Fallout Equestria: Desperados V3 (Bonds of Platinum)

Fallout: Equestria

Desperado’s V3: Bonds of Platinum

Ch 29, Blood of Platinum, Part 4.

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La Fay sat on her gnarled throne, watching us, but not making any moves. She was waiting for something, maybe for me to come to her, or possibly a way out? Likely both. All I knew was that she was an ancient and powerful witch, and likely could do catastrophic damage if let loose on the world. Then there was the sickly tree that ate the dead priest, a tree of life as Mag called it, what's its purpose here and how did it grow so fast?

Closing my eyes and seeing with magic, it became all too clear now. The tree was taking in magic from all around it, and sending it to the throne, which fead La Fay. But the magic was like slow molasses, and only a small amount was even getting to her. Now I understood that La Fay was in a weekend state and was trying to empower herself.

“You see it too.” Mag said. “The magic of Tartarus isn't so easily claimed, and it will be some time before she has any real strength to stand on her own. That is, unless she can take our magic for herself.”

“You can do that?” I asked.

Mag nodded. “It's sadly a common practice of those who practice forbidden magic. Evil creatures like Queen Chrysalis and Lord Tirek were famous for their ability to drain the magic of other creatures so as to empower themselves.”

“The witches around the Barbary Islands were also known for doing such things.” Lair added as she drew her pistol.

“Wait.” I said to Lair. “Let me ask her a few questions first.”

Taking a step forward, Alpha didn't let me go any further, pushing up on me with her body. “It's alright, I don't plan to get any closer.” I told the hound asvI looking up at La Fay, her eyes meeting my own. “I want to know, were you truly responsible for the Wendigos?”

She looked at me with a bemused interest. “That was not my fault or intention. But everypony must have a pony to blame after all, and that need to blame, it summoned the Wendigos. Lancelot and Guinevere's betrayal sowed doubt into the hearts of ponykind kind about their bastard king. Doubt gave way to suspicion and fear, which grew into paranoia and hatred. But I offered a solution, to have our son inherit the throne, and stabilize the land.”

“But Pendragon didn't agree.” I stated, reminding the story on the door.

“Starswirl and that bastard called my son a puppet, and that I coveted the throne. That Mordread would ussher in a thousand years of darkness, that it be better for Camelot to fall then be a home of a tyrant.” La Fay said bitterly.

Lair let out a huff of annoyance. “Were they wrong, witch? Did you not covet the throne, oh rightfully ruler of ponykind?”

“Watch your tongue, bicorn!” La Fay snapped. “But yes, the throne was rightfully mine, I had earned it through long study and sacrifice. Though I was generous to offer to my beloved and loyal son. Now tell me, who are you three?”

Lair stood up straight. “I am Lair Darkheart, descendant of both the witch hunters and secret priesthood of the Barbary Islands. A blood enemy to the likes of your kind.”

Nervously, Fizzy also stepped up. “I… I'm Fizzy Fusion Pop, daughter of the high priest of the cult of Venus, his successor, and vessel for the goddess.” I was surprised she went that route, but then again we were dealing with ancient magic, so it made sense in its own way.

“I'm Elder Magnificence of the Coven of Clovers, a master of magic and lore keeper.” Mag said proudly.

La Fay looked confused at first, then amused. A chuckle escaped her lips before mocking us. “Other than my own, tainted looking decent, I have a moonlight hunter and priestess of the Orphic mystery cult, a maiden of lust and war.” Her lips then curled into a cruel smile. “Oh, and a fake pony has taken the mantle of my own treacherous apprentice, wielding power that never belonged to it.”

Mag grimised, as though La Fay just said something very important and hurtful. “And what about you, ancient and dried up witch. What power do you weild to look down on us, what can you do to prevent us from returning you to stone?”

Laughter bellowed from La Fay. “You, return me to stone?” The tree shook with her laughter, the vines reaching out around us. “It took both of my other ungrateful sons, a coven of witches, and Starswirl to trap me, and when I became free once more, it was the power of an alicorn that could only put me back. And I sense nothing of the sort here, only borrowed magic, a so-called witch hunter, and the blessing of a goddess whose influence is but a faded whisper.” Her eyes once more focused back onto me. “Oh, and my own blood, deformed and without a horn that works. What a shame, truly and completely.”

