Fallout: Equestria - Operation Killjoy
Chapter 16: Interlinked
Previous ChapterNext Chapter“And now I am standing at the crossroad between my life and yours, but I don’t see you.”
Fade didn’t know when she left the orb. The world around her was foggy and blurred. Her thoughts wandered along a map of childhood memories. None of them had any purpose or meaning except to keep her distracted from what was now ingrained in her. She was tired but now she feared sleep as well.
Fade stood up slowly. She was still confused by the impressions of being in a different body. She forced one hoof in front of the other to return to her sister. She had to be strong, even though she didn’t know how.
When Fade returned to the small bedroom, Key was sitting on the bed, still staring at the PipBuck. She never felt so helpless. When she saw the world burn in balefire, it was enough to simply escape above the clouds. When Key wanted to bury her father, it was enough to hug and comfort her. But now, nothing will ever be enough.
Fade sat down next to Key's bed. She didn’t notice the tears running over her own face. “I can’t fix it.” Fade tried to reach out for an embrace. Her breath shook. Her head sank against Key’s chest, crying helplessly. “I can’t fix it.”
Fade didn’t know if she ever fell asleep. The last few hours felt like she was trapped in a darkness, filled with foggy images and muffled noises. She didn’t know what was a dream, a memory or a waking moment. Key was sleeping next to her, sweating and her face contorted by whatever dream lingered on her mind.
The sight alone made Fade sob and her chest heave. “Not now…” She sniffed a few times and rubbed her nose. Crying only made her sickness worse. Her nose was clogged and her throat felt dry like sand. She couldn’t endure staying here any longer. She slid out of the bed and made her way to the hangar.
Tomcat was next to his cart, cooking something on a portable stove. “Tomcat’s favorite customer looks like she needs some medicine.”
“I don’t need medicine.”
“Tomcat understands. You probably need this.” He reached into his winter jacket and produced a rainbow colored inhaler.
“I don’t want drugs either.”
“Tomcat never said that you want something. Tomcat said that you need something.”
“Fuck off with that. And I know your prices.”
He chuckled and put the inhalers away. “You are right. What do you need from Tomcat? Tomcat sees from your frown that you were not coming here for company.”
Before Fade said anything else, she looked around. “Is Feather here?”
“No. She went to the tower to play with the radio. Tomcat didn’t bother asking her why.”
Fade nodded. “I… want to buy the recollector,” Fade said quietly.
“The recollector is very expensive. That’s outside of what Tomcat owes you.”
“But you offer me a dose of a very potent drug?”
Tomcat grinned. “It is worth a lot considering what ponies left behind on those memory orbs.”
“I know…” Fade groaned. “Porn and secrets.”
“Exactly. Secrets. Each one a fragment of a treasure map to more secrets.”
“I don’t want secrets. They never harbor anything good. Just tell me what you want for it.”
Tomcat took a spoon and stirred his soup, turning it into something that looked like spoiled milk. “I assume you still have troubles with that… Everlast. Right?”
Fade looked up, not understanding what he wanted.
“You get the recollector upfront and whatever you need…” Tomcat purred. “If you bring me the Mandate.”
“You want his skeleton key and all I get is a recollector and a promise?”
“Two promises.” Tomcat talked quieter. “One is my promise that you will get anything you need. The other promise is a chance to kill Everlast.”
Fade looked away, afraid that Tomcat saw an urge of revenge in her eyes. But he was right. She could get revenge. For herself. For Key. Even for her parents. They could have been a family.
“And you get these for a one hundred percent discount.” Tomcat added and put a box with six inhalators into her hooves.
“Deal.”
Midnight didn’t clean the blood off the Cicada. He justified the surge of violence with the necessity to keep Phones safe. “Tell them I followed the spy.” Midnight didn’t know if they listened. He didn’t know if they were scared of him, with blood still dripping from his face. He didn’t really care.
His decision to go to Tall Tale wasn’t met with any resistance. Shibboleth remained as far away from Midnight as the small rooms allowed her to. Something in his eyes scared her. Something he usually kept hidden from them. Midnight didn’t enjoy the sight, but as long as it prevented her from seeing him as a pawn, he was willing to endure it.
“Phones. You need to tell Feather that we’re going to Tall Tale. Endeavor has things that belong to me,” he said. “And Everlast may be there too. If anyone knows where Maverick is, then it’s him.”
