Fallout: Equestria - The Storm

Fallout: Equestria - The Storm

Chapter 27: Checkmate

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

“That’s impossible!” How could I possibly be a Prince? “Tempest said the entire royal family was executed.”

Knight tilted her head. “I think the Storm King intentionally missed a spot. Kept at least one hippogriff with royal blood around all this time in case he needed the Pearl restored.”

In a strange way, it made sense. Novabeam and Wavestone had been completely baffled as to why I was sent on this mission. We had no idea why our King chose me by name, and now I do.

“I… have a claim to the throne, don’t I?” The thought terrified me. Being responsible for my entire race? I was hardly qualified. “Never thought I’d become an usurper. Will the rest of Hippogriffia stand for that?”

Knight pondered. “That depends. Are they happy under his rule?”

“That’s… hard to say.” I never gave it much thought before. “Many struggle to get by, but that’s just the way the world is, isn’t it? Life for military officers is much better, but even we go hungry sometimes.” I shook my head. “All that will be rectified by the farmland we’re about to claim.”

“At the expense of the dragons. For all you know, Slash could have lost the rest of her family.” Knight’s words stung. “Do you really think the Storm King will stop there?”

“No…” I sighed. “With his power restored, he won’t stop until everything is under his rule. Not to mention, he’ll have all the time in the world to crack the Dragon Staff and brainwash the entire planet.” I was talking to myself in circles, not admitting the real reason I wanted the Storm King dead. He tried to murder me. “We have to stop him as soon as possible, before he mobilizes the fleet.”

Knight nodded in agreement. We just stopped one megalomaniac from rolling their will across the planet. We weren’t going to sit back and allow another. “I’ll inform the others. The Gull will be ready to sail by the time you’ve recovered.”

I stopped her. “It has to be just you and me. The radiation in the Storm Isles will kill everyone else.”

She gave me a concerned glare. “The others won’t just stand by and let us take all the risk.”

“I need them here, mobilizing our allies if we fail.” I… wasn’t sure we’d succeed. I couldn’t even think of a real plan. “Tell them to get in touch with everyone and be ready for an invasion”

“At least talk to the others,” Knight demanded. I obliged.

*****

Needless to say, the rest of my crew was less happy about this than they were about me getting myself tossed into Zimonja. At least in this instance I knew the lay of the land. Well, sort of. The only time I’d ever been to the King’s palace was when I received the rank of Commodore. I had been too distracted by the occasion to pay much attention to my surroundings.

No matter how things turned out in the Isles, I needed to know that my friends could keep Equestria from falling. If the Storm King invaded, he’d undoubtedly target Neighvarro first and snuff out the only rival to his own weather magic. I sent Gritt, Slash, and Purser on the Gull to go to Tenpony. Everyone needed to be warned, and Homage knew the one stallion who could get that done. If what was left of the dragons could be contacted, we’d give them safe harbor somewhere. Here’s hoping everyone we recruit gets in touch with those they know.

Once DJ Pon3 catches wind of the situation, all of Equestria will be ready to weather the storm.

*****

With the fallback plan in place, I revealed my very simple plan to handle the Storm King.

“You want me to just carry you there, and then we kill him?” Knight blinked, dumbfounded.

I shrugged. “It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. You can carry me close to the waves, below their radar. It’ll be a long flight, but you won't get tired.”

“Well… It’s certainly direct.” Her brow furrowed. “The Storm King is a powerful being, more so with the Pearl and Dragon Staff. How exactly do you intend to kill him?”

“Frankly, I was hoping you’d vaporize him.” My candidness wasn’t met by the expression I was expecting.

“About that,” Knight started. “Remember when I used Cozy’s body to modify myself?” I nodded. “I don’t have a face laser anymore.”

That threw a wrench in things. “What about the mindscape? If we pull him into it somehow, he can’t use the artifacts.”

Knight winced. “Not a good idea. Cozy Glow was easy to overpower because she had a weak soul. The Storm King’s is powerful. If we go into the mindscape with him, he’d be the one killing us.”

