Fallout Equestria: The Blue Lightning

– Remember when we talked ‘bout doin’ this the right way? Well, this. Ain’t. It.

Fallout: Equestria, chapter 19

“Wow! What an arsenal you have there!”

Monterey Jack watched with deep respect as the troop donned the equipment they had left at the entrance to New Appleloosa. Indeed, to an outsider, the sight of six ponies in armor and weapons – two of them with carefully polished Enclave rifles, three with magazines, and the remaining one with knives…! – was impressive. Getting involved with them was an almost certain death sentence. The many raiders and slavers who had underestimated their power wouldn’t let lie – there were only more rotting bones in the contaminated ground.

Monterey himself was armed with an old pistol that was about to fall apart. Cosmic even wanted to give the trader Nige or Dan for the duration of the trip. But there was no guarantee that the unicorn from Tenpony would not accidentally kill half the group in a real fight.

So let him go with his weapons and leave the bulk of the work to the group. That’s what they get paid for…

“Now I’d like to see the payment,” Cosmic brought him back down to earth and checked that the submachine guns could be taken out in one move.

Monterey Jack sighed and reached into his saddlebags.

“Yes, of course… Here. Exactly one thousand eight hundred.” A couple of weighty sacks went into the mare’s pack. “I spent the whole night counting them.”

“Hopefully it’ll be exactly that much when we reach our next destination. By the way, what do you think now?”

“I don’t mind,” the merchant shrugged. “I’ll take some cheese to try it out, sell it, and then I’ll see if it’s worth a permanent cooperation.”

“You’ll see – you won’t regret it.” Cosmic watched as the unicorn harnessed himself to his cart loaded with packages. “Shall we move out?”

“C’mon,” Spark Glider said, pacing impatiently. “We’ve al’ been waitin’ here.”

The heavy gates slowly opened, and the caravan finally entered the Wasteland.

The cloud cover above them was light and thin today, but without a single gap. Cosmic bit her lip anxiously, staring out at the dull, lifeless landscape; the weather suggested that things might not be as easy as expected.

A few hours later, however, the earth pony began to think that she had worried for nothing.

The clouds had darkened during the day, filling with water for future rain, but they held no surprises for the travelers. The road to The Republic was as dull as the second half of the party’s journey to New Appleloosa: nothing but twisted tree skeletons, wind, and dust.

It can’t be that good, Cosmic mused, walking in the middle of the formation to the right of Monterey, who was pulling the cart. Have they all fallen asleep here or what…? Or maybe? What if this skirmish in the grove pays off the limit of incidents for this stage as well? That would be great. Even if we can’t get Jack to pay for the extra caps, it’s always nice to come home in one piece. I wish we had an AutoDoc in town, I heard there was one at Helpinghoof's clinic in Tenpony… but then again, where do we get biogel for that…".

However, there was another surprise: the client suddenly turned out to be quite a pleasant interlocutor. Cosmic even turned off the music in the earphone to avoid doing three things at once. Until then, she was used to just listening to the player while looking around for threats.

“…How did a town like yours end up in the Wasteland?” Monterey asked. They were still talking quietly after a grudging remark from Metal Dawn, who was to their left; Stream and Snow were in front, and Spark and Nightlight covered the back. “I mean – with such protection… And how do you even live there?”

“Well, somehow,” Cosmic grinned. “To be honest, we can hardly imagine it ourselves. After all, just like New Appleloosa, The Republic didn’t appear out of nowhere. Just three old cars and some other debris – probably from an airplane – lying in the middle of nowhere, all abandoned. I think they were thrown there by some hurricane from a megaspell explosion.

“Many years passed, and these remains of civilization were stumbled upon by ponies who had fled Ponyville when it became a raider base. Using telekinesis and some of the tools they took with them, they built a wall out of train cars and scrap metal from an airplane and used the trees around the place for houses. Now there’s at least half a mile of clear space around The Republic, so no one can get up there undetected.”

“What do you live on? It can’t just be mercenary work and cheese, can it?” the merchant remarked.

If he had grinned or said it any differently, Cosmic would have shot something off him.

The earth pony covered her eyes and exhaled slowly. I’m calm… he didn’t mean anything bad… calm.

