“Goooood mornin’ wasteland! You’re listening to your favourite disk jockey, your master of ceremonies, the one an’ only, DJ Pon3! An’ have I got a lot of news t' report!

“Now I know a lot of you out there have been keeping your eyes on the sky these past few weeks, watching out for the gosh darn Enclave an’ their monster of the wasteland, a pony I have come t’ understand was named Prance Horrigan. An’ you’ve all been watching out for good reason. From what I’ve heard, it sounds like the Enclave had been planning something big! Apparently they were developing some sort of IMP virus that was going to wipe out all life in the wasteland. I know, I know, I can’t make this shit up! But it doesn’t stop there, oh no! I just got word they managed to acquire a stockpile of active Megaspells an' were readying t' launch them across the wasteland!

“But ponies, before you go running about in a panic, screamin’ about the end times and hoarding up on food as you hunker down in your bunker, listen close, because I’m not here tonight t’ tell you ‘bout the end of the world. Quite the opposite. I’m happy t' announce that the all mighty Enclave was not only stopped, but blown sky fuckin’ high!

“You see children, that new Stable mare hero I’ve been telling you all about, the one fighting that good fight an’ followin’ in the hoof steps of everyponies favourite lightbringer, rallied a small army around her three days ago an’ laid siege against the Enclaves main base of operations; an oil rig just off the cost of Manehattan. It sounds like it was a hell of a fight, an’ yes, that massive bright light y'all saw on the horizon was indeed the oil rig going up in a big ol’ megaspell explosion. Sounds like the Enclave got blown up by the very same megaspells they had been planning to drop on all of us! Talk about poetic irony! I don’t know what it is about these stable mares, but they love setting balefire bombs off right where the Enclave least expects it. So send out a thanks to your local wasteland heroines and remember just why we’re all safe for another day.

“Now, unfortunately, this is where the news starts t’ get a little sad. I’m still collecting all the details and accounts I can on the incident, and I’m hoping t’ be able t’ paint a clearer picture for all my faithful listeners sometime in the comin’ weeks, but from what I understand, it doesn’t sound like our stable friend made it out of the blast alive. I know, the wasteland is a cruel place, and we’ve all watched more heroes succumb to its violence than we can count, but I’m not here to tell you hope is lost. These are real ponies out there right now children, fighting a fight that not all that long ago, we didn’t think we could win. The lightbringer showed us a path that was worth walkin’, and I’ve seen more and more ponies these past two years rise t' meet that challenge than ever before. The good fight is a slow fight, children, an' we don’t always get t' make it out alive, but that’s what makes it the good fight. It’s what separates us from ponies like the Enclave. Ponies like the monstrous Prance Horrigan an' his superiors. There’s no fast way to get rid of all the bad in the world, but if we all stand together, follow in the example of ponies like the lightbringer an’ our fallen Stable mare hero, we can push that bad away. We can make the world better. Not perfect, but better. An’ maybe, when our time has come an’ gone, our children can have peace in their time.

“But is the Enclave really gone for good, I hear you all asking. Well, I don’t think I can give you a definitive answer as of yet. Last I heard, a single Enclave Raptor was spotted flying away from the oil rig, heading west. Where are they going? Appaloosa? Las Pegasus? And how many ponies were onboard? A dozen? A hundred? Do we got a whole Enclave army packed away in that one little air craft like a can of sardines that we’re going t’ have t’ worry about? Unlikely, but only time will tell. At the very least, it’s going t’ be a long time before the Enclave can garner enough strength t’ attempt another stunt like this.

“Now, I hesitate t' mention this, as the accounts I’ve gathered on the subject are finicky at best, but from what ponies have been tellin’ me, it sounds like Prance Horrigan, that nightmare of metal and flesh himself, was amongst the casualties of the ponies that died in the oil rig explosion! Hallelujah ponies! Our mighty Stable mare champion of the wastes may be gone, but she left us with one hell of a parting gift. Thank you Stable mare, your service has not gone unnoticed! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen something as awful and irredeemable as Prance Horrigan stalking the wastes, so I know I’ll rest better at night, knowing that monster is gone for good.

“In other news, the ponies of Libertalia are slowly recovering from their near death encounter with the terrifying Prance Horrigan. Already, the small settlement is beginning to rebuild. I was fortunate enough to have a quick chat with the mayor of the fine settlement, mayor Seawater, an’ he seems confident the town will be livable once more within the month, thanks t’ the unexpected collaboration the settlers have fostered with the Applejack Rangers in the light of the battle against the Enclave. Mayor Seawater is even thinking of expanding; mentioned something ‘bout a floating city that can actually sail around the Celestial Sea. Imagine that. The ingenuity of pony kind never ceases t’ amaze me.