Sitting up, what little magic La Fay had burst out, it easily matched that of Mags, having the same control and power, but intertwined with the tree, and drawing more from Tartarus. “Now enough talk!” La Fay yelled as the vines from the tree then shot out at us.

But then Lair trotted in front of us, tossing out a few gold coins, causing the vines to recoil back. “So-called I may be, but I know enough to be able to fight withered witches like yourself.”

La Fay snarled at Lair. “So it would seem. But… it’s not enough.”

Her horn glowed with power and the magic around her distorted, just like with Purity Spiral. “She's using an anti-magic pulse!” I told Lair.

“Seriously!” Lair said in frustration as she drew her pistol and unloaded it at La Fay.

The bullets hit their mark, but were stopped by a thin veil of magic, and harmlessly flattened and fell to the ground. I joined in, drawing my bolt launcher, and firing, but that too had no effect.

“Slings and arrows, even if the weapons have changed, how to stop them haven't.” La Fay said just as a beam of magic came from Magnificence, slamming into her barrier. But that too did nothing despite the display of raw power. “Pathetic.” La Fay laughed as she sent out an anti-magic pulse from her own horn.

Our magic was blown away, causing Magnificence herself to stumble down. The vines twitched but then began creeping forward at us, slowed, but ultimately not affected by La Fay.

“Oh, what do we do?” Fizzy asked as she grabbed onto me in panic.

“I'm not sure.” Lair said as she backed up. “I only had that one trick with the coins.”

Looking around, I saw one of the robots slumped over, the Novatron undamaged, but shut down. So I focused magic into my pipbuck, “Order!” I spoke into it, once again finding it a bit confusing. “Order, can you take control of that Novatron?”

“May…be… lady… Harp.” Order spoke up.

Lair cocked an eyebrow as she slashed a vine with her sword. “How's that thing even working?”

“Long story, just keep the vines away.” I told her as I focused magic into me and out towards the robot. Strangely, I wasn't having any problem taking the magic from Tartarus, though it did feel off to me.

The Robot came to life, and piggybacking my connection to it, Order extended its consciousness to it. “Combat mode activated.” the robot spoke as it began shooting energy beams at the vines.

I then felt a tug at my leg, and saw a vine wrapping around it, draining magic from me.

“No!” Fizzy shouted, using her magic to smash the vine with her mug, the vine then froze over and shattered.

I looked at Fizzy, asking, “how?”

She let go of me, looking a bit embarrassed. “When I was holding onto you, I then felt all tingly when you did that shimmering thing, then I could do magic again.”

“Wait, I can… recharge ponies!?” I said in confused realization.

Then Lair grabbed hold of me. “Hey, me too!”

A mechanical leg then was tossed past us, the Novatron wrapped up in vines as it kept on firing. “S… sorry Lady Harp!” Order said as another leg was ripped off, but the Novatron's head opened up and began to glow, only to have the vines wrapped around it and explode.

Fire's were set all round, forcing the vines back. Giving us more time to think.

Helping Magnificence with some magic, she regained the ability to stand up. “Anything you can tell us that can help?” I asked her.

“My guess is that it's the Tree of Life that's giving her power. Otherwise she wouldn't have been staying in one spot. The magic flowing to her is slow, but so long as she's sitting on it, she can use the magic directly from it.” Mag said as she adjusted hat. “If we can get her off that tree, I'm sure all this will stop.”

“But then how do get close to her?” Lair asked as she reloaded her gun.

“Oh, I know!” Fizzy announced, and took off her glasses. “Miss Fay, you will stop this!”

“Not going to work.” Mag said.

La Fay let out a sigh. “The fake pony is right, I have protection against charm magic.” Several vines slammed onto the ground around the fire, putting it out. “Now tell me, how did you recover your magic so quickly? Not even the fool Starswirl knew how to counter this spell of mine?”

Right, how would she even know about Mirage Ponies. So long as I am here, her trump card is rendered useless. Or at least mostly useless.

Fizzy then stepped up. “It's the power of friendship, that's like, what it is!”

Everpony paused for a moment, then La Fay began to laugh.

