Fallout Equestria: Fallen Fortress

Pyro had taken the lead as the team continued to travel down the railroad towards Ghastly Gorge, blasting fire at any plant creature that came out of the forest. They began to hum a mysterious tune, but it sounded happy. Medic wondered if her Pyro Vision was still on, or if the pony world had somehow muted the effects. To answer his question, Pyro bent down to a flower, then opened a lighter and engulfed it in flames. “Poor Pyro, not even zis madness could save her from her hallucinations,” Medic muttered. As Ruby watched in horror as a very pretty flower turned black, then crumbled to dust. She leaned in towards Medic, and whispered,

“Is she ok?” Medic shook his head,

“I often vondered zat myself.” Blackout stood behind them, automatic weapon in wing. He could just pull the trigger. They didn’t even bother to take it from him. It’d be fast, they would even be able to see who did it. Just a twitch of a feather…

“Blackout, where are you from?” Ruby asked, shaking him from his murderous thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh, that, I don’t know. There wasn’t a name for where I was born. They say it was above the Everfree, so that’s what I tell ponies more often than not. Makes them treat me with respect.”

“Oh, Blackout. You already have my respect!” Ruby said. Blackout’s heart melted. He had only known her for a few minutes, but if anything were to happen to her, he would kill everything he could see, and then himself. Ruby bounced over and picked Archimedes off of Medic’s back, placed him on her head, and jumped onto Medic’s back,

“Whoa!” Medic nearly lost his balance, “Varn me before jou do zat next time.” Medic laughed. Pyro looked back and giggled at the sight, “Shut up!” Medic states with a smile, “Just because I’m doing zis doesn’t mean I haven't lost mein old habits.” Pyro just shrugs before returning to her task at hoof. Almost missing the drop-off, but stopping right at the edge of the cliff. Pyro takes a few steps back, “Since ven vere jou afraid of heights?” Medic asks as he walks over to the edge. He too backs up, “Whoa… Zat’s deep.” They had arrived at Ghastly Gorge.

To their left an old suspension bridge with the remains of the railroad tracks laid, clearly having seen better days, below was a dark chasm with a strong wind flowing through it. Pyro lights her horn and a small fire came to life like a torch. She then lowered it into the gorge. It came to rest by what looked like a large machine used in mining, “So… Vat can jou tell us about zis place, Blackout?” Medic asks as Pyro stops magically feeding the fire and it goes out, much to her disappointment,

“Well, I know it was one of Equestria’s main suppliers of gems with its mining operations.” Blackout commented as he confidently walked to the edge. Medic grabs him in his telekinetic grip and pulls him back,

“Nein! In jou current state, jou can’t fly through that strong of a wind, or probably fly at all.” Medic stated sternly, “Jou vill not risk it!” Blackout was a little surprised by Medic’s outburst but nodded,

“Geez, Sorry... Doc.” Medic frowned hearing his old nickname but shock it off. Pyro started to jump up and down with delight and Medic’s eyes go wide,

“Oh no! Bitte tell me jou didn’t-” An explosion cuts Medic off, “Jou did…”

“What did she do?” Ruby asks,

“She set zat large piece of machinery on fire, causing vatever fuel it had left to exploded.” Medic replied then the ground around them started to shake, “Vat now!?”

“Rock Eels! Do what you can to get away!” Blackout shouted and ran towards a ramp that led into the gorge. Medic ran and Pyro happily bounced after them. Ruby stood for a second, as two giant grey worms came out of the earth and soared into the air. They came slamming down, and Ruby sprinted towards Medic,

“W-wait for me!” Medic turned back at her distant voice, and he ran back for her. Pyro glanced back and saw the worms. She laughed,

“Playmates!” Medic faintly heard her cheer,

“Nein! For goodness sake!” Medic shouted, “Zese are not friendly entities!” Pyro pulled out her axe, ignoring Medic, and shouted a muffled,

“Come and play!” Medic was the only one who could understand what Pyro had said and he shivered with fear. Medic placed the filly back on his back and ran away from the crazed pyromaniac and two giant land eels. Blackout jumped over some rocks and slid under another Rock Eel that burst from the rocky walls. Medic skid to a stop as the creature opened its oddly green maw. Medic jumped back as the eel snapped at where he had just been,

“How many of zese zings are zere!?” Medic pulled out the shotgun and fired at the creature’s eyes. It screeches, rears up, and slaps its tail down, causing rocks to fall. Pyro pushes Medic and Ruby out of the way of one, of the rocks then stand, and swings her axe at the struggling, half blind eel. The eel backs up and falls down the cliff. Pyro says something in mild disappointment, but no one hears. Archimedes screeches up above in warning as Medic continued to run. More rocks rain down from the sky as another eel bursts from the rock wall above Medic and Ruby’s position. Medic feels something rise in him. A feeling of desire, to run. He hears Scout’s voice, ‘Let me, Doc. I can outrun these chuckle nuts!’ Medic embraces the feeling and the soul magic envelops him. Medic’s cutie mark changes to the baseball wrapped in electrical energy and strength fills his legs. He felt freedom, he felt joy… He wanted to run!

