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

1. Fallout Equestria Chapter 6 by Kkat

2. Fallout Equestria Project Horizons Chapter 4 by Somber