Fallout Equestria: The Blue Lightning

— If we had a few hours, I could tend to that, but…

Fallout: Equestria, chapter 7

They all froze, not daring to move.

Cosmic looked hatefully at the ponies aiming their weapons at them. Why is it that whenever it seems like things are finally going to end well, there’s always some asshole to disprove it?!

“So, do we surrender?” Sonic asked quietly, raising his hands just in case. “Or are there some options?”

And where’s your vaunted speed? Why are you still standing here? Cosmic wanted to hiss, but after thinking for a moment, she just sighed helplessly.

Despite his naivety, he wasn’t an idiot now. After all, a gang of poorly armed raiders in the forest was one thing… and a combat unit blocking the only way out was quite another.

Even if Sonic ran up and pulled the pin of the grenade in the unicorn’s magical grip, the explosion would just pile them up with rocks here. And Red Eye’s soldiers would never let them out alive.

Which meant they needed another escape. And the mare seemed to know who could help them.

She turned her head and looked intently at Shadow. He met her eyes and nodded. Surely, he understood too.

Cosmic nodded back and turned to the others.

“Go with Shadow through the rings, I’ll cover you,” she said quietly, getting into a low stance. If only she could grab her carbine in time… “Whether I’m an Element of Justice or not, I won’t let you get hurt. Security saves not only ponies.”

“But what about you?” Amy gasped.

“I’ll be right behind you. Don’t worry about me.”

Cosmic took a cautious step forward. The ponies with guns tensed in their positions.

“Let’s hurry up, your talk makes my head ache,” said the stallion with the sniper rifle. “And without any…”

“Shadow, now!”

The hedgehog instantly threw out his hand with the ring in it. As it jumped out of his grasp, it grew in size and the pale, glowing eye of the portal opened.

“Get out!” Cosmic shouted to her companions – and then jumped away from the hole in space.

At that moment, machine guns hit the spot where she had just been standing. Rolling over, the mare redirected the fire from the aliens to herself, got back on her hooves, and dashed around the portal from the other side to join the others.

At least, she really hoped that she would make it in time and that it wouldn’t close.

Several bullets scratched her armor. As she whizzed behind the portal, Cosmic didn’t see the funnel going anywhere else – only what was actually on the other side of the swollen ring. So it only worked from one direction?

As she jumped inside, she heard the thud of a grenade, followed by the rumble of a single sniper shot.

The earth pony landed heavily on something soft – it seemed to be grass (Cosmic had shut her eyes before jumping). An explosion rumbled: the fuse of the grenade thrown by the unicorn had gone off, but the shockwave lasted only a moment, and only a few shards hit the armor.

The portal had closed in time. Otherwise, they’d have been scattered all over here as well.

Cosmic opened her eyes and looked around.

One thing was clear: they were still in the Everfree Forest. The day was drawing to a close, and it was already quite dark beneath the treetops. At least they hadn’t accidentally fallen into the thicket of killing joke…

“Everyone okay?” asked the earth pony, rising to her hooves.

And then she was startled to see everyone looking at Cream.

The rabbit girl stood there with her eyes wide open (she gave every pony a head start in that regard) and her mouth ajar, a thin red trickle coming out of its corner. Slowly, she took her hand away from her belly, and the blood was clearly visible on her white glove.

“Cream!!!”

The rabbit’s eyes rolled back. Sonic immediately leapt up to her and gently laid her down on the grass. A red stain spread around the wound on the left side of Cream’s belly.

Cosmic didn’t move for a second, as stunned as the aliens.

That bastard with the sniper rifle hadn’t missed after all.

Then the numbness left. Cosmic took a deep breath – and in her head the commander of the squad appeared in the plan of action.

“You!” She pointed a hoof at Tails. “Take it all off!”

The fox blinked and then, realizing what the earth pony meant, began to rip off his bandages.

Jumping up to Sonic and Cream, Cosmic took an armful of rags from Tails, which must still have some of the healing magic left in them, and slipped them to the hedgehog.

“Press! On both sides!”

Suddenly, the mare raised her head and listened. From somewhere off to the side (about Equestrian three o’clock) came hoofsteps and voices:

“Who’s there?”

“Must have a look…”

“Fuck your ass with Celestia’s horn!” Cosmic groaned and turned her gaze to the PipBuck’s display.