Ruby lurched as Medic suddenly gained speed, outrunning the falling rocks, and dodging the falling eel. Medic felt the urge to yell an insult but he rejected the immature cries of the Boston boy’s soul. He quickly caught up to Blackout and passed him. The pegasus stared in shock at the veteran doctor’s speed. Ruby cheers on Medic’s back, enjoying the feel of the wind in her mane. Then the wind seemed to stop. Ruby looked around and realized they arrived at the bottom of the gorge and they were racing the wind. The corpse of an eel landed in front of Medic with Pyro on its back and Medic screamed and skidded, trying to slow down. Medic tripped on a rock and landed on his face. In his head, Scout cries ‘Medic’ and Medic tells him to shut up. Medic’s horn lights up and the soul magic ends. Pyro walks up to Medic triumphantly,

“THAT WAS AWESOME!” Pyro cheered, her voice oddly not as muffled as before, “You just ran as fast, if not faster, than Scout ever did! Can we do it again!? Huh? Huh?” Medic puts a hoof to Pyro’s muzzle and feels the slightly broken nozzle of the mask,

“Zhat should be an easy fix…” Medic mutters, “Find a replacement nozzle und screw it on. Anyzing to not have jour high pitched voice in mein ears. Jou can be as bad as Scout vithout zat zing.” Pyro giggled and gave Medic a nose boop,

“I always have spare masks!” She opened a bag Medic hadn’t ever noticed before and out comes another mask and a pair of Pyro-vision goggles, “Engineer always had me carry an extra pair so I started carrying all of them.” Blackout, panting, finally caught up at this point,

“How did... You run that fast?” Blackout asks over the wind as Pyro undos the nozzle on her mask and the new mask, “Seriously! You’d have to be on Dash or something like it to reach those speeds!”

“Uh… Ja… I vas… Bit of a bad habit. Enhancements are fun…” Medic nervously chuckled,

“Give me your stash.” Blackout demands,

“Nein! I need zem in case of an emergency!” Medic acts offended, taking on some acts he had seen Spy accomplish when cornered. Medic grasped his saddlebags protectively acting as though he had what Blackout had mentioned, hoping that the strange butterfly marked medical boxes he opened back at the checkpoint had at least one of these ‘Dash’ drugs in there. Blackout grabbed Medic’s hoof, the one with the Pip-Buck, and opened something that Medic didn’t know existed. The inventory sorter. Scrolling through the many items marked in the computer, he stops on an icon marked Dash Inhaler, 4x. Blackout stops,

“Listen to me. I know what this stuff can do. You may feel great right now and that… You could run for miles. But this stuff will deteriorate your mind, make it what you require to live. You will become some wretch begging for the release that the drugs alone can give you. And let’s not even talk about the crash!” Medic zoned out of what Blackout was saying as a new voice tried to take over his mind,

“So… ‘Dash’ is like ‘Bonk’ only longer lasten’?” A new voice came from Medic’s lips and Blackout looked up just in time to see a sly grin and deep blue eyes start to fade back to the icy blue and a look of worry of Medic. Medic gripped his head and shouted,

“Shut up Scout!” Blackout’s eyes went wide hearing this,

“You had a Scout?” Blackout’s question goes unnoticed as Medic started a conversation back and forth with the boy in his head,

“Come on Doc! If it’s anything like Bonk than I have to try it!”

“Nein! I am in control here! It’s bad enough for me to take it! But I am old und jou are young, jou have a whole life ahead of jou!”

“You mean had!”

“Vatever! I still von’t let jou take it!”

“One puff can’t be that bad!” A new voice pops in, this one being Spy,

“Trust me, boy. One puff is all it takes.” Spy commented, “Now will you two please stop arguing and notice we aren’t under attack by giant worms anymore? That is a little weird, is it not?” Medic finally regained control and sighed with relief. He then looked up and saw that all was quiet, no rocks were falling, and no giant rock eels were ‘running’ around, “I don’t like this.” Spy mutters and Medic nods,

“Ja… Zat’s a little weird.” Medic then notices the hoof waving in front of his face, “Vat? Blackout?”