“Oh, you sound like that bastard Pendragon, even Starswirl knew not to rely on such trivialities.” The vines one more crept around us, stopped by the repowered cursed coins. “But it matters not, soon I'll get what I need, then find my way out of this prison.”

As much as I hated to admit to it, she was right. So long as she sat on that gnarled throne, she had the power and protection of that tree. We couldn't just back out and return with better weapons, or even get close enough to try and knock her down. But there had to be something.

Feeling out with my magic and seeing without my eyes, the undercroft lit up with magic. What was flowing to La Fay now reached out through the tree and its vines, all while protecting her. She was focused on taking us over empowering herself, which was obviously why. Around her was the now deactivated arcano-tec, though I wasn't sure getting close enough to turn back on was worth the risk, not as long as she had the tree's protection. Strangely, the rest of the tomb felt cut off, as though right now, only the undercroft existed here. I wasn't sure what that meant, but so long as La Fay didn't have access to the vault or archives I wasn't going to complain.

“Shit, I think I'd rather fight the vampire than this smug bitch.” Lair snarked. “Anypony has a good idea, because my coins aren't going to hold her back forever.”

“And she's not going to get off that tree, she knows it's the only thing protecting her.” Mag further pointed out.

“Not until she gets what she wants.” I said.

Looking at her and how she so easily surrounded herself with magic, it was clear that we had lost as soon as we stepped in here without a way out. It was just like with Purity Spiral, except… we might have a way out!

“Wait, we can just leave, let her rot in here.” I told them as I pulled out my harp. “How long will those coins keep her back?”

Lair chuckled nervously. “I can't say for sure, they're the ones I stole from the vault.”

I rolled my eyes, feeling disappointed, but not surprised.

Plucking a string from the harp, magic resonated through the undercroft. “Let see, I guess Orpheus's lullaby is fitting here.” Playing the melocolic notes I knew by heart, just like I did for the torch, they strangely resonated here. Despite the vines and pillars, it sounded like an amphitheater, but far grander than the one built in stable 50. With each note I could feel and see the magic resonated and filled the undercroft like crashing water.

I could feel eyes on me, much like in the archives, but now they lacked the suspension one has for an outsider, and watched me with pure curiosity. With each note more came to watch, to simply listen. As the lullaby came near its end, the eyes would all vanish, all except for two pairs, who gave off a feeling of power and authority.

I ended the lullaby and opened my eyes to see… nothing! Nothing had changed.

“That was lovely… but why?” Fizzy asked.

I sighed. “Majesty told me that a song would open the way out.”

Lair shrugged. “Well it was worth a shot, but were still fucked.”

La Fay laughed again. “Oh that brings back memories. I was the one who made that harp, did you know.”

“Ya, don't take a genius to figure out that an ancient fay witch made a fay harp.” Lair said in annoyance.

The ancient witch looked on with annoyance. “You can at least pretend to be surprised and impressed. Truthfully, I'm amazed that it still exists. It was meant to be a toy for my beloved Mordread. Oh how he loved to play it, even to that failure Platinum. I was sure she would have destroyed and thrown it all away along with everything else I had built.” She then laughed bitterly, a laugh that reminded me of my sister Silver. “Everything I had built, everything I sacrificed, and all she had to do was hold onto it. Once the wendigo had killed off all who undeservedly clung to power, she would have ruled all. But no, her and those two ungrateful welts betrayed me, then abandoned their birthright!”

As she spoke, the vines got closer, inching in bit by bit. Though the cursed coins pushed them back, they were brute forcing their way to us.

I looked on at La Fay, a sense of pity and disgust welled up within me. Between the story on the door and her own words, it painted a bleak picture of my ancestor. She must have hated Pendragon so much that it poisoned her mind, and drove her to madness. All this power, and for what, coveting a throne that no longer exists.

I chuckled, then laughed. “Birthright! What Birthright? You left nothing but a cold wasteland to inherit. That's no different from me trying to reclaim my birthright over the Equestria Wasteland. A mound of chard dirt, no different from the frozen rock you made. It's almost like poetry, like a rime saying the same thing differently.”

La Fay glared at me with hate. “You mock me! If I had just been given the right to rule, then all this, this dreadful world you made for yourselves would never have happened.

