the ceiling nonchalantly. “Your blush is adorable” Lexi suddenly announced, causing my eyes to just fly wide open. Was she flirting with me? Ponies didn’t flirt with me, especially if they knew what was good for them. I was the bitch that everypony avoided.

“It’s just… “ I stammered completely caught off guard. “No no no, I’m just, over worked. I mean, you’re the last pony on my list. It’s been a really long day”

“Yeah sure” she said with a giggle and a wink. It sure looked like flirting to me. “If I’m the last one, that means you need to get those hot flanks of yours up to the commanders and check in with her. I’m sure she is dying to meet with the new medical officer” she told me, then gave my ‘hot flanks’ a very hot swat with one of her equally hot wings before turning to gather up her uniform and exit at a trot without even putting it back on.

Well that did it. My self restraint finally broke and two ebony blue wings shot up with a snap! I backed up in surprise at my own wing boners and knocked over the equipment cart with a loud clatter and clang. I was still collecting up the various bits and pieces when Captain Frost Haze entered to see what had just happened.

Two very stiff wing boners were extremely obvious, and me bending over displaying a nice view of my, just spanked back end peeking out from underneath the scanty lace. Captain Frost Haze raised an eyebrow at me and I thought I caught the slightest hint of an amused half smile almost curling onto her otherwise terse lips. “If you’re done rearranging my med bay, you’d best report to Colonel Aquilla” she informed me.

I didn’t hesitate to scamper out of there and hide my signature purple blush.

*************************

I’d gotten full control of my wings by the time I reached the cockpit of the Raptor to meet with the final pony I needed to meet. The Colonel herself. She had her back to me as I entered and an ear angled back my direction indicated she’d heard my hoof steps on the sky metal floors.

“Come in Lieutenant, I’ve been expecting you.”

I froze into a salute until I heard her say “At ease Eclipse I’ve called you here for a reason.” I relaxed only slightly and waited, wondering if she’d already heard how I’d knocked over all the equipment. She turned to face me, a stunning green mare with greying mane and tail, mature aged with eyes that spoke of many experiences and much wisdom. She looked me over much like everypony else had today then grinned.

“So what do you think of your initiation outfit?”

I balked at the question. What was I to say? It sucks? It’s embarrassing ludicrous and completely unprofessional? I’d learnt from Lieutenant Lexi that this idea had come directly from her, and she was the Commander so giving a first impression that insulted her orders was not going to be the best idea.

“It’s quite... creative!” I finally managed to say as I shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof. The Colonel just chuckled at me

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I would give such an outlandish order to my new recruits?” She echoed my exact thoughts and I nodded. No use covering up how I really felt. “I appreciate your honestly. “ she told me then gazed straight into my eyes as she continued.

“We are about to head into enemy territory, one of the most hostile regions of the wastes. All kinds of nasties lurk in the swamps, and we are far from civilized sky cities, quite isolated. I need ponies on my team who will follow direct orders, even if they don’t make sense, take them completely out of their comfort zones, and border on breaching normal protocol. It’s not that I don’t ever expect my authority to be questioned. I hope it is if I risk our division. However, trust is imperative to survive out there, and need to know my team trusts me, no matter how bizarre the circumstances are.”

“I also like to know that my soldiers can continue to be effective even when under pressure, or taken way beyond situations they would normally feel comfortable in or unprepared for.” she must have noticed the look on my face because she said “Don’t worry, Lieutenant Ebony, you passed with flying rainbow colors. I checked your academy records before you came here, and requested you personally for this assignment. The initiation outfits are more than a way to break the ice, they are also a test, to see how well you will perform when things aren’t going quite as you had planned.” I gazed up at her in surprise at that. Finally this whole fiasco made some sense and … she requested me?

“Don’t look so surprised Ebony” she said, dropping the titles and giving me a warm smile. “Your dedication and training has been exemplary. You’re a sharpshooter but you also know your medical knowledge. I need a pony like you in my medical bay, one who can effectively patch up the wounded, but can also defend the clinic should anything invade or attack. Most field medics are notably better at one skill or the other. You? I know you are going to excel at both.”

I was amazed at what I was hearing. Finally a pony who had faith in me and noticed the efforts I’d made. Even better, she’d not once mentioned my famed father as the reason she’d wanted me in her team.

“I’ll do my best Ma’am” I assured her and I really meant it.

“I am positive you will, Ebony” she confirmed gently as she stood up and put out a hoof to help me to my hooves as well. “Welcome aboard, now march to the armory to be assigned your power armor and out of those ridiculous clothes, we take off in thirty minutes.”

I smiled at her and gave her a very enthusiastic “Yes Ma’am!” Saluting before I trotted off with a noticeable bounce in my stride. Power armor finally!

This was really going to be one heck of an exciting mission!

