Fallout: Equestria - The Storm

Fallout: Equestria - The Storm

Chapter 2: Mysterious South

***** ***** *****

The transport neared our border, wicked jungle lying just beyond. My gaze fell back to a map of the region. The Forbidden Jungles of the Mysterious South region were split by a canyon path, one that eventually opened into barren Badlands littered with plateaus and other rock structures. Once the transport drops me off, my first stop will be Tempest Shadow’s insertion point, a series of ancient pyramids deep in the dark jungle.

Had I any intention of trekking by hoof and claw, I’d be concerned by the plethora of death and disease the sea of lush vegetation had in store. Fortunately, I have wings. The small ship’s crew gave me a last salute to send me on my way, and I was soon in the air. The feeling of wind through my mane and feathers was naturally euphoric, and it almost canceled out the dread I felt as I looked back at the departing airship. From here on, I was alone. After a few deep breaths I steeled myself and pressed on.

I flew about a hundred feet above the treeline, close enough to scan the terrain and far enough to react if I was attacked. The plants here were definitely mutated, varying widely in grotesque alterations. The landscape was no longer irradiated or tainted, but no mega spell could reverse genetic deformation on this scale. Perhaps this was another reason our King wants control of the dragons, their fire could rapidly tame this jungle and transform it into something useful.

Knowing I’d be flying for miles, I flapped my way to a north-eastern wind and relaxed. Letting the current carry me, I glided towards the coordinates on my PipBuck. With no immediate task to keep me occupied, I fell into my own thoughts.

Why me? There were plenty of griffs more suited to this task, but I was chosen by the Storm King by name. It was inescapably bizarre. I, admittedly, was nothing special. Sure, I climbed up the ranks faster than most, but that didn’t explain this. My late parents were ultracite miners, we wereliterally the lowest echelon of society. Was I somehow special in the Storm King’s eyes, or just a unique combination of capable and expendable? I mean, who’d miss me?

With a hard shake of my head, I did my best to rid myself of such doubtful thoughts. They weren’t helping anything. I didn’t need to know why, I just needed to do as I was told. Turning my focus to my PipBuck, I distracted myself by setting out a travel plan to each point of interest on my mission log. When I was done with the jungle temple, I’d make my way to a Badlands settlement called Novac for rest and trade. My supply of rations were best reserved for emergencies, so it was better I get used to hunting, scavenging, and trading to sustain myself. After that, I’d go to an SPP tower, one of many and the southernmost weather control structure the Ministry of Awesome had built. I understood at once why Tempest would go there. If she could tap into the surveillance network, tracking Skystar would have been a cakewalk. Tempest Shadow was a smart pony.

*****

I considered, for a moment, diverting straight for the tower, but reconsidered. Tempest could have left vital notes behind at the temple. There may even be a piece of the Pearl there. Better to leave no stone unturned and avoid back-tracking. Besides, I was already an hour into my flight and almost-

Crack! A shot ripped past me. Crack! Crack Crack! I banked hard towards some clouds as I drew my weapon. Bandits? Some hostile faction? In the middle of a jungle!? Who in their right mind would choose this place as their territory?

I peaked out of my white, puffy hiding place to the stone ruins below. Striped equines, dozens of them, armed with rifles were staring up at the skies in search of me. Zebras. I looked around at the rest of the temple area. Families rushed foals into huts at the sound of gunfire. Farmers stared up from their meager crops. This wasn’t some camp or hideout, this was a settlement. Considering how I flew in fast and unannounced, I understood why they opened fire. I considered my options. Force was out of the question. Besides the fact that I was vastly outnumbered, becoming hostile with the first town I came across was not a wise way to introduce myself to the wasteland. Not to mention I had no idea what ties this settlement could have. I holstered my weapon and took a deep breath.

Several rifles whipped in my direction as I slowly descended from the clouds with my claws raised. Thankfully, they didn’t fire. One of the zebras pointed a hoof to me, then to a clearing. With a nod of acknowledgement, I landed.

“Who are you, and why do you trespass here?” the older zebra mare demanded. Her pale, wise glare reminded me of Wavestone.

