Fallout Equestria: Brothers

The brothers looked to one another as they slowly began to approach once more. Searing Arrow’s horn glowed as he brought the butt of his pistol up in front of him. Iron Heart took a deep breath as he and his brother made their way to stand just behind the mare. They looked to one another and nodded as Iron Heart took a deep breath and grunted loudly.

“Who are you, and what do you think you are doing with our supplies?” The earth pony said in a loud and intimidating voice. His eyes narrowed as he glared down at her.

“Eep!” The pale Earth Pony mare squeaked loudly as she jumped into the air and spun around. She landed with a soft thud as she faced them. Her black eyes were wide as her chest heaved up and down from having been startled. “I-I am sorry! I wasn’t planning on stealing your supplies, honest!” She said in a soft, almost nervous and anxiety filled voice. The brothers could see the sections between the lines as they moved with each slow inhale and exhale.

Searing Arrow said firmly. “You don’t seem to be wanting to bring harm onto us, which is nice and all. But we can’t exactly trust that you aren’t planning on hurting us.”

The mare shook her head as she gulped. “I-I don’t like to fight! Fighting hurts ponies, and it makes those that are hurt sad and feel helpless. I promise you that I am not going to hurt either of you, as well as that I am not trying to steal from you. Please, don’t hurt me.” She said with a shiver in her voice.

“We won’t hurt you.” Searing Arrow said gently as he softly approached her. He looked over their supplies and blinked as he noticed that she hadn’t touched any of it. “Are you all alone?” He asked her as he looked at Iron Heart and then back to her. “What’s your name? I’m Searing Arrow, and the burly stallion with me is my brother. His name is Iron Heart.”

“M-my name?” The mare asked as she looked at the two stallions. Her eyes moved from Searing Arrow and then to Iron Heart. The Earth Pony thought that she saw something briefly fly behind the Unicorn, but ended up shaking her head. “I don’t know my name. I don’t know how I got here, either…” She admitted uneasily. “I remember waking up in a strange tube, as well as the sound of the glass as it broke and I fell onto the cold and hard floor. I guess that I don’t even know who my parents are, or what they do for a living.” She exhaled. “I don’t know what to call myself, but maybe you two would be able to come up with a name?” She asked meekly.

Iron Heart blinked as he looked at Searing Arrow. The Earth Pony chuckled softly as he then looked at the mare. “Well, sure.” He said as he thought to himself for a moment, a kind smile coming over his snout as he looked the mare in the eyes. “How about Nightingale?” Iron Heart asked with a warm tone in his voice.

The mare blinked as she thought about the name, her expression taking on a pleasant look as she gave a nod of approval. “Nightingale… I like it!” Nightingale said in a happy and pleased tone. “I don’t exactly have anypony to talk to or to travel with. Also, to answer your question. Yes, I am all alone…” She said with a nervous and quiet tone in her voice.

Iron Heart and Searing Arrow looked at one another. They both knew just how cold and lonely the wastelands were. They couldn’t bring themselves to leave Nightingale alone to fend for herself. The brothers soon returned their attention to their supplies and began to gather everything up, their hooves carefully slipping their gear into one of the big compartments.

“Well, we aren’t going to leave you here all alone.” Iron Heart said calmly as he looked at Nightingale. “You are free to travel with us, if you so desire to. We only ask that you don’t try anything funny on us.” His voice had a gentle tone in it as he slipped the saddlebag back onto Searing Arrows back and put his tire iron across his side.

“What? Really? You mean it?!” The pale earth pony mare asked with an excited tone in her voice. “You mean that I don’t have to be alone anymore?”

“Yup!” Searing Arrow said with a soft laugh as he holstered his pistol. “We just want to ensure that you will be alright and safe. We’re heading to Tenpony Tower. We found a map back in Ponyville that had a path for us to follow.” He said with a warm smile and was about to speak, before the mare ran up and hugged both of them tightly with her fore legs around their necks.

“Oh! Thank you! I promise you that I will help out as best I can. I am at least able to help with patching you both up, if you end up in a fight.” Nightingale said warmly and let go of the two stallions.

The two brothers gave Nightingale a kind nod before they turned around and made their way out of the ruined store. They began to make their way towards Tenpony Tower once again. The next couple of days went by quickly as they traveled. During the mid-afternoon of the third day, the trio had noticed a Sprite-Bot that had been flying towards them. The Sprite-Bot was playing smooth jazz with a soft and smooth sounding voice emanating from its speakers. Before Iron Heart could say anything to Searing Arrow and Nightingale, the Sprite-Bot had closed in and cut its music off entirely.