Author's Note

Thanks for all the friends who have encouraged me to not give up writing my FOE fanfics or his would have never been written. Ebony has been my role play character for a few years so she has lots of stories to tell.

For more pictures of Ebony, please feel free to visit my art site at

https://ebonypegasus.deviantart.com

Captain Frost Haze created by AskNightmareLuna and used with permission

Midnight Jade Eclipse used with Permission of Alpine.plessus of Second Life

Onyx Eclipse used with permission of Marrik.milos of Second Life.

Jackie

Chapter 2 Fire

Fallout Equestria: Total Eclipse

Chapter Two: Fire.

I’d worn power armor before. It was part of our basic training, but to be issued your very own! That was really a pivotal moment. Every piece had to carefully fit to suit your body type, curves, and stature. Power armor was aerodynamically perfect but if it didn’t fit, you wouldn’t be an effective flyer. You’d also be, a pretty chaffed and sore flyer.

History stated that the armor itself was designed by the ministry mares Rainbow Dash, Ministry of Awesome who later became the first Dashite, and Rarity, Ministry of Image. You could certainly see that there was an elegant flair to the design, as well as something truly awesome in the way that despite that it was reasonably heavy, it didn’t inhibit your agility in the air one little bit.

The scorpion like tail was something incredible in itself. Since ponies only have a relatively short tail bone in comparison, three quarters of the tail armor was just filled with hair. Most mares twisted their locks to stuff it in, or they cut their tails extra short, but I would braid mine. It affixed to the tail bone by various probes that attached under the base of the dock where all ponies have a triangular region with no hair. These probes detected electrical impulses caused by your nerve endings when you asked your pony tail bone to move. In this way, you could control how the cybernetic tail behaved and operated. You could use it as a weapon, but also as a means to balance and maneuver through the air. The feature at the tip would cause a zap if you smacked a pony with it, which acted as a built in taser. The whole thing was powered by miniature spark batteries which solar charged.

A feature of the head piece, was what we commonly called a scout buck. With this, you could use your E.F.S. to locate hostiles or allies in the area or to simply navigate your way around. The scout buck also contained your primary radio to contact other Enclave members, and had several channels. Each officer had their own channel, enlisted did not. There was an open channel to contact all Enclave in the area, and a secure encrypted channel to contact only those privy to its access. The VIP’s of the Enclave. The same radio could pick up radio waves from other sources, including the stations that the sky ponies broadcasted to cloud citizens, and also, if you were below the cloud cover, a certain unofficial, controversial and highly frowned upon, ground pony Radio station.

Thankfully most citizens above the cloud cover couldn’t pick this one up, but the Enclave knew it well! The announcer was a stallion who called themselves DJpon3, after the original Vinyl Scratch, and possibly a relative. Who knows? It was via this radio station that I learned about at least two important antagonists to the Enclave, The Stable Dweller, and Security. Oh there were others mentioned, but these were the two most notable ponies of the wastelands. And the Enclaves most wanted.

I remember the first broadcasts we heard mentioning them.

“This is DJ Pon3, ... And now, my little ponies, it’s time for the news! Now you ponies remember when I told you ‘bout those two ponies who crawled themselves out of Stable Two? Well, I’ve been gettin’ reports that one of those little ponies took out the raider nest in the heart of Ponyville, and saved several pony captives -- including the beloved author of The Wasteland Survival Guide, Ditzy Doo! Hey kid, thanks! From all of us! And now the weather: cloudy everywhere, with a chance of rain, gunfire and bloody dismemberment...” 1.

“Turns out the road between Manehattan and the Hoof is just a little safer now thanks to a pair of ponies fresh from a stable. You’re gonna love this… looks like the Hoof has just a little more Security than a few days ago. That’s right, she’s got it displayed loud and proud. She’s already carved up the raiders from Withers all the way to Megamart, and she doesn’t look like she’s going to be stopping any time soon. So here’s a big thank you from DJ Pon3 to the Security Mare. Looking forward to seeing what law and order you bring down next.” 2.

Thus, the ground pony station would praise these mares for all the so called ‘good work’ they were doing to clean up the wastelands. Our Enclave? We saw them as a very clear threat to all that we protected and loved. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they had stuck to just, killing off raiders and slavers, but Enclave were included in their line of fire and our cloud cover was gazed upon with malice.

Why couldn’t they do their good deeds that without trying to damage us in the process? You know what to they say about good intentions… the road to Tartarus was paved with them. Good work? From what we heard on the radio, they were ruthless killers of their own kind! Sure, we had to kill ponies sometimes but it was all in the name of military protection, and never a fellow Enclave. At least, that’s what I was taught.

