Fallout: Equestria - The Storm

Fallout: Equestria - The Storm

Chapter 22: Rook Gambit

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Phase two involved luring Cozy Glow out of Stable 14. Washout and I wasted no time flying for our lives with the sociopathic android in hot pursuit. Knight stayed back long enough to repair herself and upload an override signal for the Assault-Mares. As long as the General was alive, however, the signal wouldn’t do any good.

Purser, Gritt, Slash, and Crimson were preparing the one gun in Equestria that might do the job. The eight-hundred-millimeter artillery piece that sat atop Mount Reinier, Gustave Le Grand.

While I didn’t doubt the small griffon’s ability to hit any target in his line of sight, since he was a wizard with all things ballistic, I wanted to take zero chances. We’d shove Cozy straight down the barrel if we had to.

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The former Wonderbolt-in-training was more than capable of evading Cozy’s attacks, but I was far less nimble. Instead, I took advantage of the shadows and shifted into a bat-pony, umbra-kinetically teleporting out of Glow’s lethal reach.

“You cheater!” The General squealed in rage. “It took me decades to figure out even the most basic transformation magic, and you can just shift on the fly!?”

My temptation to stick my tongue out at her was squashed by a hot beam of golden death that came too close for comfort, urging me to warp further down the hall. As we got closer to the exit, the sounds of the battle outside became clearer. A few more near misses, and we launched ourselves out onto the tarmac.

The sun was immediately uncomfortable on my leathery wings, and my attempts to warp in daylight failed. I went back to being a pegasus, losing the General in the chaos. She focused on Washout, who flew straight up and around, between Reinier and Zimonja. In the open skies, I had no chance of keeping up. Instead, I focused on helping Zaire, after diverting to a hidden stash with my gear.

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After perhaps the fastest change in apparel in recorded history, I joined the fight, blasting Assault-Mares into slag. The robots’ IFFs thankfully weren’t sure what to make of a hippogriff, giving me a necessary half-second advantage. When Knight joined, she got to work mindscaping pegasi officers and showing them what Cozy did to the griffons. It wasn’t long before the ponies got orders to stop fighting the zebras and turn on the robots.

Cozy Glow must have been banking on ruling through fear, or somehow unlocking the Dragon Staff's brainwashing magic, with how quickly her troops turned on her machines. Her dream of a pony-only nation was not a shared one. Despite being rallied against, the Assault-Mares still had the organics outnumbered, and the fight was getting bloody, fast. Still, seeing pegasi and zebras fighting side by side gave me hope. It was only soured by the absence of griffons. I should have warned them...

“Zinnia!” Zaire leapt over me and cleaved three androids into halves with a single swing of a massive sword. Her armor was scorched by laser and plasma, and a chunk of her helmet was missing, revealing blood running down her face. We fought flank to flank as a swarm of bots tried to overwhelm us. The machines were corralling the organics into the center of the tarmac.

“We can’t let them pin us down! Take the fight up the mountain, use the rocks and trees for cover!” I commanded between waves, and Zaire quickly spread the word. The pegasi caught on and followed, giving cover from the air. I kept my eyes out for Washout, who I saw still playing cat and mouse with Cozy. “Knight, help her!” The friendly alicorn obeyed.

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Washout could keep the General’s attention, but Knight was the only one who could really hurt her. When she saw the android flying into assist, the gifted pegasus stopped and turned on Cozy, contorting her wings and rearing up her hind legs. Just before the General reached her, Washout snapped her wings in a vibrant crack of sound and light, swinging her hooves at the speed of sound into Cozy’s metal face.

The Sonic Rain-Buck slammed Cozy Glow straight towards Knight, who delivered a perfectly timed swipe of her magically sharp claws. With her wings severed, the General plummeted towards the platform near Gustave, creating a small crater in the concrete.

Zaire and I reached the summit soon after, and I saw the enormous gun start swinging.

“Who’s playing with my toy!?” Cozy ignored us and started galloping for the control booth, where Gritt and Purser were operating Gustave from.

She was slowed down by a hail of armor piercing heavy rounds from Crimson’s machine gun, and an inferno from Slash’s muzzle. Cozy opened her insectoid maw to return fire, but got slammed again and again by Washout’s aerobatics.