“My name is Rosegold. I came here to explore the temples, but I did not know this was a settlement.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but I had the feeling she’d detect any outright lie I could come up with.

“This is Tenochtitlan, outsider.” the mare spoke after several tense seconds. With a motion of her hoof, the other zebras lowered their weapons. “The temples belong to Ahuizotl. He decides who may enter them. Be wary. He is not fond of ‘explorer’ types.”

*****

The zebras disarmed me and searched my saddlebags for anything dangerous before guiding me to the central pyramid. Apologetically, they explained that they saw an armored, winged stranger and thought I was Enclave. The pegasi have been making quite a nuisance of themselves, haven’t they? Approaching the temple from the ground gave me a better appreciation of its size. The blocky pyramid stretched high and wide. I could only imagine how expansive it was on the inside. Looking around at the zebras flanking me, I was suddenly happy they were here. Searching this place without guides would be a nightmare. Unfortunately, I had to get permission first. The temple’s heavy stone doors opened, and an alien figure stepped out.

The name ‘Ahuizotl’ didn’t ring any bells to me. My assumption was that they were an elder zebra. The… thing… standing before me took that assumption and banished it to the moon. It was more than twice my size, had the hind legs of a hound, the arms of an ape, a prehensile tail with a third hand at the end of it, and an elongated head with eyes near its snout. It had a dark blue coat and a lighter blue belly, solid yellow eyes, and was adorned in gold jewelry. The creature was also flanked by a handful of wild jungle cats.

Ahuizotl bared his gnarly teeth as he gazed down on me. Before I could say anything, he turned to the zebras and spoke in a dialect I couldn’t comprehend. After a brief and utterly bizarre-sounding conversation, he turned towards me again.

“What exactly is it you hope to find here, ‘explorer’ Rosegold?” Ahuizotl’s exotic accent was dripping with contempt.

It took me a few moments to force my tongue to function. “I’m following the trail of another… ‘explorer’ who came here long ago. A unicorn named Tempest Shadow.”

“The huntress,” Ahuizotl interrupted. “She came here following footsteps as well. How interesting.”

“Did she, or the one she was tracking, leave anything behind?” My question lingered in the air as the creature contemplated.

“It’s so fascinating,” he pondered aloud. “The world was erupting into chaos around us, and here came along two creatures on such singular quests, undeterred by the death and mayhem that awaited them.” He grinned. “And two centuries later, comes along another. Yes, they both left something behind, but I see that they aren’t things I should give freely.”

“I… doubt they have any value to you.” I argued.

“But they have value to you,” he smugly countered. “So, in exchange for them, I demand a service. My territory has been harassed by black-armored pegasi taking what does not belong to them. I need them dealt with.”

Fuck. I was sincerely hoping I wouldn’t have to get involved with the Enclave on this mission. So much for avoiding attention.

“Is there anything else I could do or give you instead? The Enclave is an enemy I’d rather not make.”

Ahuizotl narrowed his gaze. “No. If you want what you came here for, you will need to kill or drive away the pegasi.” He then smiled. “It is a small camp. Out of reach for my people, high on the cliffs, but no trouble for the likes of you.”

*****

Crack! Fizz, crack! Boom!

On the bright side, it turned out these weren’t actually Enclave. Unless they’d fallen far harder off their ivory tower than I thought they had. Their coats were ragged, their eyes bloodshot, and their bodies skinny and diseased. These pegasi were raiders equipped with barely-maintained Enclave gear. A blast of dark purple erupted from my weapon and decapitated a mare as she peaked from cover, and I couldn’t help but agree with Ahuizotl. This was… too easy. My combat training was more than sufficient to deal with these scum, and SATS made the encounter a joke. If the zebras had a way onto these cliffs, they easily could have handled this themselves.

After clearing the dilapidated camp’s exterior, I went from shack-to-shack mopping up the rest. The stallion who I assumed to be the leader, due to his armor being in the best condition, didn’t fight much harder than the rest. He got a lucky shot on my hind leg with a beam rifle, but a jab of Med-X and a swig of a healing potion sorted it out. All that was left was to put the wounded out of their misery, and I was free to loot at my leisure.