Heck we didn’t even execute our traitors we branded them and sent them to the surface as Dashites. That may have been frowned on by some, but it wasn’t a death penalty. Some of the reports on these two so called wastelands hero’s included mass destruction of entire towns or, stables. It’s a wonder there were any groundies left alive at that rate. It also surprised me that with the amount of destruction these mares caused, they were considered such heros. Surely the ponies they killed were someones brother, sister, friend, special somepony…? They were nothing more than wasteland wastes of space in my eyes. Still, If they were downsizing the ground trash it meant less work for us. It clearly worked in our favor.

Ok … so admittedly the cloud cover did prevent sunlight from reaching the surface and thus, growing the much needed plants and tree’s that were natural to ponykind as food. I get that! Probably a good reason to want to destroy our clouds? I dunno.. From what I was told the ponies had taken to eating meat instead. Ewww. just the thought of that made my stomach turn.

Thunderhead had also formed some volunteer corps to take teams to the surface with food, medical resources and other supplies for the ground ponies. Hey, we weren’t all that bad! But reports had it that these ponies efforts were far from appreciated. The away teams were often attacked and returned home injured; the supplies they had frequently just taken by force. I honestly don’t know why anypegasi bothered when that’s all the were met by.

So forgive me if I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for the lack of sunlight we prevented. If the ponies below had behaved better and cleaned up their act after two hundred years of grim dark, shameful behavior, there wouldn't have even need to be a cloud cover any more. I blamed the ground ponies. Behave better, make it safer for our citizens, and maybe we could think about clearing the skies a bit? But no! Even their so called hero’s were barbarians.

Being sent to clouds above Point Lookout meant that I certainly did not expect to run into the Stable Dweller, also known as Littlepip, or Security, a mare reported to be called Blackjack. Yeah, we had plenty of ground spies to find out their real names. It wasn’t any secret at all. We also had full descriptions and satellite still shots. Wanted posters for both of them were all over the base and some were even in the Raptor I was now about to set off in.

*****************

I was already measured and fitted for my armor which would be stored in my personal locker until it was needed. Now back in dress uniform I was heading to the mess hall to catch some dinner.

I felt the ship take off. The rumble of engines and the way the floor shifted told me we were no longer docked. The vertigo feeling of a take off was nothing like if you just simply spread your wings and soared up naturally. A raptor take off left your stomach behind, like going up in an elevator. I stopped to gaze out of one of the windows, peering down at our base as it got smaller and smaller.

Pegasi, of course, are use to flying! We do it every day. But flying on a Raptor is a whole different experience! Even flyers can get air sickness. Thankfully, that never happened to me. I’d just be the pony called in to treat it. Nothing was going to phase me on this trip. I loved being on an airship.

It’s interesting observing the clouds below when your wings aren’t spread. You don't have the same perceptive precision as if you were flying yourself. It’s almost like, watching a movie or something! You’re not aware of every little sight, sound, crossbreeze or danger. The turbulence is a new experience too. As a flyer, you learn to out maneuver wind disruptions and air pockets, on a Raptor… well it’s not smart enough to avoid them and the pilots can’t always navigate around them. Sometimes your hooves would skid across the floor if you hit a really big air pocket! That’s why, all the furniture was firmly nailed down!

By the time I reached the mess hall most ponies were already seated with their food trays, many of them with a hoof firmly planted on it to prevent it sliding to the floor. The officers sat in one section, and the enlisted in another, but everypegasi joined the same line to be served up dinner. That’s how I found myself right behind a certain notable blonde stallion, still dressed in a tizzy black maids outfit trimmed with white lace.

“Hey Third Wheel” I greeted him, then remembered what he preferred to be called. “I mean, Wheelie, I don't think I got a chance to thank you.” The chestnut stallion turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow and his usual cocky grin.

“Evening L.T. Ebony. And for what? I didn’t do anything.” I opted to ignore his deliberate abbreviation of my title. It wasn’t standard protocol.

“On the contrary, you may not know it, but you saved my hide when it came to this mission. I was so ready to just, blow my fuse over what I’d been forced to wear then you came along and… made me laugh. I’m not really use to that.” It was true, I hadn’t had much to laugh about during my lifetime. I was only 11 years old when we lost Mom and I was left to raise my own little sister, and older brother. Stallions just don’t mature as quickly as mares, even though Onyx was the oldest, he clearly wasn’t up to the task of raising us fillies. Besides, My father felt it was a mares place to be in the kitchen! I was a little too tomboyish and rebellious for that kind of thinking. There had been challenges, but since my siblings meant a lot to me, I’d managed it as best I could.

“It’s what I do Lieutenant” Wheelie replied. “It may not be an official job but hey… somepegasi has to keep up morale and lighten the tension”

I simply nodded to him. I’d spotted Lexicon sitting at one of the officers booths and that completely distracted me from Third Wheel. That was one mare I really wanted to talk to again. I headed her way.

