Fallout Equestria: Desperados V3 (Bonds of Platinum)

Fallout: Equestria

Desperado’s V3: Bonds of Platinum

Ch 20, Faith, Part 1.

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Thanks to Star finally getting some proper sleep and waking us up, we got to watch the sunrises as Arras cooked us some breakfast over a campfire. Simple eggs, hash tatos and strips of bacon. The light from the sun reflecting off the deu covered demon grass was absolutely mesmerizing, and combined with the gentle cool breeze was comforting. It all made the tea that Mag left us all the better.

“So… how bad is it?” I asked Azure as he sat next to me, near the Smuggler.

The teacup disappeared under his mouth claws as he took a sip of the tea. “Hard to say, but from my own experience with such matters, the Darkheart’s are very entrenched with the Warband over in Umberfoal. Their numbers are fairly small, comparably, but they are considerably crafty. Though Swift's own ponies are in charge, the important ones have drank the proverbial kool aid.”

“Cool… Aid?” I said questionly.

“Ancient saying from another race. Simply, it means they've given into a belief so strongly that they will drink poison if told to.” He explained.

“Fuck, thats bad… but what about the rest of the Warband?” I further asked.

“It's a bit mixed, but most of the Desperados are rather ambivalent to the faith. It's just the ones left in charge that have been converted.” The Lurker explained. “The rest of the Desperados accept it only because the Darkheart’s are supplying them with booze, food, and guns. As for the ponies to watch out for, there is Nightfall Darkheart, the mother of those twins. She doesn't seem to interact with the Desperados much, and focuses on managing her own family and those following her. Of which seems to be a mix of soldier types, and servant types. Then there's Bishop Pitch Blackheart, with quite a few priests and priestesses. They are the one who’ve has been doing the converting, though this Pitch seems to be very proactive and from what I can tell, is quite the seductress.”

I let out a sigh, “seriously?”

He nodded. “Well, unless how you ponies mate is actually very different from what mammals normally do, then I'm sure he was fornicating with at least two of the Desperados leaders. Though the odd thing is, they were all male. That said, it was hard to tell at first glance, but that might just be me.”

The image in my head was both disturbing, yet a tad bit fascinating. “This is… not surprising if I think about it. And the third?”

“Yes, that would be Pewter Darkheart, Nightfall's brother in law.” Azure said with a curious expression. “He's an… interesting pony. As much as I can tell, he's been keeping Pitch from converting all of the Desperados, all while aiding Nightfall in controlling Umberfoal. Stranger, the stallion actually caught me-”

“What!?” I blurted.

Azure shrugged. “Yes, and even I was taken off guard, but I think it has to do with magic and how experienced a pony is with it. Remember, Magnificence also detected me, and she was blind. Well, though he didn't tell me much, he did explain that your plan, though responsible, may have a major hiccup as you know”

“Purity Spiral.” I answered

Again Azure shrugged. “Though his details were vague and he clearly didn't have all the information, he seemed to suspect something was going on in the city that needed to be dealt with. So it's safe to assume that this hiccup is Bishop Purity Spiral. Best to get clarification fr9m him, and speaking of that, he is very much interested in meeting with you. Didn't call you by name, but I'm sure the Lady of Platinum's blood is you.”

Letting out a sigh, I shoved a fried egg in my mouth, savoring the flavor before swallowing, then said. “Is my identity even a secret at this point?”

Azure let out a laugh, which didn't sound quite right as it had two tones to it. “Oh, don't I know that feeling. Keeping a secret that seemingly almost everyone already knows. Anyways, when you do go to Umberfoal don't seek Pewter out, but go see Nightfall, and absolutely avoid Pitch before seeing her. Something to due with a Nightfall and Pitch having a power struggle, and Nightfall tends to hold grudges easily if she feels snubbed. Or so I was told.”

“That… sounds a lot like my eldest sister. And let me guess, this Bishop Pitch is waiting for any opportunity to embarrass Nightfall?” I then asked.