Their energy weapons were in poor condition, but they were still energy weapons. I could make a decent amount of caps off of them at Novac, moreso if I could repair them a bit. I knew basic maintenance, but there was no chance I’d get these into pristine condition. My own energy gun is robust enough that all it ever needs is basic maintenance. If they were combustion firearms, I could get them looking like new. As paradoxical as it seemed, I was very good with machines, but not with arcane tech. Growing up in the mines, other fledglings and I were relied on to get into tight spaces and keep the equipment working. Just don’t ask me to get a terminal running, you’d be waiting all day. I decided their armor wasn’t worth looting. The weapons weighed me down enough as it was. After a final sweep, I made my way back to Tenochtitlan.

*****

My stash of fresh loot was all the evidence I needed to prove my task was complete, and my host glady guided me through his temple to a hidden side room. I wasn’t sure what to make of Ahuizotl, but at least he kept his word. The snaking paths were riddled with clever traps, still functional after countless centuries. Many rooms containing treasures were passed along the way, but my chaperone deterred my curiosity with a sharp hiss.

In the room he led me to were two items, a holotape, and… a Pearl fragment! I wasn’t sure how I knew that right away, but what else could the gleaming shard be? I took a few steps towards it, and my fur stood on end. My feathers itched. My mane twinged. I could feel the magic connecting to me, drawing me towards it. I reached out and carefully picked it up, but dropped it after a spark of energy startled me. Composing myself, I picked it up again, this time by the necklace it was set into. After studying the white, teardrop-shaped piece of jewelry, I put it on and tucked it under my breast plate. I turned my attention to the holotape, and loaded it into my PipBuck. It was mostly corrupted, but there was an audio file that was still functional. I selected it and pressed the play button.

“This is Tempest Shadow. I’m leaving this behind for any backup the Storm King decides to send. Princess Skystar was here, the locals confirmed it. I missed her by a few hours.”

A bout of coughing interrupted her.

“Damn it, the radiation just keeps getting worse, and it's not slowing her down at all. Novo must have used the Pearl to chaFIIZZzzzzcrackfiZZZzzz She’s just going to keep putting distance between us If I don’t even the odds. I need to get my hooves on more radiation meds soon, I’m already running low. I need to leave. ‘Ahuizotl’ insists that I’ve overstayed my welcome. Skystar must have come here for a reason, but the big blue bastard won’t answer any questions, and I’m in no condition to search the place by force.”

That was much less helpful than I was hoping. Hold on, what was that about Novo using the Pearl? Using it to do what? What does it do? I reached into my breast plate and fiddled with the shard. A spark of energy connected with me, but… didn’t do anything. Damn it, magic was not my forte. With resignation, I allowed Ahuizotl to escort me back outside.

“I believe that concludes your business here, Rosegold.” As he did with Tempest, Ahuizotl was now shooing me on my way. After learning the community had no currency to trade with, and weren’t willing to part with any supplies, I departed. All things considered, that went very well.

*****

After a few hours of gliding on a northern wind, the lushness of the Forbidden Jungle below had changed into the arid Badlands. Compared to the chaos of wild plant growth, the sea of red sand and clay dotted with towering plateaus was oddly serene. Coupled with the sunset to my left, the scenery was genuinely pleasant and relaxing.

As the sky faded to night, I could make out lights in the distance. Learning my lesson, I flew down to trot the rest of the way, turning on my EFS just in case. There was always the chance some mutant bug or animal could jump me between here and Novac’s gates. Giant ants, radscorpions, and bloat sprites skulked in the dark beyond the trail I trotted along. My weapon stayed in its holster. No need to get their attention.

The silhouette of Novac’s signature landmark came into focus as I neared. A cartoonish caricature of some ancient beast, its maw wide open, stood a few stories high. A guard armed with a sniper rifle sat within, leaning over the plaster teeth to get a good look at me.

“The hell are you?” the tough griffon hen asked through a cigarette. “One of my kind fuck a pony and make you?”

Equestrians knew little about hippogriffs even before the war. Ignorance of my species was something I’d have to get used to. “Hippogriff,” I answered.

“Eh, long as you don’t shoot the place up, I don’t care.” She gave a sharp whistle, and the gates were opened for me. “All the shops are closed till morning. Motel serves stew in the lobby. Feel free to get clean water from the pump.”