Lexi looked up at me as I approached, precariously balancing my tray on one wing, then setting it down across from her.

“Hello Ebony!” She greeted me with a smile then added in a mock official tone “I see you’re out of uniform. Get back into your pink frilly frock immediately!” she giggled and I gave her a knowing half smile.

“Guess you’ll just have to spank me, or… maybe it could be the other way around, considering you’re teasing me.” I jested, causing her to give a wide eyed but suggestive look back at me. She leaned forward to speak in a hushed tone to me.

“Am I to assume that your real title is Mistress Ebony?” she asked, in that silkie soft voice that sent a shiver right down my spine to the tip of my tail. I’d never really had time to experiment or date, much less be a mistress but let's just say, I’d had my fair share of day dreams about certain cute mares I’d known. Anything was better than more nightmares about Dad.

“You’d better believe it” I whispered back and winked at her as I poked at my salad with a fork.

This might be a good place to pause and talk about how us pegasi grew our food. Yeah, I really love keeping you all in suspense when it comes to did I score with Lieutenant Lexi. Ponies had learned how to grow food using the cloud cover instead of the ground. They used a technique known as hydroponics. Hydro meaning water and ponics, well we are ponies! At least I assumed that’s why it was ponics. I don’t know too much about how it works but, I know the cloud farmers had to infuse the right kinds of minerals and by products into the clouds. Yeah, you guessed it… pony shit! I’d hate to be the one who had that job! Nothing went to waste on the cloud cover.

The resultant food came from vegetable cloud beds and orchards. Cloud farmers still knew how to move about clouds the old fashioned way, and buck them to get enough rain for the crops, then how to clear them to get enough sunlight, but the lacking of real soil, meant that the food didn’t taste quite the same as it had in the days of old, least, that’s what I was told. I had no idea what that food must have tasted like.

“So when we are so far from any sky farms, they just ship our food to us?” I asked Lexi, taking a mouthful of the bland lettuce.

“At the moment yes” she answered, sipping on what appeared to be a glass of apple cider. “But I believe the commander has requested a small, citizen run cloud farm be set up for us, once we have a secure base to put it on. There are a few ground flyers in the area, bat ponies, and Ive been told, Alicorns. Though I’ve yet to meet one of those. There is also the usual hostile flying creatures who try to steal the food. It’s not really safe for citizens just yet.” I was transfixed by Lexi’s voice and watching those alluring lips wrap around her glass when I heard another voice that made me jump half out of my fur.

“Are we there yet?” It was Third Wheel. He’d just invited himself over and plonked down right beside me.

“Wheelie!” I protested. “You’re supposed to sit in the enlisted area” I pointed a hoof towards the very crowded tables on the other side of the room.

“There wasn’t a seat at all Ma’am, besides, I thought you two lovely mares would like some quality company!” He began to dig into his food, clearly not leaving and I just gave him a steely stare, which he just ignored. This stallion was apparently appropriately named. Third Wheel alright! I was trying to pick up on Lexi!

The beautiful dapple grey mare was eyeing me with amusement. “You’re the kind of mare who can make a frown look really sexy” she blurted out, right in front of him! She thought I looked sexy? Heck she was sexy Lexi! She was bold, and seemed to have nothing to hide about the direction she clearly swung in. Oh sure, same gender relationships were encouraged above the clouds. It was a great way to control the zero population growth rule.

I guess I should explain what that is. Everypegasi could have only one foal each, so, a couple could have two foals and no more. Mares always had a pregnancy implant from their first season onwards. However, if a pony didn’t want to have a foal of their own, they could sell their birth right to somepegasi else. That’s how my Father ended up with three of us. He was rich, and influential. I was pretty sure I didn’t want a foal of my own. A bit hard when you prefer only mares. Besides, foals annoyed me. I didn’t want to sell my birth right either. I’d just give it to Onyx or Middy if they wanted it.

Lexi’s comment had caused me to blush. Yep, that signature purple again. I really wanted to say something back, but I was just stuck for words… Wheelie once again, came to my rescue.

“Yeah, and even hotter in that nurses outfit.” Wheelie interjected. “ Pity they had you change. So urrrr…. How long is this trip anyway?” he was taking a dig at me but I didn’t mind too much as it avoided an uncomfortable silence that would have followed Lexi’s highly flirtatious comment.

“A few hours” Lexi answered, grabbing her plate and glass as the Raptor angled to one side and caused everything to shift. I’d had my hoof on my plate but the glass went sliding sideways and bounced off the floor. Ok so it wasn’t glass, it was some other magical substance they’d come up with known as plastic. However, my drink didn’t bounce. It just seeped into the cloud metal.

“Damn” I cursed then turned to Wheelie and said “Mind getting me another?” I might as well make the most of the unwanted guest.

