Fallout: Equestria - Most Dangerous Game

Chapter Fifteen:

Without a second’s hesitation, Jade rolled to the side as the alicorn sniper fired again, ripping the shoulder off a raider-like thug beside the prone cyber mare. The pony went down as Jade rolled again, only to come face to face with Katnip. Attention stuck halfway between her shooter and her stabber, her focus locked on the stunned assassin, begging the goddesses she wasn’t currently in the alicorn’s line of sight. More pressing was what the hooded mare would do, but after a long second it was clear all Katnip was going to do was peer down at Grimm’s decapitated corpse.

Like a terminal robbed of power, she was utterly paralyzed, before with a weak breath, she collapsed, swaying against another pony, who kicked out at her with a snarl. His aggression was met by a buck to the face from the second of the hooded assassins as Kitten darted to her companion’s aid, seeming to struggle just as much as she heaved Katnip’s face to hers.

“Kat, Kat, this is it!” she called, not even sparing Jade a glance as she peered into her stunned companion’s dead eyes. “Damn it, sis, snap out of it!”

Revealing their sibling relation, Kitten slapped her sister across the face, to no avail. A second shot rang out, shattering the wooden board at the mare’s hooves to splinters as she hopped back, dragging her sister with her as Jade scampered away, her rump finally hitting something solid. She dared not glance back to see what new mess she’d blundered into, her ragged suit and slowly repairing limbs more than enough of an excuse to get out of here as fast as she could. At least until the wing flared from behind her, scooping her aside as another sniper shot struck the floor.

“Jade!” Ocean squawked, tinny voice muffled by her helmet as she heaved the cyber mare behind the row of booths. “By the tides, what happened to you!?”

“What happened to me, how about what happened to you!?” Jade retorted, jabbing a forehoof at the hippogriff as another shot echoed, this time notably not a sniper round.

Looks like confiscated weapons only means so much around here. She thought, chancing a glance over her cover to see at least three ponies with shotguns by the crowded exit.

She could only assume they were Community guards, dressed head to hoof in what seemed to be old sports gear.

Oh, yay, we’re saved! The snider part of her mind quipped as Ocean pressed a talon to her armored breast.

“Don’t ask me, one moment you were talking to that guy, then flash… Everything went white, and I was stuck!” the hippogriff exclaimed, flaring her wings. “Next I know I have ponies all over me and I can’t do anything!”

“Your system auto rebooted, it must have,” Jade muttered, feeling the rip in her suit around the neck as the little Data in her head did her best to rationalize the situation. “Damn it, I hope we can fix this!”

“What about your legs, you’ve been shot!?” Ocean asked urgently, jabbing a claw at the holes in one of the cyber mare’s shoulders. “By the tides, it’s like the Aqua Dome all over again.”

“I’ll be fine, the spark magic took out my repair system but… I can feel it coming back.” She winced at that, a phantom pain haunting her damage receptors. “We need to grab our guns and get out of here!”

“Rodger that,” Ocean agreed with a wing salute, as Jade peered about for any sign of escape.

The chaos had swiftly become far more violent, those less civilized among the crowd somehow having armed themselves. Her ticket felt pointless as she wondered if her weapons were still going to be wherever they were stashed. At this rate, it looked like every bolthole and locker had been raided. Yet as her eyes panned over the chaos, and her night vision blinked on, she made out several crooked doors in the outer frame.

“Okay, this way!” she called, nodding ahead along the grimy row of seats behind the first layer of booths. “Let’s just hope we find a storage locker or something!”

“Anywhere other than here,” Ocean agreed as the two of them sprang up, Jade hobbling with one forehoof pressed to the rip in her neck as Ocean shoved aside any pony in her way, even if she muttered several small apologies to each.

The second they reached the door, another shot sang. There were screams by the bar as Jade’s enhanced eyes made out the face of the pink barmaid explode into a bloody paste. It made her heart sink just a little, yet more pressing was the shot that punched a hole in the wall right next to her.

Okay, moving now! She internally screamed as somewhere on the opposite side of the building a fiery explosion blossomed. Really need to be moving!

The suspended DJ platform tore free, crushing the bar in a flurry of shattered glass as flames surged up into the rafters. Smoke billowed in the furious red light above as with a hard kick, Jade broke the door down and the pair slipped out of the main floor, right down a set of concrete steps.