That got a nod from Azure. “Petty bickering as I see it.”

Finishing off my tea, I put down my breakfast plate, the food all gone. “Thanks for informing me, and sorry for using you like this.”

The lurker gave a slight bow at me. “It's alright, things like this come with the profession. You'd be surprised how often I've been hired to spy on someone's spouse to see if they're cheating. Or discovered a friendly hidden village, only to find out that it's an outlaw hideout. It would be my head on a pike if I'd accidentally put them on a map and some higher official’s family got kidnapped because of me. Now go, enjoy this little slice of peace, I'm getting the itch to draw this wonderful scene.”

Giving Azure a hug, I then trotted back to my circle of friends. Anlong with Arras, Slowtrot, Star Charter, and Live Axle were here as a more private get together. We had taken the Smuggler out to a more remote location out of the city, where it was unlikely to have any prying ears nearby. A little clearing of the demon grass that made sure anypony had to get close to us to listen in.

The main reason for this was to go over our plans for today, as we were once again very bussy. As much as I like Fizzy, and trusted Lair enough to be sure she'd keep our secrets, this needed to stay between us and us alone.

Star eyed me, a smirk on her lips. “So, their Bishop is a faggot. Maybe we can sacrifice Reed and Slick to him?”

Nopony laughed at that as I joined them. “I'll consider it, but please never say that again, the image in my head isn't fun.”

Now that got a laugh from both Live and Star.

Arras then put down his cup, a spoon in it clanking about. “Still, it's a disturbing thought that my own could be seduced so quickly. With Swift it makes sense, that Hollow lass is quite fetching, but by another Stallion… dark magic must be involved.”

“Naw, it makes sense, Big Papa.” Live said, getting Arras's full attention. “The Warband is made up of a lot of the stallions from outlier Herds, you know, those super strict ones that like to have a lot of foals. Stallions from them that don't take wives are often shunned and pushed to the edges of camps. So it's not surprising that a lot of em are actually secretly faggots.”

The old ghoul let out a huff. “Right, I forgot that does happen now. Makes me miss old Equestria, when ponies just didn't give a shit about that. I'll have to look into those herds after this war is over.”

“Are you sure?” Slowtrot then asked. “Equestria, in my time, was very into just stallions and mares pairing up.”

“I ment pre-war Equestria.” Arras told him. “Once the war heated up something fierce, ponies began dying and the Ministries knew if we didn't have a new generation to replace them, we'd all be in trouble. So they pushed parenting programs a lot, including that horrendous foal welfare agency.”

“Well the stallions fucking stalions situation aside, we need to figure out how to kill Purity.” Star then pointed out.

“Easier said than done.” I said with a defeated sigh. “The bitch likely has a trap for us, and spies all over the city. She probably knew we were here the night we arrived. And I'm pretty sure I know what she wants.”

“To get into the tomb.” Arras answered.

I nodded. “No other reason for her to be here. Other than causing chaos.”

“By why? What's in the tomb that she wants?” Slowtrot asked.

“Does it matter?” I asked back and he shook his head. “All we know is that she wants something in the tomb, and we can't let her have it.”

“What about asking the Platinum Guard for help?” Star asked.

Live quickly answered for me. “And tell em about Harp being a literal princess, they'd never let her leave out of duty.”

“Shit, you're right. Those Platinum cans would lose their shit if they found out.” Star mumbled to herself.

“At least we have Elder Magnificence to help us.” I pointed out. “Maybe she and the Coven of Clovers can get the Platinum Guard to help us without telling them about me.”

Arras didn't seem so sure about that, even as he nodded. “I can ask her about it, but I'm sure she's already aware of the issue and is planning accordingly. But I’d be careful, Mag may be a good mare, and has been a good friend to me, yet she's always felt off to me.” I cocked an eyebrow at him and the old ghoul let out a sigh. “It's just that she's… too much like Majesty, yet lacks her spark. I don't know who she was before she became a body double for the Princess, but the first time I met her it was absolutely unnerving.”