The two easy ways were out. “We kill him the hard way, then.”

The android’s face came thoughtful, then resolved. “Agreed.”

*****

I packed the food and water I’d need for a round trip, and climbed onto Knight’s back. We took one last look at Baltimare as we took flight. Our view was miles upon miles of ocean for a couple days after Equestria disappeared on the horizon.

My geiger counter informed me when we passed into hippogriff waters. Knight had thoroughly gutted the device on my wrist and removed all surveillance devices after she rescued me. I still felt some childish resentment towards my PipBuck for its betrayal.

I honestly hadn't felt a lot of resentment towards Spinella. Had our roles been reversed, and I never went out on this journey, met my friends, got my implant, I would have followed the same order without question. I didn’t want to kill her. Lock her up for a while, certainly, but not kill her.

Taking the throne would be a tricky affair, if we do manage to kill our target. I doubt proclamations of ‘The King is Dead! Long live the King!’ will be made. If there was one griff I needed to convince of my royal heritage, it was Wavestone. Getting the senior Admiral behind me would get the entire fleet behind me. He was always an honorable and dutiful buck, one of the few who never compromised to get ahead. Thinking on it, I asked Knight to diverge to Fort Aris.

*****

An approaching group of ships forced us to take cover in some fog. Fifteen cruisers, nearly the entire fleet, were leaving Aris. Five broke off towards the Dragon Lands, undoubtedly to finish off the eastern Enclave. The other ten headed directly for Equestria, and were gaining altitude. I was right, they planned to hit Littlepip.

Enormous storm clouds accompanied both groups of ships, far more potent weather than what their crews were capable of. The Storm King had restored his full power. Was he up there with them? No. Checking the ID of each vessel on my PipBuck, none of these ships were the Novo. The bastard had named his personal cruiser after the late Queen as a sick joke. I also noticed the Vetera wasn’t among them either, and I couldn’t see either vessel docked at the fort. They must be at the King’s palace.

Wavestone, like the other admirals, would be coordinating from his command center at the top of Aris. With so many of our forces deployed, slipping in shouldn’t be much of a hassle.

*****

Knight remained cloaked near me, and I made use of my EFS to stay clear of any guards. Wanting to give myself an edge when we confronted the Storm King, I made a detour to Novabeam’s department, armor and weapon research and development. The poor young hen standing guard was put to sleep and dragged out of sight as Knight hacked the door. The facility within was thankfully devoid of life, allowing me to loot as I pleased.

It wasn’t long before a brilliant set of armor caught my attention. My android companion got the security gate open, and I got a better look. The suit was a full set, hoof to beak protection. Only my wings, mane, and tail would be exposed. Its plates were pure white with golden trim, like an admiral’s uniform. There was even a matching pair of scatter pistols.

Knight tapped the armor with her hoof, and it resonated. “This isn’t just ultracite. There’s Star Metal bonded to it! I had no idea such an alloy was even possible. If my scans are right, this armor is self-powering. Pistols, too.”

The science was above my head, but I took it as a good sign that Knight was impressed. I stripped down and put it on. Aside from the armor being too tight in an uncomfortable place, confirming that Novabeam made this set for herself, it was a perfect fit. The android noticed familiar electronics in the helmet, and linked my PipBuck to it, transferring its data and settings. The admiral cracked the Stable-Tec tech like I thought she would.

My implant made controlling the armor’s EFS even more seamless than it already would have been. A brief test of SATS and my new weapons proved successful, and I confirmed that the pistols had a limitless charge. The small things packed a punch too, they were as strong as Grapeshot with greater range and tighter spread. I also discovered that the helmet folded back if I simply willed it to.

“Having dreams of ultracite and Star Metal reactors to power Equestria?” I asked as the android kept studying me.

She chuckled. “There isn’t enough of the latter on the entire planet to power a single city block. There must be millions of caps worth of the metal between the two of us right now, how rare it is.”