Clank… Clunk… Thump.

Each sound was followed by a sharp eep, before Jade finally found herself in a heap at the base of the stairs.

“Owww…” The word left the synthetic mare’s muzzle as a long groan, her butt up in the air as her face pressed to the wet concrete.

“Oh my goodness, are you alright!?” Ocean asked as she dashed down the stairs, while the little Data in Jade’s head snickered.

“Should have put a wet stairway sign on the door,” she huffed, sitting up as if that was the first thing somepony would do in the post-apocalypse. “I really don’t like this place.”

The sound of gunfire above, coupled with the flash of flames only added to that sentiment as the cyber mare stood and shook herself off. Thankfully, her systems informed her that they were once again mostly functional, yet that did little to help X-23 as the suit fluttered limply.

“What’s down here?” Ocean asked, panning her armor’s lamp over the gloom, forcing Jade to favor her own illuminating eyes over night vision.

“I guess this place was built on top of something else,” she suggested, taking a step into the darkened halls of cold concrete lined by rusty pipes. “Come on, let’s find out where they keep everypony’s weapons.”

And just hope our guns are not in the hooves of some raider. Part of her cynical mind added as Ocean fell in behind her. Better than being cooked alive and shot up there.

Fortunately for the two of them, the tunnel only led a few meters before opening out into what appeared to be some kind of garage. Old wagons and work benches marked the left wall, while on the right were rusty shutters and service doors. Many were barricaded shut, yet it appeared whatever the Love Shack had been built upon had once been some kind of workshop.

“There, we can use those,” Ocean declared, marching over to one of the doors, while Jade’s attention shifted to one of the workstations, her magic wrapping around a roll of duct tape.

“Just hold in there, X-23, this is the best I can do,” she muttered to her suit as she taped the rip in her neck closed, wrapping it tight for good measure as she stashed the tape in her saddle bags.

All the while, Ocean tugged on the door, ripping it from its hinges to find there was nothing on the other side but rubble.

“Oh, fish tails!” she huffed, head drooping as Jade moved past her, peering over one of the rusty wagons to where light pooled in from the opposite garage.

“Hey, keep it down,” she muttered to Ocean, making a downward motion with one forehoof before nodding for the hippogriff to follow. “I think there’s somepony else down here.”

Once more, Ocean was behind her, not so subtle in her power armor as the two of them crept their way to the concrete doorway separating the two wings of the garage. Through the ajar fire door, illuminated by the flickering flames of a rusty fire barrel, was the room in which Jade could only assume they stored everypony’s confiscated weapons. The many tool shelves were stacked with numbered boxes. Only, like some armory raided by foals, most of the gear was tossed about haphazardly, much to the horror of most of their owners, she had to imagine.

Less watching, more escaping. Her mind prompted as she drew out her ticket and studied the scene.

Forty-four. Finding the box that corresponded with the number on the scrap of paper, she spied her flaming rifle. The only issue was that it was now in the hooves of a very grim-looking earth pony. Great, now they’re the ones with all the guns!

About half a dozen ponies sifted through the storage as if they’d just struck gold, most of them earth ponies, while two unicorns and what she could only assume was one of the non-feral Ghouls Ocean had told her about assisted.

“Okay, that’s enough, stash everything you can carry and get that door open, we’re blowing this joint,” called the rather burly-looking earth pony with Jade’s rifle. “Livewire, see what you can do.”

“On it, boss,” responded a mare as she threw a sack of weapons over her back and made for a terminal beside the door. “Love Shack can suck it for all I care.”

“What is it?” asked Ocean as the griff craned her neck to peer over Jade. “Hey, they’re taking all our guns!”

“Yes, yes, I know they are, but be quiet!” Jade hissed shoving the hippogriff back into the room, which was to say not very far as her power armored legs stiffened. “Let’s just wait for them to get the door open, then we make a move.”

It all seemed like a reasonable idea, yet as Jade glanced around Ocean, she felt her heart sink. She scolded herself for not watching her E.F.S again. The stationary red dot behind them was such an obvious stand out from the roaches that scurried around the gloomy ruin, or the dissipating rabble of hostiles on the floors above.

