There is only one thing in life I have always known to be a certainty. If you obey, everything will be alright.

I have been in the Grand Pegasus Enclave longer than I care to admit, and admittedly longer than I probably even knew. It was the only life I had ever known, or ever would know for that matter. Duty, honour, courage, obedience. These were the standards in which I had held myself to while serving under the command of Colonel Harbinger, and they were the standards in which I intended to take to my very grave.

Over the years I had done hundreds of missions for the Enclave. Reconnaissance, battles, tracking down Pegasi turned dashite, whatever the Enclave required, I was there to serve. I never asked questions, never was much for talk at all really. If I was told to do something, I just did it. It was as simple as that. Life is easier that way. The world doesn't make sense a lot of the time, but following orders are easy.

For the Enclave, I had gone below our saviour, the great cloud layer, a few times, though only ever for short missions. Prolonged exposure to the radiation and taint below the clouds was something I greatly intended to avoid, and the Enclave had laws about ponies that went below the clouds. The last thing that I wanted was to become a dashite. There is no greater shame in my opinion, than being a traitor. So that was the rule. Don't go below the cloud layer unless ordered to, and defiantly don't stay down there for long.

But today… Today was an exception to that rule.

I pulled my insectoid helmet off the bench beside me and expertly secured it to my head, completing my suit of fully enclosed, black Enclave power armour. I stood straight for a moment, my head held high as I let the heavy metal places shift properly into position around me before I once more leaned down and retrieved my large Novasurge rifle.

I took another moment to make sure it was properly secured to my battle saddle before finally taking a step back, turning to look out the large window of the Thunderhead at the vile wasteland below.

What a waste, I thought to myself, my concealed eyes lingering on a particularly nasty looking patch of radiation. What an absolute waste.

We were currently flying over the ruins of a place that had once been known as Splendid Valley. I had seen a picture of the place once, lush and full of life. It looked nothing light that now. Now, the twisted hellscape was pitted with holes, entrances to more elaborate systems of tunnels created by mutant abominations called Hellhounds. The trees that had survived the war survived in the form of dead, withered, charred husks, more akin to the fractured rib cage of a dead, ripped open animal than actual trees. Far below, I could see a glowing crater where the megaspell had hit the valley two hundred years ago, glowing with a sinister looking green.

Clearly the Enclave had been right, the wasteland was beyond saving.

“Well look at you,” A chipper voice spoke up, inciting me to turn my head to glance behind me where I could see a smaller pegasus mare in grey enclave fatigues that was trotting up to me. She had a windswept yellow mane had been pinned back behind her hat to keep out of her green eyes and her white coat that seemed to practically gleam in the artificial light of the Thunderhead. “All dressed up and ready to take on another mission… The power armour looks good on you.”

“The power armour will serve its intended purpose as it always does, Skylight” I noted stoically, pivoting fully from the window to face her. “You have seen me in my armour many times. My appearance should come as no surprise to you.”

Skylight gave me a flat, but playful look. “Admittedly, I think I see you in your armour more than I see you. I can’t remember the last time I actually saw your face,” She snarked, trotting a little closer to me and booping me on the tip of my armoured muzzle with a hoof. I just stared back at her, unflinching from the touch. She gave a small smirk and roll of her eyes at my lack of response before lowering her hoof and tapping it against the symbol of a circle of stars surrounding a capital E with a pair of pegasus wings reaching out from either side of it on my power armours left breastplate. “But I was referring more to this. Congrats on the Promotion, Prance Horrigan. Grand Pegasus Enclave Secret Service. You earned it.”

“My promotion will allow me to further aid the Enclave in its mission, yes,” I agreed flatly, a small flare of pride swelling inside my chest if not in my voice. “I am eager to serve fully at Colonel Harbingers side.”

Skylight nickered at me. “You really are the poster pony of the Enclave, huh?”

I narrowed my eyes a little, unsure what exactly she meant by that. “What are you doing here?” I demanded, my helmeted gaze sweeping over her. “The last I heard, you were supposed to be preparing to head for Canterlot Castle.”

“I finished early. I’ll be leaving in a few moments,” she swiftly answered. “I just thought I’d quickly drop by to see you off. First mission as Harbingers second in command is pretty special…” She glanced down, shuffling her hooves together nervously for a long moment before stealing herself and glancing back up. “Hey, uh... After all of this is done and we’re back safe above the clouds, do you want to catch lunch with me some time...? When you’re off duty, of course.”

