Fallout Equestria: Ballad of a Rogue Ranger

Chapter twenty-nine: The price we pay…

“I swear I’m fine!” Winter was protesting along the nape of my back as I trotted out of the school nurses’ office, past a few other colts that looked a bit worse than herself.

She says that now, and yet her face was bruising more by the minute, while her nose bled down my own coat. Apparently, the price to pay for ‘missing’ her party a month ago was a royal buck to the muzzle. Even with them licking their own wounds, they couldn’t help but throw a sneer her way before the door closed. If I caught it, I know for a fact she did, and we’d probably be back here in the office once more in a few weeks.

As much as she might have protested, the filly wasn’t throwing herself off my back just yet. Winter remained quite complacent during our ride out the school door… I had to drag myself from the couch to the school after they called, it was my day off after all. No wonder she asked the school to call me instead of her actual home.

“I’m still taking you home before you put one of them in the hospital,” well that comment seemed to stroke her ego a bit, “that wasn’t a compliment… Winter,” a-a-and now were back to being glum. Since getting Winny under her belt, anything other than that just sounded wrong to her almost… it did get the point across at least.

More of her blood dripped along the back side of my coat, no matter how much she tried to wipe away with that hoof. There might be a transfusion needed at this rate, “They started it…”

The go to reason for any fight… prime example? Look at the war we were in with the zebras. Still, this filly wasn’t fighting a whole country. No, she just wanted to put some young ponies back in their place. I can’t really say violence isn’t the answer, what do I design after all? But maybe not for every situation.

Then again, they did shove her first… and she met that with a black eye to their leader, “And are you going to do this every time one of them presses your buttons?” oh, very poor choice of words…

“Uh, yeah?” she perked up once more, almost proud that she could take any of them on.

Okay, I walked into that one, “And now I’m going to have to patch you up, Lilac might have some ointment lying around and what-” for the first time since I put her on my back, the up-and-coming mare looked concerned, “What is it? Does it hurt?”

“N…no,” her eyes shot away from me, but she was spelling it out enough in the tremble of her coat.

I knew her well enough by now to know this. Something was on the young mares’ mind, “Winter…” yeah she wasn’t about to open up with that smart one, “… Winny, what's wrong?”

Slowly her head rose up, and for a moment it looked like she was about to cry right then and- spoke to soon, there went a tear slowly trickling down the side of her cheek. This wasn’t normal for her; no Winter would rather break a leg than let the water works flow. Looking around, I eyed a bench not far off our path and made my way right towards it.

She was a little startled at first from being lifted off my back so suddenly, but as her flank found the bench Winter about shrunk into the grain. I took a seat only a foot or so away from her, and just let her get a few tears out. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get another to open up.

“Can… can we please not go there just yet, let the bruising die down some first?” huh? Winter still wasn’t looking at me, but that tone was just plane hollow, “I don’t want Lilac to see me like this, know I got into a fight and such…”

So that’s what this is about… Winter had been doing well for quite a few months now. She just didn’t want to disappoint somepony she cared about. Sadly, a responsible adult would do the right thing and let the older mare know, I’d done it the first time I picked her up from a fight after all.

“Lilac would be mighty upset knowing this happened you know… she was happy you were keeping your nose clean.” Her muzzle stayed pointed square at the ground, but I could see a few more tears building up from that statement alone. The filly wasn’t looking forward to that lecture from the mare, and the subsequent grounding that was bound to happen, “so, what say we clean that nose up first? Hmm?’

Fortunately, I wasn’t all that responsible… she is so lucky I’m her second contact at school now.

It took a second or two, but I saw that bulb go off above her head soon enough, “You mean…?”

“What? I have the same medical kit at home,” Celestia knows I’ve gotten my fair share of bruises over the years.

Not a moment later, her hooves were wrapped around my neck as she stood on her hind legs. Some of that blood I could feel going down underneath my mane, but I didn’t care honestly. It was all going to be washed off soon anyway. Besides, if Lilac saw it on me, she’d just think it was another day at the office.

