Fallout Equestria: Desperados V2 (of Blood and Dirt)

Desperado’s V2, Chapter 18

The Cold Below (Part 3)

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With a loud clang, the cold fire iron cutlass in my muzzle crossed with my fathers own blade. As my ancestors had said they would, they gave me a crash course in being a kelpie and much needed sword fighting lessons. It didn't take long to see how sloppy I was compared to most of them.

"Your hoof work is fantastic, but you need to push with your hips more, Star." Alginate instructed. I had tried to spar with her, but she laid me flat so easily that all I learned was how to hit the floor with style.

My father moved gracefully as he ducked and dogged my attacks, finding openings in my own movement. But anticipating his counter, I leaned in with my hips and swung with my whole body. I made contact, blade on blade as my own reached his face, then, my blade went flying. With a simple turn of his body, he had dislodged the sword from my muzzle and placed his own blade at my neck.

"So close, but it was a good try." Alginate said as she slowly clapped her hooves together. “I give it a good five, seven years before you master such a slash.”

Sheathing his blade, Dead Reckoning patted me on the shoulder. “Hey, I think it was a fantastic attack for a pony who's never been properly trained. If anything, you got the right mineset, you just need to practice.”

Trotting over to collect the sword, it having right in front of Grapeshot's annoyed skull. “Well, I’ll get all the practice I need if I end up dead.”

“All to true.” Ancestor Star Charter said as she trotted over. “But we rather you live and pass down your skills to your children. It’s unlikely your situation will happen again for the next thousand years, so best practice when you can, while you live.”

“I agree.” Dead Reckoning said as I gave him the sword. “You better live and return to my granddaughter, shower her in the love I couldn’t give you.”

I smiled a little, happy to have formed kinden sprites, even if they were my dead ancestors. “ya… I’ll do that, that's a promise.” Giveing my father a hung, I wanted it to last, but the longer I held him the more I noticed how cold he was. It reminded me of Prism and how cold she had become when she had died. “thank you.”

letting him go, I trotted over to Ancestor Star. “So, is it time?”

She nodded, then chuckled. “So that's how it feels. Though unlike the others, I’m guiding the living, not the dead.”

“You mean like Lethi?” I asked.

“The drunk reaper, yes. I have some words for that mare, involving my descendant in one of her screams.” she then motioned her hoof to the side of the deck. “But that’s for later, right now you have another boat to catch.”

Trotting over, I saw a ramp had been placed onto the Aron's FIrst Born, which lead to a floating barge. The smaller boat was made from the same black wood, which had complex gold and silver inlays all over it. At the center was a tent, just a tent, but one that looked elegant and seemed to glow. Guarding the tent were four black armored ponies, of which all but one were skeletons armed with black spears. The fourth was a purple mare armed with what looked like two SMG's.

Following Ancestor Star down, two hooded ponies were waiting for us, one of which I recognized. “Hello Lethi.” I said.

The thin reaper smiled. “Good to see that you're well. Did you eat or drink anything here?” I shook my head. “Good, the fruit of the dead are poisonous to the living, and will damn you to stay here forever with even one taste. They also happen to be quite bland, and make poor ingredients for drinks as I've been told.”

“I’m loath to admit it, but this is true.” The other hooded reaper spoke, their voice even colder and wind-like. She then reached out her hood in greeting, showing that she was all bones and nothing else. “I’m Charon, the Riverboat Mare, and I’ll be taking you back home.”

Shaking her hoof, I felt almost all the warmth drain out of me, causing me to pull back in shock.

Charon chuckled. “Sorry about that, please forgive these old bones. Much work is to be done, and little time to myself is had. Little ticks and spooks is all I got at this time.”

Taking a deep breath as I slowly felt the warmed return to me, I let out a long exhale. “it’s… fine. so, this is your ship, it’s impressive.”

Charon shook her skeletal head. “No, not mine, too fancy for my taste. it would friten souls if I took them onto this.'' She then pointed to a tent on the barg. “This would be hers, and you probably should go see her sooner than later.”

“Who?” I asked.

Ancestor Star trotted past me, motioning me to again follow. “The dread mare, so mind your manners.”

I quickly became nervous, remembering what she had said, that this was a goddess. Trotting over, I wondered if she was like Celestia or Luna, regal and… well, like a goddess.

“All of that, and not that at all.” a voice spoke out from all around me, and from the tent. ”Come, come now, let me see my brother's face in you?”