“Well, when I retire…” I joked. We then gave each other a serious glare and made our way out. We had a job to do.

*****

The bustling commotion within Aris’ command center came to an abrupt halt as we entered. The dead Commodore and metal alicorn turned every head and widened every eye. Wavestone was the first to stand up from his station.

“Commodore Rosegold? Spinella reported you killed in action.” Wavestone struggled to comprehend my presence.

Novabeam gawked angrily at my attire. “Why are you wearing my armor!?”

“Because I’m going to need it.” I coldly explained, then turned to her superior. “Spinella attempted to murder me, on orders from the Storm King. He intended to have me killed once he got the Pearl all along.”

The Admiral stammered. “That’s… Why would he order such a thing?”

Knight stepped forward. “Because Rosegold is the last living descendant of Queen Novo. I have a DNA comparison with Princess Skystar’s remains as proof.” The data was uploaded into the large display the admiralty board was sitting around. They were astonished. Judging by Wavestone’s expression, things were clicking into place in his mind as they had for me.

“That means…” The old griff started.

“I’m here to claim my birthright.” I finished. “I intend to challenge the Storm King for Hippogriffia’s throne.” I narrowed my eyes at each of them. “And I expect you all to give your loyalty to the victor.”

There were murmurs, but not of disagreement. It seemed they weren’t very content with their King’s orders to attack Equestria, and may just welcome a change in leadership. From their perspective, we'd finally gained the means to become self-sufficient, and were risking it all for no reason other than the Storm King's imperial urges.

I continued. “In the meantime, I urge you to halt the fleet.”

Wavestone’s face became pained. “That is, unfortunately, impossible. Our communication signals had just been jammed before you arrived.”

“Enclave tech, no doubt.” Novabeam chimed in.

“Then I need to act quickly.” I pondered. “Once I’ve taken the throne, the Novo and the Vetera will be sent to make direct contact with the fleets and order them to cease fire.”

We were in agreement. With the easy part out of the way, Knight and I set off.

*****

The ocean became increasingly rough as Knight and I neared the Storm Isles, a contingent of admirals and their immediate subordinates following. They broke off towards the two Storm Cruisers.

As my friend and I approached the dark, jagged palace, we were soon fired upon. Our attackers were a mix of storm creatures, and… dragons. Dragons we had captured. Their pupils were dilated, and their movement jittery. They were being controlled. Cruelly, they were also suffering severely from the radiation.

Knight did her best to be non-lethal, but I was forced to put several out of their misery. Forgive me, Slash, if you knew any of these poor creatures.

*****

The fighting quickly took us inside, and to the throne room. The massive, satyr-like white biped was lounging across his majestic seat, Dragon Staff in claw, enjoying massages from his new scaly slaves.

I didn’t even give him the luxury of pleasantries before I opened fire, but at a twitch of his new staff, two dragons threw themselves into the shots. By the time I fired again, he had used his own power to create a protective shell of lighting around himself.

“Just skipping straight to the main course? No sense of showmanship at all. Tsk, tsk.” My former King mocked before spraying electric plasma in my direction, forcing me behind a pillar. Knight charged him, but a bolt sent her into a wall.

I glanced out of cover to get another look at him. He wasn’t wearing the Pearl. It was set into a jeweled necklace, one Queen Novo once wore, displayed above his throne. He had what he wanted from it, so why would he wear it?

“I nearly had your former Lieutenant killed for failing to finish you off, little Prince. Needless to say, she won’t be getting that promotion to Commodore she’d been promised.” The Storm King continued to keep us pinned with lightning. “Nevertheless, here you are! I’m more than happy to put your line to an end myself!”

“Took the words right out of my beak!” I swooped from pillar to pillar, firing as I moved. The static in the air put my mane on end, as arcs of my opponent’s magic got dangerously close. Knight moved when I did, and we gradually closed the gap.