“I’ve had enough of you!” Her horn glowed, and a chunk of concrete was slammed into the pegasus as she made a pass, knocking her out and trapping her. “Ha! Swatted!” Her glee became a pained “Eep!” as her horn was blasted off. As always, Gritt’s aim was on point. Unfortunately, he now had the death bot's ire.

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Knight, Zaire, Crimson, Slash, and I did all we could to keep her from reaching the control booth, but Cozy’s hate-fueled tenacity was unrivaled. “Vermin! Vermin! VERMIN!” I received a buck to my side, which definitely broke some ribs, and Knight was blasted into a generator. Slash and Zaire received metal hooves to their heads, knocking them out. Without pause, the overcharged laser was swept across at the booth. Gritt and Purser barely got out in time.

“You first, you annoying pipsqueak!” Cozy Glow unleashed another death ray at Gritt. To our shock, Crimson wrapped himself around the smaller griffon, letting his cybernetic body take the brunt of the attack. A long, agonized, filtered squawk escaped him as he fell into the slagged remains of the booth. Gritt rolled out of his grasp as Crim became still. The damage was extensive, the griffon’s metal wings reduced to almost nothing, with deep holes bored into his back. My friend wore an expression of amazement at the former slaver’s uncharacteristic sacrifice.

A sudden bout of screaming told us Crimson was still alive, his own repair talismans unleashing hell on his nervous system as scrap was absorbed. Despite being a monster in his own right, I couldn’t stand watching him writhe in agony, and apparently neither could Gritt. The brave little griffon picked up his rifle and sent round after round into Cozy Glow, every shot hitting between her armor into something soft. She stumbled and fell as joints and servos were crippled.

I ignored my injuries and closed the gap, blasting her repeatedly with Grapeshot. Giving Knight a glance, I saw that she had crawled her way to Washout and had begun healing her. Remembering how I wished I'd used the Pearl on the Novac alicorn, I focused its magic on Cozy, trying to turn her into something harmless. It did nothing. She was immune.

Cozy noticed my distraction, and threw herself at me. Her claws were wrapped around my neck, and it took all my strength to keep her from crushing it outright. Cozy’s mechanical eyes stared into mine, and her maw started to open.

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“Captain!” Purser jumped onto Cozy’s back and yanked her head, throwing off her laser's aim enough to only singe my mane.

I appreciate it, but you're not a match for her!

“Gah! Stupid mutt!” The android bucked Purser into the air, spun around, and skewered her with a claw. The manner the seadog was stabbed, vertically through her chest cavity, was not dissimilar from how she had stabbed me. A mortal wound. “Bad dog!” Purser went limp as she was tossed aside, blood quickly pooling around her.

“PURSER!” Washout shrieked before sonic-slamming Cozy into the sky. Knight and I rushed to the dying seadog, the former quickly enveloping her in healing magic and administering potions.

Knight shook her head in worry. “This isn’t enough. Purser’s fading too quickly. She isn’t going to make it!”

There had to be something I could do! Come on, think outside the box!

If she was a hippogriff, enough radiation could save her. But my armor was the only radioactive thing around, and it was far from potent enough. Surely there’s a creature I could shift her into with strong, innate regeneration. I could think of one, but I wasn’t sure the Pearl could pull that off. No, it was only missing one shard now. It had to be strong enough.

Pouring all my focus into the Pearl’s magic and the dying friend before me, I pleaded with the ancient nature spirits my people once openly worshiped. A faith carried in secret by lower class families, like mine, to endure our hardships. I put my claws on her chest, waiting for the change.

Joy and relief surged through me as her body began to grow, followed quickly by exhaustion. I successfully turned Purser into a hydra, albeit a small one, long enough for her to heal. Purser awoke and gave me an intensely confused gaze from four sets of lilac eyes before the magic was broken. Thankfully, she was a seadog again by the time she fell onto my exhausted body. I hugged her tightly all the same. Knight let out a giddy laugh at the lifesaving display.

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The cracks of more Sonic Rainbooms and Rain-Bucks snapped us out of it. Knight rushed to Slash and Zaire, who were still out cold. Gritt flew to Gustave, intending to fire it manually. No longer able to move the gun, it became absolutely necessary to shove Cozy down the barrel.