“Like every tyrant before. If they had only listened to me and done as I told them, they would be living in paradise now.” Lair said mockingly. “Oh how boring that mindset gets one you've read it so many times from many different individuals who all thought their way was the only way.”

Fizzy let out a sigh. “Father knows best, father will make everypony happy through love.” Fizzy said and then shook her head. “But if you force a pony to love you, that's just rape. No matter how much you think you're in the right.”

“Trival.” La Fay sneared. “I will still win, and once free, I'll usher in a new golden age for pony kind. They will know their place under me, or face the consequences.”

“A golden age for you, and you alone, with all others as slaves. I can see why everypony turned on you!” I said.

The vines jolted forward with more pressure, threatening to break through.

Mag trotted in front of me, taking off her hat, which clearly made La Fay scowled in disgust. “A fake I may be, but I knew enough about courtly politics to see the truth behind everypony's masks. You, you're nothing new to me. Powerful and dangerous, yes, but so were so many others over the last two hundred years. Even during the war, the ponies in power never once thought that they might be wrong. And they left us with a wasteland, and so will you.”

A coin then shot up as a vines slapped it, now only a few hoof steps away from us.

“Enough of this!” La Fay shouted. “Flap your mouths and blow hot air all you like, but soon I will wring all your magic out and feed you to my tree. Afterwards I will use your corpse to bring forth new life, loyal to me.”

Mag grimised. “She's not bluffing. She can use that tree to make monsters.”

Wait, if she needs to drain our magic first, maybe there might be an opportunity. “If I can distract her, can you get close and knock her off her throne?” I whispered to Mag.

She slowly put her hat on, hiding her face as she spoke. “Even with how weak I feel, It's possible. Only a momentary distraction, that's all. Bicorn, you think you can jump in and finish the job with that sword?”

“Even if she has a barrier, my blade can pierce through it.” Lair whispered her confirmation.

I then took a deep breath, drawing magic to myself as I addressed La Fay. “Fine, you win. If you leave my friends alone, I'll supply you with more magic than you can imagine!”

The vines stopped. “Surely, you don't think I'm that stupid?”

“And you don't think that ponies on the surface don't have weapons to take your weekend self down.” I said with a smirk. “Ya, you may have beaten us here, but that's only because we weren't ready for… this. But up there, you're nothing but an archaic witch. Unless you can gather enough magic to ensure you are untouchable.” I began to shimmer, the dense magic of this place flowing through me like water. “Leave them be and I can give you that power.”

The vines retracted, and paved a path to La Fay.

“Are you sure?” Fizzy asked me.

“Sometimes, you have to give the enemy what they want to achieve victory.” I whispered.

Fizzy didn't look very sure. “But… what if this doesn't work?”

“We either fall on her terms, or on ours. That's our only option now.” I said, reminding myself about what my mother said about war.

Politics by any other means, she told me. Without the threat of war, without violence, there can be no negotiations. But it's the same when there is only violence, when you offer no peaceful resolution. The carrot and stick mother called it. One must have both or there will be war.

La Fay believed we have no stick, or at least one too small for her to worry about, but I did have one big carrot. That won't stop her from killing everypony here, but it will give us the opportunity to use the stick. That is my hope at least, and the belief in my friends.

I almost chuckled to myself. Fizzy did say we have the power of friendship.

Standing before La Fay, she was much more intimidating up close, though she was just another unicorn like my family are. But now I could truly feel her magic, even understand it. The blue swirled paint covering her body connected her to the tree, letting her draw upon its power. I was just grateful that what power she could get from the tree was only a tickal.

She looked at me with curiosity, a look I had come to be familiar with from the ponies of the wasteland. It had a hint of disgust, and a bit of confusion, but mostly that they had confirmed something they already decided. “I've heard stories, legends of the alicorn, seen one briefly, and you are truly a pathetic attempt at such a thing. But I must say, your ability to draw out magic, as flaccid as it is, makes for an interesting wellspring of power.” La Fay said to me as she reached out her hoof.

She had a tremble to her, and was quite thin. From a distance I couldn't quite see it clearly, her sunken eyes, her ribs that were showing, her gaunt cheeks, and her thinning mane. She looked as though she'd been starving for a long time, desperate for any sustenance. La Fay was still beautiful, but she appeared to have one hoof in the grave.

“Tell me first, how did you end up like this?” I asked my ancestors.