“Thank you, Wiley…”

I couldn’t help but share the same beam as we got up and made our way back to my place. All the while sneaking in and out of bushes hoping to avoid that mares’ eyes if she was out and about… what she didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt us.

Winter found herself a bit more comfortable at my kitchen table as I broke out the kit, and promptly started stuffing her nose with gauze. After the ice pack touched her face she jerked back a bit, but that smile persisted none the less. I’d be lying if mine didn’t as well.

“What’s that for?” she asked over the pack, and I already knew what she was talking about.

My glare drifted away from her for a moment, on up to the counter, and at the many coffee mugs I’d gone through. All leading up to a particular one there displayed proudly amongst them. It was cheap, mass produced, and already had a chip in it from use. Yet, that B.B.B.F.F. logo still was on display clearly… the same as my smirk.

“Nothing… nothing at all…”

An older sibling watches over their younger counterpart, at least that’s what I’ve always believed. I’d done so in the past keeping an eye out for Winter when the chance showed up, after seeing that look of betrayal from first turning her in, and now I had to try and to the same thing once again. That memory alone was enough to spur my legs on past the suit begging me to stop. It must have been going toe to toe with the sentries, but I managed to even overtake Tumble on our way back dashing to town.

There were still a number of red bars filling my E.F.S. but they weren’t anywhere close to me, nor were the bullets flying as much as when we’d left. No, along the walls that withstood the attack only a few of this town fired pot shots at those under Lock.

Without any mortar support from a distance, they must have lost their fighting spirit in full. Lucky break for me, that left me with one thing to focus on as I pushed through some of the damaged shacks in town. Nothing was going to spot me out here anymore, but before I could flip my own lamp on. The light above flickered back to life, somepony must have had the same idea as me, and-

Oh wow… that was a lot of bodies…

Both gunner and town folk littered around the grounds approaching the medical building. I couldn’t imagine anyone in town going to the extent to cover the gunners, so any that were covered I just had to assume was a loss on our part. Yet, those gunner bodies tossed around here looked like they’d met a blender. Some slashed head to hoof, others cleaved nearly in half, and some more met the full fury of a 40mm launcher. There were breaks in the line even from the small section we were at, though if the Gunners thought it’d be a walk in the park once they got in… a pissed off hellhound had something to say about that.

My hooves ground to a halt against the door, I didn’t know who was on the other side, and I wasn’t about to trample them bursting through. Instead, the thundering in my chest went down about half a notch as Tumble caught up behind me, and we both pushed our way inside.

Behind us was just the tip of the iceberg as the saying goes, and in here wasn’t any better. All around I could see those injured from the fight in every state of pain. Burns, bullets, cuts, stabs… you name it, the gunners used it to deadly effect. Another blur fluttered past me, and I watched as one went about trying to keep all he could from the light at the end of the tunnel.

Deacon looked about as drained as most of those he treated, yet he still found the strength to keep the press on and treat as he went. While on the other side of the room Luster kept up with his pace, nearly leaping back and forth between her patients, as Riff tried to do her part and move them about as needed. A well-oiled machine if there ever was one.

Amongst them however, I didn’t see one… and I didn’t recognize her pure coat out amongst the dead. So, she must be here somewhere. My hoof raised to try and get the attention of my friend, but quickly I pulled it back after a second. He was busy saving those he could, I could find her myself.

Carefully the tips of the armored hooves moved over top and around others scattered within the shack. The medical hut of the town wasn’t built to handle this many that needed care, and many of the those that occupied a cot had another injured right by their side on the ground. There were groans all around, plenty in pain and crying out from it. Although, only one could I hear the cry of pain not for themselves, but for another.

That operating room I’d once stepped in front of not too long ago filled my vision yet again, and I wasn’t liking these steps to repeat. With another gentle push, the door swung open, and I found a few more injured in various states of repair. Luster must have had more medical goods and training than I gave her name credit for. Plenty of those in here looked worse for wear, but they’d live to see another day.

Past them on her own cot however, was that snow tinted coat I once knew. Now stained underneath on the skin with blood. Whether it was the site of her chest barely rising up to a full breath, or her own kin trying to stave off the tears that left her eyes raw. I felt my hooves shake with every step I took.