“Are you done talking to the voices in your head?” The pegasus asks and Medic flushed with embarrassment,

“Ja… Sorry, zis sort of zings happens every once in a while.” Ruby giggled at Medic’s reaction to Blackout’s comment. Blackout shakes his head and turns around,

“The fancy voice is right...” Blackout said looking around, “Whatever’s down here the worms don’t like and I get the feeling we don’t want to meet, him, her, or it.” Ruby shivers in fear but calms down a little when Archimedes lands on her head. Pyro gave out a muffled ‘aww’ before sitting up straight and looking around,

“Pyro?” Medic asks, fear in his voice, “Vat’s ze matter?” Pyro was staring stone-faced (Like always with the mask on) at one of the nearby caves, “Blackout? Vat othzer creatures live in Ghastly Gorge other than zose eels?”

“None that were ever recorded… Unless Diamond Dogs moved in.” Blackout replies,

“Diamond Dogs? I assume zey can eat gems?” Blackout tapped his chin,

“Not sure. It was never recorded… Then again we never did take the time to study them. I do know they were kicked out of their homes in Maripony.” Medic shook his head,

“Ponies kicked othzer creatures out of zeir homes? Boy does zat sound familiar.” Medic’s mind heads back to World War Two and the actions of his fellow Germans against the Jews, their items, and most importantly, their homes. Medic sighs, “I pity zem.”

“Why?” Ruby asks from his back,

“It’s not ze first time I’ve seen a race be kicked out of zeir homes for just being different… Vat’s vorse is I had to help vith zose terrible zings or face death for treason. Zen zey tricked me into doing zose horrendous experiments on zem and- and-” Medic stopped, somewhat shaking. They didn’t need to hear that. Blackout stares at Medic in shock. Pyro walks up and starts to rub Medic’s back comfortingly, while Ruby hugs Medic, “I’m sorry… Zat’s in ze past. I should not dwell on it.” Medic lets out a deep sigh,

“Who was it that Celestia or Luna kicked from their homes?” Blackout asks,

“Zat’s not important… It von’t change anyzing zat has happened, or affect anyzing zat vill happen.” Medic replies glumly,

“True, but I still want to know.” Blackout replies,

“I’m not telling jou und zat’s final!” Medic’s shout echoes across the walls of the gorge and his companions flinch. Pyro’s eyes return to the cave she was looking at earlier and she starts to tremble, “Pyro? Vat’s wrong?”

“Devil Dogs,” Pyro says with her common muffled voice,

“Devil Dogs? Don’t jou mean-” Medic’s eyes fall on a pair of amber eyes gazing back at him. A dog many times the size of the ponies sitting there gazed back, a glowing gun in its paws, pointed at Medic “Oh scheisse!” The dog welding the magical energy weapon opened fire at the small team of ponies.

Blackout jumped into the air, somehow holding himself up on injured wings, and opened fire with his weaponry. Ruby dashed behind a rock, cowering under heavy fire. Medic dodged the blast and pulled out Spy’s revolver, launching his assault. Blam, blam, blam. Three shots right at the Dog’s face and the thing didn’t even flinch, even as a small amount of blood flowed out of its cheek. Medic is vaguely reminded of how Heavy never backed down no matter how much damage was taken. This creature was doing the same, “Not good! Ve need to retreat!” Medic shouted up at Blackout as the Pegasus took another shot from his battle saddle,

“Why!? We can take it.” Blackout responded,

“Nein! We can’t!” Medic jumps to the side to dodge another shot then ducks as one goes over his head. There wasn’t just one dog in the cave. Pyro started screaming and ran for the ramp on the other side of the Gorge, Ruby followed. Medic fired the last three shots at the dog he could see before running after the two of them and reloading. Blackout glided over on his slightly repaired wings following after the other two ponies. After running a certain distance another rock eel appeared from the wall,

“This is no time to play!” Pyro ‘mmphs’ at the eel and tries to jump over it only slamming into its side. The eel let out a roar and whacked Pyro over the edge of the platform they were on. Pyro pulls out the flame thrower and air blasts at the ground to save herself. Medic watched in fear as one of the Devil Dogs, as Pyro had called them, started walking over to her, gun pointed at her head. The dog fired and Pyro got surrounded in some green energy before turning into a pile of glowing green goop. Ruby screamed but Medic couldn’t move after what he had seen. Blackout had to whack Medic in the back of the head to get him to move,