Still without wings or a horn, never getting an opportunity to absorb scrap and repair, Cozy Glow was at an enraged Washout’s mercy. Wearing significantly lighter armor than she was accustomed to, the pegasus was a virtually untraceable blur. Speaking into an Enclave radio, I told her what she needed to do.

Her attacks instantly gained direction, knocking Cozy in front of Gustave, which just happened to be aimed at Zimonja. The General realized what we were doing, and tried to disable our weapon with hers, but Washout was too fast to let her.

With the rest of us down or too slow to be of assistance, it was all up to Washout and Gritt, and they delivered. At a cost. Two more slams later, and Cozy was thrust down Gustave’s bore. Gritt, however, struggled with the heavy firing mechanism, giving Cozy time to climb out. Washout didn’t let her, blocking the gun’s muzzle with her own body, using her powerful wings to push back against the genocidal android, ignoring the metal claws thrust into her.

Gritt didn’t know, and the gun finally fired. In an instant, the leader of the Hot Rods was gone. The shockwave rattled throughout the mountain and all our bones. The center of Zimonja was obliterated by the weapon designed to one-shot dragons and Thunderheads.

The young griffon’s shout of triumph was quickly squashed by sorrowful realization brought on by Purser’s grieving wail. Her lover reduced to nothing in a flash, the seadog dropped to her knees, sobbing.

Knight and I didn’t have time to mourn. We had to confirm the kill.

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My metal friend was less optimistic than I’d like, stating she once tried to destroy herself a century ago with a weapon even stronger than Gustave, something called Trottenheimer’s Folly.

Our hearts sank as her doubts were quickly justified. Cozy Glow, currently reduced to just her Star Metal parts, was reforming using the ruins of Zimonja for materials. After all that, and Washout’s sacrifice, this demon was still alive.

Knight let out a battle cry and dug her hooves and wings into the ground. Her faceplate separated and peeled back, revealing a hidden weapon. I recognized the tech. A star blaster was integrated into a juiced up version of the head lasers Assault-Mares sported. The geiger counter on my PipBuck began to scream as Knight's face was quickly hidden by a charging blue light.

By the time it erupted, Cozy had reformed enough to respond with her own laser, and the beams of azure and gold clashed between them. The force of the energy produced pushed me back, but the surge of radiation gave me the energy to fight against it and make my way towards Cozy. I had one last insane idea.

In the mindscape, Knight’s essence and mine could interact, even touch. She used it to give me comfort, but I wondered if harm could be done as well. Cozy’s eyes went wide as I reached her, and latched a claw onto her horn. After calling out to Knight through my implant, the three of us were engulfed in ghostly cyan.

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Before Knight and I stood a terrified, short pegasus mare. Cozy Glow, in a pixilated version of her original pony body, stammered as she struggled to grasp what happened. Her true self was before us. A corrupted, hollow shell. The note in her lab... She turned her soul into a program.

“What is this!? Where am I!?” The terror in her squeaky, digital voice betrayed her attempt at a commanding tone. Knight and I remained silent. I approached her, my dripping red talons leaving a trail.

Cozy opened her muzzle at me, and was confused when no lasers came out of it. Then she was significantly more so when she properly examined herself. She patted her head and felt no horn, and began to hyperventilate as I was nearly upon her. The little pink mare attempted to fly from me, but I was faster, and I slashed my claws deep into her wings. Cozy shrieked and coughed and spat as she fell into the stream, turning the water red.

I didn’t give her a chance to recover, pinning her down in the water, wrapping her neck in my talons and submerging her head. Cozy flailed her limbs in a futile effort to get me off of her, but she just hastened the rate at which her energy faded. Knight turned her head away, folding her ears and clamping her eyes shut. As much as she hated her creator, she couldn’t watch this.

As much as I had learned about empathy and seeking peace in the last weeks, this creature was beyond that. There was a time and place to be my true self. Not a monster, but a killer, ruthless and cold towards those who needed to die. Cozy Glow was a damaged mare, broken completely by tragedy, but her pain would roll over all of Equestria if I didn't stop her. She needed to die. I felt the slightest hint of pity as I saw the light disappear from her eyes, her hooves finally falling slack. Moments later, her essence vanished into dust.