“Good afternoon, gentle stallions and madame.” The Sprite-Bot said in a calm tone. “I have been observing the two of you for quite some time. My name is Watcher.” It said with a soft bob of its chassis. “Now, I know Searing Arrow and Iron Heart. However, I am afraid that I do not know much about you, madame.” Watcher said as he looked at Nightingale. ”You look like a Hospital Horror, but you don’t strike me as one of those monstrous beasts.”

“H-Hospital Horror?” Nightingale asked with a confused tone in her voice, along with an equally confused expression on her face. “What’s a Hospital Horror?” She asked.

“A Hospital Horror, is a monster that reproduces when it rapes its victims. They can be a stallion or mare. Most of the time, they are stallions.” Searing Arrow said calmly. “They are pretty evil bastards, but. I don’t think that you are one, Nightingale.” The Unicorn stallion said with a gentle and reassuring smile.

“That is correct, at least on the explanation of the Hospital Horrors.” Watcher said with a nod. “They tend to travel alone, and are not a monster that a pony would be interested in meeting in a dark alley.”

“I see.” Nightingale said softly as she looked at Iron Heart and Searing Arrow. “So, um.” She said nervously. “We should be coming up on a settlement or something soon, right?” She asked softly.

“Yeah, we should be.” Searing Arrow said as he took out the map with his magic. His horn glowed softly as the three of them took a moment to catch their breath. “We’re still a little ways off from Tenpony Tower. Maybe another day and we should be there.” He said calmly as he rolled the map back up and set it inside of his saddlebag. The unicorn stallion narrowed his eyes as he looked at Watcher. “And just how do you know about my brother and I?” He asked suspiciously.

“Hey, yeah. We never met a Sprite-Bot before, at least not one that talks to us.” Iron Heart said as he narrowed his eyes, as well. “Tell us what is going on… How do you know about us?”

Watcher took a moment before he responded. “I learned about you from my sources.” The Sprite-Bot said carefully. “They informed me about your settlement some time back, and I have been observing you both ever since.” Watcher had hoped that the two believed him.

Iron Heart and Searing Arrow looked at one another and then to Nightingale. The two brothers turned their attention back to Watcher, serious expressions on their faces.

“So, what you are saying is that you were stalking us for possibly months? If not years?” Iron Heart asked with an annoyed tone in his voice. The earth pony stallion gave a snort as he looked at the Sprite-Bot.

“That’s kinda creepy, Watcher.” Searing Arrow pointed out. “And if you wanted to observe us, you should have just asked us. We would have let you shadow us for a few days, maybe a month or two.” The unicorn stallion said with a grunt. “Are you able to help us get to Tenpony Tower? Or at least to a settlement? We’re running low on supplies and we could use a bit of a resupply.” Searing Arrow said with a soft shake of his dirty mane. He and his brother hadn’t bathed in days, and they looked like they could use a shower.

“I can help you get to Tenpony Tower, sure!” Watcher said with a somewhat nervous tone in his voice. “We aren’t that far away from an airfield. It was used before the war with the Zebra’s as a training ground for the Wonderbolts, but when the Megaspells fell, it had been emptied out.” He said as he began to lead them towards Tenpony Tower. He knew that they would come across the airfield after a couple more hours, though.

Searing Arrow, Iron Heart and Nightingale nodded to each other as they walked. The next two hours passed by relatively quickly and the sun reached high in the sky. They came upon the airfield at the hottest point in the day. The group noticed what once seemed to have been a barrack, its white paint had been peeled off from the years of neglect. The once green grass that had once covered the beautiful airfield had been long since dead. The three ponies and the Sprite-Bot noticed a burly brown feathered gryphon and a young earth pony colt that were sitting down next to the barracks. A wooden sign stood a few yards away from the building. “Bloodbeak and Falcon’s munitions” was written on the sign in, two crudely drawn caricatures of the Gryphon and the earth pony colt could be seen on the opposite sides of a table that was littered with what appeared to be weapons and ammunition. As the four of them approached the barrack, the Gryphon and the earth pony’s eyes went wide and smiles formed on their faces.

“Well, it’s not everyday that we get travelers out here.” The Gryphon said with a jolly smile. “What can we do for you? My name is Bloodbeak.” His body was relaxed as he stood up from his seat. He extended a claw to the three ponies, and looked at the Sprite-Bot which had begun to play music once more.

“And I’m Falcon!” The Earth Pony said with a grin, an excited tone was able to be heard in his voice. His coat was a mixture of white and black, his bright blue eyes shone softly in the hot sun. His mane was speckled black and white, as well as short and messy. His tail was short and well kept, unlike his mane and it reflected the black and white speckles, much like his mane.