He stowed the Cicada away and left into the cold, dark night. He looked back to make sure that Shibboleth was following. She did, albeit unwillingly.
They heard the sound of battle before they saw the plumes of smoke. East Tall Tale was under attack and heavy battles were fought somewhere between downtown and the industrial district.
Shibboleth took to her radio equipment. “Tall Tale is calling for help. Endeavor is attacking the city.”
Midnight tried to make sense of it. He knew that Endeavor was ambitious but he didn’t expect him to start an assault. He had seen his ponies. It wasn't nearly enough to start a war with the entire city. Even if the feral Ghouls would join him, the gangs, diamond dogs and every pony tough enough to survive the wasteland would be able to fight back.
He spread his wings. “Go to the mall and find a pony named Praise. She has an old museum and can give you shelter there.”
“Where are you going?”
He didn’t answer. He was running and flapping his wings hard to take off. Endeavor just gave the entire city a reason to remove him from the picture. And with him they will destroy the answers he was seeking. He could not let this happen.
When he arrived at the outskirts, the battle had moved deeper into the city. It was like a wave of violence was rushing through the city and was met with fire and explosions. The sound of automatic gunfire and snarling feral ghouls was echoing up to him.
Banking towards the east he tried to avoid the combat zones. Behind the quickly shifting frontlines he saw how ghouls were herding the feral ones around the fires. Midnight lost track of how many there were, but it looked like Endeavor used every trick to enrage the ghouls around the crater.
Two loud explosions only a block away made Midnight dive for cover. Below him, the ghouls were sent into disarray. Endeavor’s soldiers were taking cover, losing control over their mindless companions. The ferals were rushing towards the detonations and consequently, into a massive inferno.
Short and controlled salvos of assault rifle fire brought down every ghoul who made it through the flames. Everlast was fighting on Tall Tale’s side against Endeavor and Midnight realized he had to hurry even more.
When Midnight stormed past the ruins of the industrial district he could no longer say which ghoul belonged to Everlast or which one was just caught up in the indifferent killing of Everlast’s troops. Midnight didn’t know how Everlast managed to get an incursion that deep into Endeavor’s territory. The explosions far behind him sounded like an artillery barrage, drawing feral ghouls out of every dark corner. The firefights in this place were quiet in comparison.
From above he saw Everlast’s rapid advance. Diamond dogs and ponies with heavy weapons carved a trail through the ruins. Mortars and grenade launchers were deployed if they met heavy resistance. Skirmishers were securing the lines, killing everything that moved.
Midnight was only a few minutes of flight away from the Ministry hub. At this speed, Everlast’s soldiers would begin their assault in less than an hour. Midnight saw hectic motion around the hub as the ghouls there prepared a hasty defense. Their offensive was already turning into a defensive. Everlast’s superiority turned it into a fight for survival.
Midnight flew low and landed nearby the Ministry building. He raised a hoof to get the attention of ponies on the roof. “I’m a friend of Endeavor. I was here about a month ago!” He was barely able to make his call heard over the noise of the nearby battles.
Just when he got the attention of the faceless ghoul, a shrieking noise made them all jump into cover. A detonation wrapped the ghouls on the roof in a dense smoke. Debris and rotten body parts rained down on Midnight and a second explosion followed to clear the roof. Some of Endeavor’s ghouls jumped off the building in sheer panic and tried to crawl into the Ministry hub on broken legs.
Everlast was already preparing for the assault and the few soldiers in front of the Ministry already retreated inside. Midnight had no time anymore. He dove from the roof and let gravity take hold of his body. His frail wings barely slowed his descent. The harsh landing scraped open exposed skin and Midnight ran into the building just before the doors closed.
An explosion shook the doors and more plaster was falling from the ceiling.
“Who are you?” A ghoul was shouting at him, pointing his rifle at Midnight.
“A friend! I was here a month ago and helped Endeavor solve a murder case!”
“The cannibal?”
Midnight nodded and looked around. The lobby was filled with injured and mangled ghouls. Everlast’s assault drove many ghouls here who were seeking shelter. Little did they know that they were now trapped. “Where is Endeavor?”
“He led the northern assault but we lost contact the moment Everlast’s soldiers turned on us.”
“Turned on us?”
“Yes. His troops were supposed to take the mall. But when the attack began, he turned around and started marching against us. Without the skirmishers between us and him… you see how it’s going.”
