Fallout: Equestria - Prance Horrigan

“We’ll be arriving at the MOA hub in twenty minutes,” The pilot of the Raptor called out, glancing back at us from their place at the cockpit of the airship.

We were currently soaring over a chunk of irradiated wasteland that had once been a place called the crystal mountains. Apparently, since the bombs, the weather up north had gotten exponentially worse. The whole world below had been covered in a thick layer of white and the air was filled with an almost opaque snowfall. The violent winds of the storm from the morning before had clearly followed us and I could feel the Raptor shuddering beneath my hooves as it tried to stay aloft in the whipping currents.

Firestreak gave the pilot a nod, before beckoning the rest of us over to the large table where she stood. I quickly tromped over to her and gathered around the table, followed closely by both Icewind and Vapour. Across from us, stood three other Enclave troopers that had also been sent on this mission, though I didn’t recognize any of them.

“We are expecting heavy resistance upon our arrival, so ready yourselves,” Firestreak told us bluntly, securing her large flamer to her side.

“The Stable mare… You think her and her Dashites fuckers got there first?” One of the troopers I didn’t know scowled.

Firestreak shrugged. “Hard to say. They likely had a head start, but from what we understand, the Stable mare can only travel on hoof, which means we will likely have covered ground faster. With luck we’ll beat them, but expect us to arrive at similar times regardless. But no, we anticipate something else. Vapour Trail, tell them.”

Vapour straightened up a little at the mention of his name. “Th-there’s a gang of raiders that have m-made their camp around the secret entrance to the hub. Our p-previous attempts to enter the facility have been so far blocked by them.”

“We can’t get past a couple of raiders? Seriously?” Another trooper scoffed. “I’ve killed hundreds of raiders in my time below the clouds. This is going to be fucking easy!”

“Don’t be so sure of yourself,” Firestreak hissed. “Some of our best soldiers have died to these fiends already.”

“They’re one of the more notorious wasteland raider g-gangs,” Vapour stuttered, nodding along to Firestreak. “They call themselves t-t-the Chain-link Gang. Started off relatively small according to our sources, but grew dramatically in numbers when Fillydelphia fell and a bunch of Redeye Slavers went looking for a new gang.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Icewind’s body go rigid for a moment, her whole face going pale. Firestreak’s head flicked over to her at the motion, looking her over curiously. “Got something to add, Dashite? Know these raiders?”

Icewind just gave her a grim nod. “Yeah…I’ve met them before…” She took a shaky breath, clearly unsure if she wanted to speak her thoughts out loud, Clearly, her thoughts got the better of her. “They’re the raiders that killed Cedar…”

Firestreak cocked her head to the side for a second, clearly trying to place the name. Vapour recognized it immediately. “T-the m-mare you loved when you were below the clouds?”

Icewind flinched again, but nodded. “That’s the one.”

“Well, then today is your lucky fucking day,” Firesteak chuckled ominously. “Cause it looks like today you’re going to finally get some vengeance.”

“What are we to expect inside the hub?” The trooper I hadn’t heard speak yet grunted in a low rumble, forcing the conversation back on track. “Basic security measures?”

“It’s hard t-to say for sure,” Vapour continued. “The Ministry of Aw-awesome underwent pretty extensive lengths to keep any and all information ab-b-bout the hub and its contents secret. But there is a good chance there is going to be some pretty impressive security systems. Our best guess is sentry bots, but who knows w-what else t-they might have.”

“It’s the main reason we brought along Horrigan,” Firestreak smiled, gesturing over to my large bulk. “We have full faith that whatever dangers lay within the hub, he will be able to dispatch,” She stomped her hoof, taking a step back from the table. “That will be all for now. Prepare yourselves. We’re in for a hell of a fight. All hail the Enclave.”

All the ponies around the table snapped their wings up into a sharp salute. “Hail!”

As the group broke off, I watched as Icewind slunk off to stare out the window by herself, her face still the ghostly pale it had been when she had first heard the raider's gang name. After a second of deliberation, I trotted over to her.

“You seem distraught,” I grunted. It seemed obvious, but I was never good at starting conversations.

Icewind glanced over at me in surprise, likely more out of the fact that I had consciously engaged in a conversation than actually being surprised by my presence. I was hardly stealthy. “Uh, yeah… I guess I am.”

I could feel my brow furrow beneath my helmet at her words. I stood there for a long moment, just trying to figure out how to continue. Social interaction… why the fuck was that so diffcult? “...Is it about the raiders?”

I saw a small smirk etch its way onto Icewinds face. “Are you concerned about me? I didn’t think you had that kind of emotion in you,” She drawled playfully, her eyes searching for some sort of reaction out of me. I gave her none. A second later, her smug demeanor shifted to a slightly less happy one. “Fuck, you’re hard to read. Yes. It’s the raiders…” She turned back, looking out the windows again as the snow covered crystal mountains below raced by. “I never thought I’d see them again, let alone fight them.”

“You don’t seem happy about it,” I noted flatly, trying to decipher her mood in my head. My head had already begun to hurt from all the thinking.