She caressed my cheek, drawing out a bit of my magic into her. “Being petrified in a way I cannot escape isn't something easily done, and takes a long time to do. My son's Gawain and Gareth could not kill their mother, but they could not see why I did what had to be done, the foolish colts. In the end I was held in a cold iron cage, and purified under the magic of the blue moonlight. Such magic only occurs rarely, and they had to wait many days before it could happen.” La Fay stretched up her hoof, showing how truly thin it was. “We spent many days talking, I tried to show them how they were wrong, but they stayed ignorant to the truth. By the time the blue moon showed itself, we were all like this.”

La Fay then grabbed my face, and I felt my magic flowing out of me and into her. Though only slightly, her complexion was improving, as though she was becoming younger. “Yes, I can feel it! It would have taken many ponies to get this result, but not only are you my descendant, but a wellspring of power! The gods must be smiling upon me!”

With a pop, Mag appears behind La Fay, magic charged on her horn. “Then go smile back at them!” she shouted as a wave of magic exploded, forcing me to cover my eyes.

But the sound of La Fay chuckling didn't fill me with confidence. “So predictable.” Uncovering my eyes, La Fay and Magnificence were wrapped in the tree's scorched vine, both held in place, but most dreadfully, La Fay held onto her throne.

Magnificence tried to move, her now burnt out horn sparking, and to my horror, she was rapidly aging.

La Fay then looked at me, a smug smiling on her now more youthful face. “A last ditch effort to remove me, all for naught.” The vines released her, and then pointed at me. “But enough of this, I will drain you dry, then all of your friends.”

Then the jaws of Alpha appeared, rushing at La Fay's face, only to be stopped by the vines by a mere hair. The Nightstalker snapped at the witch, rattling her tail ferociously befor the vin3s slammed her to the ground with a painful crack. “What disgusting creatures.” La Fay said as she waved her hoof, and the vines began strangling Alpha and Mag both.

As she was distracted, I drew my Bolt launcher, pointing it at her face point blank, but as I fired it, her vines knocked me back, the bolt caught in her barrier, only a quarter of a hoof away from her head.

Getting up, the vines enveloped me, preventing me from holding my rifle. I could see Lair and Fizzy positioned behind La Fay, but unable to get closer. They were surrounded by vines, Fizzy struggling to keep up a frost spell that protect them both. With a ping, the bolt hit the ground and La Fay bellowed in laughter. “Oh, so close, yet so far. But I have grown wise to such tricks. Your weapons might have changed, but the ponies don't change, no matter how far you all trot, you're all the same! The same conniving, sceeming, cowards. Fools all!”

“Order, my rifle!” I spoke, grasping at straws for something, anything.

La Fay only laughed more as she watched my pipbuck levitate my bolt launcher and point it at her. “Go ahead, struggle!” She mocked me as I felt her drain my magic.

“Order, S.A.T.S!” And the world slowed to a crawl. I wasn't sure what this was going to do, but it gave me time to think. The targeting system was all zeros as I was focused to focus on her face.

“You know, I never liked that mare. She was always a party pooper.” A stallion spoke from one side of me

“Not to mention how she abused that poor tree of life.” another stallion spoke from my other side. “A gift from mother to the fay woods, and she stole it for herself.”

Both then trotted forward, and were two of the most handsome bicorn stallions I had ever seen. I was confused to who they were, or how they could be moving. Were they related to Quicktrot Fragment.

The first stallion rolled his eyes at me, “Oh no no, we have no relation to that digital wrath. And frankly, we would rather it stay that way.”

“Abominations like her should never exist, yet you ponies keep breathing life into curses.” the second told me.

Wait, can they read minds?

They both nodded.

The first then nugged the second playfully. “Say brother, why don't we help the mortal out, it's not like father has much of an excuse to tell us no.” The first said before turning to me. “Thy names Dionysus, and this is my elder brother Zagreus, and I offer you aid in this most dreadful situation.”

Zagreus smiled a little. “Might as well, seeing that this madain has so graciously shared with us her lullaby.”

“Orpheus's lullaby, oh that takes me back. He was the only mortal or god that made mother cry, and not be killed by father.” Dionysus said in amusement. “Now, how to help?”