“The refugees from Ponyville knew a lot of things: how to grow plants, how to cook, how to operate machinery… including guns,” she continued, seemingly unfazed. “Everyone here has been through security, so everyone knows how to hold a gun. For a long time, the new town had a steady income from technical devices, which allowed us to expand the arsenal of defenses against attack.”

“Y’bet!” Spark put in, and Cosmic turned to him in displeasure. “Everyone’d like t’ have s’ many weapons an’ their own water talisman.”

“Even so!” Monterey Jack wondered and shook his head slightly. “Well, that explains a lot…”

The blue earth pony gave the pegasus an angry look – after all, water talismans were real treasures by the standards of the Wasteland, not to be told to the first people they met – and turned back to the merchant.

“Like what?”

“How you survived. There are no water sources nearby, are there? Basically,” Monterey looked into the darkening evening sky, “all life in Equestria is built around talismans now. Tenpony, Fillydelphia, Hoofington, Stables, they all depend on clean water, and those who don’t have access to it (like the Ponyville’s raiders or New Appleloosa before they got mixed up with Red Eye) either die out or start raiding, wreaking more havoc on the already exhausted Wasteland.

There was a bitterness in the unicorn’s voice at the last words, as if he wanted to change everything, to make the cruel world a little better and kinder.

Why "as if"? Everyone would.

Everyone who sane and doesn’t profit from the misfortune of others, Cosmic corrected herself ironically. Yes, and they probably think that their actions will change life for the better. Red Eye, for instance…

And what about me? What’s my purpose, my reason to exist in this world? I don’t know… She lowered her head. All I know is how to protect other ponies. And I do that by keeping things the way they are. And all I have to do is do my job in a way that doesn’t make me feel bad. Let others change the world, not me. I can only keep them alive to do it.

Cosmic looked back at Monterey Jack’s cart. One of the packages caught her eye, a cylindrical shape that stood out from the others. Like the tube the mare’s father had packed the blueprints for the devices he was assembling.

“What’s that?” she hoofed at the unusual object among the bags of cheese heads.

“Where…?” Monterey turned to see what Cosmic meant.

His eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched for a moment.

Hmm, and you have something to hide, hunky?

But he replied as easily as the troop leader herself answered the veiled taunt about the jobs of The Republic’s inhabitants:

“Nothing… just some cargo I’ve been assigned to deliver. I don’t know what’s in it. And I wouldn’t advise you to find out. Sometimes keeping things secret is the best solution.”

He looked again at the sky, which had gone from its former dark gray to almost black. Stream and Spark had lit the flashlights on their PipBucks, just a little, to break up the horrible darkness in which nothing could be seen within spitting distance.

“How much longer?” Monterey asked, not addressing anyone in particular. “I’d like to get to sleep as soon as possible so that we can reach your Republic tomorrow.”

“Calm down, only ‘bout a mile t’ go,” Spark glanced at the PipBuck locator. “We’ve got a good spot, so ‘ll spend the night there. Just gotta clear al’ the mines…”

“What…?” the merchant was stunned.

But it was the last thing he had time to say before everything turned into a deadly mix of events.

Cosmic’s back went cold under the armor. A gust of wind ruffled her mane, which stood on end from the growing sense of danger. Her body became a compressed spring, ready to straighten at a moment’s notice to fend off the attack.

The earth pony looked around quickly, tossed the carbine from her back and grabbed it with her teeth. Wait a minute, where…?

A revolver shot boomed deafeningly, and the white light of the PipBuck froze, pointing upward. There was the sound of a body falling… and the rustle of spread wings on the ground.

“Stream!!!” Spark yelled and took to the air.

WHOOSH! – a forty-millimeter shell from his automatic grenade launcher ripped through the air, hurtling toward the ground. The rocket-propelled grenade exploded in a flash of flame, showering everything around it with scalding dirt, including the body of the light blue pegasus mare. But it missed its real target.

It rumbled again, and Stream’s flashlight went out. A barely audible whistle signaled that Snow had released his knives, ready to slice the attacker like a cabbage. But another shot and a quick scream left no doubt as to the outcome of this momentarily unequal struggle.