“None the less, we'll need her help if Purity makes a move on the tomb.” I said, taking Arras's warning seriously, but also with the knowledge that we had only a few ponies we can truly rely on. In the end, Mag is loyal is to the Coven of Clovers, not to the Desperados or to me.

“I know it's dumb, but what about Lair Darkheart?” Star brought up.

“She gives me the creeps.” Live comment

“Ya, and it would be foolish to trust a Barbary pony, much less a one from the pirate families.” Arras pointed out.

“Maybe we should wait until after dealing with her family, if they don't get along with Spiral as you say, then that could help us.” Slowtrot suggested.

“True, but also a mistake.” Azure spoke up from the Smuggler. “The issue is that anybody can using Harp for their own goals after all. So long as they're in a possession to gain power by using her, they're a danger.”

We were all silent, Azure's words resonating in my mind. Just like at Amethyst Sands, my mere presence made me a target for anypony who knew the truth. And it was even worse here, as the tomb likely held artifacts of both cultural significance and of magical power.

“How about this.” Arras then spoke up. “We trust Magnificence to keep an eye on things, since we have no other options, and do our best to keep everypony else in the dark.”

“The issue is if this Purity Spiral then tells anypony.” Slowtrot suddenly said, causing a wave of dread to wash over me.

“So, the sword of Damocles hangs over our head.” Azure said before explaining. “A saying, where a man was given all the power and privilege of a king, but had a sword hang over him by a hair.”

I knew of a similar story, but couldn't remember it at the moment. “That's an appropriate example of our situation. There’s no guarantee Purity wouldn't do such a thing if she doesn't get what she wants, or even if she does get whatever she's after. I'd say just kill her, but I have a feeling that if she were to die, she'd take Platinum Hill with her.”

It was a grim conclusion, but one that couldn't be denied. Purity Spiral revealing herself to us was more than likely her way to show us she had power over us. If it were anywhere else, then we'd have given her a fight.

I was then passed a plate of what food was left. “Eat, you're going to need the energy.” Arras told me.

Using my pipbuck's levitation spell, I ate another piece of bacon, the savory and salty meat giving me some energy. “Thanks, I'm sure I'll need all the energy I can get.”

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Dressed up in our best clothes, our group and a rather bothersome addition trot to the Inner-city, where Willow was waiting for us. Star, Fizzy and Lair were fairly calm and unbothered, but Hollow was a different story.

She hated the outer-city, hated the ponies in it, and understandably she hated the smell. Yesterday she barely made a peep, though she was also attached to Swift the entire time.

“Now this place is an example of how real ponies should be living, nothing like those things on the other side. It reminds me a lot of Old Royal, but without those ghosts.” Hollow blabbed as she trotted in her overly designed dress. If it turned out that she was actually wearing three dresses stitched together, I wouldn't have been surprised.”

“Ghosts?” Willow asked.

Lair fortunately answered. “Old Royal is a major city on the Barbary Islands, built on top of the previous Royal cities, so it has a lot of ghosts hanging about. It getting megaspelled didn't help much, and now we got ghosts called shadow ponies all over it. Didn't stop ponies from moving back in and rebuilding the city.”

“That sounds… familiar.” I muttered. “Wait, moved back in? But what about the radiation?”

“The dregs rarely care about such things,” Hollow answered dismissively.

“That and we got our tricks for clearing chaotic magic… mostly.” Lair explained. “Old Royal is still very much dangerous, so we only visit it when our Fathers return home from a voyage.”

“Sister dearest, don't you go there with Uncle quite often?” Hollow then asked.

Lair rolled her eyes, “Yes, but that's only for priesthood duty, not for my own enjoyment. It's our job to maintain the seals and conduct exorcisms.”