Icewind glared at me with a scowl that I had not anticipated from the question. “Should I be?”

“You have a chance to avenge Cedar,” I pointed out, as if that was all the explanation she needed.

“She’ll still be dead and the world will still be no better than it was before,” Icewind huffed. “Killing the raiders will do nothing for her or the world. There are always more raiders.”

I paused for a second, thinking her words over. There was something I wanted to ask her, though I could find no clear segway to talk about it. Finally, reaffirming the fact that I simply wasn’t good at conversations in my mind, I decided to just jump right into it. “What do you know about the Cloud Seeding Rebellion?” I asked abruptly, my voice lowering slightly so that the other pegasi around us wouldn’t hear what I was saying.

Icewind’s ears perked up a little in surprise at the sudden and unexpected shift in the conversation. “The Cloud seeding Rebellion? Not much admittedly. I was fairly young when it was happening and thankfully the town I grew up in never got attacked. You’d know better, with what, uh… with what happened to your mom and all…” She grimaced and trailed off, not wanting to continue that train of thought. Instead, she refocused on the question, thinking it over for a long moment, trying to organize everything she knew about it in her head. “Group of pegasi terrorists wanted to prove life above the clouds was unsustainable. Killed a bunch of ponies, but got wiped out after a failed attack on Neighvarro, I think? They’re plan didn’t work much. If anything it only bolstered most pegasi’s support for the Enclave. Why?”

“Do you think the Enclave had anything to do with it?” I pushed, taking a small step closer, the remaining stubs of my ears folding flat against my skull beneath my helmet.

“No, the rebellion was an attempt to overthrow the-” Icewind froze, my words settling in her mind. She looked up at me curiously, her eyes suddenly filled with a very unexpected interest. The edges of her mouth twisted, holding back the faintest of smug smiles. “Are you asking if the Enclave staged the rebellion?”

I gave a hesitant nod, not daring to answer that question out loud. To admit to that would be treason. “Is that possible?”

Icewind stared up at me for a long moment, clearly surprised that I would have even suggested such a thing. “I mean… It would make sense,” she nodded, biting at her lip a little. “The Enclave benefited the most from the rebellion, and there was an influx of ponies joining the army afterwards. If there’s one way to make ponies support a government, it’s to make them hate the opposition more.”

A painful knot formed in my gut at those words. I suddenly felt like I was sinking, an overwhelming feeling of unease creeping its way across my spine. “So it is possible?” I asked again, narrowing my eyes.

“I mean, sure, but- This is all just speculation. If the Cloud Seeding Rebellion really was a political move orchestrated by the Enclave, then it’s very likely that every piece of evidence has been long since destroyed,” She cocked her head to the side, looking me over carefully. “Why are you asking this Horrigan? It’s not like you to question the Enclave.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I deflected bluntly. I paused for a moment, trying to figure out what my stance even was on this whole ordeal. “There is no way to know for sure?”

Icewind shook her head. “Probably not. That wouldn’t be the kind of information the Enclave would want getting out, even to their top commanders…” She turned back to the window, watching as the Raptor began to descend slightly towards the snow covered ground below. “But if you asked me, I’d say there’s a pretty good chance they had some part to play in it, yeah,” Icewind paused, her eyes still transfixed forwards. "Horrigan, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

I shrugged. "I asked one of you. It's only fair."

Icewind seemed to smirk at my very logistical form of thinking. "I suppose it is..." She hesitated for a moment, thinking her words over. "What are we?"

I frowned, unsure what exactly she was asking. "What do you mean?"

"The two of us. What are we?" Icewind elaborated. "Friends? Enemies? What exactly are we to each other?"

I could feel my frown deepen as I tried to wrap my mind around the question. Fuck, thinking was hard. "I suppose that all depends on if you stay in line," I responded flatly. "Don't cross the Enclave, do your duty and prove your obedience."

Through her reflection, I could see Icewind's face harden. "Of course. Do not think my demotion has changed anything. I serve the Enclave. I always have..." her face relaxed slightly and she raised her hoof to the window, pressing it against the cold glass. "So I suppose you don't have time for friends then. Too busy with your duty to the Enclave."

I gave a stern nod. "I live to play my part in the Enclaves plan."

"It's strange. I don't understand you, Horrigan. I've told you that much before. Every time I think you make sense you do something that makes me question everything I know," Icewind sighed, before finally turning and facing me directly. "But in spite of all that, I still find myself considering you a friend. Whatever that actually means amongst ponies in the Enclave."

"I don't need friends," I asserted, shuffling awkwardly. "Friendship is a distraction."

"What about Skylight?"

I felt my body stiffen slightly at the mention of her name. "Skylight is an unexpected complication. She means nothing to me now. Not anymore."

"We both know that's not true."

I growled at her, her words cutting into me deep. "Clearly you do not understand me, just as you say. I live my life by four virtues, Icewind. Duty, Honour, Courage and Obedience. Those that oppose those virtues die," I took a step forwards, my eyes boring down on her. "You will see soon enough. I don't have friends. I do not have weaknesses. And if Skylight opposes me, she will die. I have branded her already. I have no reservations about finishing the job."