“Direct intervention isn't an option, even if they're in our realm.” Zagreus said, pondering. “But they are drawing on Tartarus's power both, but only one can truly hold it.”

Dionysus smiled wide. “Brilliant! If the witch wants our power, let her have more than her fill.”

Both stallions faded from view, and on my hud a new option appeared, “Max Overcharged” and the chance to hit La Fay was as %100. Not sure this was a delusion or not, but I rolled with it and attacked.

Slowly, everything began moving and I felt magic flow through me and into my bolt launcher. More and more of it, like a river passing through me, and I could see my rifle’s air tanks bloated up like balloons and its talismans glowing with power through the metal itself. La Fay's eyes ever so slowly opened with shock as I pulled the trigger.

The steel bolt left the barrel, shattering under the pressure that I just released, followed by a whirlwind of pure ferocity. I had quite literally shot out a tornado, tearing the vines to shreds as it slammed into La Fay's barrier.

The witch held her hooves up instinctively as she pushed every bit of magic into stopping my shot. But as quickly as it started, time reasserted itself, my rifle ruined beyond all repair, yet La Fay still stood, looking at me with shock, but a smug sense of victory,

“I don't know how you did that, but-” she paused as a long thin silver blade piced through her back and out her chest, passing through where her heart should be, if she had one.

Lair let out a chuckle, her clothes torn. “Fucking shit Harp, you should have done that from the start!”

Blood trickled from La Fay's muzzle as rage enveloped her face. “Y… You… have… not... won!”

Twisting her blade, Lair smiled as La Fay winced in absolute pain. “You're dead and were not, I call that a win, witch.”

La Fay's horn burst with power, “then we all die!” what power she still had, what she could draw from the tree, began to all colect at her horn, sparking as it compressed into on3 small point.

I held my breath as I realized what she was doing. Though primitive, she was making a megaspell bomb. No, she was turning herself into a megaspell bomb. Small as it would be, it would be just enough to destroy everything here.

“No, you will not be destroying this place.” Our heads snapped to another new pony, this one in ancient black armor, with a long red scarf and long red tail wrap, which both had a blue eldritch fire flickering from the opening. Shockingly, the pony had no head, just more of the blue fire, and on either side of her were two modified Orthrus revolvers that I recognized all too well.

Both of the revolvers then pointed at La Fay, and the headless pony fired each once, the revolvers letting out a blur flash and sending two eldritch bullets into the witch. Her megaspell then ceased, and she burst into blue flames. Lair quickly pulled back, removing her sword from La Fay, the blue fire sticking to it.

We watched as La Fay was reduced to bone, then ash, along with the gnarled tree of life. As the flames died down, the undercroft dimmed into a cold darkness, with the only source of light coming from the ghostly headless mare.

It was like the world had fallen away, and nothing existed but me and the headless mare, and it wretched my heart. With a shaky step, I slowly trotted to her, my voice croaking out, “V… Vibraphone?”

She had no head, but I could tell she turned to look at me. “That mare died, though she didn't know it when it happened.” she said, the ghostly flame flickering with each word. “I am not she, only a shadow of what was, and exists by the grace of his Majesty.”

“But how you stand, how you wear that scarf, and those revolvers, they're all Vibraphones!” I stated, as I gained some of my confidence back. “Now tell me, because I don't fucking understand, who are you, and what happened to Vibraphone? Because I know that by Celestia as my witness, she would never just die!”

The ghostly mare took a step right up to me, her hooves giving a hollow clang on the stone floor. “Thy am Cold Iron, hunting dog of Hades, and I needn't answer to you… Princess.”

Just like her name, her voice was cold and hard, lacking any simplithy, nothing like the Vibraphone I knew. “Then if you're not her, give me her guns, they're not yours! They don't belong to you!” I demanded.

The mare loomed over me, now feeling far bigger than Vibraphone ever was, feeling more like a monster than a pony. “You have not the authority. But, if you truly wish to have them, then first see the truth, then ask me for my weapons again.”

“truth?” I asked, feeling even smaller.

The flame flickered. “Your Vibraphone, when did she die? Was it from the fall into the abyss, or from the ripper of the pirate captain.” Dread filled me as the sound of water came rushing in. “Or was I born when she fell into the corps filled pool?”

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