Another explosion rattled the doors and the building was shaking when more mortar shells dropped on it.
“I know what Everlast wants,” Midnight lied. “I need access to the archives.”
“Mom?” Midnight heard a young ghoul among the many in the lobby. “Are we safe here?”
“What are they doing here?” Midnight asked.
“Refugees. They didn’t know where to go.”
Midnight sighed and he felt the urge of violence returning when the building shook again. “Where are the terminals? I can seal the hub.”
“In the basement… Endeavor’s office is to the right.”
“Got it. Do you have some ammo? Just in case?”
“Ms. Buttercup has some, but be careful—”
“I know,” Midnight said. “She is a very delicate flower.”
Midnight got a pack of ammo for his rifle. It wasn’t the armor-piercing caliber he hoped for, but he was glad that Ms. Buttercup was very cooperative after he lied to her about a zebra incursion. She was the only one who held her position behind the desk when Everlast’s troops fired another explosive against the door.
The constant assault made Midnight hurry. He flew down the stairs, almost falling. Approaching the basement he already felt an unnatural warmth. Something irradiated must have leaked into the basement.
The light was dim and flickered from Everlast’s constant barrage. It was just enough to allow Midnight to grasp the massive size of the archives. The huge halls of the basement must stretch on far beyond the walls of the building above. He saw preserved copies of each newspaper and magazine produced in the Hub and by its subsidiaries. He would never find what he was searching for in time.
Realizing that his priorities were shifting. He needed access to Endeavor’s terminals to find the archived photos. He followed the other ghoul’s direction but instead of finding an office, he only found the boiler room. Hoping to find either a secret exit or a better hiding spot, he looked inside.
Thick and dusty pipes made it almost impossible to see the walls. But then he noticed the furniture. He found a mattress with thick blankets. Cables were torn out of the generator to build makeshift power outlets for a fridge, a small radio and a terminal. The latter was idly buzzing and the screen flickered with warnings of the attack and jammed communications. Above the terminal hung a picture, which reminded him of Fade. It showed Endeavor in a pristine white uniform, accompanied by a mare and a foal too young to understand what a camera was.
Midnight turned it around and began working on the terminal. It was well secured and Midnight only managed to grant himself basic access. He used that to search the database for Featherweight. His name appeared hundreds of times and it took him valuable minutes to reduce the results and pinpoint where his original photos were stored. When he narrowed the results to Stalliongrad, he found a note in the terminal’s system.
“O.I.A. Decree 10332
To ensure Equestria’s security and minimize the risk of zebra spies recruiting collaborateurs among the ponies, the Ministry of Image Hub in Tall Tale is ordered to never release or re-release any pictures made by Featherweight in connection to the activities of zebra sympathizers in Stalliongrad.
Respectfully, Blue Sky”
Feather was right. He was really an O.I.A. agent. Why did Feather never tell him? Why did Blue Sky never tell him? The answer must have been simple. Midnight was sure of it. Blue Sky wanted to protect him and there was certainly an answer about his involvement in the attack on his friends in Stalliongrad. Feather must be wrong to suggest that Blue Sky was behind the attack. He wanted peace after all.
Gunfire suddenly echoed down into the basement. Everlast began his frontal assault. Midnight read where the photos were stored and rushed out of the boiler room. When he heard how Everlast’s ghouls were trying to evacuate the refugees deeper into the facility, Midnight hesitated and he looked back to the office.
No! He had only limited time. He had to get the photos and get out before Everlast’s soldiers fortified their position. There was no time to seal the Hub. He rushed into the archive. “File E, rank one…” he repeated to himself again and again. He came across damaged shelves, as if a massive animal had been raging here. He ignored it when the firefights upstairs grew in intensity. “File E, rank one.”
Midnight arrived at the massive shelf and found it damaged as well. He grabbed the files scattered over the floor, opened them and flicked through the pages. The pictures were in pristine condition and still depicted the strong colors of a time before the bombs. Midnight threw them aside. His gaze only lingered on the pictures when he recognized buildings from Stalliongrad, pictures of protests or of the sheer brutality between Ministry of Morale officers and misguided ponies.
Explosions told him that he didn’t have the time to carefully parse the files. He shoved every picture into his bags and underneath his clothes, not caring if they were damaged in the process.