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Coming back to the real world, I found that the android I was holding had gone completely limp. Lifeless, if one could say it was ever alive. After releasing my grasp, it fell to the ground in an unceremonious cacophony of clattering metal.

Knight, still badly damaged, limped to it. Magic radiated around Cozy’s corpse, and it was absorbed. Not just for my friend to repair herself, but to modify herself. Most of her body was protected by Star Metal, she now had an animated face, and the shield-and-cross cutie mark she had in the mindscape now adorned her flank. She looked as close as possible to the real pony she perceived herself as.

She turned to me, and her face was filled with relief. “It’s over. The override is broadcasting properly now. The Assault-Mares are deactivating.” Her newly articulate eyes and muzzle frowned. It was odd but not unpleasant to see her mouth move as she spoke. “Some had managed to get into the city. Not everyone had made it to the shelters.” The griffons in Seaddle weren’t fighters. I couldn’t imagine how many the robots could have killed even in that short timespan.

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Traveling towards Star Pin, the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But it was still bad. Seeing dead civilians disturbed me more than I thought it would have. There were dozens killed. In addition to the couple hundred griffon soldiers killed by Cozy's trap, she had largely succeeded in her genocide attempt.

Gritt recoiled from the sight of a dead fledgling, and I put a wing around him. A pegasus mare was sobbing over the body of a griffon hen, and I suddenly remembered seeing the couple when we first came here. Just two days ago they were having a date at the casino, not a worry in the world. The sight broke Purser into a fit of sobs, and Slash held her tight.

Zaire had taken her people back into the forest, giving Seaddle and Reinier time to recover before peace talks began. Some pegasi soldiers, who had avenged their griffon friends with their help, were already tearing down propaganda. Not wanting to cause a panic with her appearance, Knight had taken Crimson to the Gull to help him heal.

Pierre Whiteclaw was outside Star Pin’s doors, a wing around his trembling daughter. Her hide and feathers had a layer of frost. A brief conversation told us that a wave of Assault-Mares were sent to Star Pin straight away. Security held off as long as they could for lockdowns to engage. Falchion and several other Gourmand staff had to hide in the freezers. Serves them right.

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Making our way to our room, we found that Pierre had already set up the resort’s ground floor to receive injured survivors. Doctors and medics rushed around treating wounded griffons and the pegasi who tried to protect them. The Whiteclaw patriarch was certainly good at crisis response.

I saw Purser break off from us, towards the pool area. The area was closed, but the seadog slipped in regardless. I soon found her in the large, quiet, poorly lit space. Ornate marble tiles surrounded a wide oval of water, which was ankle shallow on one end, and a few meters deep on the other. She slipped into the water, submerging completely and sinking to the bottom. I could barely make her out, curled up in the cold dark.

After getting out of my armor, I shifted into a seadog and followed, defiantly ignoring my phobia. Due to our aquatic physiology, I could hear Purser’s sobs clear as day. My arms wrapping around her gave her enough comfort to reduce them to sniffles.

“When we first arrived,” she choked, “I wanted to come here, to the pool. Washout didn’t know how to swim, so we went dancing instead.” She smiled. “I really liked dancing with her.”

“I’ll be honest,” I chuckled, “I’m surprised you two made up so quickly, after she found out about Friendship City.”

“We talked a lot those two weeks. I told her about seadog culture, how the word of our Captain is law. How mutiny is the worst crime we could commit.” She sighed. “No matter how much I didn’t agree with Ironsides’ decision to turn slaver, there was nothing I could do. I had to obey my Captain. She understood. She told me how scary it was for her to leave the sky…” She smiled at me. “I’m glad you’re my Captain now. You do things that make me proud to serve you.”

“You shouldn’t put me on a pedestal,” I admitted, turning away from her. “Washout was the pure one. A good pony and leader.” I buried my face in my webbed paws. “What will I say to the Hot Rods? Peepers, Snowmelt, Muffler… They relied on her.”

“They must be a strong crew to have had such a good Captain. They will endure. They will honor her.” Her voice trembled.

“So will you.” My assurance broke her again, and I held her tighter.

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Footnote:
Welcome to Level 17!

Perk Added: Mr. Sandman! If you die in the mindscape, you die in real life! Within Knight’s mental realm, you can combat an enemy’s soul directly.