“Sure!” he replied with surprising enthusiasm then he snatched up my cup and headed back to the food service area.

“You could always share mine” Lexi offered as the stallion walked away. I gazed at her, my deep purple eyes meeting with her stunning green ones. The thought of putting my lips where hers had been was very enticing and caused a sly smile to curl up on my lips.

“Sharing is caring” I said, quoting some old saying and she hoofed me her glass. Cherry chapstick… that’s all I could taste I barely noticed what the cider was like. I found myself wanting to taste that cherry chapstick first hoof, right off her voluptuous lips. I really wanted to get to know this mare better.

“So Lexi…” I started. “What division are you in? What do you specialize in? Other than teasing new med officers that is and, all those languages.”

She gave a light pleasant laugh and replied “Other than acting as a translator, my speciality is sniping. Oh sure I love a good hoof to hoof battle but there is a certain satisfaction in using a sniper rifle to take out somepony who threatens the rest of the team. I’m also applying to be accepted into the Wonderbolts. I tried out for them before we left, but it will be a while before I hear back.” A future wonderbolt? No wonder she had such fine muscles and toned wings. Wonderbolt was never something I’d considered. I was quite agile in the air, but my focus was healing others. “And what about you? What made you become a field Medic?” She asked me as she took a bite of her apple.

I rarely opened up to people. I prefered to keep what was private… private. It was just safer to hide behind a huge brick wall. However, I made an exception for this mare. I didn’t want her to think I didn’t trust her.

“My Mom died when I was young. A severe case of Pegasitus. I’d always wished that I could save her somehow...” My voice broke a little as I remembered her loss. “ If only I’d had that kind of knowledge so I wouldn’t lose anypegasi else. Field Medicine just seemed like the obvious career.”

Lexi reached out and put a hoof on mine gently. I found it very soothing and reassuring. “I’m so sorry Ebony I know just how you feel. I lost both my parents too. They were Enclave and died in a ground mission. Raiders. Joining the Enclave gave me the career I needed to help my sister and myself. Most of my pay goes to her. It was also my way of getting revenge … if I ever find the ones who killed them… so help me! When ever I have to shoot a ground pony, I think of them and call it justice.”

I hated letting my emotions show, but when it came to this, it was very hard holding them back. “If I could have saved your parents I would have done it in a heartbeat. I made sure that medicine wasn’t the only thing I excelled at, I’m also a pretty sharp shooter. No pony is going to die on my watch.” I told her, my voice shaking now, as I knew that I could not save everypegasi. Lexi stood up and moved over to sit beside me now, placing a soft warm wing around me and I leaned into her willingly. Both of us caught in a moment of much needed comfort. It was a really… beautiful, tender moment.

“I got us each a fresh glass!” Third Wheel interjected as he barged over and sat down noisily where Lexi use to be. Seriously? Couldn’t he see that this was an intimate moment that you just don't impede? He must have been a bit slow on the uptake as he finally seemed to realize and said “Oh… I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

I buried my head against Lexi and took a deep breath. Don’t lose your temper Ebony, not in front of this highly desirable mare.

“Not at all, we were just leaving” I informed him and stood up, offering Lexi a hoof. “I’d love it if you would show me around the ship” I suggested and to my delight, she put her hoof in mine and replied

“It would be my pleasure” We left the third wheel behind to eat alone.

*************************

As we walked up towards the main deck, I heard a loud thud. The Raptor shifted violently and I fell forward, right on top of Lieutenant Lexi! Now Normally, I’d feel pretty happy about having that particular mare pinned under me like that, but… something was definitely wrong. Something was attacking the Raptor!

Sirens went off. “Red Alert, Red Alert, Griffon attack on the starboard bow. All pegasi armor up and get to your stations” The commander's voice sounded authoritative, but calm. How did she stay so calm? My heart was pounding! I was excited about the prospect of a real battle, but also, apprehensive.

I gazed down at Lexi and her eyes locked with mine. “Unless you’re power armor Ebony, I can’t continue to wear you… You can feel free to hold me down again after we kick some griffon ASS” There was that badass tone again. I really liked this mare.

I climbed off her and tried to scramble up the sloped floor towards the locker area, without much success. There was another loud crash and the Raptor shook so I took to the the air and hovered. Lexi was beside me doing the same and she shot forward like a bolt of lightning, her tail just brushing over my face and leaving me with the alluring smell of mare. No time for wing boners! I diverted my attention and flew towards the locker bay.

Getting into Armor when you’re in a hurry isn’t always the easiest feat. Especially when your ship is being tossed back and forth. I had the most trouble getting my tail in.

“Here, let me help with that” It was Frost Haze. She grabbed me by the tail and yanked it up, quite roughly stuffing it into the power tail and I felt the probes connect. The rest of the armor I managed to get situated on my own. My wings were covered by flexible plated feather like armor, which rose up and folded out of the way during flight. This did tend to make your wings a vulnerable spot for getting shot at. Not much we could do, We needed our wings for flight and metal would just inhibit them way to much.

