Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale

Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale, Chapter Seventy Nine

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The holotape player crackled to life and the end of an upbeat and high energy hit my ears, it was already at its crescendo before the music faded, replaced by the smooth voice of DJ Pon3. "And that was Velvet Remedy and the Wasteland Wailers, with the song, Fly Like You! I do find it a waste that Velvet refuses to record any more songs with the wailers, but between singing and saving lives, I would do the same."

It had been a long time since I listened to the DJ, it had reminded me of home too much, and there was so much going on as it was at the time.

The DJ then continued. "Now for the news, and this time we have something new. Yes, the NCR militia continues to make headway into Fillydelphia, with even more ponies joining them to push out the slavers. And yes the remnants of the Grand Pegasus Enclave are still causing havoc. None of that is technically new. But how about all that, but centralized on one area. Well okay, that is not exactly new eather, with wannabe warlords popping up everywhere, and good ponies stomping them back down. So what exactly in new about this, well I'll tell you"

"How about a whole army of slavers and raiders, a plot to use mind controlling arcano-tech, and a mare pulling out such insane operations that even I would have had a hard time believing. Now my dear listeners, do any of you remember the big Fillydelphia families, from the time before Redeye. I'm sure any old pony remembers, just as I'm sure you all cheered when Redeye kicked them out of power. Well, that was before he started doing the same they did, but on a nightmare scale. You see, in the region around Ursa's Rest they actually popped back up. Yep, as soon as Redeye was out of power, they crawled out of the hole they were hiding in, and raised an army."

"Bad I know, the last thing Gwadina needs is a war on two fronts. But the residents of Ursa's Rest were not having it and rushed to stomp them out. Which was a bit surprising, since the leader of Ursa's Rest, a miss Grizzly Deal, is the head of one of the few big Slaver families that survived Redeye. Though in recent months, she has made a dramatic stride to join our side in the good fight, including the ending of all slavery in her region on her own cap. So some forgiveness is in order, though we should not forget."

"But I'm sure most of you already know about Grizzly Deal's dramatic reforms, so let's talk about a pony some have been calling the Berserking Mad Mare, or as some mutant cult ponies have been calling her, the Berserking Saint of Dawn's Light. Let's just compromise and call her the Berserker. Well she first appeared on my radar when she stopped a wiled horde of raiders before they got started. And no lie, she did it by leading an even bigger hoard of feral ghouls into their base. On top of that, in the middle of that chaos she duked it out with the Forty Two Smiles and came out the winner. Yes that's right, that band of mad fun seeking raider that stylized themselves after a very pink villain from an old story. Merchants of Hope I think the old tale was called. Well they are finally no more."

"It doesn't end there. Do you remember my report about the settlement of Elysium, a tragedy it was. Well not long after, the Berzerker paid a visit to it, and even fought with the raider boss of the Murder Ballers. And yes, she won. So those who feared that those bucked out raiders would return, you can sleep easy now. Though in the end Elysium was lost, many of its residents were saved and brought to safety. But get this, the pony who had taken them was none other than the leader of the cult of the Goddess himself. From what I had been told, the Berzerker actually fought him as he was mutating into a monster. Real nightmare stuff I say."

"To add to this already insane set of mad heroics, the Berzerker was thought dead for a week. Captured by the slaver army, in which only a fool would hope that they didn't kill her, she would announce her survival to the world with an explosion. While in captivity, she would break herself out, then destroy the slavers armory by blowing it sky high. This allowed the Ursa's Rest militia to sweep in and clear out the rest of the slavers. But wait, there's more. As the slavers were being stomped out, the Enclave Remnant showed up to kill everypony below. And get this, the Berzerker actually got into a hoof fight with the leader of that Remnant group, in mid air and won! No joke, I have plenty of eyewitnesses to attest to this happening."

"Lastly on this list of good news is that recently the Berzerker, along with Grizzly Deal herself, went out and annihilated the Bailfire Fiends base of operations. For those not from the Ursa's Rest region, that would be a fortified raider base equipped with a wall, beam turrets, angry robots, and a small army of insane raiders. It has been the thorn in the side of Ursa's Rest since forever. And now, even today, you can see the smoke rising from its ruins. It seems that Grizzly Deal made sure that not a hoof step of that place survived, and from what I heard, good riddance to such an evil place."

"And that's all I have for now about the Berserker. From what my contacts have told me, there is still more to do within the Ursa's Rest region, along with taking out the slavers leader. But once that's over, Grizzly Deal has promised to send aid to Gwadina. And from what I've been told about the her militia, having them join the good fight in Fillydelphia will be what Gwadina might just need to tip the scale in her favor. So I want to thank all the creatures in The Ursa's Rest that stepped up to join the good fight, and to the Berserker, you keep on being a crazy hero, I know we all appreciate you for what you have done for Equestria."