I raised an eyebrow at her, though I knew she couldn’t see the action from behind my helmet. “Catch lunch?”

Skylight opened her mouth to respond, but before she could a different voice spoke up, drawing our attention to the entrance of the room where another pegasus mare, this one clad in a full suit of dark Enclave carapace power armour like me, stood at attention. “Horrgan, Colonel Harbinger wants you ready for deployment, now.”

I quickly jumped to attention, my wing snapping up into a salute. “Thank you Ambrosia. I’ll report to him right away,” I turned back to glance at Skylight. “We can continue this meeting upon completion of our objectives.”

Skylight rolled her eyes a little at that. “Yeah yeah,” her face flushed a little for reasons I was not quite sure. “Love you, Prance.”

“Indeed,” I grunted stoically, marching to the doorway to stand beside Ambrosia. The metal door slid shut behind me, blocking my view of Skylight.

I could hear Ambrosia chuckling softly from behind her power armour. “Quite the mare you got there.”

“She doesn’t work for me,” I stated factually, not quite sure what she was getting at. “Skylight serves under Colonel Thunderbolt.”

“Huh, it really is true what they say about you, isn’t it,” Ambrosia nickered as she began leading me down a long corridor to the Raptor boarding bay. “Most loyal Pegasus of the whole Enclave. I wonder if what they say about your combat abilities are true as well…”

“This is a peace meeting,” I informed her as we rounded a corridor and passed a few Enclave soldiers that were hurrying to get into their own power armour. We weren't expecting a fight, but it didn't hurt to be prepared. “There should be no violence necessary.”

“Of Course not,” Ambrosia grimaced, glancing away briefly. “But still, I look forward to getting to fight by your side in future battles.” The two of us continued walking in silence for a bit, the only noise being that of our metal clad hooves as we marched onwards. After a long moment, Ambrosia once more broke the silence. “So why love the Enclave as much as you do? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the Enclave, but it takes a certain amount of passion to have the dedication to it that you do.”

I glanced over at her for a second, my expression unreadable from behind the insectoid helmet of my power armour. Finally, I just grunted and kept walking. Ambrosia paused for a second at the response, before chuckling to herself and skipping a little to keep stride with me.

Only a few moments later, we were boarding the Raptor. Another fully armoured Enclave trooper had joined us as we stood at attention, hooves firmly planted and left wing raised to our brows as Colonel Harbinger trotted on board. I had seen Harbinger hundreds of times, having served most of my missions for the Enclave under him, yet his elegance never seemed to disappoint me. He was a stately pegasus with a dusk-coloured hide. His barding, grey in colour, held a sophisticated, sleek, military elegance to it and his very presence seemed to demand respect.

“At ease,” Harbinger ordered, coming to a slow stop before us as the Raptors entrance slid shut and the large airship began to break away from the Thunderhead. “You all know the objective?”

“Sir, yes sir,” We shouted, our voices synced enough that had one not paid close enough attention, it would have sounded like a singular, unified voice.

“Good,” Harbinger cooed, a small smile across his muzzle. He turned, facing towards the head of the Raptor. “Pilot, take us in towards Maripony.”

I could feel the Raptor tilt beneath my hooves as it angled down in a quick descent towards the looming structure. I glanced out the window, first at the direction we had come from, making out the visage of the massive Thunderhead and the hundreds of Raptor ships that swarmed around it in a unified fashion. I shifted my gaze, letting my eyes land on our destination. Maripony, a massive looming structure of metal suspended over a gaping schism in the ground. A baleful green glow emanated out from beneath it, casting the whole building in a vile, imposing light. I saw hundreds of alicorns gathering around the building, their horns glowing and their gaze turned upwards to watch us as our ship descended towards them. They were all just standing and staring at us mindlessly.

Mutant abominations, I thought to myself grimly. Those Alicorns freaked even me out. I knew this was a peace meeting, but a part of me hoped that we slaughtered every last one of those Muties.

There was a loud thunking sound as the Enclave Raptor touched down upon the jagged landscape before the monolithic structure of Maripony. There was a hiss of steam as the metal, sealed doorway once more slid open, giving us access to the hellscape beyond.

Ambrosia and I existed first, our weapons drawn and ready for any would be attackers. I glared one of the alicorns down, the muscles in my withers tensing beneath my armour as I waited for them to attack. The alicorns however, seemed to have little interest in approaching us. They all kept their distance, their slitted gaze glaring at us stoically.