“We’re in need of ammunition and supplies, maybe a new melee weapon or two.” Iron Heart said as he looked at the Gryphon and put his right forehoof in his claw, giving him a polite smile. “Oh, we can also use a place to rest and maybe some water filled canteens. We’ve kinda been running on fumes, and we’re trying to reach Tenpony Tower.” He let out a soft laugh. “My name is Iron Heart, and these two are Searing Arrow and our friend Nightingale.” The earth pony stallion said as he motioned to his brother and the pale pony with a hoof.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all!” Bloodbeak said calmly. “What about that Sprite-Bot? Is that yours, as well?” He asked as he looked at the Sprite-Bot before he resumed speaking. “Well, we do have more than enough room to let you all sleep here for the night.” He spoke as he rested a talon on his knee. His sharp claw softly tapped against the fabric of his clothes. “I’ll let you stay if you would be willing to help pry open and clean out a room in the back. That thing has been shut tighter than a safe.” He said with a frown. “Myself and Falcon have been attempting to open that damn door for the past month. We recently uncovered it from a bunch of metal sheets that came off of the wall, after I tripped and smacked my back against them.” He said as he rubbed his back with his left talon. “I’ll also throw in some canteens filled with clean water, and fifty caps to sweeten the deal.”

Searing Arrow gave a nod. “Of course we’ll help! How big of a door are we talking about?” He asked calmly as Falcon approached the group, taking a spot next to Bloodbeak’s side. “Also, your munitions and equipment are all inside, right? We could do a little extra work for the stuff we need, if you would be alright with that? And yes, that Sprite-Bot is ours. We found it malfunctioning on the side of the road a few days ago, and repaired it to working condition.”

Falcon looked at Bloodbeak and gave a soft nod with a smile. “I’ll show them where it is, pops!” He said with a cheerful and peppy tone in his voice. “Come on and follow me! I know where it is!” He said as the earth pony turned around and walked with a soft skip into the barrack and out of sight.

Searing Arrow, Iron Heart and Nightingale looked at one another before they left Watcher outside, and headed inside after Falcon. The interior of the building was nicely organized, a large cabinet was able to be seen against the right wall. The cabinet had glass slits in it that the trio thought they could make out the vague figure of a pistol inside of it. There was a heavy oak desk a few feet away from the cabinet. At the opposite side of the room sat a ripped leather couch and four chairs sat next to a small coffee table. A poster on the wall showed a small white rabbit hanging onto a tree branch, the lettering underneath read, “Hang in there”. The trio could see Falcon as he waved at them from a large and square patch of metal on the wall. They hurried over to him, not having the chance to look into the other six rooms that were on either side of the hallway.

“Oh, oh, oh! Here it is!” Falcon said excitedly as he motioned to the metal sheet. He looked at the trio and smiled warmly to them as he bounced on his hooves. “Pops and I both know that you can open up this door! We don’t know how it ended up this way, but… We’re pretty sure that you three can figure this out.”

Iron Heart blinked as he examined the large square patch of metal. His eyes scanned it and came to notice a small section of the upper left edge. The earth pony stallion pointed it out with a curious expression on his face.

“Hey, do you have a crowbar and a step ladder, Falcon?” Iron Heart asked the colt. “Because, I think that I know where to start.”

“Yeah, I’ll go get both of them!” Falcon said with an excited tone in his voice. “I’ll be right back!”

The trio watched with gentle smiles as Falcon hurried off to the front of the barracks. Iron Heart turned to face the wall once more and took his tire iron out. The earth pony began to slam the metal weapon against it as hard as he could. The wall had become dented where it was struck, as he repeatedly used his full strength. Again, and again, and again as the edges where the weld was made, had become broken. By this point, Falcon had returned with a crowbar in his mouth and a step ladder resting across his backside. The earth pony colt approached the trio and set the crowbar against the wall as he then unfolded the ladder and placed it next to Iron Heart.

“What did you do that for?” Falcon exclaimed as he motioned to the somewhat broken wall. “You three said that you could fix this!”

“Yes, we are fixing it. But that space up in that corner was a little too small for just a crowbar.” Iron Heart said as he took the crowbar in his mouth, and gently moved Falcon to the side next to Searing Arrow.

Iron Heart dug the crowbar into the opening and worked it back towards him. The metal sheet groaned as it began to slowly bend backwards. Searing Arrow’s horn glowed as he used his magic to push from the opposite side, assisting his brother in moving the obstruction from their path. After a couple of minutes had passed, the earth pony stallion moved to the opposite side and began to push with his side. After a couple more moments of pushing and grunting, the two stallions had gotten the large metal square open. The two took a few moments as they caught their breath and Iron Heart wiped the sweat away from his brow.