There was a loud beep from above us, followed almost immediately by the Raptor’s large hull shaking as the airship hit a patch of turbulence in its descent. “Brace yourselves! We’re here!” The pilot shouted back to us, their voice raising to be heard over the howling winds.

“Horrigan!” I looked away from Icewind to see Firestreak racing towards the deployment hanger at the back of the Raptor. “On my command, I want you, Icewind and Vapour to begin the assault!” She shouted. “We’ll supply you with coverfire from the skies. We’re not going to give these raiders a chance to fight back.”

I gave a nod, shifting to the back of the Raptor and readying myself to leap from the aircraft the second the hanger opened up. I glanced back at Icewind for a brief moment, my peeled lips curing back beneath my dark helmet. "Soon you will see."

“Ready yourselves!” Firestreak shouted as Icewind and Vapour pulled up next to us, their wings flaring out as they prepared to launch themselves from the Raptor. “This is where shit gets real!”

“Commander, the hub entrance is in sight!” The pilot shouted back. I could feel the Raptor shift in the air beneath my hooves. “Fifty feet ahead of us and closing!”

“Good! Open the hanger!”

There was a loud hiss of steam followed by the sound and feeling of whipping winds as the large deployment hanger at the back of the ship lurched open. Immediately, I shot my wings out, catching the currents and flashing out of the Raptor and into open air, my two companions soaring out behind me.

The biting wind slashed at my exposed hide like knives and the thick layer of snowfall obscured most of my vision. I angled down, icicles forming on my massive wings as I shot towards the ground. I could see a green marker pop up on my built-in HUD, locating the entrance of the MOA hub somewhere below me. Almost immediately my EFS began locking onto multiple hostile targets surrounding the marker, their forms completely obscured by the blizzard.

Gritting my teeth, I snapped my wings against my side and plunged into a sharp nosedive. I could feel bits of ice forming along my wings as I plummeted and I had to do a quick spin in the air to break the frozen flecks free. My tesla cannon flared at my side, honing in on hostile nearest to me. There was a surge of static energy that coursed through me followed by a blinding blue flash of light as I fired, the shockwave of the gun blasting apart the curtain of white. The blinding blizzard cleared just long enough for me to see my arching beam of tesla energy blast apart half of a raider's torso, their gaping mouth releasing a pained, feral scream, blood burbling from their lips, before my hooves cashed down into their back, shattering what little remained of his spine. Snow and blood burst up around me as I slammed into the ground, the cement beneath cracking under the immense power of my landing.

I looked up, taking in the ice covered city landscape around me. Snow blanketed the cracked roads in a thick layer of white and the many frost coated buildings that lined the streets had long since collapsed in on themselves, now being little more than looming piles of debris. A large wall of scrap metal and rubble had been built around one of the few still standing structures, which appeared to be some sort of old, prewar donut shop. The donut shop, clearly designed to be a cheerful looking place in its heyday, was now a grisly looking raider camp. Mangled corpses had been strung up around the premises on long, rusting pikes and rows of turrets lined the protective outer junk wall.

“Fuck, we got Enclave incoming!” I heard a raider shout from atop the wall, blasting off a few shots into the air as Icewind and Vapour Trail began blasting beams down towards them. A second later, they saw the massive shape of our Raptor lurch around in the sky above them, emerging from the curtain of blinding white snow as one of its huge cannons shifted to aim down at the raider camp. “Shit, they got a fucking airship!”

“Forget the airship! What the fuck is that thing!” I heard another raider shouting as a few of the raiders on the wall turned to look at me, their eyes wide with horror as they began to make out my hulking, silhouetted form in the howling snowstorm.

I lifted my head to glare up at them, my glowing, red eyes lighting up the falling snow. All my hairs stood on end as my tesla cannon charged up once again, crackling with deadly energy. “Hello, Muties. Time to die…”

Boom!

My tesla cannon roared, a searing beam of blue energy lancing through the top of the wall. The energy exploded into a blast of flashing blue flame and arcing electricity as it made contact. I heard screams of pain get abruptly cut short as four raiders were instantly vaporized in the blast.

I powered forwards, each stomp of my hooves shaking the city street. I heard screams and felt the feeling of bullets cutting into my hide, but I ignored it, ramming the whole of my body against the wall and smashing my way through. Shards of metal and plywood exploding out like shrapnel as I burst through.

The sound of clicking machinery warned me of the ring of turrets atop the donut shop seconds before they fired, spewing a constant stream of gunfire down on me from above. I gave out a booming roar as the bullets pierced into me, rage filling me as I felt the sensation of blood gushing down my legs. I whipped around and let my horn ignite, overglow bursting from my horn as I reached out with my magic and sent dozens of beams of light slashing out and piercing into the turrets. A second later, I let another burst of magic travel through those beams, bursting the turrets apart in a shower of sparks.

Behind me, Icewind and Vapour touched down atop the now smoking wall, their Nova-surge rifles flaring with prismatic light as they shot down raider after raider, their bodies silhouetted by the flames of my attacks. There was a loud, crackling boom as the Raptor overhead fired off a blast of fuchsia energy into a cluster of raiders, sending limbs flailing in all directions.