“They give you a run for your bits on who’s more emotionless,” Ambrosia quipped at me, her own gaze locked on the nearest Alicorn, a tall green mutant with golden slitted eyes.

“Do not joke on the job,” I grunted back, not even bothering to look at her. “We are here to keep Colonel Harbinger protected, nothing more.”

Ambrosia gave a nod of understanding before shutting up.

Harbinger exited the Raptor next, the third Enclave trooper marching close behind him, their own weapon raised and ready to fire at a moments notice. Finally, at the sight of Colonel Harbinger exiting the Raptor, an alicorn approached us, this one a large Purple alicorn with pitch black eyes.

“You are Colonel Harbinger of the Enclave?” The alicorn asked. It sounded more like a statement than a question.

“Indeed. I am here to speak with the goddess,” Harbinger smiled, looking up at the mutant. I could see his wings shift slightly at his sides, his dusk-coloured feathers brushing us against a magical energy revolver he had tucked under his coat.

“She is expecting you,” The alicorn nodded, turning and leading us towards the massive, crumbling building.

Colonel Harbinger took point, calmly striding forwards as the rest of us quickly fell in step behind him, our weapons slowly sweeping back and forth. Two more alicorns, these ones a midnight-blue in colour, swooped down from above and taking up defensive positions behind us.

The alicorns lead us straight into the heart of Maripony. We trotted through dark, warped steel hallways, swarming with dozens of alicorn drones before finally entering into a massive chamber that lay at the very centre of the building. The chamber was filled with six huge vats, though only two still remained fully intact, falling debris having destroyed them long ago. The vats at one point had been interconnected by wires and catwalks, and the two still intact vats were filled with a stange, churning liquid that glowed with an eerie luminescents.

Taint, I remembered the file on Maripony reading.

Long since broken arcane apparatuses dangled from the cracked, semi caved in ceiling and long catwalks ringed around the massive vats while others, mostly broken, extended above them. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, sludge and rubble, the jagged mounds of debris casting twisted, evil looking shadows across the chambers already warped walls.

My eyes instantly went to the central vat, swirls of multi-coloured light seeping from the sloshing stew within. The giant warped face of what looked to have been a once blue unicorn mare had emerged from the depths of the vat, small motes of other ponies faces squirmed and bursting across the sludgy surface of the goddess like puss filled zits before sinking back into her. Tendrils of inky fluid burbled over the side of the vat, forming strange, grotesque hooves and tentacles, as if the goddess was filled to the brim with drowning ponies trying to break free from her slimy embrace.

To my surprise, the goddess was not alone in the chamber. Another mare stood before the Goddess. Well, perhaps not stood before her. The mare was floating, her small horn glowing as she held herself telekinetically over the sloshing vats. She was a grey mare, small in size with a ruffed up brown mane and tail. She wore Stable barding over her body and I could make out the image of a pipbuck on her flank.

She seemed to be backing away from the goddess, her magic having just tossed some strange object into the murky vat of taint below her. Was it a book she had thrown in? It was hard to tell. Whatever it had been however, it was gone now. I doubted anything could survive being submerged in that much taint.

The mare backpedaled, frantically moving away from the Goddess. Their gaze was locked on whatever they had just tossed into the taint, I doubted the mare even saw us enter.

Thump.

The mare backed into me, her backside pressing up against the large metal plating of my power armour. The mare gave a startled eep, the levitation magic around her horn imploding and dropping her knee deep into the mucky lake of taint below her. She spun around, her eyes wide with fear as she looked up at us, seeing her only exit blocked off.

I narrowed my eyes at the small mare, my Novasurge rifle shifting to aim down at her. I didn’t trust wastelanders. Any sudden moves and I would vaporize her where she stood.

Colonel Harbinger however, ignored the frantic mare, his gaze focused on the monstrous form of the Goddess before us. He had more important things to deal with than wasteland savages. “Greetings, Goddess,” Harbinger called out, seeming to be completely unfazed by the impressive light show currently spilling off of the Goddess. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Harbinger, and I am here on behalf of the Enclave.”

At his words, all three of us stomped down on the ground with our hooves, our chest swelling and our heads raising in pride. We were the Grand Pegasus Enclave, and at last, we had come to fulfill our liberation of the Wasteland.