I was left… rather concerned by that statement, and that she likely read my mind. But not wanting to leave an actual goddess waiting, I entered the tent.

inside was… large, larger than large. I didn’t know if it was bigger on the inside, or smaller on the outside, but it was certanly some kined of magical fuckary. Dried flowers and other plants hung up along the sides, framing finely carved marble statues of ponies. Every now and then there was a portrait of a happy family of ponies, each one looking like it was from a different erra, and probably was. I stopped at one portrait, and saw two mares who had to be Celestia and Luna, looking far more regal than anything I have ever seen of them. But also, far more… normal.

“Those two had been fighting the day before this portrait was made.” The soft voice of a mare sope from behind me, causing me to jump. She was a pure white earth pony with pale blue eyes. Her ghostly white mane was decorated with red flowers, and she was dressed in a white toga decorated with vines and wheat. She was beautiful, but in a warm way that reminded me of Prism when she was alive. “The two didn’t want to be there that day, but they had their royal duties to attend to. All the royals at the time had gotten out of their way, so I saw an opportunity to sneak my husband and I in. they were so adorable with how they pretended to not be fighting while the portrait was being made.”

Looking at the portrait, I saw the pure white mare in between the two sisters, next to her was an almost all black stallion with an impressive beard, yet… the stallion, he was a pony… but not?

“My husband, a true romantic, and one of the few ponies who could understand me.” the Dread Mare said as she was affectionately smiling. "He even changed himself for me, just so I wouldn't feel alone."

"He… must really love you." I said, still confused to what any of this even was.

"He does, and I love him. It's why we can stand this eternity, through the good and the bad, through excitement and boredom." She finally looked at me in the eyes, her gaze hitting me like ice and fire being injected through my veins. Yet I was fine. "Love is a powerful thing. Tangible at times. Able to cast away the darkest sky, and save the most vile of evil. But it can also become a curse when misplaced, or forced onto those not ready or unwilling." The mare then motioned to the far end of the tent, where a fairly large fainting couch sat."

Following the Dread Mare, I had so many questions, yet didn't know where to even start. Frankly, I was absolutely lost.

"I guess you're due for a few answers, Star." The Dread Mare said, reading my mind again as she trotted. Watching her, I noticed that wherever her hooves touched, moss and grass burst to life, but as soon as her hoof moved away, it all shriveled and died. "To start, my name is Persephone, and I was the one who had you be brought here."

"Okay… but why, miss Persephone?" I asked her.

She took a seat on the fainting couch, where my Ancestor trotted over with a plate of small red fruit. "Because, you're doomed to die without guidance. And so will Bridget not long after."

"WHAT!" I yelled.

Persephone just glared at me, and I was compelled to shut up and let her talk. "Times are rapidly changing, and with Equestria finally recovering, there are many who will seek snuff out its flame while it's still weak. And if Equestria truly falls, all of pony kind are doomed to fall with it. Not right away, but slowly and surely, the last story of the magical little ponies will be told, becoming but a barely remembered legend."

I couldn't help but scoff a little at that. "Seriously, I know Equestria was an important place, but there will always be ponies, even without it."

But Persephone didn't share my skepticism, only looking past me. Then I noticed something, she… she didn't have a cutie-mark. That's when her eyes fell onto me again, and dread filled me. "You deny my words, but you can see… some of the truth. Though you don't understand it."

"Why is Equestria so important then, has it to do with… cutie-marks?" I finally asked.

"Partly." She said as she waved her hoof, and between me and her a table formed, one with several clay pony dolls. The dolls moved about as though alive, yet moved unnaturally at the same time. "The cutie-marks, as most know them as, are more a side effect of how ponies gaind magic. Where all creatures were given a place in the world, set to binding rules in which they were never to break from, ponies were not included. Because there were only ever meant to be… One."

The dolls on the table shifted and changed, becoming a single pure white mare, Persephone. Another finger appeared, some tall lanky thing draped in a green cloth, and in a flash, the creature turned into an adult green mare with a golden wheat colored mane and tail.

"Mother would comfort me the best she could, but I couldn't become like her, and truly join the Olympians. My form was that of a beast, and my touch both brought life and death. Most looked at me with fear and disdain. But not all, not Prometheus." A shadowed figure surrounded by fire appeared, and around the doll of Persephone, several smaller dolls appeared. "He… was too good for this world, and for a time my loneliness was curbed."

The scene vanished, and what looked like a group of saddle arabians appeared, but among them was the form of Persephone's mother, and a large blue stallion following her. "I liked to wonder, worrying my mother to no end, and one day as my worried mother searched for me… Poseidon took advantage of that, and forced himself onto her."