I stopped the holotape and pressed the rewind button to listen to it again, but a hoof reached out to stop me.

"You're going to wear it out at this rate, Lottery." Grizzly told me as she then passed the holotape player back to Wiretap. "Here, I'll give you a copy of it later, now can we get going."

"Fiiiiine!" I said, imitating Wiretap's own response when Grizzly tells her to do anything.

"Please don't, I don't need two daughters to drive me up the wall." Grizzly said playfully and then rubbed her daughter's mane. "Now you go, I expect you to act properly for your tutor okay. It costs me a lot to even convince that pony to return here from Tenpony tower, and even more to take on several fillies."

Wiretap sighed, and placed the holotape player in her saddle bag. "Why did you call Miss Twinkle back, she's such an old crone, and smells bad?" She whined.

Grizzly lightly swiped at Wiretap's muzzle. "I better not hear about you saying such a thing from any pony, you got that. Anyways, other than your uncle, there are very few ponies out here qualified to give a proper education, much less one with such a resume as she has."

"I bet most of it is lies. No way she educated real royalty or was taught by top tier educators from a stable." Wiretap argued.

"That doesn't matter." Grizzly said, pushing her daughter to the door. "If Tenpony tower says she is qualified, that's all that matters. So long as ponies know you've been educated by Miss Twinkle, they'll know you're not stupid like most ponies found in the wasteland."

Blowing a raspberry at us, Wiretap quickly trotted away.

"Is that true, about it not mattering if she is qualified or not?" I asked.

"Actually yes, very much so." Grizzly answered. "Who you know is often more important than what you know. Be it for the better or worse."

"Like me having known Tripwire." I then said.

She nodded. "Yes, and again I should never have done that to you just because you were associated with him."

I lifted up my hoof to stop her from saying any more. "It's fine. I'm just a guilty for not telling you to fuck off and taking some other job. But as messed up as it was, Sparkling and the rest of the Red Light Showroom at least gave me some stability I needed. Who knows what I might have done to myself if you all were not keeping me busy."

"Knowing what I've seen with other mares that went through that crap, chem addiction and pregnancy." Grizzly added. "Still, what I did was fucked up."

Giving her a light jab on the shoulder, I then trotted to the door. "In terms of the wasteland it's only a little fucked up. Oh and Pecan said you wanted to build a casino on her land?"

She matched my pace as we trotted out of her personal penthouse. "Only if she can convince others to set up shop there as well. Anyways, if she's going to help feed Gwadina's growing army, she's going to need a lot of workers, workers she will need to pay. Ponies with caps need a place to spend them, and I intend to offer them things they need and want. As one of my ancestors once said, the first and best dressed pony in business will come out the richest."

"Really?" I said, not sounding sure of it.

Grizzly laughed, "hay, if ponies and names are to be believed, he knew a thing or two about making money. I mean, His name was Filthy Rich after all."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Why do we name each other like that, like why don't we do what the griffins do with names. You know, something exotic."

"You do know their names are the same as ours, but just in a different language, and that's it." Grizzly told me.

"Oh… actually that makes sense." I said as we trotted to the deathtrap of an elevator. "So this Filthy Rich, is he like your great grandfather or something?

Grizzly shook her head, "No, actually he is pre great war. He only survived the bombs because he was out camping with his grandchildren. In the same spot Rattlebones took you. He left a lot of holotapes behind to make sure his descendants keep up the family legacy. Though towards the end, most of it was about how he missed his wife and daughter. Even now it's hard to listen to. But at least it was not his fault that he lost them."

"But he persevered, just like you." I told her as the doors closed.

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The war room was as it always was, with a group of serous looking ponies standing around a table, and over a massive map. But now there were a few new creatures here.

Majestic was here looking only a little less thin then before, but a lot less run down. Even her mane moved with more energy.

To my surprise, Regina Grimfeathers was here again, and looking prepared for a fight. The younger griffin also had on tan colored armor, with the letters "N. C. R." Printed on it.

There was also a unicorn stallion I didn't recognize here, white in coat color with a red and pink mane. He was rather handsome, despite being on the less muscular side.

As Grizzly and I took our seats, Spell Circuit cleared his throat and spoke up with a clear and polite. "Now that every creature is here, I first want to thank the representative of the New Canterlot Republic's Militia for joining us, Regina Grimfeathers and Life Bloom. And for them offering us aid in clearing out the remnants of the slaver army and raider bands in this region. I know that Gwadina has little to spare at this time, so any help is appreciated gratefully."