Another explosion made something stir not too far away from Midnight. something was squirming in the dark and Midnight heard chains rattling. Tendrils were writhing in the dark and an eyeless face turned its attention to him. He stepped away when he realized he was next to the monstrous creature from the Hippocratic Research facility. It was irritated by the battle, but didn’t show any awareness of him.
Midnight had a way out.
The explosions were luring the creature outside. Midnight had trouble chasing the monster when it sought out the source of its anger. To him it felt like the creature was made for that sole purpose; of lashing out in violence.
Midnight didn’t witness how the creature pushed back the last attack. When he arrived all he found were ponies with their limbs mangled and twisted. Some were alive, slowly suffocating or drowning in their own blood. Their flesh where the creature touched them was melting off, reminding Midnight of how lucky he was when he succumbed to the balefire.
Outside, the creature was chasing Everlast’s soldiers. The panic among his troops made them forget about the ministry hub. Their weapons proved too weak; even their armor piercing rifles didn’t cause any damage to the oily skin.
Midnight spread his wings, ready to take off, but a bullet whizzed past his head. He scrambled into cover, hiding behind a makeshift barrier. He tried to find the pony firing at him, but more bullets tore into the debris and forced him back into cover.
More gunfire erupted from the doors. The other ghouls tried to break out as well. Midnight he didn’t seal the Ministry and breaking through the siege was their only hope. He took his rifle and brought himself into position. He quickly found a few ponies with their weapons trained at the Ministry. He fired once, twice, even a third time. When he looked again all he saw was a splatter of blood next to where Everlast soldiers were.
With the monster raging among Everlast’s lines, the ghouls only had to cover a few angles. Midnight used the opportunity to fly up on a roof, opening fire, quickly switching position to fire again to help the ghouls escape. His Cicada was singing. He was a good pony.
It took The Mandate several grueling minutes to deploy its heavy weapons against the raging monster. In that time, Midnight and the other ghouls caused enough havoc among Everlast’s soldiers to allow most of the stranded ghouls to flee. But eventually Midnight had to retreat as well and the Ministry hub was finally conquered.
Midnight didn’t know if there were further firefights inside.
The battles in the industrial district died down quickly. Only a few skirmishes closer to the mall and downtown lasted for a bit longer. Midnight heard weapons of all types fired. Each time the gunfights were shorter and eventually it was only single shots.
It took Midnight until the evening to find the museum. He didn’t want to risk asking Everlast’s ponies by accident. Instead he had to rely on his luck to find an old map, which showed the location of the Featherweight Memorial Museum.
When he finally arrived, Tall Tale was quiet. Not even the scavengers were fighting each other for food and scrap. The memorial appeared peaceful in the serene silence. The pitched roofs and artful decoration made it look like a relic between the abandoned apartment buildings. A small light was glowing behind the boarded up windows.
Midnight found the lobby tidy and the exhibits lined up nicely. Many items were crammed into the few glass boxes which survived the bombs. Nopony looted this place. As valuable as an old camera would have been prior to or during the war time, none of it was of any interest for ponies now. He didn’t pay them much attention and slowly walked deeper inside. Midnight stopped when he noticed Praise standing at the door to a neighboring room. She looked to be having trouble wielding the wooden club in her muzzle.
He looked at her, remembering what she asked him to do. He remembered the pictures in his bags. And he remembered how he broke the promise to seal the hub. No… There was no time left. He helped them escape out of the hub. He was a good pony.
“Midnight?” Praise asked and lowered the weapon.
Midnight noticed concern in her eyes. “I… got the pictures you asked for.” His voice was coarse and quiet. He took them out of his bags and pockets, just piling them up in front of him. “You can have them.”
“Don’t you want to look at them?”
“No. I don’t want them anymore.” He stood up and searched for a place to retreat into.
“Your friend is here. We got some clean water and she is making dumplings.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“I know. But you can still join us.”
“Oh really?” Midnight asked sarcastically.
Praise didn’t ask any further and suddenly Shibboleth was calling. “Praise! Everlast is talking!”
Midnight’s ear twitched. Praise was already rushing to the radio. He remained at the door to the room where Shibboleth prepared the food.
“...and all the other rumors.” Everlast’s voice sounded from the speakers. “But today we showed every pony here in Tall Tale that The Mandate aims to restore Equestria. Thanks to our resources and the brave soldiers who are still fighting, we were able to fend off the cowardly attack of the ghouls.”