“Now get your ass moving Eclipse we defend the med bay and attend to any wounded.” With a crisp salute at the Captain I headed back to the med bay, passing by several rushing soldiers as they headed for the guns. I gazed at them with envy. They got to shoot the large turrets either side of the ship. I got to sit in a med bay… and watch out the window.

I’d seen Griffons before. They’d attacked our home around Nieghvarro several times and had to be driven off. Bird like creatures with admittedly, impressive wings. Not really as agile as a pegasus but had us beaten in sheer strength and the benefit of sharp front talons. The battle strategy was usually, stay back and FIRE.

These Griffons were heavily armored, similar to us but not as cool. Their armor appeared to be made out of makeshift bits and pieces they had scrounge up from somewhere. There was one female who caught my eye, and not because she was cute… she was a purple hued bird with a wickedly sharp beak and beady eyes, just like the rest of them but this flyer, instead of the back end of a lion, she had the body of a pony! Or maybe it was a horse. She was certainly big enough, towering over the griffons. A hippogriff? I’d heard of them but never seen one before. She seemed to be the leader.

Frost Haze moved up beside me. “Well what do you know… I didn’t think Hippogriffs and Griffons got along that well. Not much gets along with a Griffon.” several of the griffons were being shot at by our turrets, many of them avoiding the shots with quick dodges while others were hit with the blasts and crashed onto our hull.

I turned to Captain Frost and asked “Do they really think they can take down a Raptor with just… guns? We have magical shields and turrets. Big ones. Can’t we just shoot them all out of the skies?”

“It’s not that simple Eclipse” she confirmed to me. “This is an organized group that we contend with each time we pass through this area and even a Raptor has weaknesses.” I heard a thud on the roof above us. “Such as that… if they land on us they will try to blast their way through the hull and board. Then we have to go hoof to claw. Not much room to back off in a Raptor.”

“How did they even get through the shields?” I asked, my ears pricked in the direction of the claw scrapes above. Each raptor had magical shields that kept unwanted attackers at bay. Well, usually! They were powered by some technical thing that was beyond my understanding, and charged with gems.

“What do you think those thuds were about?” Frost Haze reminded me. “They knocked out our shields. This is an experienced group and they seem to know right where the medical bay is. They plan to prevent us healers from helping the others. Ready your laser rifle and here… put these on” She reached into a draw and hoofed out two wickely spiked fetlock cuffs to go just above my hooves. I strapped them on over my power armor and this gave me some serious weapons that would easily match a griffons claws.

“Thanks” I nodded to Captain Haze. Frost got out some hoof claws which were a slightly different looking weapon. These attached over the hoof itself and had retractable blades that would shoot out when activated. Pretty formidable in a fight!

“Use your tail if necessary it will act as a taser to stun then you can go in for the kill.” Frost Haze instructed me “ You and I have an advantage Lieutenant, we are experts in anatomy. We know just where to strike.” The mare appeared to be looking forward to a battle and I had to admit, I was also excited by the prospect. I could hear something tearing away at the roof above us, not claws… something else. Some kind of blow torch?

“Oh fuck if they have a fucking blow torch that’s gunna tear through power armor too.” I commented, smelling the fumes of burning fuel as well.

“First priority is going to be disarm that blow torch, or, better yet aim for it and blow it up with the damn Sparrow that’s holding it.” Sparrows were a common derogatory name we’d deemed worthy of a griffon.

I gauged from the sound just which part of the roof was being attacked and backed up towards the mares room. I could use the door for cover, it was a pretty decently thick metal. I readied my weapon, firing up the novasurge rifle as I watched Frost back up against a wall and take partial cover behind the x ray board.

The smell of melting metal filled the med bay. I could hear the sound of the turrets firing outside and there were hurried hoof falls down the hall as pegasi rushed into action. Frost snatched up her radio and announced over the main channel “Medical is being infiltrated from above.”

Precious seconds past and I could hear gunfire down the hall. It seems that the others weren’t going to be able to come to our defense. We’d been boarded from more than one place. Time to prove to the Commander that I was everything she expected me to be. Good with medicine, and good with a gun.

The roof caved in and two birds dropped down right into our med bay. Frost ducked down behind the x ray board and I pulled back from the doorway, peeking out through the crack to watch the action.

“Looks like medical alright, the stolen plans were accurate.” A large grey colored griffon stated. He was obviously male. His female companion was a fiery orange bird, slightly smaller and clad in makeshift armor that looked like it had been put together in a junkyard.