Again the seen shifted, and Persephone was there again, but now a little green colt with a jet black mane was bouncing around her, and playing with the smaller dolls. "What was only one, then became two. Arion, I hated him for what he represented, for what was done to mother… but, he cured my loneliness that the dolls could never do."

"Arion… the ship, the Arion First Born!" I said as I realized where this story was going.

Persephone nodded slowly. "Yes, Arion is your ancestor, my little brother."

"Wait, then that would mean, what. I got the blood of a god in me?" I asked, now feeling a bit important. I mean, a god is my ancestor.

But Persephone rolled her eyes at that. "Yes, but so do all ponies and all creators of your world for that matter. The Olympians were rather prolific with their seed, and used it to make many of the creatures of your world. So no, you're not that kind of special."

My ears drooped for a moment, but then refocused as she continued her story. "It's a rather long tail, and time grows short, so I'll cut it down for brevity's sake. My brother, ever percotus, convinced Prometheus to breathe life into the pony dolls. But he did one better, and stole a piece of the source of magic, and gave it to them. A gift no other creature received, and something Prometheus was punished dearly for." I watched as the dolls had cutie-marks appear on their flanks, and now moved more naturally and with vigor as they turned from a muted gray to a variety of bright colors.

Arion froliced with clay ponies as the doll of Persephone watched from a distance, but as I watched it, I noticed that the colors of the dolls were slowly fading. "But it wasn't enough, though they had magic, that magic was fragile, and quickly faded." As one pony returned to clay, Arion hugged it, and its color returned. "My passionate brother though, he quickly found the reason. The magic they were given, it was powered by love. Didn't matter what kind of love, just that they were loved. So he poured all his love and passion into them, and… I did too, in my own way."

"Yet that wasn't enough, was it?" I asked, having a feeling of where this was going.

"For a time it was. But unlike the other creations, they were still just clay dolls. Filled with magic and love, but still just clay. "We asked Zuse to give them true life, but he would not allow it, as they were not his creation, but creations of Prometheus. And so ponies were doomed to return to but simple clay dolls, and in time Arion and I were to be alone again."

The seen shifted, and a black stallion in black armor stood over Persephone, offering her a hoof. It was the pony from the portraits, her husband. "Then he came, the eldest of the Olympians, one who grew up in the darkness for an eternity, with only a guard dog to keep him company. He could sympathize with me in a way that neither my brother nor mother could. I… I was in love at first sight. And because of that love, Hades took Tartarus from Poseidon, and forced Zuse to grant the wish of my brother and I. All just to see me smile."

"But… ever selfish and spiteful. Zuse also added a curse to the ponies, in which they became… mortal." I watched as the doll ponies froliced around Arion, but in time, one by one, they would wither and die. Arion became distraught by this, crying over the dead dolls, so much so that even my own heart hurt. "My brother had come to love the ponies deeply, just as I had come to love Hades. But with him Immortality and they but mortals, his godhood would become his curse. One that slowly ate away with every passing generation of ponies."

"That's when I was born." Lethe said as she trotted in. "Though I have always existed since the cycle of life and death first started. But when a god chooses to join the mortals, it's something that make… ripples."

"Arion… chose to become mortal?" I asked, seeking clarification.

Persephone nodded, a solemn look on her face. "To be exact he asked me. You see, a god can indeed die, but it's… not the same as a mortal's death. By just remembering their name can a god be revived, even if it's faded and flawed, they will return in time. But mortals, for them death is final, there is no true return from it. Even I cannot truly return the dead to the living."

"Death lingers on the soul, enhances both the good and the bad of a mortal's essence. It warps their mind, and dulls their connection to others." Lethe added as she joined us.

Again the dolls changed, showing a crying Persephone hugging Arion, and them parting. And as Persephone watched her brother frolic with the ponies as one of them, she watched Arion grow old, and eventually Arion died, surrounded by the ponies he loved.

"And where there was only one, again one remained." Persephone said, her voice filled with a deep sorrow and loneliness.

"But… you're not alone. You have Hades, and the first born." I stated.

"True." Persephone smiled, and the dolls shifted, forming a line of of ponies, starting with Aron, with most early on being ponies with green coats and black manes. As the line moved, they quickly became Kelpies, and later their colors and shapes would chang, and eventually those of other pony tribes or mixed breeds. Some I recognized, and predictability, the chain of first borns ended with Dead Reckoning, myself, and Bridget. "The Kelpie's were born from my brother and his wives, strong with Poseidon's blood, tieing them to the water, but the first born. I claimed the first born as my own kin, not that bastards. Which brings us to you."

"Wait… but that doesn't explain why Equestria is important?" I then asked.