“Okay, I’m only going to ask you once,” warned the alicorn, her heavy rifle loaded as she levitated it at the pair. “Who the fuck are you and why you gotta go ruin my gig!?”

“I’d ask you the same thing,” Jade countered, stepping between Ocean and the alicorn, as the hippogriff stiffened in shock. “Because as far as I know, there’s not supposed to be more than two alicorns.”

The winged mare looked like she cared as much for that topic as she did for the dirt on her hooves as she scowled and rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath.

“If I had a cap for every…” She drew up short, pulling her eye from the scope and gesturing to the pair with a motion of the weapon. “Who are you to talk? What we got here, the walking fridge and bird-inator three thousand?”

Her elegant voice was gone, replaced by a deadpan tone as she peered at the two with leveled eyes.

“Bird-a-what?” Ocean balked, but Jade snorted, stealing the alicorn’s attention back to her.

“Leave her out of it, it’s me you were shooting at,” she declared.

“She was what!?” Ocean exclaimed, one wing flared, only for Jade to wave her down as the alicorn frowned.

“Well, duh, you pissed off the Shrike, why else would the twins be on you?” the alicorn asked, and Jade cocked her head.

If she had a cap? What about me? If I had a cap for every time somepony spoke about some random shit like it’s common knowledge! She took her best mockery of a deep breath, an entirely equine action her synthetic body still couldn’t grasp as she asked levelly.

“And who in Luna’s name are they?” The sniper mare winced at the princess’s name, glancing about warily before she sighed.

“For fuck’s sake, fucking tourists.” Her head drooped with the weary exhale as she added. “You know, the Shrike, down with the old world, the false goddesses, all that jazz?”

Great, just another group of crazy ponies I have to add to the list. She thought, as at her back, Ocean shrugged her armored wings.

“And you’re one of them?” Jade pressed, eyeing the sniper rifle, pretty sure even her cyber magic couldn’t outmagic an alicorn.

“No, and as you can probably guess, they’re not my biggest fans.” She motioned back to her wings as they ruffled. “They respect the Community’s neutral ground… Mostly. But I still try to stay on their good side.”

“And you call taking the head off one of them staying on their good side?” Jade pressed, and the alicorn winced, adding in a low growl.

“You were the one on top of him a second before.” She averted her eyes, appearing like a pouty foal for a moment at the idea she’d not done everything perfectly. “Still doesn’t change the fact that you robbed me of the one good gig I’ve had in years.”

“Right, in a town full of murder ponies that hate the goddesses?” Jade cooed, the part of her that was Data taking hold as she motioned forward with a forehoof dismissively.

The anger bubbling behind the alicorn’s eyes was obvious as her right eye and mouth twitched, and the gun leveled at Jade again.

“Yeah, so what are you going to do about it!?” the goddess pressed, jabbing the gun forward. “Because I’m the one who’s ready to blow your brains out!”

“H–how about we get you a new job!?” It was Ocean that finally spoke up, flaring her wings. “Surely there’s gotta be a better job, right?”

An eyebrow raised, the alicorn peered out from her scope, while Jade glanced back at Ocean. The helmet made it impossible to tell, but she was sure under the sleek metal, the hippogriff was smiling her bubbly smile.

“The only job you’re getting is a head on a spike when the Shrike get hold of you,” the alicorn deadpanned, but before Jade could stop her Ocean added.

“Nah, Jade here’s great at stopping the bad ponies, right, Jade? She brought down the Aqua Dome single hoofed!” Jade was rounding on the avian equine in a flash.

“I thought I said keep it on the down low, who knows who…” The cyber mare’s words were stopped by the alicorn’s laugh, as she glanced back to see the sniper lower.

“You! You’re the one from the radio?” She jabbed a pearly forehoof at the two of them. “You’re the Ghost?”

“I might be, what of it?” It made her feel all kinds of sick to go with the whole radio ghost story, but as she stiffened, she didn’t see many options. “Proof I can get you a better job, at least?”

The alicorn cocked her head, eyes narrowing as she levitated the sniper back to her flank, the frilly stripper dress really doing her no favors in the intimidation factor.

“Maybe…” She lifted her head in thought, pursing her lips, before glancing back down at Jade like the synthetic mare were a tiny bug. “Maybe you have a deal.”