Much like Harbingers ignorance of the unicorn mare, the Goddess seemed to have more important things on her mind…

{{CHILDREN! FLEE!!!}}

This was not the reaction we had anticipated from the Goddess, but I understood her fear. The Enclave was not something to defy.

“There is no need to flee,” Harbinger calmly assured the abomination. “We mean you no harm. In fact, I have come to offer you an alliance between the Enclave and the Goddess…”

Below us, I saw the small mare freeze at that, her jaw dropping open in shock. She stared back and forth between us and the Goddess, an expression of sheer horror across her face. “Wait… what?!”

{{FLY, MY CHILDREN!! SAVE YOURSELVES!!}}

My gaze shifted back briefly to look up at the Goddess as she lashed about in her bubbling vat. Odd. I had expected the great and powerful Goddess to be more defiant and brave.

“We have recently become aware of what the pony named Red Eye is doing,” Harbinger continued, his brows furrowed in concentration as he tried to enrapture the Goddesses attention. It was not like ponies to ignore the Grand Pegasus Enclave like this. “We know he opposes you and his plans to overthrow you. His intentions with the towers pose a clear and imminent danger to the Enclave and its citizens. His intentions are nothing short of an act of war.”

I saw the mare below us prancing back and forth, her head whipping to and fro. Likely they were trying to spot some sort of escape route. I shifted my position slightly, making sure to block her off as much as possible. No pony would leave here until Harbinger said so.

“But the Enclaves military is…” Harbinger paused for a second, allowing himself a small chuckle, “...let us just say ‘formidable’. Should we combine our efforts, I have no doubts that we can deal with Red Eye and eliminate the threat he poses in its entirety. Swiftly… And With the threat of Red Eye and his plots wiped away,” he paused again, this time letting a smug grin stretch across his face. “You can rule all of Equestria below unchallenged. And we will all know peace in our time.”

At those words, the small mare below us broke into a full on gallop, their horn glowing as they launched themselves up to one of the catwalks and began rushing for what appeared to be an observation room on the far wall of the chamber.

Shit! She was probably going to try and warn other wasteland savages about what she had heard! I locked onto her with my rifle, waiting for harbinger to give the order to execute her.

“What is she doing?” Harbinger asked, his eyes darting to glare at the stable pony as if seeing her for the first time. “Ambrosia, after her!”

Jumping into action at once, Ambrosia spread her wings and launched herself into the air, swooping after the mare at top speed. I let my aim on the Stable mare shift away. Harbinger had commanded another to do the deed.

Harbinger followed the chase for a second with his eyes before turning his gaze back to the Goddess. There was no doubt in our minds that Ambrosia would deal with the wastelander quickly. Unicorns weren’t nearly strong enough to stand a chance against the Enclaves' technological might and intense military training. Especially an inexperienced stable dweller.

“As I was saying,” Harbinger sighed, returning to the more important topic at hoof. “I think you will find the terms of our alliance to be most beneficial to you.”

Across from us, I saw Ambrosia land in front of the door to the observation room. “Hold!” She barked at the Stable dweller, folding in her wings as she trotted through the doorway and out of sight. “I said hold! As in freeze right where you're fucking standing or I’ll turn you into a glowing pile of soup!”

{{CHILDREN! FLY NOW! GET TO SAFETY!!}}

The other Enclave trooper standing with me cast a nervous glance at me before gulping and turning to Harbinger. “I think we should get out of here, now.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Harbinger snarled, glaring at the armoured trooper before returning his gaze to the Goddess and letting his smile once more settle across his face. “As I said, there is no reason to flee. The Enclave has come as allies. We have no intentions of harming you or your children. Indeed our forces are great, but-”

{{GREAT!?}}

At that seemingly specific word, the Goddess finally shifted her looming head to glare down at us, her mouth twisting into impossible shapes as her voice echoed around inside of our minds. We all took a step back, taken by surprise by the sudden amount of power and hate that seemed to surge towards us from her presence alone.

{{THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS DOES NOT FEAR YOUR ENCLAVE!}}

Then, as if she had once more forgotten about us entirely, she turned her monstrous gaze skyward, more zit-like pony forms trying to push their way from her shifting form as she once more began screeching for her children to escape.

“Colonel, we really should get out of here,” The Enclave Trooper beside me repeated, this time a loud tremor traveling through their voice. “I- I don’t like this. This isn’t going according to plan…”

“You will stand your ground until Colonel Harbinger tells you otherwise,” I snarled, turning to face him. The glowing eyes of my insectoid helmet seemed to cut straight through the subordinates soul and my bladed tail swished back and forth behind me menacingly. "Now fly steady!"