“Is he giving a speech?” Midnight asked.
Shibboleth hushed him down.
“We do not ask for anything in return. We don’t want money. We don’t want weapons or food. We have plenty of both. Yet I wish you could welcome our troops into your city and give them a warm place to rest. They earned it. But now we have to come to the important part. We still have to uphold Equestria’s laws. Our institutions may have been burned down by the zebras, but our minds and hearts still know what is right and just. For we have decided to judge Endeavor, former chairpony of the Tall Tale Ministry of Image Hub, to be guilty of high treason. The sentence will be death as it was last executed twenty years ago. Maverick!”
There was a short moment of silence.
“Burn him.”
Shibboleth turned the radio off and sighed.
Midnight found a few books to distract himself. It turned out Praise was not only hoarding anything regarding Featherweight, but a wide selection of books as well. Luckily one was an Atlas and Midnight studied the maps of the Vanhoover- and Stalliongrad region to estimate where Fade and the others could be. But the Equestria he knew looked so twisted and different from what the maps suggested.
After dinner Shibboleth stirred flour in the water she cooked the dumplings in to let it ferment overnight. A stale bread with a slightly yeasty flavor was a luxury. Praise sat down nearby to study the pictures Midnight brought.
He listened to what the two mares had to say. How they were talking about the past, about Tall Tale and how much they missed bright colors.
“Who is this?” Praise asked pointing at one picture.
Shibboleth took the picture in her magic and furrowed her brows. “Midnight? Isn’t this the pony you are searching for?” She levitated it to him.
When he took the picture he immediately recognized Blue Sky. He was protecting his head from a bottle thrown at him. “That’s him.” Midnight sat down a bit closer, but still kept his distance. He looked at the other pictures and found a few more of the same scene. In one picture a police officer had to step in, when a stallion tried to get on the podium. “I forgot how much they hated zebras.”
“It’s not the zebras,” Shibboleth said. “That was a protest. Ponies got wind that Vanhoover was creating bioweapons and a new railroad was built to transport them right through Tall Tale. It was very close towards the end of the war.”
“Like the monster that lived here?” Praise asked.
“Perhaps.” Shibboleth answered. “I wasn’t involved in the investigation of who leaked that information, but some coworkers were.”
Midnight grabbed the pile of pictures and folders, looking at the story unfolding, how the ponies were getting increasingly violent against his friend. “Ponies are stupid. He was born in Equestria but because of his stripes, no pony trusted him. I think… he always took it with… dignity. He just knew it better than them.”
“Knew better?” Praise asked.
“To… to be a good pony. To choose peace. He convinced me to start the peace activist group in Stalliongrad. But… you know how that went. I am sure Featherweight’s pictures show the truth that we were peaceful and the Shadowbolts… that they were wrong!”
He grabbed a folder and found pictures of Stalliongrad. Midnight was smiling when he recognized the colors of his home. He quickly came across the photos of his peace activist group and his smile quickly disappeared. Seeing him and his friends shouting at other ponies and being hosed down by water guns filled him with dread. This time the feeling wasn’t a memory.
He flicked through more pages. One of his friends, whose name he forgot, was threatening another pony with a gun. Another scene showed Midnight bleeding from a wound on his head. A unicorn was hurling bricks at them with her magic. An open fight with Stalliongrad’s police, which escalated to a Steel Ranger stomping off the hindleg of one of his friends. The eviscerated corpse of a young stallion, leaning against a wall. “Die Zebra Fucker!” was written above him. A picture of Midnight, glaring at the camera, Cicada loaded and ready to kill.
Midnight closed the folder. His body was quivering. He started to pack up pictures at random. “I’m sorry, Praise. I must have taken the wrong pictures. These are horrible pictures and you don’t want to see them. All lies. Terrible lies.” He rubbed his nose, remembering tears. “I was a good pony.”
Praise took the bundle out of his hooves. “I will sort them for you. I will take the bad ones out.”
Midnight looked at her. She turned around to not have to see the violence in his eyes and began to quietly sort the pictures.
The next morning Praise and Shibboleth were setting up a stove to bake. While Shibboleth handled the dough with her magic, Praise dusted an old cooking pot with flour until she had to sneeze. Midnight observed them from his resting place. Staying in the corner of the room Praise made her home, he felt like vermin. Eventually he didn’t want to lay there any longer and joined them, even though he didn’t know what to do or to say. When Shibboleth looked at him, he still thought he could see reluctance in her eyes.