Unfortunately, he didn’t just sit there, and he wasn’t alone. More creatures and dragons swarmed the throne room and attacked us both. Knight, unwilling to kill them, was pinned down. I shot down anything that got close, getting distracted enough for Stormy to get close and swat me with the staff. Learning from past fights, I kept my grip on my weapons, and countered with a volley of shots he couldn’t block.

Three to his chest, and two to his head. He staggered… but didn’t fall. To my horror, he regenerated. The radiation in this room was intense, and he gave himself the same gift Novo gave us hippogriffs. The ‘hard way’ of killing him just became impossible.

The beast more than twice my size clamped his claws around me, pinning my arms and wings. I kicked out my hooves, but they couldn’t reach him. Agonized squawks escaped me as he squeezed me like canned meat.

"Once I've taken care of you, the Single Pegasus Project, and anything else that could defy me..." He snarled, "I think I'll round up the pathetic friends you've made. That whore in Novac, the inbred thestrals in Hollow Shade, your new crew... I'll have all their heads!"

His sadistic grin instantly twisted into pained shock as Knight skewered him from behind, forcing him to release me. He reached behind himself, pulling at the android or swatting at her with his magic stick, but she refused to let go.

“The Pearl!” Knight snapped at me. I swooped through the display, catching the jewel around my neck. Then I heard the distinct, violent humming of Knight’s weapon charging.

Huh? She said she got rid of her laser. “What are you doing?”

The gaps in her face plates were noticeably glowing. “Turn into a bat pony and warp to the Vetera! Now!”

My breath became rapid as I realized what she was doing. I wanted to beg her to stop, but I obeyed.

*****

The instant I popped into my office, I locked the door and focused, entering the mindscape.

Knight stood in the meadow, tears down her face. She looked terrified. I wrapped myself around her, trembling.

“Don’t do this!” I sobbed into her.

She forced a smile. “There’s no other way.” A soft, feathery wing lifted my chin. “Promise me you’ll be okay.” She wasn’t scared for herself. She was scared for me. “Promise me you’ll keep being a better person.”

I pulled her into a desperate kiss. “I promise. I love you, and I promise to keep being better.”

Her lips quivered as she held me. “I know, and I love you too.”

She closed her eyes, and the meadow was consumed in light.

*****

The blinding flash followed me to the real world, and a deafening shockwave shattered what was left of my office window, glass bouncing off of my armor. The Storm King’s palace had been replaced by an enormous blast of bright blue energy, and a deep crater soon after.

I was flying towards it before I even realized I had started moving. I searched for any sign of her, my eyes eventually spotting scattered glints of metal. Pieces of her armor were melted and smoldering. Close to the center of the crater, I saw the obliterated remains of the Dragon Staff, and beside it, a cracked open Star Metal ball. Knight’s core.

My body collapsed when I saw that the repair talisman inside was in an irreparable state. There was no signal through my implant. Most of the advanced computer components within were slag, though some survived. I held on to that small hope, tucking the core into a storage compartment in my armor.

*****

Novabeam snapped to attention when I barked at her to get the Vetera moving towards the Dragon Lands. After confirming the death of the Storm King, she obeyed. Wavestone got the Novo heading for Equestria soon after.

I couldn’t think about losing Knight right now. I had to focus on seeing off the Enclave, and have that portion of our fleet return to Aris. Then I’d make sure the fleet in Neighvarro retreated as well.

“Com- Your Majesty.” Novabeam got my attention. I might never get used to being called that. In fact, I hope I don’t. “We’re getting reports from the Dragon Lands. The signal blocker there must have been destroyed. From what I’m getting, the Enclave is already retreating.”

“Good, that should save us a trip. Tell them to return to Aris- Actually, tell them to aid any wounded dragons first, then return to Aris.” Knight would want me to try and save lives.

“Aye-aye. There were also sightings of Dragon Lord Ember fleeing to Equestria. Two Raptors were pursuing her.”

My eyes went wide. “We’re hunting those Raptors. Have two cruisers accompany us.” I wasn’t going to let Slash lose her grandmother. Spirits, I hope she wasn’t already an orphan.

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

Footnote:
Max Level Reached.