I nodded and made my way to the motel. Wastelanders were simple. Don’t give them trouble, and they usually won’t give you any. Especially in a town. “Novac,” I mumbled to myself with a chuckle, looking at the partially functional ‘No Vacancy’ sign on the side of the building. Only the first five letters glowed neon red, the rest were burnt out or shattered.

Novac was a small settlement, a glorified rest stop for travelers and caravans. The motel was by far the largest structure, surrounded by small houses with little gardens, and bungalows converted into trading stalls. A few two-headed brahmin were asleep under a crude metal shelter. I envied their ability to just lay down in the dirt and get a good night’s rest. I still needed a bed for that.

*****

An elderly unicorn stallion, dark green with a cream-colored mane was dozing at the motel’s reception desk. A small bell was hung beside him. I gave it a ring.

“Huh? O-Oh! Welcome to the Dosey Dee-Lite Motel!” The stallion rubbed his pale yellow eyes and floated a set of thick and dirty glasses onto his nose. He squinted at me a moment, then jumped with a start, almost falling off his chair. “Oh, heh heh, I guess we get all kinds of folks out here. Ain’t seen one of your kind in years. Pipporiff? Tippokiff?”

“Hippogriff,” I corrected. “My name is Rosegold.”

“Pleased to meet ya! Name’s Dosey Dough!” He held out a hoof, and I awkwardly shook it. After the guard’s curtness, this elderly chap’s enthusiastic friendliness was both refreshing and off-putting.

“I was hoping to rent a room for the night?” After a long day of flying, along with a sprinkle of getting shot at, I desperately wanted to sleep.

“Ah, yes, of course!” Dosey chuckled. “That’s what the motel’s for, ya know! Just ten caps, fifteen if ya want a room with a workin’ shower.”

I handed him fifteen, along with another five for a hefty bowl of stew. The chunks of various vegetables in brown broth didn’t look great, but it smelled appealing enough. The room was clean, better kept than I expected. The hay poking out of the mattress was only slightly moldy. At least the thick sheets appeared to be washed. Once my bowl of stew was empty, I stripped and confirmed that the shower did in-fact work. The only setting was ‘tap cold’ but I didn’t mind. I took the opportunity to wash my armor and barding as well, hanging them up to dry afterwards. Finally answering its beckons, I curled up onto the bed and closed my eyes.

*****

The peaceful blackness of sleep was ripped from me as the sound of machine gun fire jolted me awake. I dropped to the floor, grabbed my weapon, and crawled to the door. Peaking out, I saw a pair of rifle shots rip from the guard post into the dark.

“Fucking damn it!” the griffon cursed. “Teleporting Bitch got another one!”

A crowd of caravaneers gathered around the brahmin pen. One of the two-headed creatures had been shredded with lead. Teleporting Bitch? That was either a skilled unicorn or… I hoped it wasn’t an alicorn. It seemed prudent to get my not-quite-dry armor on before investigating further. There was no chance of getting back to sleep if there was a violent, teleporting unicorn or alicorn lurking about. And if I managed to deal with it, maybe Dosey Dough would comp my stay.

The griffon flew down from her post as I joined the crowd. She lit a cigarette and offered an apology to a hat-wearing earth pony.

“It’s not your fault, Ginger,” the butter-colored mare sighed as she tried to console the other brahmin. “Not much you can do against an ali. A teleporter, at that.” Shit. It is an alicorn.

“Bullshit, Sunny Side, it’s my job to keep this town safe. This is on me.” She spat out her cigarette and ground it into the dirt with a claw. “Fuck this. I’m hunting that thing down.”

Sunny Side looked at her with shock and worry on her face. “On your own? You’re good, but…”

I interrupted. “I’ll lend a claw.” The pair turned towards me, the odd stranger. I gave them a shrug. “Better than waiting for it to pop into my room.”

*****

To my surprise, Ginger already had an idea of where the alicorn’s hideout was. Process of elimination, she’d told me. There weren't many shelters around in the first place, let alone anywhere that still had the radiation alicorn’s enjoyed. The two of us were flying straight for a Ministry of Arcane Sciences magical waste dump site.