His attention was quickly drawn to the sorted pictures. The folders were nicely stacked. He briefly looked at the atlas in the corner, before reaching for the photos instead.
The first set of pictures were taken during an early autumn storm. It was a funeral and Midnight wondered why Featherweight took photos of them. Only a mare, fully covered in black clothes and a heavy raincoat against the storm. Nearby under a plastic umbrella was a white stallion, wearing a black suit. Midnight squinted his eyes and he noticed the blue mane and blue stripes.
Midnight no longer wondered why Featherweight was disrupting a funeral. He wondered why he was so obsessed with Blue Sky. The next photo was a close up of him. Midnight didn’t need to know what was said. Blue Sky’s eyes clearly said that the photographer was not welcome. His mane and suit were drenched, but he was holding the umbrella in an odd angle. Blue Sky’s intention was not about shielding himself from the rain, but the small filly on his back. He wondered who the young pony was. The pale purple coat and the blue, braided mane looked familiar. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to see better.
“Shib? Can you take a look at this?”
“What?” She sighed, clearly annoyed. She hastily took the picture with her magic. Her stern expression softened when she noticed the young pony. “Is this Fade? No, it can’t be.”
“That bitch lied to me!” Midnight suddenly yelled and kicked the files away. “She fucking lied to me!”
“Midnight… Calm down! They just look similar,” Shibboleth said but was keeping her distance from him. Her eyes briefly darted to her gun. “If it’s Fade, she won’t remember.”
“Not Fade!” Midnight began to pace. “Feather! I mean Feather! Would you entrust Key to a stranger at a fucking funeral?”
“The color could still be a coincidence.”
“Coincidence? Shibboleth, since I left Stable Fifty-Four with you, I stepped from one coincidence into the next!”
“It is not even clear if these pictures are related to Feather at all. Please calm down, you make me… nervous.”
“I make you nervous?” Midnight turned towards her. “My life gets disassembled with every step I take! I get disassembled like I am a fucking brain-bot and you are concerned about just being nervous! All you need to be nervous about is your daughter!”
“Please don’t drag my daughter into this.”
“Of course. I am not allowed to mention your daughter! You dropped me in the dirt so I can heal to save your daughter! ‘Don’t go to Lunaland, because my daughter. Don’t kill Everlast’s ponies, because my daughter. Don’t go to the Ministry, because my daughter.’”
“That’s enough Midnight!” Shibboleth yelled.
“No. It is not enough. I am sick of this shit! Since I arrived in this fucking city, everything stinks like Killjoy, Blue Sky and Feather. Don’t you see that I want fucking answers!”
Midnight’s mind was racing but he wasn’t able to grasp a clear thought. He couldn’t even control his body anymore; Pacing, moving, turning and pacing again. Every other time his eyes fixated on the rifle.
“Praise!” The call was long, drawn out. The raspy voice was still clearly recognizable. Everlast awaited them.
“Stay here and be quiet. Pack your things,” Praise said, suddenly torn away from the heated argument to a new threat. She took a few blankets to protect herself against the cold morning air and went outside.
“Praise!” Everlast called again.
Midnight grabbed his rifle and rushed through the hallways to find a way up on the roof. In the hurry he climbed up narrow stairs and reached the attic. He quickly ran to a small window facing toward the museum’s front. It was broken and Midnight took place next to it.
Outside he saw that Everlast brought a lot of his soldiers. He was accompanied by two dozen soldiers. He thought he saw a sniper in one of the nearby windows. But what worried him most was Maverick towering next to Everlast, the pilot flame of his weapon already ignited.
Midnight aimed his rifle, making sure that the barrel was not visible.
“I don’t know if you heard, but somewhere in this town is a very peculiar pony,” Everlast said. “He was first seen in Lunaland, where he killed my adjutant. Not much later he was in Edmareton, where he killed my advisor. And yesterday my troops saw him at the Ministry of Image, fighting for Endeavor. The ponies here in the town say you know him.”
“That is horrible, but I don’t know who you mean.”
“A pegasus-ghoul, Praise. You can’t tell me you would forget about such a… as I said… peculiar pony.”
“Maybe?”