“Search” ordered the cock. No that’s not a derogatory name that’s what they actually called male birds. I preferred to call them cock-suckers but I saved my insults for now. I needed to get a clear shot at his blow torch. “Search everywhere,” He ordered sharply “There’s no way they’d leave their medical bay unattended while under attack. Shoot to kill any cloud-hugger you find”

Cloud hugger? That’s what they called us? I suppose it could be worse, but what really got me riled was his order to shoot to kill. No prisoners huh? And worse, I’d heard griffons were carnivores. Pretty sure Kenbucky fried wings were on their menu!

I carefully and quietly gazed through my gun sight lining up the crosshairs to focus in on the gas barrel of his blow torch, then I slipped into S.A.T.S. Oh did I forget to mention that our scout bucks also had that feature? Rainbow Dash may have been a traitor to our kind, but she certainly was not stupid. She’d given us all the bells and whistles that Stable Tek had offered to stable ponies. S.A.T.S. gave me a clear advantage, allowing me to aim with a precision that I otherwise wouldn't have.

The bastard was heading towards Frost Haze with the golden hen right on his tail so I had very little time to spare. I set my sights… steadied my aim, and fired!

BOOM!

A loud explosion then fire filled the med bay. The painful squawk of the griffon could barely be heard over the explosion as he was dismembered and set alight along with his weapon. Bits of entrails flying out from the burst of flames, for even his crude armor couldn’t protect him from that. Forget Kenbucky fried wings, this was the charbroiled family pack! Not that we pegasi would stoop to eating it.

The female jumped back and let out a pained shriek, flapped her wings, seeming unperturbed by the flames around her that had caught fire to the bed curtains, but not to her.

Smoke billowed out the hole they had cut in the roof and I could hear a griffon voice above speaking in a language that I was not fluent in, but I could pick up enough of it to decipher that somegriff up top had sworn, and was asking a question. Probably something to the tune of “What the fuck happened?”

The orange female glared through the smoke in my direction and spoke in equine, but with a very distinct accent. “Come out and face me pegasi scum!” Ok… so at least she wasn’t referring to me as I was clearly not scum! I was the badass who just fried her friend. It was my first kill. I probably should have felt bad about it, but I didn’t. These birds were trying to kill my comrades! Without hesitation I reloaded, the smoke rising around me but thankfully my Enclave helmet kept it out of my eyes and lungs. Still could barely see a damn thing though.

The bird was heading my way, walking right through the flames which flickered off her feathers but didn’t seem to be singing them at all. I saw Frost Haze peer out from behind the X ray board, gun aimed right at the bird, but it was clear the smoke was inhibiting her view as well.

‘Just fire’ I thought quietly but I was also ready to the the same. However, I didn’t get the chance at a second shot because Frost Haze leapt out at the griffon and tackled her from behind, the hoof claws making a zing as they shot out and sunk into the griffons neck slashing across it in a spray of blood. The bird let out a loud screech then turned and clawed at Frost Haze.

The mare and hen grappled with each other, and any minute now, I expected the griffon to bleed out and drop to the floor. Frost had penetrated the jugular. Surprisingly the griffin kept fighting, slashing at Frost and I could hear the spine cringing sound of claws scraping against metal.

Frost let out a yowl as the bird made contact with the exposed underside of her wing. I aimed again, this time not taking the time to bother with S.A.T.S. I just had to get in one good shot and I’d finish the bitch! But every time I was ready to fire, Frost would fall into my viewfinder and I’d hesitate, not willing to risk hitting her.

“Dammit” I cursed and shouldered my novasurge over my back, bursting out of the door at a gallop and through the smoke to join in the fray. Using my spiked cuffs I slashed at the griffon, aiming right for her wings. Get em where it hurts! I ripped through feathers and flesh, causing several flame orange feathers to fall and there was blood on my spikes.

I was about to use the tail to taser her ass when she turned and slapped me with her wing, causing me to stumble back and fall with a clang on my ass. Damn… griffons sure knew how to pack a punch but why wasn’t she weakening from her injuries? Someone called down from above, using a common language that most beings knew.

“FLARE! I need you up here”. Glancing up through the hole in the roof I caught a glimpse of an equine hoof and tail. I put two and two together, that was the voice of the hippogriff.

The flame orange griffon shouted back “Give me a moment Vortex… I have some unfinished business to attend to” She turned her beady eyes on me, knowing that I as the one who’d fired the shot and burned up her friend. She raised her gun and aimed it at me, a crude sawn off shotgun, pieced together out of scraps of other weapons. It would still be pretty effective if it could penetrate my armor, which I doubted. I rolled quickly to the side and made sure my wing flaps were firmly closed. Then the shot was fired and heard the bullet ping off my flank, ricocheting off the metal and leaving a dent. I cried out at the sudden sting of pain as it ebbed sharply through me.