“Give them hell boys!” A raider was shouting from the top of the donut shop. I glanced up, making out a large raider in a suit of scavenged power armour on the roof. His helmet-less head showed off his dark burgundy, scar covered hide and mangy brown and black mane. From the way the other raiders reacted to his commands, I suspected he was the leader. Several more raiders began gathering around him on the roof, rushing forwards and firing down at me with their guns.

I snarled, charging towards them at full speed. At the last possible second, I clenched my muscles and leapt up, clearing the roof and landing atop the donut shop next to the raiders in a single bound.

There was a moment of silence as the group of raiders around me ceased their fire and just stared at me slack jawed as I slowly began to pull myself up to my full height before them, towering a good five feet above the tallest raider in the crowd.

“Oh son of a bitch…” One of the raiders swore, staggering back as they craned their neck up to look at me, their eyes wide with fear. I turned my crimson gaze, glaring down at him menacingly. “This is going to fucking suck…”

My hoof slammed into his skull, crushing it immediately. I whipped around, the blade on the end of my tail slicing through another raider's neck and sending him collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath as he clawed at his throat, blood burbling over his hooves. Another raider was impaled on my horn, my head jerking upwards and reefing him from his hooves, suspending him for a moment in the air before I shook my head and tossed his mangled corpse aside.

I felt a sharp pain as a raider rushed at me from behind, sinking a large machete between two plates of my armour and into the flesh beneath. I howled, spinning around to face them and ramming my hooves into their chest. I felt ribs snap as the force sent the raider collapsing to the ground, gasping in pain. I let my tesla cannon charge before sending another flaring beam lancing out, disintegrating the raiders head where he lay.

Icewind took off into the air somewhere behind me, blasting a few holes into the body of one of the raiders assailing her. She swerved in the air, barely avoiding a shot that pinged off her power armour. Beside her, Vapour fired off a shot of his own, his blast turning another raider into a sludgy pulp.

Another raider was crushed under my hooves as I slammed down on them, shattering their ribcage. I turned, my tail lashing out and coiling around the neck of another raider as they tried to pour a stream of bullets into my body. I hoisted them up into the air, watching in amusement as they struggled to draw breath into their constricted windpipe, before flinging them to the side, skewering their thrashing body on one of the many rusting spikes that decorated the raider camp.

I turned, my glowing red eyes settling on the raider boss in power armour. I saw him visibly tremble as our gazes met, taking a worried step back. “Oh fuck…” He staggered back as I began clomping towards him, his hooves frantically grasping for a large horn that hung at his side before blowing into it, a loud, bellowing sound booming out from it. “Let it out! Let it out fucking now!”

I heard a few manic screams, followed by the clanking of chains. I glanced back, making out the shape of a few raiders yanking on icy chains through the snow. I watched as the chains seemed to pull taut as a large metal door on some sort of cage began to swing open.

I held for a moment, waiting for something to emerge from the cage. Then, slowly, a rumbling noise began to emanate from within. I took a step away from the raider boss, striding to the top of the roof as I watched the beast within slowly begin to emerge.

The mutant monstrosity was the first thing I had seen that was larger than I was. It pulled its hulking, bulbus form forwards on a pair of massive, fur covered forearms that ended in a set of massive, curved claws and its hind hooves, significantly smaller in size, dug into the cement beneath it as if it were butter. Its body was covered in a thick layer of patchy, blue fur and beneath it, I could see pus filled bulging welting on its mutated flesh. Its head, massive in size, had a set of glowing yellow, jaundiced eyes and a writhing mass of slimy tentacles squirmed from above its mouth. Its maw held what appeared to be massive teeth, each the size of a pony and its lolling tongue flicked back and forth as it salivated.

My eyes dropped down to look at the thick, metal collar around the muties neck. After a second of staring at it, I watched as the collar gave a loud zap, sending a jolt of electricity sparking through the beast and working it up into a frenzied rage.

“What in t-t-the fuck is th-that?” Vapour blurted, landing next to me and staring in horror at the huge beast as it ripped its way across the raider camp towards us.

“Dread Maulwurf,” Icewind scowled, her eyes following the massive creature. “half-bear, half-mole, half-raging-pile-of-claws.”

“T-that doesn’t even s-s-sound like a real thing!” Vapour shot back.

“Well you tell it that,” Icewind snapped, flapping her wings and pulling back up into the air. She glanced behind her, making out the raider boss as he rushed towards a hatch in the roof and down into the donut shop below. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some unfinished business to attend to.”

I bent my legs and leapt off the top of the building. The sensation of freefall lasted only seconds before I slammed back down onto the street below, the concrete cracked and cratered beneath my hooves at the impact. I saw the Maulwurf snap its head to look at me, its deadly eyes glaring right at me before it unleashed an ear piercing howl of rage and began charging towards me.

My tesla cannon charged up, the familiar sensation of all my hairs standing on end washing over my body as my EFS locked in on the charging Maulwurf. There was a resounding pushback of force as my cannon fired, sending a blazing beam of energy flashing towards the raging creature. The blast slammed into the Maulwurf, blinding, blue light flaring in every direction.