I was tempted to ask further, but we had arrived at our destination. It wasn't hard to miss, as we entered through an archway, we saw what was clearly a temple dedicated to Celestia. Much like with the Coven of Clovers, with its grand garden, but much bigger and far more decorated. There was even a fountain in which a marvelous statue of Celestia was the centerpiece.

There were ponies all over, most just lazing around or having a picnic. Among them were some ponies in togas, who were remarkably stunning looking..

“This place is very… relaxed.” Star commented.

Willow sighed. “Yes, so do try and not cause a ruckus. The temple of Celestia is not just a place of worship, but also where the more influential ponies in the city send their young to study. Or just send them here to be watched over if the parents ever need to leave for a time.”

“And let me guess, the temple gets considerable amount of donations from those ponies.” Lair asked.

“Of course, but don't go thinking there's corruption to be had, as the priestesses are considerably devout, and give back what they are given… to the point we've had to bail them out several times.” Willow explained.

A quiet mocking laugh came from Hollow, “Wasting money on charity only makes ponies around you weak, don't you know that?”

“Not helping those in need only, like, weakens your soul.” Spoke the same toga draped mare with the golden headdress from the negotiations. The unicorn was marble white with an almost cotton candy pink mane that dangled in many ringlets. “Celestia taught us this, and we must take it to, like, heart.”

“Good to see you, Blossom.” Willow said coldly.

Blossom responded by giving Willow a big hug. “Oh don't be so, like, standoffish with me big sis. You know mom and dad want you to come by, like, more often, along with the kids.”

Willow looked just as ill as when Fizzy was hugging her. “Sis, now's not the time. I'll go see mom and dad later.”

Letting go of Willow, Blossom then greeted the rest of us. “Oh right, you're here for the tour. I'm elder sister, Cherry Blossom, and welcome to, like, Celestia's Temple!” She then practically hopped over to Fizzy with a big smile on her face. “I bet you didn't recognize me!”

Fizzy looked stunned. “Is that really you Blossom? You're, like, absolutely beautiful! I mean you were beautiful before, but what happened?”

“An old world ghoul doctor passed through, and they happened to have a lot of knowledge about medicine. Following his instructions for a few years, Blossoms illness was gone and she's now too full of energy.” Willow explained.

Fizzy then began to cry, and gave Blossom a hug. “I'm, like, so happy for you!”

“And I, like, missed you too, Fizzy!” Blossom said, also with tears in her eyes.

After a long moment, the two let each other go, and things calmed down.

“Well, I got to go, Blossom will show you around.” Willow said in a bored and disinterested tone, then trotted off.

“Does she not like the place?” I asked.

Blossom let out a long sigh. “No, she just… doesn't have fond memories here. Due to my illness, my parents gave all their attention to me, and neglected my sister. Things are, like, much better now, but repairing relationships isn't something you can solve by magic alone. Mother actually stepped down from her position of elder sister when she realized what she had done, and has been, like, focusing on fixing the rift.”

That was surprisingly heavy.

Then Blossom put her hooves together in prayer. “It's one of the many lessons we learn from Celestia herself. Even she had made her mistakes, neglecting her sister and thus, causing the birth of Nightmare Moon. We mustn't neglect our families, friends, and even those we barely know, or cracks will form in which darkness can find its way in.”

“The goddesses don't make mistakes, you know what kind of blasphemy that is!” Hollow said scornfully.

“Oh, but it's, like, from her own words itself.” Blossom confidently said with a wide smile. “We have the most extensive documentation of Celestia's life within the temple, including a video interview of her itself. It’s, like, totes awesome.”

Hollow actually looked surprised by this. “You… have a video of the Goddess?”

Blossom then grasped Hollows hooved excitedly. “Yes, let's go, like, watch it! I've seen it like, hundreds of times!”

With that, Hollow was dragged off by the very excited Blossom.

Left by ourselves, I then suggested, “should we… look around?” And got a nod from the other three.