For a moment, Persephone froze, then cringed. "Right, I got rambling, didn't I? Well the details aren't important, not for you at least. Let's just say that when Equestria was founded, the three leaders of the pony tribes brought more than just a companion each. With them was the spark of magic Prometheus had given ponies so long ago, and trusting each other, they planted that spark, which took root in the land of Equestria."

"And if Equestria were to truly die, so would that magic as well." My ancestor coldly said.

"And without that magic, slowly and surely, ponies will return to what they originally were." Lethe said as she tapped on the table. I looked and saw the dolls loose their color, looking lethargic and overall ready to die

"But… How is that possible? Were living things?" I asked, feeling disturbed by this fact.

Removing her face covering, I saw that Ancestor Star Charter was all bones under all that cloth, with empty eye sockets staring right into my soul. "It is but a figure of speech. But that said, without magic, without love, ponies lose what makes them what they are. The colors become all gray, and passions are lost. And losing all hope, down to even the smallest spark. The once vibrant ponies, from the most noble, to the vile vile, will simply stop, choosing to lay down and go to sleep, never to wake again."

"It's happened before, and its effect leaves a deep scar on the world." Persephone said, waving her hoof, and creating a portal. Through it I saw a muted and gray town, as though all the colors had been drained. A bright yellow pony trotted through it, but further they went in, the dimmer they looked, even their cutie-mark seemed to fade. As the pony reached the center, they simply stopped, then layed down, motionless and gray. The portal closed, and Persephone then told me. "It is something I loathe to see happen to this world. To happen to the ponies I cherish dearly."

"And you want me to stop it from happening. To save Equestria?" I asked.

"To help, yes." Lethe spoke up. "Well, more to prevent such a danger from ever occurring. It's not something one pony can do alone, but you can help, Since you're already heading in the direction of the current problem."

"And the issue of Phobetor, is also needed to be taken care of. So long as a fragment of her soul exists as a part of that arcan abomination, she can still yet revive herself." Ancestor Star added.

I think I understand. "So… just to get this straight, you want me to… What, help Harp and Slowtrot get to… Despoina was it? And to deal with Quicktrot?"

"Correct." Persephone said with a smile. "If you do, I'll grant you any wish, and be sure that I can grant it, whatever it may be." Her face then became very serious. "Anything but involving yourself with my husband."

I… I was left dumbstruck. A wish, and I knew she could grant it, she was clearly a god. Gold, immortality, youth, power beyond my imagination… even…

"Yes I could, but do remember our warning about reviving the dead." Persephone answered my thought.

"But you would bring back Prism if I asked?" The question came out of my quivering mouth, the hope and pleading bear for all to see.

Persephone nodded.

"I… I need some air to… to clear my head." I said to the goddess.

The Goddesses smiled at me. "Please take your time to think on it, for you have much to do until we meet again."

Turning around and trotting off, I exited the tent, once more finding myself in the stagnant salty air. The guards paid me no mind as I trotted to the edge of the barge, looking out over the water, and seeing that the sun was now setting.

"A lovely sight, the faded sun at the horizon." Lathe said as she joined me. "You can only see this along the bone shores, where soul's gather to pay the fairymare for passage across the river Styx."

"Can I really have her back?" I asked.

Lethe sighed. "Yes, Prism can be resurrected, even made so that her death never came to be. Persephone is a true god after all. Though even still, the stench of death will linger. "

"If she is… then why? Why am I going through this? Why take her away from me!" I yelled.

"She cares for you, and all life, Star." Lethe tried to calm me, but I wasn't having it.

My hooves shook, and my lips trembled as words flowed from my mouth. "Everything that's wrong with this world, she can stop it with a wave of her hoof. My mother, father, Hardballer, none of them needed to die. The things Setting Sun did to me, the curse Victoria shoved into my eye! None of that needed to happen. Harp and Slowtrot, the great war, raiders, slavers, the damned wasteland itself. Why must there be so much suffering!"

"It's just how life is." Lethe said calmly and detached.

"Thats fucking braminshit and you know it." I accused her.

"Yet… it's just how it is." She repeated herself.

"It's useless to try and get her to empathize." Ancestor Star said, joining us. "She's never been alive, so she can never feel as we do. But she does understand… more than we'll ever know. She was there when Arion chose mortality, thus, choosing to die truly. And from there on, she's been there for every pony who has chosen how they will die, and there for every soul that chooses to live again."

"It's another death, to live again." Lethe said, a cold and sad tone to her voice. "They cannot be allowed to remember their life before, so I have them drink, have them forget. An eternity of watching over those who choose to die, and choose to live, never to experience it myself." She then looked at my ancestor, sadness in her dead eyes. "You never needed to drink the poison they gave you."