Then the Maulwurf howled and continued charging, seemingly unfazed by the blast. I blinked, staring in genuine surprise as the beast shrugged off a blast I had seen vaporize dozens of ponies.

“Well fuck.”

The Maulwurf rammed into me, sending me stumbling backwards. My body slammed into the side of the wall, knocking the breath from my lungs. I staggered, warning alerts flashing across my built-in HUD as I pulled myself back up and I turned back to face the Maulwurf. I caught sight of it with just enough time to flap my wings and leap to the side as the hulking beast slammed towards me again, crashing past me into the wall and smashing through.

I shot up into the air, my EFS targeting the monstrosity as it whipped back around to take another slash at me. My cannon fired again, blasting two more beams directly into the top of the monster's head. The Maulwurf was slammed into the ground by the blasts, one of its massive teeth chipping as its head was smashed against the concrete. It raised its gaze to glower at me, its maw unhinging as it let loose another roar. I could feel my eardrums rupture from the piercing sound of the creatures' screams, blood leaking from my ears and dripping down the inside of my helmet before the Hydra in my blood patched my wounds back together.

The Maulwurf braced its hind legs and leapt up, its massive claws snatching out and snagging one of my wings. I gave a loud grunt of pain as I was yanked downwards, crashing into the ground beside it. I raised my head, just barely spotting the Maulwurf before it lunged at me again, its claws slashing at my exposed underbelly. I whipped my tail up, batting the beast claws to the side before staggering back to my hooves.

The Raptor in the air above us swung around for a second blast, sending another searing beam slashing across the battlefield. I had to step back as the powerful beam slashed across the ground past me, searing off a few of the Maulwurf’s writhing tentacles as it came to lunge at me again.

“Why won’t you die?” I grunted as I dipped out of the way from another of the monster's violent swings. I swung back around, my fore hooves slamming hard into the back of the Maulwurf’s head. The Maulwurf just growled at me and lashed at me with its claws, ripping a deep gash through my hoof that my body immediately began to regenerate.

Vapour flashed past me, his Nova Surge rifle blasting searing burn marks into the Maulwurf’s hide. He gave a loud “Eep!” of fear and had to swerve out of the way as the Maulwurf leapt into the air, swiping at him with its massive claws. “Horrigan, do you have a p-plan t-to take this thing out?!”

I glanced up at Vapour with a scowl. “No,” I ducked aside again as the Maulwurf swung its claws in a large arch at me, the deadly swipe missing me by inches and digging a five foot groove into the cement. “I’m not used to things not dying when I hit them.”

The Maulwurf’s collar gave off another zap, whipping the beast up into a bigger rage. It howled, swiping at me manically with a frenzy of flailing claws. I deflect the swings with my tail, knocking the claws aside and taking the opportunity to follow it up with a hoof strike to the creature's neck.

I felt a sharp pain bolt through me as my hoof came in contact with the still sparking collar, the contact of my metal armour to the electrical surface causing a large surge of energy to burst out and slam into me, sending me staggering back a few paces. I caught myself quickly, rightening myself and glaring at the large mutant with sudden curiosity.

“Interesting,” I grunted, readying myself for the Maulwurf’s next attack as it spun back around to face me.

“W-what is?” Vapour asked over the howling storm, hovering a few feet away from me. “You come up with something?”

“Something,” I rumbled, my eyes locking in on the creature's shock collar before glancing down at its massive claws as it ripped a large chunk out of the ground. I let my tesla cannon charge up again, preparing to fire. “Go fly directly beside its head. Aim for the neck. Steer clear of the jaws.”

Vapour gawked at me. “Are y-you c-crazy!? I’m n-not getting close to that th-thing!” In response, I whipped my head up and glowered at him. Vapour managed to hold my gaze for a full second before gulping. “Th-this is crazy…”

Vapour flapped his wings and shot towards the Maulwurf. The beast looked up, snarling at him as he hovered a few inches to the left of the beast's face. With a roar of rage, the Maulwurf swung up at him, intent on ripping him apart with its massive claws.

“Oh shit!” Vapour shrieked, zipping out of the way of the strike at the last possible second. The Maulwurf’s claws missed him by mere inches, instead slashing into the thick metal of its shock collar. At the same moment, I fired off a blast from my tesla cannon, the sparking blue beam of light lancing forwards and colliding with the Maulwurf’s neck.

There was a loud zap, followed by a burst of sparks and blinding flash of light as the electrical currents surged through the beast's claws and down its whole body. The Maulwurf was sent flying back as a massive wave of energy burst from around its neck, dark smoke billowing off its body, its limbs twitching painfully as bits of electricity pulsed through its form.

There was a small clunking sound as the metal collar around the creature's neck clattered to the ground, its side ripped open by the beast's huge claws and it's circuitry fried from my blast. The Maulwurf took a moment, pulling itself back to its mutated claws and glaring down at the sparking collar in the snow before raising its tentacle filled face and glaring at me.

“You’re welcome,” I quipped dryly, my eyes boring into it and daring it to back down.