“Listen, Praise. I know that you got caught up in a game that is too big for you to understand. But the ponies here in Tall Tale say that you are a trustworthy one. Some ponies say that you are naive, because you are living in poverty even for today’s standards, just so you can keep an old heritage alive. To do that, you want access to the Ministry Hub, which is mine now. I know how much you adore Featherweight and because of that, I can offer you the chance to work at the Hub. All you need to do is tell me everything you know about the ghoul, the kid and her mother.”
“Mister Everlast… your offer is very generous.” Praise said and Everlast smiled. “But I can’t help you. I met this ghoul briefly. He left the city as fast as he arrived. All I know since then are the rumors that he killed a cannibal.”
“That’s a pity, Miss Praise.” Everlast sighed. “In this case, there is nothing we can do. But allow me one more question.”
“Yes?”
“Please correct me if I am wrong… Miss Praise. The last time any wheat was harvested in this area was twenty years ago. It’s usually processed into flour. The few bags of it that survived the bombs were quickly consumed by the survivors. It is quite rare these days. The only place left, which has flour in abundance is Lunaland. The only pony who was there and also knows you was the ghoul. Or… did you suddenly get rich enough to spill it all over your muzzle?”
Midnight shot. The bullet pierced through Maverick’s fuel tank. The loud hiss of pressurized flaming gel sent Everlast’s soldiers into panic. In a hurry they escaped from the Hellhound as fast as they could, while Maverick struggled to get the damaged fuel tank off his back.
The gel was raining down on Maverick’s thick skin and some dripped down on the pilot flame. A sudden bright glare blinded Midnight and even next to the window he felt the heat washing over him. A huge fireball flared up with a violent roar, rising up and up until it was visible in the entire city.
Midnight heard screams. Everlast’s ponies, who couldn’t escape in time, were rolling on the ground to extinguish the flames. The burning gel stuck to their coats, reigniting every time a flame was put out. He saw Maverick getting up, not minding how the burning fuel was running down his body. With a vicious snarl the Hellhound charged forward with long and heavy strides.
Midnight got up to bring his rifle into position. He felt the building shaking when the massive body leaped at the facade, digging the claws deep to climb up the museum.
Midnight retreated, taking position nearby the stairs to the attic, aiming at the window. When the massive claws dug into the window frame Midnight fired. A finger was torn off, but it didn’t slow the hellhound down. Maverick was already tearing at the old wood, widening the entrance to push his massive frame through it.
Midnight had to choose between firing another shot or running. The split second he tried to aim for the eye, Maverick was already forcing his body through the window. He was shaking his head like a rabid beast, saliva dripping from his cleft lips. Midnight fired but missed the eye.
The hellhound broke through the window, running at Midnight faster than a creature of its size should. He lashed out and Midnight only dodged the attack with a desperate jump down the stairs. He fell and thought he heard a crack when his head collided with the wall. A brief glimpse let him see Maverick struggling to squeeze his body through the attic’s hatch made for ponies much smaller than him.
Midnight ran down the remaining flights of stairs, calling for Shibboleth to run. He heard the heavy stomps and raging growls of the creature chasing him. His only hope was to be able to hide in the exhibition hall and get enough time to line up another shot.
His hope was shattered when he realized how close Maverick already was. His claws were reaching out for Midnight. He remembered true fear and tried to run faster than his broken body allowed.
But suddenly, Maverick roared out in pain and pressed his massive claws against his head, drawing blood. The hellhound squirmed on the floor, raging against whatever caused his pain.
Midnight kept running, not trying his luck in the narrow stairwell. He met the others downstairs. “The hellhound is sick!” He shouted.
“I know!” Shibboleth answered and finished packing up her radio equipment. Midnight thought he heard a barely audible whistling noise, but his attention fell on the photos with Blue Sky. He grabbed as many as he could, forcing them into his bag.
The sound of splintering wood and breaking glass erupted all around them when bullets suddenly pierced into the museum. Midnight and Shibboleth jumped into cover, while debris and splinters rained down on them. The sound of the museum being destroyed drowned out Midnight’s thoughts.
“Praise!” He called when the barrage finally stopped. Most of the soldiers outside had to either reload or were, more likely, preparing to storm inside. Midnight couldn’t find her at first, but saw her taking position next to the door. “Praise, we have to leave!”
A magic surge tore the heavy doors out of the hinges and hurled them into the museum. Midnight crouched down, aiming his rifle at the entrance and fired when the first pony tried to rush inside. He hit the chest and the pony collapsed, coughing and trying to crawl away.