Urg, what in Equestria did I do to end up in this mess? She mentally asked herself as she pressed a forehoof to her face.

“Hardly even matters if those bastards take all our guns,” she muttered, the alicorn doing her best to peer around her into the garage beyond as she did so, only for her glittery eyes to pop wide.

“They’re what!?” she exclaimed, shoving past Jade and Ocean before the two could stop her, and barging right up to the raiders.

“She’s gonna get us all killed,” Jade muttered, while Ocean added a small apology.

Regardless, in the room beyond, every set of eyes the two of them had been trying to avoid were now fixed on the very obvious alicorn.

“Well, well, well, what is the meaning of this!?” she declared bluntly, stomping a forehoof for good measure as the stunned thieves all dropped what they were doing. “Stealing now is it?”

“H–Heart Breaker… Doll, y–you made it out?” stammered the buck that had ordered the door open moments ago, putting a name to the alicorn as two more bucks whistled slyly at her exposed flanks.

“What, you were expecting me not to make it?” she asked with a frown, her gun still suspended in a crimson aura at her side. “I thought you said you needed me but nooooo, here you are trying to make off with the goods!”

The eyes of everypony, from the ghoul to the mare halfway through hacking the door, all passed between him and Heart Breaker as she pouted like a spoiled filly.

“I–I do… Or… I did,” he added with a wince. “You were a helluva show, Doll, but you know how it is, gigs burnt up, best to move on, cut to a new act.”

“What!?” the alicorn’s suddenly imperious voice took on a deeper, reverberating tone as her magic quivered and her eyes flashed. “What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“It means you’re finished, sunshine,” quipped another of the gang, while the rest started to snicker, the stallion pinned under Heart Breaker’s gaze wincing with a nod.

For as much as Jade had off feelings about her, to see such a glamorous mare mocked and belittled like that stung. A non-pony living in Equestria, she almost knew what it was like. Of course, her sympathy faded seconds later as Heart Breaker shuddered, eyes closed as if her head were pounding. Her magic flared so bright it lit up the room like a flash bang, the fire in the drums around her cast into a storm as with a magical surge, the lead stallion’s head exploded, then his body, as if he’d swallowed a grenade.

“Gah, by the tides!” Ocean yelled from above Jade, but all eyes were on Heart Breaker, dowsed in blood as she swayed.

“What the fuck!?” called one of the thieves, as another ordered Livewire to keep going at the door, and a third exclaimed.

“Light that witch up!” One bullet struck Heart Breaker’s flank in a bloody plume, sending the glamorous mare sprawling before Jade leaped from her cover, tackling the nearest raider.

Ocean took to the air, as Jade pinned her adversary under one metal forehoof, and magically fished for the first weapon she could find. It turned out to be nothing more than a rusty rifle, far less than the well-armed gang members who all had weapons aimed at her.

Oh, pony feathers. Was the only thought to echo through her racing mind as she dropped into S.A.T.S, praying that the meek weapon would be enough. Whatever happened to just sneaking out of this place unseen, with no trouble!?

She lined up the spell as best she could, executing it. Time resumed, and the meager weapon fired seconds before the thieves did. Two of the ponies went down, the ghoul included, yet two more darted aside, narrowly avoiding her shots, while a third had the meager round ping from his plate armor. The same couldn’t be said for Jade as bullets struck her hide, the synthetic protection only getting her so far as she yelped in simulated pain.

Seconds later, Ocean was there, her sharp eyes plucking her weapon from the pile as Jade’s own fixed on the fiery rifle. It lay in the bloody pile of offal Heart Breaker’s magic had reduced the burly stallion holding it to.

Okay, three against one, I got this. She thought as her adversaries reloaded.She kicked the wind out of the stallion pinned under her forehoof, forcing him to curl in on himself like a whimpering dog. Tossing aside her current rusty weapon, she levitated up another firearm, while darting for her own. Thank Luna they didn’t think to empty all these guns too!

Her new weapon proved far more adequate, some kind of rickety assault rifle that at least forced the thieves to leap into the cover of a nearby wagon before it crumpled in Jade’s magic.

The second her rifle ran dry, her attackers returned fire, yet not before one met his end with a blast of Ocean’s shotgun.