With a howl of rage, the Maulwurf spun around and charged back towards the raider camp. It dashed through one of the smoking holes in the walls before slipping out of sight. I heard screams of fear and pain begin rising from beyond the wall as the beast began ripping into its previous masters.

“How the h-heck did you know th-that was going to work?” Vapour asked, flittering back over to me.

“I admittedly was trying to make him electrocute himself,” I noted flatly. “This was an unexpected outcome.”

“Well it worked,” Vapour smirked with smug satisfaction, watching as another mangled raider body was tossed into the air from behind the wall as the Maulwurf continued its rampage. “I s-suppose there's a lesson to be learned through this. That not all problems should be solved with violence or…”

Vapour trailed off as he noticed me glaring at him. “Did you just try to turn this into some sort of morality lesson?” I snarled, snorting and causing a burst of steam to escape my ventilators.

Vapour shuffled his hooves in the air uncomfortably. “I… Uh… n-no…” He glanced behind him nervously and back at the ruins of the donut shop. “Hey, would you look at that, Icewind n-needs us inside,” he managed to sputter before swooping away from me and towards the raider camp.

I nodded and went to follow when a small glint of light caught my eye. I shifted my head, glancing up at the rooftop of one of the ruined skyscrapers. Almost immediately, my thermo vision picked up three pony shapes huddled down atop it, watching me from a distance. The central pony had a large sniper up close to their face and seemed to be tracking me carefully with its scope.

I squinted, trying to make out their features better from this distance. It was difficult with the howling snowstorm between us, but I could just make out the dark blue Stable Jumpsuit the central pony was wearing beneath their set of cobbled leather and metal armour. I felt myself instinctively growl. The Stable mare was here.

My eyes shifted over to the other two pony forms. Immediately, I felt my growl recede and morph into a sinking dread as I made out the two forms of pegasi clad in dark black Enclave power armour. “Skylight…”

Damn her. I had told her not to come.

I let my wings burst open on instinct, my legs tensing as I prepared to fly up towards them. A few of my hairs stood on end as my tesla cannon began to build up at my side.

“H-horrigan, come on!” Vapour shouted back to me. I shifted my head to look at him, seeing him waiting for me a few feet away from the entrance to the donut shop. I glanced back up at the roof, my eyes darting back and forth to try and relocate the three ponies, but to my chagrin, they were gone.

“Fuck,” I scowled under my breath, picking up off the ground with a few flaps of my wings and swooping across the snowy ruins towards Vapour. Things were about to get a lot more complicated.

Inside the donut shop was a massacre. Pony corpses littered the floors, each body mutilated a new and ghastly way. A few bodies hung from meat hooks, swaying softly in the breeze, blood dripping from their hooves into puddles of crimson that pooled on the frost covered floor. Cages filled with rusting spikes lined the walls, many holding the remains of ponies that had been skinned alive. I noticed that a hoof full of ponies seemed to have been eaten alive as well, their bodies carved open by a multitude of jagged bite marks.

Vapour shuddered as he stared at the room of corpses. His eyes lingered on the body of a small foal that had been slit from neck to pelvis and hung from the ceiling, his intestines dangling from his suspended body like macabre windchimes. “W-what kind of m-monsters would do this…”

“Wasteland mutie bastards,” I grunted, scanning the room for any sign of Icewind or the raider boss she had followed in. “This is why the Enclave is the only hope for the wasteland.”

“Why do you think Rainbow Dash chose to hide her hub beneath a d-donut shop?” Vapour asked, forcing his gaze away from the colt and looking up at a big sign that hung over the small shops till reading: Donut Joe’s.

“Doesn’t matter,” I responded flatly, shifting my gaze around the room and activating my thermo vision. Immediately, I spotted two heat signatures darting back and forth below us. “They’re downstairs.”

“There’s no staircase,” Vapour pointed out, glancing around. "Think there's a secret entrance somewhere?”

I felt a small smile creep its way across my lips, unseen from behind my stoic metal helmet. “Probably.”

Before Vapour could say or do anything further, My tesla cannon flared to life and blasted a hole straight through the floor. Vapour gave a loud yelp as he pushed off the ground with his wings as the floor crumbled and collapsed beneath us, dropping us down to the floor below.

The first thing I saw as I landed heavily in the hidden chamber beneath Donut Joes was the power armoured raider doing everything he could to avoid being turned to ash as an enraged Icewind sent blast after blast of magical energy after him. The next thing I noticed was the massive, closed steel door inset into the right of the chamber. Likely the entrance to the MOA Hub. It would appear we had found the hub after all.

There was a loud sounding, “Shit!” as the raider boss jumped to the side to avoid the falling rubbled and looked up to see me now looming over him. He took a step back, glancing behind him as Icewind and Vapour cut him off from behind. “Enclave really ain’t fuckin’ around this time, are they?”

Instead of answering, I let my tail flash out, catching him square in the chest and sending him slamming against the wall, the sharp blade ripping open a hole in the front of his armour. He gave a loud, rasping cough as all the air was violently pushed from his lungs. Icewind flew over and landed next to me scowling at the Raider as he crumpled to the floor.