“Oh! You got it open! Pops and I knew that you could do it!” Falcon exclaimed as he sat down on his flank, his front hooves gave an excited “clip-clop” as he clapped them together. After a moment, he stood up and made his way into the newly revealed room.

“W-woah! Hold on now, a moment.” Iron Heart said as he exhaled and made his way inside, only to be followed by Searing Arrow and Nightingale.

The four ponies looked around in the room, the planning boards were made out of cork. Diagrams and drawings in light blue pencil were tacked onto each of them. There were filing cabinets on one side of the room, while the other had a makeshift bed near a broken window. On the bed rested the skeleton of a unicorn. Their clothes had deteriorated over the years as the heat and the elements. A large desk that rested in the center of the room had a metal object sitting on it. The object looked a lot like a pair of Pegasus wings.

At the tip of the tail feathers a small, metal hole could be seen, which looked like something was supposed to come out of them. A series of dials and meters were able to be seen across the center of the strange Pegasus wings backside. Falcon approached the table, his eyes sparkled and glinted in awe and excitement as he hopped around excitedly.

“Oh my gosh, this thing looks awesome!” Falcon exclaimed in a loud voice. He stopped bouncing and quickly grabbed the metal Pegasus wings.

“Okay, now, let’s just hold on there a minute before we do anything rash.” Searing Arrow said as he approached Falcon. He curiously scanned the odd device as he looked it over. “This is certainly an odd device. It looks like a wing pack.” His voice was calm as he looked the device over once more. “Hey, let’s see if we can find the documents for this. They have to be here somewhere.” He said as he began to start looking around.

The Unicorn and the three Earth Ponies began to search. Two of the Earth Ponies began to sift through the cabinets, while the Earth Pony colt fiddled with the wing pack. He pressed the buttons to see if anything would happen, that is when something did. Out of the silence came the suddenly sharp cry of joy and happiness, as Falcon went soaring up and out of a hole in the ceiling. The sudden cry caused Searing Arrow, Iron Heart and Nightingale to all jump from surprise and being startled. The smell of old fuel and burnt ozone filled the three adults’ nostrils as they coughed. The smoke dissipated after a moment or two had passed, the sound of excitement filled the air above the barracks as Falcon flew around with a loud roar.

The roar of the wing pack filled the sky as the exhausts on each of the tailfeathers propelled the colt forward and through the air, hot fire could be seen coming out of the exhaust ports. As he flew, Falcon could see the entire wasteland in all of its dreariness. He was going so fast that Bloodbeak was unable to catch up with him as he traversed the airfield in a matter of moments. Falcon was flying great, and then he lost control and flew directly into a large but somewhat soft dirt hill. The little Earth Pony colt heard the sound of the wing packs engines shutting off, as well as heard the sound of his right foreleg as it broke with a loud “snap”! Pain shot through his body as he bit back the tears.

“Fucking dammit!” he screamed in pain as he slid down from the spot that he had landed, his skin and coat on his right foreleg had been broken and pierced by the lower half of his leg as it showed gray bone sticking out of it.

“Falcon!” Bloodbeak shouted as he landed next to the colt, and noticed his broken leg. “Shit… I need to get you fixed up. Come on, kiddo.” He said as he calmly and gently lifted the small pony up and into his talons, before he quickly flew back towards the barracks. He had already used his beak to tear off one of the sleeves from his shirt as he flew inside.

Iron Heart, Searing Arrow and Nightingale had exited the barracks to try and catch up with Falcon, only to notice that the Gryphon had the small Earth Pony in his arms. They had only just barely gotten to the cracked asphalt when they all saw that Falcon had broken one of his legs. Watcher, who was observing this from a distance, had been watching closely. The three ponies followed the Gryphon into the barracks, worried expressions had formed on their faces. The little Sprite-Bot soon made its way inside, as well. Bloodbeak grunted as he took the wing pack off of Falcon’s backside after he untied all of the straps and cleared the top of a table with one of his wings, the objects that were on the table clattered to the floor loudly . The Gryphon grunted as he pushed the wing pack into Iron Heart’s hooves and laid the colt on the table, his gaze focused as he carefully gripped the lower part of Falcon’s broken leg.

“Ok Falcon, this is going to hurt a bit… ready?” Bloodbeak said as he gripped the upper part of Falcon’s leg.

“Just… Ugh… Fuck! Just do it, dammit!” The colt shouted as he grunted.