Most of the structure was subterranean, while a modest office building disguised the entrance. A faded pink and purple star adorned the doorframe. Our weapons at the ready, we entered as quietly as we could. The element of surprise was our best chance against this creature, so we did our best to hold onto it. Roaches and mantises that guarded the ground floor were smashed under my hooves or shredded by our talons. Ginger swapped her rifle for a riot shotgun, and kept it at the ready as we weaved around corners towards the industrial stairwell that led to the real facility.

Every step caused the steel to creak obnoxiously, and the ceiling was too low to hover down instead. A few floors down, and my PipBuck’s geiger counter started to click. Ginger readied herself on one side of the steel door at the bottom. I took the other side, and slowly pushed it open with my laser raised. The clicking grew faster as I stepped into the large storage chamber. Ginger followed me in after popping a Rad-X into her beak, then offered me one. She gave me a weird look when I declined.

*****

The room was about fifty yards deep and wide, and twenty feet high. Rows of shelves containing steel barrels filled its entirety. The barrels were marked with symbols warning of radiation. We creeped between the shelves, searching for any sign of the alicorn. Ginger had gotten a clean shot off on its throat before it teleported away earlier that night. She knew it needed rads to heal a wound like that. It had to be here.

Halfway into the maze of shelves and barrels, we heard the faint insane ramblings. Inching towards it, we also made out the sound of a holotape player rewinding then playing. Recorded sounds of gunfire, followed by the agonized screams of brahmin echoed past us. The alicorn giggled madly to herself before rewinding the tape and playing it again, over and over. Ginger’s face furrowed in rage as she started moving faster.

Towards the end of the room, we finally got a line of sight on our target. The purple alicorn was in an office, curled up beside a terminal, laughing to herself as repeatedly enjoyed her new snuff tape. My light orange feathered companion carefully swapped to her rifle and took aim. At the click of her safety disengaging, the large mutant pony snapped into attention and vanished, along with the machine gun at her side.

“Fuck!” Ginger and I uttered in unison, an instant before the magical purple beast appeared behind us with a hoof raised. The griffon had no time to react before being struck hard in the side of her head. If that hadn’t knocked her out, bouncing her skull on the concrete floor definitely did. Blood slowly pooled from under her black and white head feathers, her dark beak hung open, and her lime eyes stared blankly forward. The only sign she was still alive was her slowly moving chest.

The machine gun, enveloped in a purple glow, pressed against Ginger’s throat. I turned and bucked my hooves into the alicorn’s side before it could get its revenge. When I swung my laser repeater towards it, the Teleporting Bitch vanished just before I got the shot off. The alicorn took me more seriously than the griffon half her size. I was nearly as large as her, and I knew that kick broke a few ribs. I took the opportunity to carefully drag Ginger into the small office beside the terminal. After making sure her skull was free of obvious fractures, I found where she was bleeding from and bandaged her. Then I slipped a Rad-X into her beak and poured a healing potion after it. I hoped she’d be up fast enough to back me up, but with head injuries you never know.

*****

I heard the magical pop nearby, but I couldn’t see where the alicorn had ended up. I kept perfectly still, listening for hoofsteps. The office had thin walls. If I could pinpoint where she was… Teleporting Bitch unfortunately had the same idea. And a machine gun.

Crack Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack!

I hit the deck and covered my head with my arm brace and PipBuck. Caws of pain escaped my beak as bullets sliced through my exposed wings. A few sharp breaths indicated that Ginger took some shots to her torso. Her cheap armor could only slow the shots down rather than stop them.

“Like shooting birds in a birdhouse!” the monster callously teased.

Crack Ack Ack… Click. Click.

I launched myself from the doorway and took aim. The alicorn was nowhere in sight, but her weapon was.

Foosh!

The machine gun was blasted into slag. That’s one problem solved. Now where…

“No fair!” Teleporting Bitch slammed into me from above. My weapon was knocked from my grasp and slid under a shelf. All I could do was put my arms over my head to keep it from getting smashed. I was at her mercy as she laughed maniacally, landing blow after blow against my armor. A cold chill swept through me. I was going to die down here, underground, in the middle of nowhere, less than a week into my mission. It’d be months before anyone was sent to look for me. I was going to die. And for what? The safety of some backwater town I was staying one night in? Stupid! Stupid mistake!