The locator showed six approaching red dots.

Zooming out, she determined where Shadow had taken them all. The northern part of the forest, sloping slightly to the east. Literally a few miles from the exit to the Wasteland north of Ponyville.

Nice. At least one of them will have a chance to avoid a fight.

“Hold it!” Cosmic hoofed Sonic the holder with the three remaining potions. “Give her one now, the rest – later! Get out of here. Our base is that way.”

After checking her compass, she stretched out her leg. Then she looked at the frozen hedgehog, who was pressing bloody bandages to Cream’s wound and staring blankly at the rabbit, and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Get out of here!” she shouted in Sonic’s face, and the hedgehog seemed to come to his senses. “Give her one potion! Run back to our base – as fast as you can!”

Sonic stared into space for a few moments, then nodded silently and took the holder. Putting Cream on his knee, he grabbed one of the bottles with his free hand, tore the cap off with his teeth, and poured the purple liquid into the still rabbit girl’s mouth.

Then he slipped the last two potions under his arm and, picking up Cream again, stood upright with her in his arms. He took a step in the direction shown, another, a third, accelerating each time, and then the familiar blue lightning flew off and disappeared into the dense forest.

The statuette of Twilight Sparkle, dropped by the hedgehog, lay on the grass.

Cosmic picked it up and tucked it into her bag. The others put their figurines in the same place.

“And we –” the earth pony grinned wryly and took the carbine from her back “– will follow. And if necessary, we’ll fight.”

Sonic raced across the Wasteland with the unconscious Cream in his arms. He had never run so fast before – the wind blew so hard into his face that he had to squeeze his eyes into narrow slits. But at the same time, he held Cream in his arms as if she were the most precious thing he could have, trying to move as smoothly as possible so as not to do her any more harm.

This little rabbit shouldn’t have come into this cruel world. Why did Sonic even think it was worth coming here to look for replacement artifacts, and instead of going back and finding another option, he had dragged first Tails and then the whole team here!

All the trouble they got into in this horrible parody of Equestria was his fault. If he’d made a different decision to begin with, none of this would have happened.

Cosmic wouldn’t have been condemned for something she didn’t do.

Metal Dawn wouldn’t have shot up her team… though it’s debatable, he seemed to have his own motives.

Tails wouldn’t have lost his tail because they wouldn’t have gone to Spike.

Nor would they have ended up in this forest – and Knuckles’ hands would still be intact.

And finally, Cream wouldn’t have been hurt.

It was all because of him. He and only he, Sonic, was responsible for everything that had happened.

I’ll save you, Cream, he mentally whispered, trying to make out the dilapidated two-story building in the pre-dawn twilight. I’ll fix everything. I promise, you hear me?

But she didn’t hear. Fighting against air resistance and the limits of his speed, Sonic couldn’t even check if the rabbit was breathing or not. And his fear for her fate made him speed up even more.

Finally, in a split second, the right house appeared in front of him – in the middle of the desert. There are mines all around! the hedgehog remembered and veered slightly away from the direction to slow down smoothly without disturbing Cream. But even so, he ran a hundred yards of inertia before he could turn and follow the path cleared of deadly gifts to the door of the building.

It was dark and quiet inside, but that didn’t stop the hedgehog. He flew up the stairs to the second floor, went into the first room he could find and carefully placed Cream on the bed. The bandages he’d used to cover the wound were soaked with blood – and it looked like the blood hadn’t stopped yet. Grunting, Sonic pulled a holder of healing potions from under his arm and poured them one by one into Cream’s mouth. He was tempted to pour one directly into the wound, but the hedgehog wasn’t familiar enough with the magic of this world to do that.

Nothing happened for a minute or more, and Sonic began to lose hope. But then the rabbit’s chest lifted slightly and lowered again. Her breathing became calm and even, and some of the muscles that had been frozen in tension relaxed.

Unable to believe his and her good fortune, Sonic lifted the bandages. The sight of the torn flesh was still disgusting – but now blood was hardly oozing out. And soon it should stop altogether.

Putting the bloody rags back in place, the hedgehog exhaled with incredible relief and sank to the floor beside the bed. After the hellish sprint of a dozen miles, Sonic’s legs no longer held him up.

Griffin! They had a fucking griffin!