Bloodbeak gave a firm nod as he then forced Falcon’s bone back underneath his coat and skin. The sharp pain elicited a shout of several expletives from the colt, as he began to audibly cry. The pain was intense but brief as shortly after his bone was set back into place, he felt Bloodbeak put two wooden splints against the sides of his broken foreleg and then he felt the sleeve of his shirt as it was wrapped around the two splints tightly. The colt sobbed for a few moments, the tears stung his cheeks as he slowly sat upright with pain that shot through his leg. Bloodbeak took a moment to catch his breath as he held Falcon in his talons. The Gryphon softly carried the colt into one of the side rooms, only to come back out a few moments later. He walked to Iron Heart and took the wing pack, as he then hung it up on the wall behind the desk.

“Hey, let’s take the rest of the day off. I’ll make all of us something to eat, then we can enjoy the rest of the day and even the night until we all turn in.” Bloodbeak said as he released a breath that he had been holding in. “I don’t want to ever have to set one of Falcon’s bones back into place again… It always hurts me to do stuff like that, even if it is to help him.”

The three ponies and the Sprite-Bot looked at one another before they turned their attention back to Bloodbeak and gave a nod in agreement. The rest of the day went by quickly, they all had their fill of Pork and Beans, fresh out of the can. The day turned into night, as the three ponies, the Sprite-Bot and Bloodbeak sat around an open fire on the cracked asphalt in front of the barracks. They had all had a long day and it was showing on all of their faces. Iron Heart looked to Bloodbeak, his eyes scanned the Gryphons feathers and eyes. He was unsure as to how he hadn’t noticed his dark brown feathers or his dark green eyes before.

“Um, excuse me, Bloodbeak?” Iron Heart said in a calm tone. “How exactly did you and Falcon meet?” He asked softly.

Bloodbeak stared into the firelight for a moment as flames licked at the air. He took a stick from beside his seat and tossed it into the fire. “It was two years ago. I was on my way back here from the battle at Fillydelphia. I was told by my boss at the time, Gawdyna Grimfeathers, that we would be fighting alongside the Lightbringer in order to stop the Grand Pegasus Enclave. They had gotten angry about something, something that the Lightbringer did. It enraged them so much that they flew down and started to attack settlements… It was horrible.” He said as he closed his eyes and exhaled, he then resumed. “I had passed by Ponyville when I was making my way back. Normally, I would have gone the more safe route, but something told me to go by there. When I reached Ponyville, I encountered a Unicorn mare and an Earth Pony stallion who were both dying. They were laying on their sides, the mare had Falcon clutched against her chest. When I tried to help them, the mare told me not to worry about them. Instead, she begged me to take care of their son, and to raise him. She asked me to help him learn right from wrong, and to help him see the world, and even to see that he is safe from all of the pain and torment that the wasteland causes.” He exhaled once more as he opened his eyes, and looked at the three ponies. Bloodbeak didn’t realize that the Sprite-Bot was being controlled by a dragon on the other end. “So, I told her… Yes. I promised her that Falcon would grow up to become a fine stallion, that I’d protect him until my dying breath.”

“So, you took him in, because his mother asked you to as her dying wish.” Iron Heart gently gave a warm smile to Bloodbeak, he was moved by the Gryphon and just how much kindness he had given to the colt’s birth mother. “I think that I understand now. Thank you for telling us. I sort of didn’t get it, not at first, anyways.” Iron Heart admitted.

“Yeah, well… It’s been tough. I was living with the Gawd’s Talons for the longest time, only heard about this barrack after the battle and wanted to just live my days out in peace. I kept my weapons and gear, though. Just in case.” Bloodbeak said softly as he exhaled. “Anyways, we’re all tired. There’s more than enough beds, so feel free to make yourselves at home. Stay as long as you need to.”

Bloodbeak stood up and made his way into the barracks, leaving Iron Heart, Searing Arrow, Nightingale and Watcher outside. Iron Heart was about to say something to Watcher, before he calmly flew up on top of the barrack and softly came to rest on its metal roof. The three ponies gave a shrug as they stood up and entered the building as well.

The night went as quickly as it came. Out in the distance as the sun rose in the sky and casted its warmth onto the equestrian wasteland, no clouds to hinder it today. A group of four Gryphons that had on metal armor that was painted black with a star on the right shoulder stood out of sight of the building. They had revolvers holstered at their hips.

Footnote: Level up! New Perk!

Lucky Buck: The Critical Hit Chance of your first combat roll is raised by 10%.
New allies gained: Bloodbeak and Falcon.
New gear unlocked: Wing Pack: If you are not a Pegasus, Gryphon or a Hippogriff, you can use this item to fly! Fuel Consumption rate: fast.