"That and as soon as the brahmin shit over here is over and done with, you promised to send your militia over to aid my mother." Regina said brashly.

"And we certainly cannot ignore ponies in need, even at such trying times." Life bloom added. 'We already have ponies aiding your medical staff, so your health situation should stabilize soon."

Grizzly gave a bow at her seat. "Again, I thank you both greatly for this. The actions of Tripwire has greatly destabilized this region, mainly by driving ponies out of their homes and funneling them here in Ursa's Rest. Even if we do take out Tripwire soon, if we don't stop the chaos around us, we will be hit by a food shortage in just a few days."

"Yes, I read the report." Life Bloom commented. "A shame really, going from a surplus of food stocks to nearly empty in just a month. It shames me to know that Tripwire came from the same schooling as I, even once held a place of honor as an accomplished student."

"Please don't remind me, I was there back then." Spell said, a trace of bitterness in his voice.

Life Bloom then eyes Spell curiosity. "I know of you as well, Spell Circuit, and that though you were not as accomplished as your brother, few had as high marks as you either. Why did you not come back to Tenpony Tower over these last ten years, I know my superiors would have gladly accepted you in their ranks?"

Spell averted his eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. "A lot of reasons, too many to say here, and this is not the place to talk about the past. But I will say that I let my own… self doubt cloud my judgment and take over my life. Something I'll never let happen again."

Life Bloom nodded. "Well I know that a few of my seniors will be glad to know your back, and await your return to the tower. As for the here and now, we should focus on the problem at hoof. That being Tripwire and the mezmetron."

"Right, that damn thing." Regina spoke up with a growl. "Even mom understands that if he is allowed to do as he pleases, we will have an army of mind controlled ponies to tango with. Nothing kills morale more when you have to fight your own brothers and sister under the control of some mad pony."

"It's good to know Gwadina still reads the old journals. Knowing Talon history prevents repeating the mistakes of the past. Last thing we need is another tragedy of the long winter." Hogan Highborn commented.

But Regina rolled her eyes. "You seriously believe some of that magical brahman shit in those tall tales? Ghouls I get, but frozen zombies is too far to believe."

"Young hen, when you get as old as your mother or as I, you learn that nothing is impossible when magic gets involved. And what you call tall tales is very much true. The Long Winter did happen, and I was there as a young talon, fighting the corpses of my own company as they refused to stay dead." Hogan chastised the younger talon.

I then lifted my hoof up. "Not to mention that Naysayer Manor still suffers from what caused the long winter."

Hogan nodded in my direction. "Yes, a place perpetually covered in snow, and where true undead trot, unkillable and forever restless. Makes me worried that Tripwire might be cooking up something even worse down there."

"Fortunately, we will not have to navigate through." Spell Circuit said, getting us back on track. "There is a secret passage into the Manor in which we can take a strike group through."

"As I can also use teleportation there as well." Majestic added. "Though I strongly suspect that Tripwire is prepared for both possibilities of us getting in. My memory may be hazy from when under his control, but I do remember him not getting lazy for his security. Though he had become strange if my memory is correct."

Spell let out a sigh. "If Tripwire has access to fathers old archives and artifacts, who knows what strange magic he has been exposed to. Though no matter what magic he can use against us, the mind control spell is still the most pressing."

"That's why we're going to prepare for the worst." Elder Honeycrisp said as she placed a pair of round sunglasses on the table. "Thanks to the recovery of several mezmetrons from the Breaking Grounds, we have managed to develop a counter for the mind control spell. Care to explain, Plasma."

"Oh, right, yes." Plasma said as she trotted to a nearby chalkboard on wheels, joined by Spell Circuit. Thankfully she was in a less seductive outfit, though I could see the hint of a fishnet stocking peeking out of her suit. Flipping the chalkboard, a crud drawing of a pony being hit by a mezmetron was shown. "Well first off, technically it's not mind control… well it is, but not like you think."

Spell cleared his throat, taking the attention away from Plasma and to himself. "What my friend is trying to say is that what we see as one spell causing the mind control effect, is in fact several spells woven together. The mezmetron itself is based around the Fiducia Compelus spell, but boosted and tweaked to deal with the mentally disturbed. It's unfortunate exploding head side effect comes from the years of exposure to radiation degenerating the spell. That's the first problem my brother had to overcome, then was the weaving together of the Persuadere and Cogeria spells. After that, tweaking the spells to gain the desired effect, and finding the correct set of orders and conditioning to further iron out flaws. That's why he was also implementing traditional brainwashing as well, since-"

"To the point egg head." Regina huffed out.