Cosmic snapped out of the stupor she had been thrown into by the sudden attack. Two of those she was responsible for had just died before her eyes! She had to, she just had to do something!

“Drop everything! Get away!” the mare shouted through the carbine in her mouth, grabbing the stunned Monterey and dragging the trader away from the battle.

Another explosion sounded, and a wave of heat knocked Cosmic to the ground. Cold, nasty dirt poured into her mouth. Cheese wrappers began to fall from the overturned cart with a thud.

BANG! BANG!

The scream came from above this time. The flare of the Spark Glider’s flashlight swooped down from the black sky and disappeared into the darkness on the other side of the cart. Pink laser beams flickered as Nightlight tried to aim at an unknown enemy in the darkness. One passed right in front of Cosmic’s face, and the mare recoiled to avoid friendly fire.

Monterey started to get out of the harness in a hurry. But lying on his side was uncomfortable, and he stayed where he was, trying again and again to leave the dangerous place.

Cosmic stood next to him and aimed her carbine at the light of the PipBuck lying there. The main thing was to destroy the threat, the rest could be dealt with later.

Her tongue habitually found the trigger. Doo-doo-doo-doo-doom! – a line of bullets tore through the darkness, making her teeth ache from the recoil.

BANG! BANG!

The white spark faded, and the battlefield plunged into darkness. Nightlight stopped firing – another body fell to the ground.

Cosmic stood alone against the unknown who, remaining invisible, had destroyed her squad in a matter of seconds and nearly killed both her and Monterey Jack. Who, how, why – it didn’t matter now. She needed to do whatever she could to prevent the stranger’s plan from being carried out.

She kept firing bullets from the carbine into the space around her. The magazine emptied; the mare pulled it out and threw it away, knocking the spare from its mount with her hoof. On the fly, with a swing, put it in, pull the bolt…

Slowly, how slowly! Cosmic was suddenly burned by the thought that she wouldn’t be in time. That the attacker knew her every step, saw every movement – while she couldn’t see him. And she was powerless to do anything about it. All her training, all her combat experience crumbled to dust in the face of this stealthy and therefore terrifying force.

And the next moment – WHAM! – a powerful blow knocked the carbine out of Cosmic’s mouth and threw her to the ground.

Her jaws exploded in pain, and her mouth filled with the taste of copper. Knocked out teeth rolled across her tongue like hard, slippery pills.

The sound of a blow – and Monterey, trying to throw off the tight hindering harness, fell unconscious.

Cosmic spat and reached for Dan’s holster hanging at her right side, but immediately screamed in pain as a heavy hoof came down on her front leg, pinning her to the ground. Another hoof rolled her onto her back and rested on her armored chest.

The mare’s eyes accustomed to the darkness, and she could already make out the outlines of objects in the surrounding sea of black. Cosmic looked up – and stared at the one who had just taken several lives and looked like he was about to kill her as well.

Metal Dawn was looking down at the blue earth pony.

“You…” she breathed out, unable to say anything else.

Her body was numb again, tears welling up in her eyes, a huge lump in her throat making it hard to speak. No, not like that – preventing her from screaming. For a long, long time, Cosmic gulped air, holding herself on the verge of hysteria. The stallion stared at her unblinkingly, looming over her like a rock. A rock that, when it fell, crushed everyone the leader cared about. Metal Dawn himself could no longer be counted among them.

Finally, it got easier to breathe. The veil of tears that had covered her eyes receded, and the lump in her throat disappeared. And then came the anger. Anger at herself for not being able to stop him. And at him for ruining the lives of everyone around him in an instant, most of them irreversibly.

“What the hay?!” Cosmic darted out from under the stallion’s hoof, but he pressed harder, using all his weight, and the mare stayed where she was. Her eyes were filled with rage. “Sick bastard…!”

“I’m sorry, Cosmic,” Metal Dawn said in a low, husky voice. “I had no choice.”

“What’re you talking about?!” the blue earth pony roared, struggling to free herself. But the stallion held her down. “We were only supposed to guard that fucking cheese merchant! He paid us fairly, and the next caps were to be spent in The Republic! So why are you–”

“You think this is about the caps?!” Metal Dawn roared back, punching Cosmic in the face. She jerked her head and looked at him again with a hateful glare. “You don’t understand a damn thing about what’s going on and why all this…! I have a lot of caps now, but what’s the use?”