Though the grounds outside were an immaculate example of natural beauty and serena peace, the inside was cluttered with both artwork and junk. Artifacts all, but the dirty bobblehead of Celestia and Luna hardly seemed worth any kind of worship. There were also a lot of framed photos, mostly from what looked like official events, such as ribbon cutting and the like, but also photos that looked less like that got Celestia's permission first.

I found myself looking at a rather beautiful painting, and feeling a bit annoyed.

“What's the matter?” Star asked, then looked at the abstract painting. “It's… something.” She then looked at the display plaque in front of the painting. “Lets see, painted by the pony Von Grow, a famous painter known for innovative art, as well as cutting off one of his own ears. This painting of Celestia is the last surviving example of his work.”

“Except, it's a fake.” I told her,

Star then smirked at me. “Let me guess, your family owns the real painting.”

I shrugged. “Vincent Van Gogh is the real painter, and was a Griffin from Griffinstone, though had no ear to cut off, he did mutate the side of his head and made a portrait of it. The Griffinstone Royal family and Equestria royal family regularly exchanged art before the Griffinstone economy collapsed, and they entrusted us to protect a lot of their cultural works until they recovered.” I pointed at the painting, “it's hard to see, but this plagerit doesn't have the same eye for detail as a griffin has, and so the colors are a bit off, and a bit too bright.”

We moved on, where a collection of decorative plates was on display. But it wasn't fine pottery, glass, or silver, but cheap plastic with images of Celestia on them. “You got to be kidding me!” I said with a sigh.

“What?” Star asked.

“My family has those too… I actually use them as a foal.” I told her.

Star let out a laugh. “I bet the ponies here would have a fit if they knew that.”

Looking around, I then saw Fizzy and Lair looking at a series of bright orange pottery that wasn't under glass, and free for ponies to touch, of which Fizzy was. They looked familiar… then I felt the strong sensation of radiation.

“Shit!” I rushed over, and with my pipbuck magic, took the orange plate from Fizzy. “Don't! It's dangerous.” Putting it back and holding my pipbuck over it, and fast and loud clicking could be heard.

Lair face hooded. “You ponies actually used radioactive material to coat plates and bowls.”

“From what I've seen, that's not all that unusual. Look at the plaque.” Star pointed at the display plaque and began reading. “A common set of pottery, the bright and beautiful orange was to represent the sun for the summer sun festival, and was the last which Celestia attended. Because of this, this set was wildly popular as a collectors item, and could be found in many homes across Equestria.”

I also face hoofed. “Should we tell anypony?”

Everypony shrugged.

Moving on, the four of us found ourselves at some sort of art exhibit for foals. It was macaroni portraits of Celestia, which was weird, as macaroni was food? Seeing a temple mare trot by, I had to ask. “Mam, sister, why are you using macaroni for… this?”

“Maca… what now?” She said, tilting her head.

“The little thing the foals used here to make portraits of Celestia.” I explained as dumbly as possible.

Her eyes brightened. “Oh yes, the art toobs! Yes, they are, like, gifts from Celestia for the young to make effigies of her holiness, we have many examples of this, and plenty of the stuff for years of service to come.”

“Like, Bianca used to make necklaces and bracelets with them!” Fizzy added.

Okay, odd. “How much of it do you have, and do you know what they are made of?”

She tilted her head the other direction. “Well we have plenty and plenty of the toobs, like, totes lots. But sadly, like, the knowledge of how to make them is lost. The day no more can be found will be, like, totes sad.”

Lair leaned over to me and whispered. “Probably best to not tell them it's just pasta, folks like this are unpredictable when you reveal such simple secrets to them.”

I nodded, then told the sister, “then I pray the… toobs never run out.”