"Right, my apologies." Spell said, and then continued. "Because of this very careful weaving of spells and conditioning to enthrall one's mind, it would either require constant casting of the spell, or some type of talisman to maintain the integrity of the spell. That's why Pentagram used the enchanted jewelry when controlling the volunteers. The original control device was a copy of some magical helmet recovered from the crystal empire, but Pentagram considered it too barbaric for general use. So he made the mezmetron as a less suppressive alternative, though had to use multiple spells to gain the same effect. The completed spell that Tripwire is trying to make for the mezmetron will not need such things. That said, it will still. Work on the same fundamentals of magic, in which we can counter."

Plasma picked up the sunglasses, and put them on. They looked more for fashion then actually blocking the sun, being rather stylish on her. "Thanks to the help of Duke Pharynx the Fifth, we found that a counter changeling spell is the perfect for disturbing the mezmetron's own spell. Furthermore, the ranger armory happened to have glasses made for dealing with both changelings and invisible Zebras."

"Something left behind by Rainbow Dash, so I expect them to be returned undamaged" Elder Honeycrisp added.

"Naturally, and it is to our great fortune that you even had them, though few in number." Plasma continued. "As for why they work, the glasses are actually smokey quartz talismans that have the magic sight spell imprinted into them. Since the mezmetron requires you to physically see the device for it to take full effect, if hit by the spell, the glasses will actually break it once your eyes make contact. Effectively one spell canceling the other. But this still means the pony will be affected by the initial spell, and there will be a small gap in time between a pony being caught by it and it braking. But it does mean that so long as the glasses are on, they will be able to break free."

"And how many of these glasses do you have?" Rainbows End asked.

"Unfortunately, only two." Plasma answered. "But now that we know how to counter the mezmetron spell, we can modify the lenses for power armor to do it."

A chuckle came from Lucky Shot. "I reckon most of ya tin cans don't like the idea of doing anything to your armor."

"I assure you that we rangers are not against modifications to our equipment when needed. But we prefer the preservation of technology rather than meteling with it. So keep your biases to yourself, bandit." Honeycrisp explained to my grandmother.

"Before anypony else speaks their mind, we have already gone through the numbers and devised a plan." Grizzly Deal said loudly and with authority. "This meeting is more about explaining things to our guests, and hearing out any further suggestions or if one of you here sees a flaw that must be fixed."

Life Bloom lifted up his hoof. "Actually, I think I see a problem."

"Go on." Grizzly said back.

The unicorn quickly shifted through the documents he had at hoof. "Right, so here you have the Applejack Rangers push through from the hidden tunnel under the mountain, and a two pony infiltration team be dropped in by alicorn. But nothing about how anypony is to find Tripwire and the mezmetron workshop? From what this document says, he has two ways to escape through the use of two magical medallions he has on him. Not to sound pessimistic, but even if we do take the manor, the chances of even getting to him is slim at best."

"I have to agree." Regina said, slapping the document with her talons. "If this fucker is as slippery as you think he is. Nothing stops him from just disappearing, and starting this shit up somewhere else. Knowing the brahman shit unicorns can do, who's to say he can't teleport away?"

"I doubt he could go far even if he knew how to teleport." Spell Circuit said. "The only ponies who could teleport long distances were the Princesses, and Celestia's apprentice Twilight Sparkle."

"And the only reason we alicorns know how to teleport was because the Goddess had fused with said Ministry mare." Majestic added in. "I for one could only perform advanced parlor tricks and simple magic before Trixy had found me and took me into Unity."

Life Bloom then nodded. "And without the Goddess proving your kind with Twilights knowledge, those not using the magic are quickly forgetting how to use it all together. Even now many of your kind are becoming little more than tall unicorns. Some have even lost the ability to fly."

"Is that so, are you trying to preserve their knowledge?" Spell asked Life Bloom.

"Yes actually. Currently Velvet Remedy and a close friend of mine are attempting to document as much of what the alicorn has learned over the last hundred years before it's all forgotten." Life Bloom answered.

Then Regina cleared her throat and the two smart unicorns shut up. "Eggheads."

"Anyways." Spell then said, clearly getting back on track. "We will have members of the militia on guard in the places he could attempt to flee to. Both flying around the cursed mountain, and in the proto-stable. Majestic will also be at the ready in case he is able to go further then we suspect him to be able to, or has access to another alicorn."

"We're not leaving anything up to chance here." Grizzly said.

But then Life Bloom asked. "Still, nothing here says where the workshop is. Tripwire could just wait us out in the end."

Grizzly then looked over at me and I nodded.