A shot rang out, and the tree trunk next to Cosmic’s head exploded in a cloud of splinters. The mare ducked, then looked to the sky and fired a short burst from the carbine clenched in her teeth. Missed. But at least she made the enemy twitch. Meanwhile, she crouched down for a low start and, pushing off with her hind legs, covered the distance to the neighboring tree in one leap.

She hid behind the trunk and sat on the ground for a few seconds to catch her breath. Then she ejected the empty clip and loaded a new one. The second to last. And, after a moment’s thought, she set the safety to single shot.

That way she’d be out of ammo by the end of the battle. And it would be a long way to get more…

If only her little band could survive now.

…They didn’t get far. The path traced by Sonic was clearly visible, and Cosmic almost missed that they were all exposed to the pursuers. At the last moment, she noticed a silhouette against the darkening sky between the tops of the crowns and ordered everyone to spread out.

A firefight ensued. Taking advantage of the fact that the griffin couldn’t strike from above all at once, Cosmic shot one of the five enemy ponies. Another was wounded by Tails, and the one who had dropped out of the fight, to the aliens’ horror, was finished off by his own.

Both groups split up. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were left alone with their opponents. And Cosmic and Shadow took on the latter.

The griffin, hovering above the forest, was also reloading her huge anti-machine rifle. The earth pony could see the sharp tips on the wings of the enemy. If she hit with one in flight, Cosmic would have no leg or head.

But the mare wasn’t about to be hit by a direct attack. Someone else had to do it instead.

A rope whistled through the treetops beside the griffin. She only had time to turn her head before there was a hiss of gas and a nimble black figure with rectangular swords flew past.

Shadow jumped onto a branch and grinned at his stunned opponent.

“Banzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai!”

The battle cry echoed across the forest – and the hedgehog, shooting off the rope and puffing again from the cylinder, jumped lightning fast.

Cosmic didn’t even try to understand these aliens anymore – she just took advantage of what they were doing.

The griffin miraculously dodged the slashing blow, almost hitting Shadow with her pointy wingtips. The clip was finally in the anti-machine gun, but the barrel of the giant weapon still stared into space.

Cosmic had a few moments to take aim. And when the griffin’s silhouette came into view, the mare fired. Immediately, she changed position again and rolled over to a neighboring tree.

The enemy’s wing twitched: the bullet struck the sharp tips of her feathers. But that delay was enough for Shadow to change direction again and fly back, swords drawn.

Cosmic’s eyes widened as the griffin dodged the blow. She flapped her wings and flung the hedgehog away. The mare’s heart tightened at the sight of the clumsy body falling slowly between the trees, blood splattering as if seen through the S.A.T.S.

No! Shadow…!

Distracted, the earth pony herself had missed the moment when the griffin slung her weapon behind her back and spun downward, straight at her.

Death seemed imminent. The rows of blades on her opponent’s wings glistened in the last daylight. And Cosmic found nothing better to do than to activate the sight spell on PipBuck.

Time, already flowing slower than usual, almost froze. The earth pony’s Argument was aimed right at the griffin’s chest. The spell estimated the chance of a hit at ninety-one percent. And the numbers kept rising.

But before she took advantage of this temporary bubble and fired, Cosmic had time to notice that something was moving fast (even with this slowdown!) from the side. And without a second thought, she pulled the trigger.

The bullet again bounced off the pointed wingtips and into the void. The blades were getting closer and closer…

Black lightning flashed from behind the griffin – and her neck exploded in a fountain of blood and shards of flesh. The massive body slammed into the mare, throwing her off, and she rolled across the grass, stopping only when her back hit a tree. Argument slipped from her teeth and flew somewhere in the grass.

Groaning, Cosmic pulled herself up and looked around the battlefield. The griffin was sprawled on the ground; there was nothing left of the back of her neck and head. And to the fresh corpse, Shadow approached, covered in blood, both his own and that of others, clutching his broken swords and breathing heavily.

The black hedgehog looked at his blades, shook his head, pulled the levers on the handles, and the flat, rectangular blades fell from the hilts. Shadow snapped the bindings on a few new ones, then looked at the defeated griffin, then at Cosmic, and suddenly stretched into a string and slammed his right fist into his chest, his left hand tucked behind his back.