“Ocean, see to her!” Jade called, skidding to a halt on the bloody smear the stallion had become, nodding to Heart Breaker.

Part of her wanted nothing more than to just leave the alicorn here and get as far away from this place as she could. Yet another made it clear a deal was a deal, and having a guide who knew as much about the locals as Heart Braker did, didn’t seem like too bad of a thing either.

“Live, you better have that door open!” called one of the thieves as Jade magically scooped up her weapon, hopping into the cover offered by one of the fire barrels as her opponents returned fire.

“Urg, what happened?” Heart Breaker asked, rubbing her forehead. “I… I… I got such a banging headache.”

“You were shot, but don’t worry, I got you!” Ocean cooed, her more motherly side blooming as she spread her armored wings over the downed alicorn to shield her from the bullets. “It just grazed your flank, you’ll be fine.”

As the two conversed, Jade loaded her weapon, glancing left around the barrel as the sound of gunfire stopped, along with the pings of rounds clattering from Ocean’s armored wings.

“You’re saying somepony shot me in the ass, what!?” Heart Breaker exclaimed, sitting up and arching her neck to get a view at what was admittedly, a very pleasant ass. “Those backstabbing bastards, I’ll kill them!”

“Believe me, if you want to make any more of them pop like balloons right now, I’m all for it,” Jade called, lifting her gun to return fire, only for the little Data in her head to yell out for her to stop.

She should have seen it coming, if anything, the fact she didn’t in the heat of the moment proved that she was always as ill-equipped for combat as she’d been told. Her fiery weapon roared, igniting the cover around the thieves as they darted back, as well as the whole mound of confiscated ammunition.

Oh, shit! Her eyes popped wide as the flames engulfed her attackers, the whole wall going up in smoke as she dove and rolled under Ocean’s wings.

“Whatever you do, don’t fold your wings!” she screamed, yet the armored hippogriff had little time to move before the fire washed over her back, and she lurched forward, yelping in alarm as her armor hissed red hot.

Power armor can take fire, right? She asked herself, the little Data in her head going through several mental manuals in search of a definitive answer. At least it solves the issue of getting shot at!

On one hoof it did just that, on the other, the thieving bandits were now replaced with a wall of deadly flames that was rapidly engulfing the room.

“Ouch, that stings,” Ocean muttered, staggering a little, as Heart Breaker rolled onto her front, sweat and weeping makeup marring her brow as she asked drily.

“Did you just fire an incendiary weapon in a room full of ammunition?” The jab forced Jade to wince, pretty glad her suit masked the expression as she snapped back.

“Says the one who just made a pony burst!” Despite the sweat swiftly turning her mane into a weeping mess, and the smoky cough that wracked her voice, Heart Breaker scowled at the synthetic mare.

“It happens from time to time, you try living as an alicorn!” Jade made a note to ask her about just why she was an alicorn later, as she felt her wounded suit grow tight.

The room was swiftly becoming an oven, the smoke rapidly stealing away her vision as the unarmoured alicorn began to cough and wheeze. Jade’s eyes fixed on the door, little more than a rusty shutter crafted from corrugated metal.

If they were trying to get that one open, there must be something on the other side. She reasoned, glancing between the door and her two companions. We can break through a shutter like that, right?

The little Data in her head eyeballed the thing, drew out a measuring tape, then framed the door between her raised forehooves, biting her bottom lip.

Datastream! For a brief second it felt stupid to shout at the mare in her head as if that ghost of her lost lover were really real. Yet seconds later, the imaginary mare tentatively nodded.

“Ocean, help her up,” Jade called to the hippogriff as she lined herself up with the door and scuffed one forehoof at the ground like a bull. “I’m gonna make us an exit.”

One wing over each other’s back, Ocean helped Heart Breaker to her hooves, while the choaking alicorn huffed and wheezed. Jade, meanwhile, charged like a raging minotaur right at the door, her head low and hooves pounding.

I really hope your math is right on this one, Data! She muttered over and over, before finally hitting the door with a reverberating clang of loose metal.