The alicorn shoved my arms to the side with one hoof, exposing my face, as she raised the other. “Time to die, silly bir-”

An outward crater of blood and bone replaced her face as her head rocked forward. Her corpse went limp in an instant, falling onto me. I looked past her towards the office. Ginger was leaning on the doorframe, riot shotgun in one claw, with her other clutching her bleeding side. She gave me a triumphant grin before coughing up blood and collapsing.

*****

Carefully, I carried Ginger halfway up the stairwell, away from the rads, and administered most of the meds she had with her. That would keep her alive for now, but she needed surgery to get the bullets out of her chest. I went back downstairs and took a nap in the most irradiated spot I could find to get my wings healed. If I couldn’t fly, I doubt I could get both of us to Novac safely.

After about an hour, I stretched my wings and tested them out, hovering for a bit. Healthy and strong. My PipBuck’s status meter confirmed I was healed, though my head’s health was still annoyingly capped at ninety-five percent. Maybe I’d find a PipBuck technician to get that looked at.

I found Ginger where I left her, and she had regained consciousness. She sighed in relief at the sight of me.

“Was worried you left me here.” She groaned as she tried and failed to get up, the pain in her torso too much for her. I knelt down and helped her climb onto my back.

“That’s not a conversation I’d want to have with Dosey or Sunny.” I started to make my way back up to the ground floor. “They’d make me find a new town guard, or take the role until they found one.” The griffon chuckled, even though I wasn’t joking. In the long run, saving her was more convenient than not saving her. “Novac has a doctor, right? You need surgery.”

“Hazy Glaze,” she rasped, “Dosey Dough’s son. He’s got a clinic. The bungalow with the Ministry of Peace logo above it.” She coughed and chuckled, then whispered. “I’ll owe you once I’m better.” Her suggestive tone reminded me of Spinella. My mind told me I needed to carry on with my mission, but my body told me that a few more days in Novac couldn’t hurt.

*****

The clinic was easy enough to find, right across the motel’s courtyard. A general store neighbored it. I set Ginger down and had her take some RadAway, explaining that my armor was radioactive. She shot me a ‘You’re just now telling me?’ look before dosing herself. With a roll of my eyes, I helped her inside.

Hazy looked like a much younger version of his father. He had the same creamy mane and yellow eyes, but his coat was a lighter shade of green. The unicorn took one look at the griffon and levitated her to a gurney, while carefully removing her armor.

He looked over her poorly healed bullet wounds. “Woah, dude, what happened?” While he looked like Dosey, he didn’t sound like him. His speech was slow and disinterested.

“That alicorn thwacked me in the head and shot me while I was down,” Ginger grumbled.

Hazy blinked slowly. “Woah… That’s, like, fuckin’ mean.”

“She got it back, blew its brains out,” I claimed, still impressed with the little griffon’s tenacity.

“Groovy,” was all Hazy Glaze had to say before getting to work. I stepped out, sure he had this handled. Despite his demeanor, his precise telekinetic brandishing of syringes, tweezers, and scalpels inspired confidence.

Sunny Side was waiting outside. “You got it?” I gave her a nod, and she grinned broadly before wrapping my neck in a hug. She backed up and apologized when I tensed up.

“Save that for Ginger.” I relaxed and brushed my neck to get the sand from Sunny’s hooves out of my coat. “She’s the one who killed it.”

She looked past me at the clinic. “And she’d be dead if not for you,” she said with a grin. “From now on, you get a discount with my store and caravan.”

That reminded me, I had a bundle of laser rifles and pistols to repair and sell. I got the stash from my room, and Sunny let me use her workbench. A couple hours later, I was a couple hundred caps richer. It wasn’t the smoothest ‘stop at a settlement for rest and trade’ but I couldn’t complain about the results.

***** ***** *****

Footnote:
Welcome to Level 3!

Perk Added: Toughness! If nothing else, you can take a beating! Instantly gain 10% damage resistance!

Tenochtitlan Accepts you.

Novac Idolizes you.