“Shinzou wo sasageyo!” he shouted and then, unable to bear it, he laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” Cosmic muttered and went to pick up her carbine. “What does that even mean?”

“’Let’s give our hearts.’ The motto of the fighting squads from one anime…” Shadow shook his head with a chuckle. “I know a lot of interesting phrases. For example, ‘Ah, shit, here we go again’, ‘Wait, it’s illegal’, or ‘Hoofington rises’.”

Cosmic gave him a stern look before she picked up her carbine, shook it off, and took it back with her teeth.

“Let’f go helf fe oferf.”

The two of them crept towards the sounds of gunfire and blows.

But the other members of the group seemed to be doing quite well on their own.

Knuckles pummeled the disarmed enemy with his stone fists. The pony struggled weakly, but it was obvious that he was already out of his mind.

Amy hid behind a tree to avoid the gunfire. But after waiting for the stallion with the shotgun to come closer, she jumped out and smashed him in the face with her sledgehammer. The brown earth pony fell with a shake of his head and never moved again.

Still, the firefight between Tails and the last enemy continued. Apparently, the fox was about to run out of ammunition for his revolvers, and the Red Eye soldier came out of hiding to finish off the alien. But when he saw Cosmic and Shadow approaching, he suddenly got scared and decided to flee. The mare shot after him but didn’t pursue. She had enough to worry about.

“You alright?” she asked the hedgehog.

He’d already shaken off most of the blood, but the scratches from the griffin’s blades on his chest looked quite deep.

“I’m fine, at least I won’t bleed to death,” Shadow said. “We need to get to Sonic and Cream. How far is it to where you sent them?”

“A few hours from here,” Cosmic said after checking the PipBuck. “But that’s a long time. She urgently needs a doctor, preferably an experienced one… How many rings do you have left?”

“Eight,” the hedgehog took a handful of rings out of his backpack and looked at the blue earth pony. “Are we both thinking the same thing again?”

“Most likely,” she nodded and held out a hoof. “Give me one of them. We’ll go straight ahead.”

The portal flashed open and closed again, disappearing with the ring into oblivion.

But Cosmic and the aliens were no longer in the forest.

Sonic fell asleep with his back to Cream’s bed, but he woke up as soon as the entire small group rushed into the room after a cry of “Over here!” from Amy, who had found them.

“You’re here!” The hedgehog jumped to his feet, but immediately fell back down helplessly. “You made it out!”

“How’s she?” Cosmic asked, standing at the door with a carbine in front of him.

“Alive, but unconscious,” sighed Sonic and turned his gaze to the motionless Cream. “She doesn’t seem to be bleeding much anymore, but… we need a good doctor right away. Any ideas?”

“From where?” Tails waved his hands in the air. “We’ve only been in this world for a week…”

“Well, but we have the one who was born and raised here,” Shadow smiled and looked at Cosmic. “Let’s ask her. Where shall we go: to New Appleloosa or to Tenpony?”

“What…? How do you…?” Cosmic gasped.

No doubt, the black hedgehog was acting as if he had lived in the Wasteland before. Or at least pretended to know that part of post-apocalyptic Equestria well.

“No time for questions now,” Shadow said abruptly and firmly. “We need a plan. And we await your orders as our leader!”

Cosmic opened her mouth to answer him sharply… but immediately closed it again.

After all, the black hedgehog was right. After only an hour in their company, he immediately recognized who was leading the group’s actions. And was ready to obey to ensure their survival. And so was everyone else.

And though Shadow himself was aware of the nuances of life in the Wasteland, the world was clearly a closed book to others. A book with blank pages.

And only she, Cosmic Valor, could give them all the information. And thus have a key influence on the final decision.

“I have someone in mind who can help,” she said. “But I’ll have to think it over.”

“Just remember, we don’t have much time,” Shadow reminded her. “Eggman has probably finished preparing his attack by now…”

“Shadow, time passes much faster here,” Sonic said wearily. “Since you joined us, Eggman hasn’t even had time to go to the bathroom. So that’s not the main problem right now. Unlike…”

He glanced at the senseless rabbit girl Amy was fussing over.

“Shut up, you!” Cosmic cut them off. “You disturb my thinking.”

The aliens obediently shut up. And the mare went back to thinking about options.