In front of us, I could tell that Colonel Harbinger was beginning to lose it a little as well. He stomped his fore hooves on the ground in front of him, his eyes narrowing at the Goddess. “Goddess, I demand that you answer me at once!” He ordered, his voice booming loud enough to echo around the chamber.

Instantly, tendrils of taint shot from the glowing vat, slamming into all three of us and pinning us to the wall. I felt the Enclave power armour around me sizzle and meld to my flesh at the very touch.

{{YOU ARE NOT THE MASTER OF THE MIGHTY GODDESS! MY FINAL ACTS SHALL NOT BE STAND IDLY BY WHILE LITTLE PONIES DEMAND ME OBEY THEM!!!}}

I felt the slimy tendrils around me constrict, burning away at my armour. My built in geiger counter went haywire, click click clicking faster and faster as I began taking in more rads than I thought was even possible.

Beside me, I saw Harbinger scream, the front of his withers burned open by the deadly taint. My armoured subordinate had already dropped to the floor, their head now a pulped steaming mess of bubbling flesh.

I gave a loud shout, my Novasurge rifle flaring and blasting through the thick, sludgy appendage. The goddesses tendril around me recoiled, dropping me back to the slanted catwalk with a loud thud. I dove forwards, my wings flapping at my sides as I rushed to aid my fallen leader, only to find that all my feathers had been burned away, leaving my wings as useless stumps.

Another tendril of taint lashed out, catching me across the chest and sending me flying backwards. I slammed into the wall, cracks shooting up the crumbling structure from the impact. I struggled to regain my balance when the tendril rammed into me again, this time wrapping tight around my hind hoof and reefing me up into the air. I struggled, trying to twist around to fire at that tendril too. It didn’t work, my bulky armour making bending that far impossible.

I felt myself swing out over open air. I glanced down, making out the glowing taint of one of the vats below me. The squirming shapes of ponies writhed within the sickly sludge, their mucky hooves reaching out desperately as if wanting to drag me down into the depths with them.

The tendril around me released and I was sent plummeted downwards into the taint, my featherless wings beating at the air frantically as I tried to take flight. a scream escaped my lips, and for the first time in years, I felt true fear grip me.

My eyes clenched shut seconds before I plunged into the gunk. I could feel taint surging through every opening in my armour, warping my flesh, distorting my bones. Dark fluids burbled up into my helmet, obscuring my vision and forcing its way down my mouth and nose. I gasped out, only for more taint to surge down my throat.

I thrashed, struggling to swim out of the vile substance, only for the writhing hooves to reach out and drag me under. I struggled a moment more, pushed onwards by nothing else but willpower and determination as my limbs began to dissolve. Then, with one final gasp for breath, I was consumed by the churning waves.

There was a loud bloom of baleful green light and a loud rumbling boom comparable only to that of a thunder clap as the looming monolith of Maripony was blown apart by the expanding green mushroom cloud. The rising cloud could be seen for hundreds of miles, ash and radioactive dust getting kicked up into the air around it, filling the whole of Splendid Valley in a dark cloud of ash before that too was blasted away by the coinciding shockwave that rippled across the landscape.

Huge cracks spiderwebbed out across the desolate expanse, radioactive green light spilling from them and already crumbling ruins collapsing down into the ruptured terrain. Fire raced across the sky, vaporizing all nearby pegasi and alicorns in seconds. Their screams were cut short as their bodies were rendered to little more than charred bones. Raptors were torn from the sky, bursting apart and raining debris down upon the valley as pegasi screamed and tried to pull themselves from the deathtraps. Even the hulking Thunderhead was blown to shreds, its massive hull crashing down towards the desolation below.

The explosion raged on for minutes, balefire racing across Splendid Valley and ash raining down upon the areas beyond. When it finally stopped, when the looming green cloud finally dissipated into the night, everything went silent. Nothing moved, because nothing was left alive.

Author's Note

I know, I know. What am I doing, starting another FO:E fic while still writing my other one? But don't worry, this fic should be significantly shorter, both in the amount of chapters and in chapter length, so hopefully that should make writing both fairly easy.

I am still surprised to this day that no fic I'm aware of has tried to tackle the character of Frank Horrigan in the world of Fallout: Equestria. Welp, I decided it was time to make one. Enjoy and have a great day.