She then gasped and grasped my hooves. “Then let's pray together!” She was surprisingly strong as my hooves were held in place by her own. “Oh Celestia, please bless us so that we never be led astray, and can guide others to the ideals you saw in us. Oh Celestia, please forgive our flaws, for we are still unworthy of your love, though you love us all the same. Oh Celestia, continue to shine the light on us, for it is you, and your love warms us all and gives us the strength to continue on.”

After that, she let me go… then gave me a hug, which Fizzy joined in.

“Ummm… thanks.” I croaked out.

I was eventually freed, in which I then needed a rest from all the love.

After a long moment, I was finally ready to look around again, but decided not to ask the local sisters anything if I can help it.

What I could put together after seeing what they had on display, the Sisters of the Sun were honest true believers, and very well meaning, but had a fanatic devotion to Celestia that bordered on the absurd. Everything about Celestia was taken as truth. Which made me grateful that Celestia herself was very careful how she presented herself to the public, along with guiding words whenever possible. So as ignorant as the sisters were, they were at least guided in the right direction.

“So… Do you have any of these in your family valt?” Star asked me, getting an inquisitive eyebrow raise from Lair.

Before me was a series of small statuettes and drawings of Celestia, all beautifully done, but some were a bit… provocative. Even more disturbing was a full body, and detailed costume of Celestia. Looking at it all made me quite embarrassed to be here. “N.. no, and I doubt my family would even want them.” I thing looked at the plaque, reading, “artist unknown, these works of art were recovered from a vault in Canterlot, the owner likely being a devout follower of Celestia.”

“Devout isn't the word I would use. Maybe obsessed.” Lair commented.

Fizzy pointed at a few paintings of Celestia provocatively laying on a fainting couch. “Oh, I like, had a photo taken of me like this. Actually, that position she’s in isn't all that comfortable, or that one either.”

“But it can be fun,” Lair said miscellaneously.

Shugging, Fizzy just said, “Only if you like uncomfortable positions.”

I wasn't going to dig into that. “Say, maybe we should go get Hollow and move on.”

There wasn't any argument, so Fizzy took us further into the temple, where things were less cluttered, and more private. There was a room dedicated to looking after foals, and a room for more private worship and study. Reaching one darker room, a projector was playing a video, it being a documentary of Celestia, with the hallmark of the Ministry of Image all over it.

The music, the architecture, and even how the ponies talked and dressed was all from the wartime. “Celestia withdrawing from society was her full endorsement of her sister Luna, trusting her to follow through in ending the Zebra threat and not wanting to hold her back. What a wonderful and wise big sister she is, letting go of the old ways so that the new can bring victory.” The documentary pony said, as it showed Luna and the six Ministry mares together in front of a portrait of Celestia. It was all propaganda, which was understandable. If the ponies had known that the war had broken Celestia's heart, as Majesty wrote down, it might have shaken their resolve to fight.

The video then stopped, Lair having paused it. “Sister dear, it's time to go.”

To our utter shock, Hollow was actually crying. “Oh… okay, just give me a moment, I need to fix my mascara. To see the goddesses and hear her speak… it was overwhelming.”

“Let me help.” Blossom then levitated Hollows makeup kit, and cleaned her up fairly quickly. “Like, your totes, beautiful again!”

“Thanks.” Hollow said before joining us. “Alright, let's see those dredges now, I can't think the Blessed Spears have anything as wondrous as this place.”

leaning over to Lair, I whispered. “Your sister is quite… emotional.”

Lair nodded as whispered back as she let the video play again. “Hollow is very much a lady, and very devout in her faith. Even without Thorn's cult, she'd likely still been a follower of the Sun Queen.”

I wasn't sure how to feel about that, but it at least made me less worried about being around Hollow. As crazy religions go, worshiping Celestia was at least not going to lead you to mass murder and other crazy stuff. Maybe getting Hollow away from Thorns Chosen and with the Sisters of the Sun would help us out. Maybe the Sisters of the Sun could even be used to convert ponies away from Thorns Chosen.

All wishful thinking, but at least it's one full of hope.

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