New Appleloosa was two days away. Eight to Manehattan. In that time, Cream could die a hundred times from infection or improper care. Wipe herself with Luna’s tail, they didn’t even have clean bandages left for proper dressing.

They could, of course, ask Sonic to run with the rabbit in his arms again, but that might just as well kill her. And the hedgehog wouldn’t be able to carry the mare that far…

What to do, what to do, what to do…?

The idea suddenly hit her. It was so simple and ingenious that the earth pony was out of breath. For a second, she stared dazed in front of her, as if afraid to scare away this indescribably pleasant feeling, and then exhaled with relief.

We’re saved. If all goes well, I may even find the answers to some of my questions.

Looking at Shadow again, she couldn’t resist a tease.

“You’re thinking the same as me, aren’t you?”

“Huh?” He didn’t understand, but then he did. And frowned unhappily, “Stop, are you serious?!”

“Yes,” Cosmic nodded. “Sorry, but I have no other plan. However, this one guarantees us a favorable outcome – and maybe it will move me a little bit to solve all the crap that’s been going on around me for almost a month.”

“What? What do you mean?” Knuckles asked, sitting with Tails against the wall.

“Same thing,” the earth pony smiled. “I need half of your rings, Shadow. And… you know, it’s kinda hard to say no to a mare with a gun, don’t you think?”

With a curse to himself, the black hedgehog reached into his backpack for the rings.

Get used to it, Cosmic thought, looking at him. You recognized me as your leader. So please obey my orders. Especially those you have no arguments to dispute.

Dr. Helpinghoof’s clinic in Tenpony Tower in Manehattan was the only more or less decent medical center in this part of the Wasteland. The treatment cost a lot of caps, but it was the best one could get for the price. So it wasn’t surprising that all the ponies with problems of one kind or another flocked here.

Most of these were gunshot wounds, but there were also slash and stab wounds, as well as head injuries, broken bones, and gangrene. Nor was it without contamination from the ubiquitous radiation or even Taint. There was also a drug-addicted patient in the clinic now – she was too fond of Party-time Mint-als.

But everyone got help one way or another.

If they were willing to pay for it.

…Darkness fell behind the thick glass of the window, turning the office into a grim and gloomy place where one wouldn’t want to spend even a few minutes. But the white unicorn with the luxurious red mane sitting at the desk didn’t seem to care. By the light of the lamp, he was reading a book thoughtfully. Judging by the average word length of about twelve characters, it was someone’s serious work on magical medicine. And the unicorn was literally lost in his study, oblivious to anything around him.

Even a strange rumbling behind him didn’t make him turn around.

But then came a sound that the host of the room knew well.

The sound of a bolt being pulled.

The unicorn turned sharply in his chair, almost falling to the floor, and stared open-mouthed at the blue earth pony standing across the room, the glowing circle of the portal closing behind her. And at the assault carbine she was holding with her hoof.

“What the…? Who are you?” he muttered. “What are you doing here?”

His gaze traveled down the barrel of the carbine.

“How did you get the gun past the guards?”

“Life Bloom,” she said quietly. “Don’t you even recognize me?”

“You…”

The unicorn looked closer – and his eyes opened even wider.

“C… Cosmic? Cosmic Valor? Is that you?! What… how are you… what are you doing here…”

“I have no time, Life Bloom,” the earth pony interrupted him. “I need your help right away. Well, I mean, not I, but… Anyway, never mind.”

“How did you get here?”

“You’ll never believe it,” Cosmic grinned, but immediately became serious, “Get ready. You have five minutes. Don’t make me force you. And I don’t care that you’re a unicorn. I… I need you. Right now. Or rather, not you, but your skills.”

…Everyone turned to face the door as two sets of hooves clattered down the hallway and Cosmic entered the room, along with a unicorn slightly taller than herself. The bags at his sides dangled as he walked, not the best attached, but they were packed to the rafters.

“Cosmic? Who’s that with you?” Sonic asked, still keeping Cream’s peace by the rabbit’s bed.

“This is Life Bloom,” Cosmic pointed at the guest of their temporary base. “Assistant from the Helpinghoof’s clinic in Tenpony. We grew up together in The Republic. Life Bloom, and this” – she circled her leg around the aliens – “is my current squad. Just don’t ask questions, okay? The main thing right now is to help Cream…”

But the unicorn had already jumped up to the bed, dumping the bag contents.