Winter was resting a hoof along Alimites’ shoulder, trying her best to sooth her daughter like any mother would in this situation. I wasn’t a medical pony, but my eyes still tried to trail across her to see any damage that would put her this far down. That blood wasn’t from what looked like bullet wounds, but cuts across her sides where her coat was once clean. An operation? It had to be, but for what exactly? Shrapnel from the mortars? Possibly, even if they were high explosive, there would have been something they tossed at a pony.

Yet, she looked paler than I’d seen in years…

“It’s rude to stare you know…” looks like I’d been made. Our eyes met through the visor, and with a flick it popped open. Winters’ face might have been one of comfort before, but now upon seeing my own, it only turned to sadness. “In all the years I known you,” she about bit her tongue at just those words, “I’d seldom seen you pass a tear.”

What? Me?... oh shit, she was right. My armored hoof wiped what it could away as I kneeled down beside the cot, and I tried to put myself together. Besides the recent operation, and a serious loss in color. She looked just fine to me. Loss of blood? Well, I knew a medic who could fix that.

“Let me grab Deacon,” or somepony at this point, “I’m sure he can get you right back on your-” I felt something rest on top of my hoof, and as I looked down, I saw it was her own, “…feet.”

“He’s far too busy, same with Luster, you know that… besides, they already did what they could,” she rested the back of her head against the pillow once more. Although what the hell are you talking about? It doesn’t look like they did much of anything besides cut her open and have a look around?! So why did she sound so defeated? The Winter I knew would have been pissed right about now, what- “Wiley…”

She knew me better than any, and already saw the circuits firing in my head. That word alone was enough to silence my thoughts, and put my attention back on her. As pale as they might have been, her lips still managed to curl into the same smile she passed before that shell came in.

“Thank you, thank you so much for everything,” I didn’t want to hear those words, that sounded too much like a goodbye for me. Yet, I couldn’t take my eyes off her, “you kept your promise in the end… you found me, like you said you would.”

That promise I made, and I did keep. Though I made another one not long before that to a different mare, to give Winter the chance at a full life. Winter never knew of that one I’d made to Lilac. So, I had to wonder, had I checked that box off? Was that duty fulfilled? With my eyes turning from her to the kin opposite of me, and the chance the older mare had in life. I like to think in a way it was…

But damn it! That didn’t mean it had to end now?!

“No… there has to be more, you look…” I clenched back my own tears again, and started peeling my eyes around the room for something. I couldn’t finish that sentence, she didn’t look fine, not the mare I knew her for. Yet, not one that should be ready to check out, ‘this can’t be it.’ Hell, I’d take anything that could help her. Healing potions, Hydra, boxes with those damned butterflies on them. There were already more syringes and pill bottles tossed around here than a junkie’s hideout.

While I looked, even through the metal I could feel the squeeze of a hoof beckoning me back to her. That smile never faded as she kept her head rested back, “Yes… Wild, you’ll understand soon enough…” she muttered as if reading where my mind was racing off to, but what was that supposed to mean? “Now I need to ask you to make another promise, if you could oblige.” As if I’d tell her no right now, “keep an eye on Alimite will you?” she trained her sites on her daughter, as I watched a few more beads of tears fill the young mares’ face, “I can be happy knowing she’ll be in good hooves…”

“… Mom,” the mare whimpered, and had her eye wiped clean by a tender hoof, that had likely done the same for years.

‘I don’t want you to go, I just got here!’ I should have said it out loud for her, but this wasn’t my moment to speak. Winter was stubborn in the purest sense, something she passed on through her blood line.

“And… when you have the chance, go to my nightstand at home,” huh? That was an odd request, but it was one that seemed to still be important to the mare. Enough to warrant her own tear escaping, “a little something I saved over the years, something that might keep your head above water, and help you understand.”

For a second, Alimites’ face rose to meet mine… and in that moment, I understood a little of what Winter was trying for. Everypony had a reason to stick it out here in the wastes, or as she put it, give them a breath of fresh air. Now, I just had another pony to look out for. Though, that didn’t make it any easier. There was still a target not only on my head, but this whole place now they knew where it was.