“He’s all yours,” I grunted to Icewind, gesturing to the collapsed raider.

Icewind hissed. “Good,” Her novasurge rifle flared and sent a beam of prismatic light slashing through the raiders' forehoof. The raider boss screamed, squirming as the blast seared its way through his power armour and into the flesh beneath. Icewind advanced on him, her eyes a storm of rage I had never seen from her before.

Icewind reached down, her hoof pushing up against the raider's neck as she hoisted him up and held him pinned against the wall, glaring into his fearful eyes. “What do you know about this place,” Icewind spat, tilting her head slightly towards the massive steel door behind me. “Tell me something good or I’ll make you wish my big friend here had killed you.”

“I don’t know fucking anything!” The raider scowled, writhing a little as he tried to break free from her grip. Icewind scowled and slammed his head against the wall, keeping him in place. “We just fuckin’ found it here. We couldn’t get past the fuckin’ door. Grenades don’t blow it down. Even tried a balefire egg. Door’s fuckin’ sealed fuckin’ shut-”

Icewind rammed his head against the wall again, causing him to grunt in pain. “I said tell me something good!” her rifle flared again, blasting a hole through another of his hooves. The raider screamed, desperately trying to thrash about and break free, but Icewind held him in place. “Try again! Tell me something I don’t know!”

The raider gave another scream as Icewind’s bladed tail impaled itself through one of his hind legs. “I don’t know! I don’t fuckin’ know!” the raider squirmed blood pouring down his leg. He glared hatefully at Icewind, a look of desperation across his face. Then the look of desperation melted away as he caught sight of her eyes behind her insectoid-like helmet. “Wait… I know you. Don’t I?”

I could see icewind’s body lock up a little at the question. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The raider’s mouth twisted into a sinister smirk. “I do. You were that pegasus bitch we captured a few years back. I could never forget that look in your eyes. I liked that marefriend of yours too. I enjoyed listening to her scream as I plucked out her eyes and fed them to you.”

“That’s enough!” Icewind roared, gripping her hooves tighter to the raider's neck for a second before throwing him violently to the floor. Immediately, he began desperately trying to crawl away, but she lunged on top of him, flipping him over and wrapping her hooves around his throat before ramming his head against the debris-covered ground over and over and over again. “You do not get to talk to me about Cedar!” she roared, rearing up and slashing her bladed tale across his exposed face, cutting away a large chunk of flesh across his cheek. Her Novasurge rifle fired off a beam of light into his gut, causing another scream of pain and blood to burble from his mouth and start spilling down his front.

Icewind raised her still smoking Novasurge rifle up and hovered it over his face, its metal tip still burning bright red hot from the magical energy blast. “Get off to pain, do you?” Icewind seethed, pushing his face down against the ground with her hoof. “Let's see if you can get off to this!” she shoved the blazing tip of her rifle down against his face, pushing it up against his eye socket. There was a loud sizzling as the searing metal made the eye bubble and pop, viscous ooze dripping down his screaming face.

“I-Icewind, I think that’s enough,” Vapour stammered, his breath catching as he watched the horrific scene. When Icewind refused to answer, he raised his voice. “Icewind, S-stop! We’re the Enclave! W-we’re b-better than this!”

Icewind froze. She shifted her head to look at Vapour, though she kept her burning rifle tip deeply lodged in the writhing raiders eye socket. “The fuck are you talking about Vapour? I mean, where the actual fuck have you been to think the Enclave doesn’t do shit like this on the daily?”

Vapour took a timid step back. “Please Icewind. I like to think we’re better than the ponies down here. The Enclave aren’t raiders, right?”

Icewind hesitated for a moment, glancing over at me as I watched the scene unfold with my stoic, unblinking, glassy gaze. After a moment she just huffed, pushing herself away from the raider and letting him lay on the ground, gasping for breath. “Fine. Hurting him won’t fix anything anyway. Cedar will still be dead. And there are always more raiders…” she trailed off, glaring disdainfully at the Enclave insignia emblazoned on her armour before forcing her gaze away and nodding to me. “Horrgian, if you will.”

Without responding, I trotted over and placed my hoof on the raider's head before pressing down, crushing his skull flat. Their body continued to thrash for a few more seconds, blood and viscera seeping out around my hoof before the raider finally went limp and died. Vapour shivered as he watched the raider go still but otherwise remained silent.

“Good work,” I heard Firestreak speak up from above us. I glanced up to see the Tartarus Fire trooper standing at the precipice of the massive hole I had blasted into the floor above, looking down at us through her imposing helmet. A second later, the three other Enclave troopers swooped into the building and landed in a defensive formation behind her. Firestreak glanced over at the closed steel door. “And it would appear we have gotten here before the Dashites and their Stable fuck leader. Good”

“And where the fuck were you,” Icewind scowled. “Where was your cover from the fucking sky?! You fired maybe two shots from that raptor!”

Firestreak nickered. “You three clearly had it covered,” she glanced back at her three compatriots for a second before sighing. “Besides, we’ve dealt with the rest of the raiders outside, and the Maulwurf won’t be an issue anymore.”