“The wasteland is a changing landscape these days, children. We’ve watched it transform from a lifeless husk of land to one filled with violence, regression and hatred, but we’ve also seen it change for the better too. Despite all the bad you’re seeing out there children, know that though it comes at a cost, it comes with something we haven’t seen in hundreds of years as well. Hope. So rise up with us brothers. Stand beside us sisters. Hold steadfast and loyal t’ those closest t’ you. The lightbringer showed us the light at the end of the tunnel, an’ now it’s all our duty t’ reach it together. T’ honour those that have fallen before us t’ clear that path, such as our wayward stable mare hero, an’ to find courage in a world where it seems like the darkness will never end.

Icewind tucked her wings against her side as she gently dove down towards the crumbling bits of slag that jutted from the crashing waves like shattered ribs. Beside her, Skylight scanned the waters, her narrowed eyes sweeping back and forth behind her visor as she searched for any signs of life.

After a long moment, they swooped down, their hooves reaching out as they came for a landing on a large chunk of metal. One of the only remaining sections of the Enclave’s oil rig. There was a hollow ringing across the expanse as their metal power armoured hooves touched down on the darkened, half melted platform of metal and brine.

“You’re not going to find anything,” Icewind muttered, helping as Skylight began combing through the rubble, lifting blackened slabs of metal aside with the enhanced strength of her insectoid power armour. Even with the power armour, their geiger counters were clicking away ominously.

“I know,” Skylight sighed, still pushing through the rubble. “But I need to at least check. He deserves that much.”

“Does he?”

Skylight didn’t respond, simply turning her back and continuing to dig. After a second of watching her, Icewind gave a sigh of her own and moved to help lift aside a larger chunk of what she could only assume had once been a wall.

They dug for hours, combing through what little pieces of wreckage they could find, the sun sinking lower and lower towards the horizon. The oil rig had been completely decimated. Very little remained.

It wasn’t until they sun had almost disappeared from sight, the last few beams of sunlight filling the clear sky with twilight, that Skylight spoke. “I think I found something!”

Icewind rushed over to her, helping to push aside a collapsed section of roofing. Skylight reached forwards, her hooves gingerly pulling a large hunk of black metal from the debris and setting it down in front of them.

The slag was near unrecognizable; the raw power of the megaspell having warped its shape nearly completely, but the two large, bulbous glass eyes remained, still tinted that sinister red.

“You think it’s his?” Icewind asked, looking over the helmet cautiously. “Could have belonged to anypony.”

“It’s his,” Skylight breathed, sitting down and staring at the helmet. “I know it is.”

The two of them sat there, staring at the remains of the helmet for a long while. The sky went dark above them, the final rays of sunlight clearing the sky and giving way to the twinkling stars above.

“Did… Did he ever talk about me?” Skylight asked, stumbling over her words a little. “During your time with him?”

Icewind nickered. “Oh, constantly. You were one of the first things he asked about when he first broke free,” She hesitated for a second, thinking back to her very first encounter with Horrigan. “There was a tone in his voice when he asked about you… When we told him you had died in the battle for Friendship City… It wasn’t quite fear. More like a forlorn longing. A sadness that only those who have experienced true loss could possibly even begin to understand. Colonel Thunderbolt never saw it. I don’t think he could have if he tried. I only saw it in him twice.”

Skylight raised her eyebrows a little. “When was the other?”

Icewind went awfully quiet for a moment, listening to the howling breeze that ripped across the sea and the heavy crashing of waves on the crumbling slag of the oil rig. “When he branded you…”

“Oh…”

“I think that was the tipping point for him. He became more withdrawn. Started asking questions he hadn’t before,” Icewind noted solemnly. “That was when I really started to get a good look at what lay behind those emotionless, glassy red eyes.”

After a long moment of silence, Skylight spoke up again. “Tell me about Prance Horrigan?”

Icewind glanced over at her, one eyebrow cocked behind her visor. “You’re probably more suited for that than me. I didn’t know him for very long.”

Skylight shook her head sadly. “I never got to know him, not like you did. I only ever got to see the delusions I had of him, or of the monster he became. I never saw the truth behind the mask.”