I swallowed what I could of my pride, and gulped down what tears still wanted to spill, “I will… on both accounts.”

A grin, of all things, edged on her lips. “Pinkie Pie Promise?”

I wanted to chuckle… but all I could do was go through the motions with my hoof, as I sounded it off to myself. ‘Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.’

The hoof around my own squeezed just a little more at that, and our eyes locked once again. Those violet eyes were the first thing I ever saw of the mare, when she was but a filly, just trying to be a kid…

Slowly her lids began to droop, and with that her grip started to loosen. Her limb fell from mine along the cot. I could feel my whole body lock up as I looked over her, waiting for any remark, I’d take an insult at this point. All I got in return was that same smile, still sitting proudly along her lips.

“Mom…” I heard the whisper to my side, but couldn’t even start to answer it, “Mo-o-o-om!” Alimite bellowed like a banshee… as if a part of her soul had just been cut out, and truth be told. It had.

Sobs of the mare across from me filled my ears once again, and all I could do was sit there like a log. Something wasn’t clicking in my head like it should have, and I was still trying to process it all. I should have covered her mother, I should have gone around and tried to show some comfort to the mare for losing the only real family she had. I should have done a million and one different things… though in the end, all I could do was feel my heart turn right back up to eleven.

The visor dropped like the suit knew exactly what I was about to do, and I rose to my hooves heading to the door instead. In that time, nearly every memory I had replayed like a day dream. Meeting her and Lilac for the first time, helping Winter to create a gift for her surrogate mom, patching her up when she was hurt, laughing at dinner with the two of them… leaving Lilac behind so Winter might have a chance.

All to lead up to this, trekking through the wastes, only to bring those wanting me dead on her own doorstep.

The glass inside my helmet was starting to fog from how much I was breathing, though even through that I still managed to work myself back to the front of the shack and its own bed of chaos. I might have brought this to the town, but somepony else had to put it all together, and lit the fuse. This place wouldn’t be safe so long as they were around, and I couldn’t keep that promise I’d just made while they still breathed… I just had to find them, and I knew where to start.

No pony in here would have been on the outside and able to answer my simple question, but I didn’t need to look for a pony, “Riff Raff…” my inventory opened up and I started toggling through the suits functions, “did you see which way did they went…?”

One of her ears flopped while thinking, but I got my answer soon enough, “West, maybe… why pony want to know?”

Warning: Armor integrity: 15%

That’ll do… and as I found what I was looking for in the suit, I switched on every activation I had. I handled it before, so what was a little more to push the limit? With a deep inhale the Dash filled every sack my lungs had to offer, as the Stampede flared through my body. At that point I couldn’t even feel the Med-X tagging along for the ride, but it was too late. I was already out the door, beating my hooves against the dirt as the sun just stared to peak up over the mountains.

It wasn’t a question of if the remaining gunners could see me coming with this light, but if they’d be able to stop me…

***

Pegisy were always the nimblest of our race, being able to fly would do that for you. In the past they could traverse every scape of land with just a few flaps of their wings. Earth ponies had to rank as the heartiest, build tough from the ground up. It’s no wonder they made damn fine foot soldiers, I mean just look at Big Mac from the war.

Unicorns however, our main advantage always had been magic from the get go. We weren’t the strongest, fastest, or biggest. That said, we were the craftiest. Spells and incantations had helped us keep up with our cousins in the past. We could always make due through sheer arcane arts, and when that wasn’t enough, we scienced our way out of problems.

Our brains were the best weapon we had.

Right now, I could feel that brain power taking a back seat as my inner Earth pony was channeling into every step I took off on the trail. They hadn’t broken off their attack all that long ago, and even if they made it further than I thought. Those that followed Stock here probably wouldn’t expect somepony on their own tails this soon.

There you are!

It couldn’t have been more than a dozen ahead of me, and it only took a few more stomps before they took notice… power armor wasn’t stealthy after all, but I wasn’t trying to be either. I had a point to make, and a mare to find.