His voice trembled, ready to break into a scream.

In Cosmic’s head something clicked.

“So it was you…” she whispered and continued, raising the tone more and more, “It was you who stole Sonic’s rings to push them quietly in New Appleloosa! You’re the one who got me convicted for something I didn’t do! Tell me, did you get those ponies to vote for my expulsion? Oh, and I believed you… Although… after you came to my house and tried to rape me…”

“Shut up!”

Another punch. Blood flowed from Cosmic’s broken nose.

The earth pony laughed.

“You know nothing!” Metal Dawn hissed as he leaned closer. His eyes glittered angrily in the night. “Yes, I stole the rings from that blue fool, but do you really feel sorry for him? He’s nothing to the Wasteland, an empty place… I bet he won’t last a week here…”

“Why?!” Cosmic shouted in despair, clenching her eyes. “Why didn’t you condemn me to turn all around from yourself…?”

“’Cause I loved you, stupid idiot!” he punched her in the face. A splash of saliva mixed with the flowing blood. “Yes, I wanted caps, lots of caps – but only so we could be together! We’d build a spacious new home, settle everything… Discord, I’d even pay off my debts to Silver Star and Murky…! We! Could! Be! Happy!”

Something wet and hot slapped Cosmic’s cheek. She opened her eyes to see Metal Dawn crying.

“No, Metal,” she shook her head. “It’s not love, it’s just a desire to dominate and possess… whatever, but not what you think it is. And yet, why…?”

“I was ordered to. I had no fucking choice!” He stomped the ground next to Cosmic’s head with a free hoof. “Offered me a deal when I sold the rings. Gave me a thousand caps and a zebra invisibility cloak as payment and promised another five thousand when I finish and come again…!”

The stallion’s voice sank to a whisper and immediately rose to a shout.

“I agreed. I didn’t know then that it would turn out like this…! And now,” he finished hoarsely, pressing his hoof harder into Cosmic’s chest, “I have to kill you too. Sorry, Cosmic. I am not this way – life is this way.”

The mare suddenly noticed the rope tied to his knee. In a holster at his side, a revolver, attached to his leg, was pointed directly at Cosmic’s head. One move – and the earth pony would be gone, just like her team.

“No, Metal. It’s all you. Just the way you are,” she said before he could remove his foot and rolled away, gathering all her strength.

Or rather, she tried to.

BANG!

The shot rang out just above her ear. A red-hot poker burned right through her left shoulder. Cosmic howled in pain and rolled onto her side. Circles of light flashed in front of her eyes – so tightly she squeezed them shut. Now every movement made her head spin; the earth pony was almost unconscious from the unbearable burning.

Something warm ran over her skin under her armor. Blood. It was her blood. To replace the blood she had spilled when she punched the face of her failed rapist.

She could barely hear the hoofsteps of the assassin approaching her through the veil of pain that dulled her senses. Swish… swish… swish… stopped beside her again. But this time, Cosmic had neither the power nor the ability to affect anything.

“I could take the opportunity to play with you,” a whistling whisper sounded above her ear. “But I’m afraid I don’t have any more time. The slavers will be here soon, after that Tenpony sucker. But they won’t be interested in a wounded, bleeding mare. I’ll ease your suffering. But first…”

His hoof came down on Cosmic’s saddlebag. First one, then the other.

“This is not to leave the good things to the guests. And to keep you from healing yourself. I’m sorry, Cosmic. You forced me to do this. Consider it your punishment.”

The earth pony didn’t see – but she knew that the revolver’s dark pupil was pointed at her again. Metal Dawn had fired nine shots, which meant he had three bullets left. More than enough.

So this is how it’s going to end…?

Cosmic tried to get out of her seat, but her strength left her completely. Instead of the throbbing pain in her shoulder, tiredness suddenly came, piled up like a love-starved stallion and took over not only her body, but also her soul. She didn’t want to fight anymore, it was pointless.

Already falling into a saving oblivion, Cosmic had time to notice out of the corner of her eye how the blackness exploded, a pale blue piece of light rushing towards her.

A gunshot rang out. The world ended.

Note: 50% of the next level.