For a second she was terrified she’d merely bounced off. That was before the loose trash cans that had been pressed up against the other side were cast flying, damp papers, and glass cascading down in her wake as she barged out onto the open loading area outside, thick smoke billowing in her wake. Her metallic hooves ground on the cracked asphalt as she pulled herself to a halt just before tumbling into the swampy park pond beyond. Looking back she saw the ragged rent she’d torn in the metal shutter, as Ocean pulled apart an exit big enough for her and Heart Breaker to limp through.

Above, the Love Shack loomed, or at least what was left of it. Like a great pyramid of flame, the structure rose tall, every inch of its rugged flanks alight with a brilliant blaze, while a pillar of smoke miles high towered into the cloudy sky. Below, where they had made their escape, a series of shutters were cut into the hillside the shack sat upon, those to the left of them covered by a landslide. It appeared to have been built atop some kind of old depo, yet now even the tunnels were ablaze as smoke poured from the hole Jade had ripped in the corrugated shutter.

“Okay, let’s have a day or two off before we try something like this again,” Ocean huffed, ripping off her helmet as she gasped for air and staggered to the edge of the pond. “I feel like I’m in a walking oven.”

“At least you can breathe,” Heart Breaker coughed, sitting up as she ruffled her wings and winced. “All those years on that stage… Damn it.”

She pressed a forehoof to her chest as she caught her breath, peering at the inferno like it were some long-lost lover. Jade could see the pain in her eyes, almost understand it, at least until the alicorn glowered at her.

“Do you have any idea what you just cost me!?” Cyber mare or not, to have a pony so tall and as imposing as a princess shoot up and round on her was very intimidating. “My job, my livelihood… Heck, I left my fucking rifle in there!”

“Well, you’d do well to remember that,” Jade retorted levitating her flaming rifle up at the alicorn. “Because now I’m the one with the gun.”

Heart Braker took one look at the incendiary rifle, then back at Jade. A cough escaped her, then staggering on wounded limbs, she started to laugh.

“Well then, robo-bitch, you better just shoot me now,” she declared through her wheezing exertions. “Goddesses know a pony like you ain’t gonna do shit on any deal she’s made.”

That gave the cyber mare pause, and all of a sudden, the rush, the surge of combat thrill she’d dropped into, whether programmed or not, it all fell away. It felt like she’d been hit by another spark weapon, only in the place of her body’s literal weight, the weight of her racing emotions finally caught up with her. She slumped, weapon lowering at her side.

Heart Breaker staggered back, doing all she could to show that her wounded flank wasn’t bothering her, even if her skimpy outfit was stained with crimson. The look in her eyes was odd, as if a mare who always felt as if she knew what to say was lost for words. Finally, Jade sniffed, once again taking a breath that confused her systems beyond measure as she strapped her rifle to her side and shook her head.

“No, I’m not going to go back on a deal,” she stated bluntly, the confession appearing to hit Heart Breaker like a slap to the face.

What, this mare never seen genuine honesty or kindness before? She had to ask herself, as to the alicorn’s left Ocean stood, helmet strapped to her shoulder as she ran a claw through her singed mane.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” the alicorn asked, as if without the threat of a weapon, she didn’t quite believe it. “You’re not joking?”

“Ehhh, Jade doesn’t really do jokes,” Ocean chimed in with a wince, and the synthetic mare frowned.

“What, I can do jokes!” she exclaimed and despite everything, the hippogriff giggled, pressing a talon to her beak.

“What kind of mare blows up half a town then gets caught up when she’s called out for being bad at jokes?” Heart Breaker asked as she reluctantly leaned against Ocean for support.

“This mare,” Jade declared, jabbing a forehoof at herself. “And for the record, I didn’t come here to make things blow up, those bastards jumped me!”

“Yes, and you didn’t even have the decency to be eliminated quietly,” Heart Breaker mused, glancing at the flames, only to wince as something inside the shack exploded with a loud pop. “The Shrike isn’t gonna be happy with you.”

“Like I told those guys, forgive me if I don’t wanna die,” she huffed, taking a step back as another part of the shack erupted in flames. “And I’m not planning on staying here any longer for them to come find me.”

“First smart thing you’ve said all day,” Heart Breaker mused with a cough as with a huff, Jade marched away from the fire, the others close behind.

Footnote: Level up

New Perk Added: Pyromaniac - This surely goes against all gun safety regulations. You gain +5 points of damage with fire-based weapons.