A few turned around and started to open up with whatever arms they carried here, as the others kept putting distance between us. Maybe it was for the protection of their fellow gunners? Hard to believe in this place, all I knew it was loyalty misplaced. ADAC vaporized the first one with two shots, not even his armor would make good scrap after that.

The second took the hint, and ran to join his brethren, but he wasn’t getting off that easily. My aura wrapped around his hind leg with a tug, and put him on the face first on the ground. All the while I trudged on, ignoring the sound of his shriek from my hoof caving in his skull. I needed one alive to tell me what I needed to know… but only one, the rest were dispos-

‘I’m really about to murder a bunch of retreating ponies?’ that question passed through my head for but a moment. Before being promptly shoved into the back corner, and locked away. ‘Yes… yes I was!’

These weren’t ponies, these were nothing more than new aged criminals in the wastes. I might have had reservations about killing the rangers when I first made it out the stable, but not this scum. Peace in the wasteland might be a pipe dream, but I could help make this little part better, and that all started with wiping them clean of it!

Over the next hill I bound, just in time to catch the trail of gunners leading into what must have been a ghost town in the west even before the war. Shambles of shacks, broken fences, and what might have been a pasture at one point now turned itself into a hunting ground to play hide and seek in. A game I was versed in, and one I played now with a slight advantage.

The red bars on my E.F.S. dispersed amongst the ruins, and now I just had to track em down. One wasn’t straying that far from my path, and I about knocked half the shack over when I crashed through the door. This mare had barely raised her weapon by the time my hoof lodged into her sternum shoving her against the rickety wall, yet she still managed to get a shell off of her own into my plating.

A shell I could live with, and my head turned back to meet her. “I need-” that was about all I got out before the blood from her cough washed over the helmet. There might have been a bit more force behind that shove than I first thought. Letting go, she slumped to the ground by my hooves and I started scanning… no matter, I had more to choose from.

Wait… that’s a familiar- one side of the shack exploded with enough force to throw me through the next wall, landing me in the streets. It might have taken five percent off the suit, but that much I ignored. They also gave me a contrail to follow, and I wasn’t going to let him get a second shot.

‘Second floor…’ I noted, and lunged through the window to the ground floor. Taking a good chunk of the frame with me. Three bars were above, and I beat against the stairs to get to- Crash, okay, so years out here in the wastes will degrade some buildings… my flank found the ground floor once more, and I could almost hear the snickers of those above.

If I couldn’t come up, I’d make them come down instead! Explosive rounds cycled back, and the ADAC made quick work of the floor boards beneath those bars. If they could decimate armor, then wood was no match. Two fell clear to the ground joining me, but I hadn’t let off the bit fast enough. They looked more like compost than a pony after that volley. The third that landed was a bit more intact, at least intact enough for my needs.

Once again, my aura wrapped around them, this time their throat, while I dragged their body across the floor boards closer. His hooves dug against the boards trying to get away, but my horn was used to hauling suits of armor and heavy guns from work. It didn’t take long for him to get within a hair’s breadth of me. Not so tough with that launcher now, are ya?

“Where is she!” I shouted to the gunner, and the colt held his tongue with confusion, “Where the fuck has Lock set up shop!” that should clarify things a bit for him.

Come on you son of a bitch… he looked like he was trying to speak, and it might have been a smartass remark like I’d gotten from gunners before. Though as his face turned blue, I let go from my horn. Just like the first, this colt collapsed in a heap against my hooves, and didn’t move after that. Cooler heads needed to prevail now if I wanted to get answers, something I could work on with the other bars on screen.

I wasn’t sure if combat drugs impacted magic, but it sure as hell felt like it… oh well, on to the next one. I shouldered the door this time and burst out into the middle of town, scanning around the area. E.F.S. really needed some sort of distance calculator, there were bars still but I couldn’t find which was the closest. So, Eenie Meany Miney… 5.56 started spraying from the window before I’d even made a pick, but this guy already helped me with that decision.