The griffon was approaching, with ill intent in her eyes. I think she would have liked to have taken a second shot at me, but it seems her weapon was out of ammo and she was fumbling to reload the makeshift piece of garbage which seemed to barely be held together. Then the voice of the hippogryph called out to her again.

“FLARE? I have wounded up here I need you right NOW!” causing the griffon to gaze up through the hole and with an angry grunt. She shot a glance at me and said “This isn’t over pony,” Then she shot up through the hole with a quick snap of her wings.

I made my way over to where Frost Haze was lying in a collapsed heap of feathers and blood, her wing was shredded by claw marks and her breathing was labored. As much as I would have loved to have flown up in pursuit of our attacker, I had to make sure Frost Haze didn’t die. That was my job. I’d thwart these bastards plan to take out the medical staff first.

“Hold still while I stop this damn bleeding” I cautioned her, pressing a hoof against the flow of blood and causing her to cry out in pain.

She winced and spoke through gritted teeth saying “Good shot Lieutenant.” But I wasn’t in the mood for praise.

“I don’t get it Captain, the blast should have killed them both, they were right by each other! Then your slashes should have bled her out.” I kept working, grabbing out a bandage from my med bag and wrapping the wound tightly in a pressure tourniquet to stop Frost from losing more blood. I then grabbed out a Med X and injected it into her to help annul the pain.

“She’s a phoenix... “ Frost concluded causing me to gaze at her with an arched eyebrow. “They are fire resistant”

“Phoenix’s are just birds… they aren’t thinking talking beings like us” I reasoned. At least that is what I had read of them. Birds that went up in flames when they died and were reborn to start a new life. This was clearly a much larger creature, the size of any other griffon. She also had the characteristic lion back legs and tail, not a feature of a true phoenix.

Frost’s breath was starting to slow as the med-x kicked in and eased her pain. “Ebony” she said, using my given name for the first time. “There are many hybrids and mutated mixtures out there in the wasteland. Even we don’t know them all.” She snatched up some of the fallen feathers I’d slashed off the griffon/phoenix or whatever it was. “If I’m right, these feathers will have better healing properties than any of our potions.”

“If it’s some kind of phoenix than it can’t die?” I questioned, trying to get my head around an enemy like that.

“Oh it can die” Frost Haze assured me. “If you give it enough damage, when it does die it becomes a fiery inferno, but thankfully the rebirth causes it to hatch out too young to do much damage for many years. We can defeat it.”

“You’ve encountered something like that before?” I asked her, my eyes traveling up to the hole in the roof in case she returned. I had my gun ready. Maybe I could cause that re birth if I just got in enough shots that she couldn’t self heal in time to live through it. I wondered if it would be possible to do that before I ran out of charge.

“Not exactly” Frost told me with a cough as she got herself to her hooves and snatched up a fire extinguisher from the wall, aiming at the flames that were still burning down our med bay and cutting off anypony else who was trying to enter. She continued. “I know what happens to an actual phoenix, I’m assuming the same for any griffon hybrid creature. Yes they can self heal so any injuries have to be faster than the healing rate. They can also live as long as an Alicorn, but eventually can die of ‘old age’ and then get re born, that is if nothing else kills them sooner.”

My head was racing with thoughts. We had an enemy that was near impossible to kill, and she had her sights set on me because I’d killed her mate. Good one Ebony! Way to start your first mission.

“Well shit…” I managed to say then heard my radio announce on the open channel, “The birds are retreating, I want damage reports and all wounded to report to the mess hall. Medical has been cut off and damaged.” then I heard Commander Aquilla’s voice over Frost Haze’s personal channel “”What the hell happened in there? I need a report NOW. Is anypegasi alive in there?”

Frost spoke into her radio saying “Yes Commander we are alive. Thanks to Lieutenant Eclipse. I need a fire crew and a repair team to patch this accursed hole in my roof. I’m reporting to the mess hall with Eclipse asap.” she then turned to me and asked “Are you injured?”

“Just a bruise” I told her, feeling the pain throb hard in my back leg now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off. “Nothing major” but the dent had caused me to limp. I could feel the metal pressing deep into my muscle and I knew this wasn’t just a minor bruise. I’d live. But I really wanted my armor off! I pulled off my helmet and shook my braided mane. Much easier to see without it right now.

I helped Frost to her hooves and limped forward with her, through the rising smoke, coughing as it filled my lungs. Yeah I’d pay the price for my bold move, but I didn’t regret it. One less Sparrow was worth a bit of recovery time and smoke inhalation. I gazed down at the charred remains as we passed by.

“Seems that one, isn’t coming back from the dead” I mused, then dragged my Captain out of the smoke filled ruins towards Triage.

Author's Note

Footnotes:

Quotes from

Fallout Equestria Chapter 6 by Kkat
Fallout Equestria Project Horizons Chapter 4 by Somber