"Actually, I have a way to find him. Can you greet everypony, Will-o-Wisp." Lifting up my hoof, and Will-o-Wisp appeared on top of it, dancing with its blue flame. "She here can locate Tripwire for me wherever he is. If Tripwire attempts to run and hide, Will-o-Wisp will show me the way."

Life Bloom's eyes went wide. "By Celestia, a Will-o-Wisp! And that magic it is irradiating, that's not the same magic as that of the undead is it… its hue, that color is close to the magic related to hope then of the underworld. How did you get your hooves on it?"

I shrugged. "I think she attached herself to me after I somehow survived the mound maker."

"The mound make was one of the major curses on the cursed mountain, Lottery's cursed axe was what's left of that monster." Spell explained.

Life Bloom let out a long sigh. "Dear me, once this is over, there are a lot of ponies that will have a lot of questions for you two."

"Now don't be plotting on stealing Lottery away." Rattlebones then said. "Most ponies may not know of your society, but the shamans have seen ya'll plotting about in our visions. If she ups and disappears, we know where to look for her."

"What, never." Life Bloom said nervously. "But back on the operation. If you do have guidance of a Will-o-Wisp, which should be the opposite if the legends are true, then this might work… might."

I looked at Willow and smiled. "She has never led me astray, so I trust her completely. Tripwire can run from me, but he cannot hide. I can assure you of that."

"Oh, I really like her." Regina said with a smirk.

"With her, Spell Circuit is going as well." Grizzly then explained. "Since not only will Tripwire will be there but also-"

"Catalyst, yes I saw her name in the report you sent us." Life Bloom interrupted. "She had also attended Tenpony Towers school for unicorns. To think she was also a Naysayer. But it is wise to send another spellcaster with Miss Lottery, though are you sure that will be enough?"

"It's all we can send without just dropping Rangers on the place." Grizzly said as she tapped on the documents. "And though it is an idea, it's one that could quickly backfire on us. It's best to assume that Tripwire is expecting almost anything at this point and has counter to it. The less opportunity he has at grabbing an alicorn or a Ranger the better."

"Is that also why you don't want talons just braking down his door?" Regina asked.

Grizzly nodded. "Frankly, that Manor is likely a deathtrap, and potential new assets for Tripwire. So I loathe sending anypony in there." She then glanced at me before continuing. "But Tripwire must be taken out, along with the mezmetron's and their blueprints. And the only ponies that have a real chance at it are Lottery and Spell Circuit. "

"And you're sure of this?" Regina further pressed.

"Unless you have another megaspell bomb, then yes." Spell Circuit answered. "This is my brother's last stronghold, and was the home for generations of talented spell casters. The place is a fortress in its own right, surrounded by dangerous necromancy magic. I wouldn't be surprised that even the sky above the manor is cursed. So all we can do is block any avenue my brother and sister have to escape, and then hunt them down."

"And that requires Lottery's connections to the curse's there, and Spell Circuit's expertise with magic." Rattlebones added. "Also symbolism is important. The connection those two have to Tripwire will also boost their own strength. Not as powerful as the magic of harmony, but it will help."

Both griffins at the table huffed, but didn't argue.

Life Bloom on the other hoof seemed interested. "You're talking about the shamanistic magic right? I've always been curious about it, maybe later we can talk about it. But that aside, I would have to agree, there's nothing I can see that would make a better option. Actually, I had put in a request for the lightbringer to simply destroy that manor with a storm, or used Celestia One. But both were not just denied, but I was told that it was not possible. That mountain is much like the Everfree Forest, but more evil then it is wild."

"Agreed." Regina said, looking a bit annoyed. "This is like when Pip took on the Goddess. Where conventional tactics were not going to work to kill that bitch." She then eyed Majestic. "No offense."

"None taken. The Trixies mental state had greatly deteriorated by then, and it was more a mercy what that mare did than a loss" Majestic said with a sad tone.

"So then we're all on the same page then, good." Grizzly said, getting all of our attention. "Then let's figure out where we're sending the extra troops to root out the stragglers."

The war council then shifted to the rest of the map, in which I backed away to let the smarter ponies plan things out.

Spell Circuit trotted over, clearly tense. "You sure you're ready for this, Lottery?"

I shook my head, "no, but it's not like we have the time for me to be. What about you?"

"To be honest, I'm terrified about what I might see. For years I had nightmares about my brother finding me and finishing me off. But now I'm going to him and… I can't stop shaking." He said as he lifted a trembling hoof.

"But that's not going to stop you, is it?" I asked.

Spell smiled. "No… no it will not. It's time I fix this ten year long mistake."

That I agreed with him. It was time we fixed our mistakes.

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