"But if I hadn't, Alginate would never have moved forward, never had forced herself to grow." Tarot said, her voice filled with warmth.

The reaper smiled. "And there it is, love. How I wish I could feel it myself." She ran her hoof across her chest, making a weirdly musical holo sound as each rib was hit. "But like the rest of my kind, I'm hollow inside. Which is good, as you can't miss what you never had."

"So you can't feel love, but you also can't be hurt by it." I commented.

"True, so very true." Lethe agreed. "But I can't feel the wind on my face, the coolness of water, or the comfort of a hug. Star, I ask you this, all that pain you feel for Prism, the tears, you shed, and the self pity you are going through. At the cost of your memories of her, would you rid yourself of all that pain and sorrow?"

"Never!" I stated.

A smile formed on Lethe's dried muzzle. "That's what it means to live. It's pain and suffering, but also love and joy. Without any of it, you would be no different from me. A creature that knows nothing but a duty to fulfill, and the frustration of dealing with souls that we can never truly understand. The world is unfair, but to live is to be among unfairness and find your place in it. Otherwise you are robbed of being able to live, something which Persephone does not wish to do."

"We were once her toys, a way to curb the loneliness of a little girl." Ancestor Star added. "But she is now an adult, and she no longer needs those toys. If we were to become but dolls once more, she'd care for us, but as something placed on a shelf to collect dust. Best we suffer as living things, then to fade as a memento of a more innocent time."

The barge then joltec to a stop, and I looked back to see that we hit land. "I guess it's time."

"It is, Star, time you go and save your friend." Lethe said and she trotted off over to the shore.

"I know what you're thinking, my descendant, how do I win a fight with a wrath? Digital or spiritual." Ancestor Star said as she pulled out Hardballer's musket from her robes, passing it to me.

I felt nervous just by looking at it, "But… I can't take anything from the land of the dead, can I?"

"Well… let's just say that sometimes cheating the system Is necessary." Magic flowed around my ancestor, and her skeletal face became more… lively. Before me was an older mare who looked just like me, if more green in the coat and with expressive blue eyes, she then took the Oracle's Eye from me and threw both it and the musket into the air, where her cards burst out and covered them. "If you're to share my name, then you should at least be privileged to a few of my old tricks. One of which I used to exorcize evil spirits."

Her cards then caught on fire, the blue flame burning brightly for a few seconds before going out. Falling into her hoof was a silver chain, in which the Oracle's eye hung from. She then placed it around my neck and gave me a hug that reminded me of how mom would hug me "Oh, and I do have permission to let you take this. Let's just say that Persephone is currently looking in a different direction at this time."

Holding onto the Oracle'sEye, I felt more relaxed. "What did you do?"

"My Oracle's Eye used to have the ability to capture spirit, so I activated that magic to store the cold fire musket inside it." As she explained, her face faded, slowly turning back into a skeleton. "It will take some practice, but you'll be able to draw that musket out and give any ghost a real fright. It can also be used to disrupt magic, such as illusions, barriers, and other troublesome things. Though do be careful, you only get one shot a day, with it being what it is."

Letting me go, she had fully returned to her undead form, but looked no less regal.

But I had to ask. "So… why are you all bones?"

Ancestor Star laughed, which was a bit disturbing, since she had no volcalcords. "Unfortunately, being around Persephone will eventually do this to you. I can restore my flesh as you saw, but it never lasts long since her touch never fades. It's why she limits herself from others. Not that I care, I'm already dead as it is." She then waved at me to leave. "But not you, not yet. So get going you fool, you got a life to live after all."

"That I do." I said as I look over at the river Styx one last time, truly finding the faded sun a beautiful thing. "When I see you again, I want to introduce you all to Prism, if that's allowed."

"Of course it is, I had more children than Alginate when I was alive, and I regularly visit them in the Elysian Fields, and one in Tartarus sadly enough. Just make sure you have one heck of a life to tell her about, alright." She said with a chuckle.

Turning to leave, I said to her "I will, and thank you." Trotting off, and to a white beach made of bones, the sight of a desolate land past that filled me with trepidation, but trot to it I did.

Lethe smiled at me as I set a hoof onto the beach. "I'll be seeing you around, Star."

"I guess so, but how is this going to, ya know, go?" I asked.

"About that." Lethe then pointed behind me.

Looking back, I saw Charon with a boat oar held over her head. "Sending one soul back to where it belongs!" The ferrymare yelled, and slammed the boat oar down onto my head, and everything went black

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