He still hadn’t had time to reload while I approached, and with a dive through that window the gunner found his way under my bulk as I landed atop him. Was it his heart that I felt racing or my own? Probably mine judging by his lifeless expression, having the full weight of the suit land on you wasn’t good for one’s health. There was already blood from his sides spilling out where the rips punched through that’d attest to that.

My ears perked up for a moment, and I swore I heard my name being called… could that be my conscience? Celestia, I hope not, right and wrong were thrown out the window now. I had a mare to find, just like I did when this whole adventure started… One I wanted to protect, and now one I wanted to tear apa-!

Ting!

That drew my attention, and there in the room with us was another. In the mares’ hooves looked like something I’d expect the raiders to be carrying, nothing more than a few pipes welded together to a two by four. .38 caliber for sure, I don’t think the suit even registered that damage.

But it gave me an opening, “I need to ask you some…” another round of hers bounced clear off the suit, “Questions.”

She wasn’t having it, and instead loaded another magazine as the rounds continued to ricochet off. Fine then, I tried to be civil… one shell from shotty rang out, and the only thing standing afterwards was the back half of her torso. There were others still to interrogate, but damn were gunners stubborn.

Warning: Armor integrity: 9%

Critical failure imminent!

It’ll still have to do… the next bar I caught in my visor was too my left, and moving fast. Out the back door I went, and as I dashed through the alley way, I could only imagine the look on the gunners’ face when we’d run into each other.

“Wild!” That was definitely my name!

And that was a hammer… might not have been a rocket hammer like before, but the wind left my chest all the same. This gunner looked proud of himself at the hit, and past him I saw some of his friends making a break for it. Should have taken another shot while you had the chance, with a kick my hoof connected with his own. Not only dropping it, but giving me an audible crack as well.

Never the less, from the ground he tried for another swing. This time my hoof caught it, and with the chems pumping through my system it hadn’t even registered. Both my front hooves rose up, and I got to see that look on his face I was originally hoping for. Just before they smeared it across the ground.

A few of those bars were still visible, though one by one they started to disappear from the range of my sensors. The sights on the ADAC pulled up as I switched back to AP rounds, and I tried to put some of those still in its path along them. Yet, for some reason, I couldn’t hold still. All I needed was one good hit, to the leg or something, and that’d do. Their leg might be torn off completely, but they wouldn’t be going anywhere.

I planted my own hind hooves into the ground trying to steady myself, just one shot… “Come on,” I panted to myself, “Breathe-”

“Wild!”

Something smacked into the back of me, and I met the ground like a sack of flour. Guess there were- wait, “Riff?!” I shouted, and sure enough the hellhound laid across my back pinning me down, “What are you doing? Get the hell off me!”

She didn’t move, and even her eyes adverted from my own. Tumble shot past the hound and posted up along the ground, her rifle trained on those that retreated. Mercy would probably net the same result, but at least her aim was better than mine. All she had to do was take the shot…

Ahh, Tumble? “Go on, shoot em!” I yelled to her, instead all I got in return was a pained expression from the mare.

“Wild pony calm down,” Riff grumbled into my ear.

Calm down? How the hell could I do that? They’re right there, take one down, and solve this whole problem! I tried to push my hooves against the dirt to shove her off, but in Tartarus’ name she was heavy. My body was ready for this fight, I was pumped up and ready to finish them off already! All I needed was a… what the hell was I tasting right now?

It tastes like foam, blood, and cola. Once more my face met the ground, and whatever it was, I could see it dripping inside my helmet onto the visor. The suit might have been still, but it felt like my head was spinning separate from my body. That was nothing compared to what my chest was doing, it was like a DJ-Pon3 concert in there, and my heart was the bass.

I tried to raise my head up once more, and from that I got the fleeting image of those last bars disappearing in the distance. My little tantrum here was for nothing, and it looked like I was heading back to town empty hooved.

“Wild…” I heard another beside me, and there Alimite leaned down to the side of the suit. Although I couldn’t feel it, I knew her hoof was resting on its shoulder. If I thought she cried out all her tears for the day, I was wrong. Fresh ones managed to work their way down her face, and I got a fresh slap to reality. She was worried… about me, and I’d done that by my own hooves.

Why was it getting dark so quick?