Another pony opened fire with a levitated assault rifle. Midnight had to dive back into cover when he heard bullets whizzing past his head. He had to retreat further back when the constant firing tore big holes into the thin walls.
Suppressed by the fire Midnight could only occasionally watch. Another pony was pushing forward. Praise left her hiding spot and smashed a wooden plank right on his nose. He stumbled backwards, a second blow blocked by his helmet. Purple suddenly magic wrapped around the plank. Before Praise realized what was happening, Everlast stepped into the museum and fired his revolver into her eye.
Everlast didn’t pay her collapsing body any more attention. He found Midnight and fired his revolver again. The rounds pierced violently through the wall and dug deep into Midnight’s body.
“Up!” He shouted over the noise. “We have to get upstairs!”
Shibboleth found a chance to shoot her pistol back. It drove Everlast into cover and his own shots went wild, hitting nothing but the small stove. With Everlast and his soldiers briefly being pinned down at the door, Midnight noticed how another squad was making their way through the boarded up windows. He aimed through the huge holes in the wall and his shot tore open one soldier’s artery.
“Now!” Midnight shouted and jumped up, rushing to the stairs. Shibboleth fired her shots into the exhibition hall until the pistol only clicked when her magazine ran dry.
Everlast came out of the cover, the revolver reloaded and ready. The first bullet shredded one of Shibboleth’s radio devices and the second one pierced her hindleg. She screamed when she fell and Midnight had to turn around to help her back up. She winced in pain and both of them were slowly ascending the stairs.
“We will try to get away from the roof. It is not too high,” Midnight said. When he arrived at the attic, he threw the hatch shut and pushed some heavy boxes on top of it. Shibboleth sat down and pulled some cloth from her back to wrap it around the wound. The fabric was immediately drenched in blood.
Sooner than Midnight thought, somepony was emptying half a magazine into the closed hatch. They crawled far enough away to make sure not to be hit by ricochet.
“How many rounds do you have left?” Midnight asked.
She reloaded her pistol. “Fifteen. Sixteen shots? And you?”
“Two.”
An angry growl made them realize that Maverick was returning. With Shibboleth’s radio broken, the piercing noise was no longer keeping the monster away. Maverick was creeping back through the window. The Hellhound growled, blood running from his temples when he clawed his own skull. Midnight aimed, taking a second longer to train the rifle on his mutated eye and fired. Click. He fired again, but the rifle only clicked.
He quickly checked his rifle and found the magazine empty. When another magic surge hurled the hatch open and the boxes away, Midnight knew he had no time to reload. He drew his knife and the pair were retreating into the far corner of the attic.
Everlast was the first to enter and Shibboleth immediately started firing at him. The low caliber bullets tore into Everlast’s singed skin without any effect. He aimed his revolver and… hesitated. “Maverick! Get off! Enclave!” He suddenly shouted at the hellhound.
“Shibboleth! Run! This is our chance!” Midnight said, pushing her to the closest window, while Everlast and Maverick retreated.
“Where?”
“Anywhere!”
When he looked outside he saw a cloud ship approaching. It was only a small Vertibuck. No frigate and no escort. He squinted his eyes and couldn’t believe his eyes when he recognized the makeshift Vertibuck from the Ministry hub.
He hung out the window and waved, trying desperately to get their attention. Orlov! Now he knew why they went to Orlov! A salvo of heavy bullets dug into his torso. He felt his ribs scatter and he retreated back into the attic to escape the sniper’s fire.
“It’s Fade!” He croaked, his lungs punctured.
The confusion and worry about the Enclave stopped Everlast just long enough for Shibboleth to turn on her radio and send a tracking signal out. She didn’t care who heard it, as long as Fade noticed it.
A strong and powerful wind rushed over the roof and into the attic, drowning out every noise inside. The hatch to the Vertibuck’s back opened and Feather waved them inside. “Get in! Quick!” She commanded.
Shibboleth reacted first, but Midnight only stared at her, his body trembling from memories of rage.
“Get in you idiot!” Feather shouted.
He followed with a jump and his frail body was pressed on the floor when the Vertibuck quickly gained altitude. He saw Fade’s pale purple wings beat quickly to force the machine up into the air. Feather closed the hatch and when the wind was finally quietened all that remained was the buzzing engine and after a moment of disbelief the joyful sobs of mother and daughter reunited.