“You killed that Maulwurf?” Vapour asked as Firestreak began flapping her wings down to join us. “How?”

Firestreak growled at herself and shuttered a little. “Way more napalm than I’m usually comfortable using.”

“And the Stable mare and their companions?” I rumbled, my eyes flicking to the entryway behind her. I saw Icewind cast me a curious look at the question. “What about them?”

“As mentioned, still no sign,” Firestreak affirmed, landing in front of me and tucking her wings in at her sides. I bit down on my tongue to resist the overpowering impulse to say anything further on the subject. “But we still shouldn’t take any chances,” She turned to Icewind. “You still have the files we secured from Stable 13?”

“You have those… Commander,” Icewind monotone back aggressively, gritting her teeth at the last word and staring back with a clear lack of enthusiasm.

“Oh that’s right, I do,” Firestreak chuckled smugly, waltzing her way over to the steel door.

Now with the tension of combat dissipated, I could make out a small terminal inset into the wall beside the doorway. Firestreak pulled herself up to it and paused for a second, clearly reading something on the inside of her HUD before beginning to tap away at the terminal.

I glanced over at Icewind as I waited, spotting her taking a few steps away from the group to look at a rusted, spike filled cage that had been knocked over and shoved against the corner of the room. Slowly, I trotted up to her, my eyes flicking back and forth as I tried to make sense of the scene.

Icewind reached her wing out, brushing a few of her feathers against the skeletal hoof of a long dead corpse that lay mangled within the cage. I paused, standing a few feet behind her, unsure what to say.

“Is th-that… uh… Is that Cedar?” Vapour spoke up nervously. I glanced down to spot the smaller pegasus standing beside me. Watching over the scene with a sad expression.

“No,” Icewind muttered, not daring to turn and look at either of us. “I buried Ceder after they... they… I managed to do that much for her… It’s just this cage. This was the cage we were kept in,” she forced her gaze away, glaring at the roof. “She always said she had wanted to be returned to the earth after death…”

Vapour was silent for a moment before shuddering slightly. “I want a proper pegasus f-funeral when I die,” He said, looking upwards himself. “I want to be with Lighting again when th-this is all done.”

Icewinds face softened a little at the request. “Yeah. I’m sure we can make that happen. But for now, let’s all just try to stay alive. It's all we can do.”

wordlessly, I stepped forwards and placed my large fore hoof against the cage. I braced myself for a moment before pushing down, crushing the rusting bars together. There was a loud creak as the metal bent and collapsed in on itself, rendering the cage unusable. “There,” I grunted, stepping back. “No pony will be kept in there again.”

To my surprise, Icewind looked up at me and gave a genuine smiled. “Hah, thank you. That was… kind. Thanks.”

“Sure.”

Her expression darkened a little. “Horrigan… That comment you made to Firestreak… About the Stable mare and- You didn’t see her… did you?”

I glanced away from her and towards the door, my eyes narrowing. Skylight had been with them, I was sure of it. I looked back down at Icewind, my expression hidden behind my helmet. “No.”

The look on Icewind’s face suggested she didn’t believe me, but she didn’t push it.

I turned my head as the sound of metal on metal began to resound around the chamber. Across the room, there was a loud hiss of steam as the massive door jerked open, revealing the pitch black tunnel inside, leading deeper into the depths below.

“There we go,” Firestreak huffed, turning back to us, the lights built into her helmet's bulbous eyes flickering to life and illuminating the area before her in a pale yellow glow, revealing a long metal tunnel descending deep into the earth, it's walls and floor covered in a thick layer of ice. “Horrigan, you take point. Honeydew, you stay here. Signal me if there is any sign of the Stable mare or her Dashite lackeys."

I nodded, moving to the entrance and cautiously stepping in. Immediately, I could feel the air shift to an even colder temperature and I had to brace myself to keep from sliding as my metal clad hoof came in contact with the sloped, ice slicked tunnel floor. I let my glass eyes glow brighter, filling the hallway with a sinister looking red glow.

Firestreak padded up beside me, a small flame flickering to life at the end of her flamer. She glanced around for a moment, clearly making sure the coast was clear herself. "Alright team, let’s move out!”

And with that, we began making our way into the depths, deep beneath the rock and snow. Despite myself, I felt a small spark of excitement begin rising up inside me with each step. We were so close now. So close to being able to bring back the cloud layer. So close to returning the Enclave to its rightful place in the sky. But as I walked, deeper and deeper into the tunnel, I felt another feeling begin to rise up in me as well. For the first time since I had awoken as this nightmarish abomination of metal and flesh, I felt fear. Not fear of what lay before me in the recesses of the MOA hub, but of the uncertainty of the world when I emerged from it, and the truth of what I was going to have to do when Skylight caught up.

I let my eyes close for a moment, taking a long deep breath as I remembered the image of the three ponies watching me from the top of the ruined skyscraper. "Don't follow us down, Skylight," I muttered under my breath, keeping my voice low enough so that only I could hear. "I made you a promise I intend to keep. Follow me down here, and I will kill you..."