“How long ago was the injury? Any healing potions used?” he asked, ripping off the dirty bandages and examining the rabbit’s wound.

“An hour and a half ago,” Tails replied. “Cosmic gave Sonic the remaining three potions before we got out of the Everfree Forest…”

“The Everfree?!” Life Bloom turned around with a stunned expression. “But it’s…” Looking at the blue earth pony, he sighed heavily and muttered, “Alright, that’s for later… Now, can everyone please get out of here? Cosmic, stay, you will help me. And put your gun down somewhere, okay?”

“But–” Sonic tried to object.

“Of course,” Cosmic nodded, put the carbine away and pointed clearly to the door.

The aliens, looking at each other, one by one reached for the exit.

As the door closed behind the last of them (it was Knuckles), Life Bloom turned to Cosmic and shook his head in astonishment.

“I swear, you really amaze me.”

“Yeah? And how’s that?” the mare snorted, helping to lay out everything needed: tools, bandages, tampons, as well as syringes and bottles of medicine and alcohol.

“I think that was a rhetorical question…? Give me a flask of water. We need to wash the wound, then remove the damaged tissue…”

In the white glow of telekinesis, the flask flew to Cream and, leaning forward, splashed water, which did not immediately fall on the wound, but was also shrouded in the glow of levitation.

With Cosmic’s help, the unicorn lifted the rabbit and gently washed the wounds on her belly and back.

“It went right through… I’m surprised the internal organs are intact… Still, sometimes it’s better to have one super-healing potion than three regular ones…”

When finished, Life Bloom squirted more peroxide from a bottle onto the damaged flesh, sterilized his scalpel with alcohol, cut off the purple flaps that protruded in all directions, and pointed his glowing horn at the wound.

Cosmic saw an incredible thing happen: the torn flesh, fused as it was by the effects of the healing potions, took on a regular and natural structure, and the skin gradually converged to the center of the wound.

About a minute later, all that was left of the once terrible wound was a rather deep scar. It was as if the bullet had pierced Cream’s body a month or two ago.

The glow of the horn faded, and the unicorn raised his head, breathing heavily after the spell.

“F-fuh… It’s done for the first time,” he exhaled. “Let her rest for now, but then another procedure is needed… I’ll have to look in here again. You…” he glanced at Cosmic. “You’ll bring me back, right? Dr. Helpinghoof won’t be happy if he doesn’t find me at my workplace in the morning…”

“Sure,” Cosmic waved her hoof, but then pointed it straight at the unicorn. “But I’m coming with you. There’s something I need to find out, and I hope I’ll learn at least a little bit in Tenpony Tower. While I’m gone, they’ll take care of Cream,” she swung her head at the door. “For my part, I promise to answer any questions you may have. Well… and I’ll ask you some of mine. We haven’t talked in years, have we?”

“Okay,” Life Bloom said quietly and sat down on the floor. “And by the way, that’ll be two hundred and fifty caps.”

“Take it.”

Cosmic opened one of her bags and used her teeth to pull three small bags out of it, which jingled softly on the floor.

“You can keep the change.”

“Do you have so many caps that you can afford to throw them around?” Life Bloom raised an eyebrow as he took the payment. “Became a mercenary after all, huh? Must be a lucrative business, I guess?”

“Both yes and no… Oh, it’s complicated,” Cosmic sighed and sat down next to him. “And these… I just robbed the one who robbed me. Well, not exactly robbed… and not exactly me… Are you sure we need to discuss it here?”

“All right, we’ll talk in the Tower.” The unicorn rose to his hooves and looked curiously at the blue earth pony. “I’m very interested in how you’re going to get us there. From a technical point of view, of course.”

Note: Level up.

Player: Cosmic Valor. Skill: Medicine – 25%. New perk: Action Pony (level 1/3) – you get 25 action points extra in S.A.T.S.

Player: Sonic. New perk: Magic of Friendship – when you or any other party member’s health drops below 30%, all party members (including you) receive a significant increase in damage resistance. Bonus: Shattering Space – Lightning mode has been upgraded to level 3, which increases movement speed to +4000% and reduces stamina consumption to -65% (followed by a 12-hour cooldown that increases consumption to +130%). When encountering enemies, requires 50% less action points for activation.