“Focus, Song!” Blackout shouted using part of Medic’s pony name, “You're lucky I manage to scare that eel away in your moment of stupor.” Medic looked over to Bloody Ruby who was shaking terribly and a wave of guilt floods Medic’s heart, “Stop standing there and get moving!” Blackout shouts over the wind. Medic runs over and picks up Ruby placing her on his back. Archimedes flies over and snuggles into Medic’s saddle bags, “Hurry up!” Medic runs, not looking back even as the Devil Dogs start howling… In Terror? Medic looks back and watches in horror as Pyro starts to swing her axe at the dogs. Some swings hitting, but it didn’t look like she meant to cause harm. She was just scaring them so she could get away. Pyro then ran up the ramp that Medic, Blackout, and Bloody Ruby were on. Medic couldn’t believe his eyes, just a second ago he was certain she was dead. Yet there she was, running to meet up with them.

Medic steadied himself emotionally. I can do zis, I can do zis. He thought. He remembered that he bargained away a soul. Of course, it was Pyro’s, she was a demon in her own right. She must’ve scared the hell out of the devil, literally. Medic could see a scorch mark where her cutie mark should be. There were tallies there. One looked fresh. Oh no, Pyro, vat did you do…? Medic finished reloading Spy’s revolver and aimed. He only had four shots left for the thing, but he was certain the Devil Dogs were worth spending the heavy caliber bullets.

The first bullet left the chamber in a gaseous explosion. It traveled through the air at [Insert velocity of a revolver bullet here] heading straight for the heart of the enemy. It punctured the light skin, the underbelly, of the Devil Dog right where his heart should have been if Medic remembered anatomy correctly. The Dog stopped and suddenly fell still, lying in a pool of slowly spreading blood. Medic pulled the hammer back and aimed again. This time, something on his Pip-buck flashed. “S.A.T.S. ACTIVATED.” something chirped from it. Suddenly, a green outline and a percentage surrounded the dogs, Medic assumed it was a chance. At this close of a distance, maybe 20 meters, Medic could easily see why the numbers were all 80% or higher. Medic choose one Devil Dog, aimed at his hand, and fired. The Computer-guided bullet left cleanly, bucking the gun back in Medic’s faltering telekinesis. The chances didn’t fail Medic, as the bullet clipped the artery in the Devil Dogs arm. Instantaneously, the Dog dropped his weapon and started screaming. The other devil dogs began to back away. Two losses in a matter of seconds was dangerous. They began to flee, one or two at a time but eventually, with the terror of the mad axe-swinging pony and the true shot doctor, they decided it was best for a tactical retreat. They dug into the ground and vanished.

Medic never dropped his gun once as they left. He still had two bullets left in the chamber. As the last one left, Medic unloaded the bullets from the revolver and slid the safety slide over to green. Suddenly, as the battle ended, (The rock eel had disappeared,) sounds of congratulations emerged from all sides. The first thing Medic could decipher was Heavy’s giant laughter, then his congratulations. “Good shooting, doctor!” Then Spy with his respectful tone, “Admirable shot.” Scout, because he was loud. “Yeah, doc, imagine yourself on one of them combat puffs! You’d be unstoppable!” Soldier and Demo were both drunk somehow and singing sea shanties, but somehow Medic was fighting a Kraken and winning. Then it was Sniper, but Medic simply felt him nod. Medic turned his attention outwards and noticed Ruby bouncing up and down. “That was awesome! Terrifying, but awesome! Let’s never do that again!” Medic could only laugh. Blackout said nothing. Medic was beginning to have second thoughts about keeping him around.

“Danke, Ruby. Jou’re just too kind.” Pyro walked up to where they were and slung her weaponry across her back. She had an odd assortment and could see a tiny toy badge on her chest, something he hadn’t noticed before. It was an infernal orchestra, and Medic smiled. Pyro gave him a pat on the back. “Jou know, Pyro, we do have something to discuss.”

Blackout was once again thinking about murder. The way he was facing, he could bite on the saddle once, and both the masked one and the doc would go down. But with one seemingly invincible, and with Ruby around, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. He would have to find a subtler method…
“We have something to discuss, Pyro, was it?” Medic nodded.
“Ja. Pyro, jou died.” Pyro stared blankly. Medic could now see there was 12 marks on the flame-retardant suit. Did that mean she…
“Mmph hmph huddah mph-” Medic stopped Pyro.
“Slow down. You know I can’t-” A rumble interrupted him. It stopped almost as soon as it started. “Fine, we vill discuss zis later, as soon as we get out of here.”
“Mmph.” Was her affirmative. Blackout stared across the gorge.
“My base is just up ahead.” Blackout said. Soon enough, the foul deed would be in somepony else's hooves.

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