Thinking, Icewind leaned back a little, looking up at the stars. “Prance Horrigan… Was complicated,” She chuckled to herself, closing her eyes. “At first glance he was a brute. Big, violent, dumb, stubborn. But he was so much more than that. Intuitive. Few ponies in the Enclave ever really saw that. There was so much going on inside his brain that we’ll probably never get to know… And he had regrets. He hid that well, but you could see it. If you looked real close. In the tensing of his hooves, in the brief hesitations before action where previously he showed none,” Icewind paused again, opening her eyes to stare at the warped helmet before her. “And he was loyal. Most of all he was loyal.”

“To the Enclave,” Skylight sighed.

“No.”

Skylight looked up, surprised. Her eyes looking Icewind up and down as she tried to put meaning to her blunt proclamation. “What do you mean, no?”

“If Prance Horrigan was loyal to the Enclave, then they would have won,” Icewind said simply, a small smile on her lips. “No. Prance Horrigan wasn’t loyal to anypony. Not you, not me, and certainly not the Enclave. He was loyal to an idea. To his virtues. He was loyal to what he thought was right. It just took him a long time to see where those virtues really fell.”

“Duty, Honour, Courage and Obedience,” Skylight breathed, echoing the words she had heard Prance say hundreds of times throughout her life. She looked away, taking in the desolation around them. “Do you think… At the end of it all… He felt that he lived up to those virtues?”

Icewind smiled, pulling herself up to her hooves and offering a hoof down to help pull Skylight up with her. “More than that, I think he finally got the chance to live. So yeah. I think Prance Horrigan found some form of happiness in his final moments.”

Skylight took Icewind’s hoof and hauled herself back up, her wings flexing as she prepared to once more take flight. Before she could lift off, Icewind spoke up again, stopping her. “Sky, can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to. It’s somewhat personal.”

Skylight gave her a grim nod, letting her wings settle back down at her sides. “Uh, sure. Of course.”

Icewind hesitated, her hooves shuffling slightly. “Do you love him?”

Skylight stared back at her with wide eyes, her mouth twitching. “Icewind, what kind of fucking question is that? Horrigan’s gone. What does it matter?”

“Prance Horrigan doesn’t matter. You’re right. He’s gone. This is about you. Did you forgive him?”

“What? That’s not even the same question!”

“Did you forgive him? For all the things that he did? For your cutie mark? For your friends?”

Skylight went painfully silent, staring off at the crashing waves lit only by the pale moonlight and twinkling stars. “Love and forgiveness are far from the same thing, Icewind. Yes, I loved him. I don’t think I could have ever stopped.”

“But you didn’t forgive him?”

“What does it matter!?”

“Clearly it matters! Prance Horrigan is gone, Skylight! You deserve to be happy and you aren’t letting yourself! You need to move on!”

“I can move on! I can!”

“Then did you forgive him?”

“How could I?” Skylight snapped, whipping around to glare at Icewind, her tone low and even. “No. I haven’t forgiven him for what he’s done. I never will. Not for Plasma Charge, not for Misty Cloud, not for Tailchaser, and not for me,” She turned her head, looking back at her flank where her seared off cutie mark sat concealed beneath her power armour. “There’s a part of me that’s glad he’s gone. Prance Horrigan was a monster! Complicated, loyal and regretful, certainly, but a monster! I cannot forgive that! I won't! I- I-”

As if the words had suddenly ripped all the strength out of her, Skylight collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. She looked up, her blurry vision staring into the hollow eyes of the helmet. After a second, she ripped her gaze away, looking up pleadingly at Icewind. “I want it to stop hurting Icewind. I want to move on. Why does he keep hurting me? Even after death? Why can’t I just be free of him?”

Icewind knelt back down, placing a hoof around her and holding her close. “It’ll probably always hurt. But it will get better. And if it doesn’t, we’ll face it together.”

“Thank you…” Skylight stifled, one hoof rubbing the tears from her eyes. She gave Icewind a smile, allowing her to help pull her back up. “Thank you for being there. I know I’m a bit of a mess.”

Icewind gave her a soft smile in return. “We’re all a bit of a mess. That’s what manipulation does. But we’re survivors, Sky. We’re the ponies they couldn’t hold down,” She glanced behind her, looking out at the small lights of Manehattan in the distance. “Now come on. There is still a lot of work to be done.”

Skylight nodded, watching as Icewind swooped off into the distance. She turned, looking one last time at the mangled remains of the helmet. She stepped forwards, placing her hoof gently on its cold surface. “Rest well, Prance Horrigan.”

Her wings opened wide as Skylight shot off into the brisk night air, leaving the oil rig and the lone helmet behind.

Fallout: Equestria - Prance Horrigan

The End

Author's Note

Thank you all so much for reading! It truly means the world to me. I hope you all enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Let me know your thoughts and opinions down below! And of course, have a great day!