Fallout: Equestria: A Cut Above
Chapter Seven: The Thing That Should Not Be.
Gnash led HQ squad into the stairwell, now lit by the Talons' red flares, and we proceeded downwards. This stairwell was longer even than the one that had led us into the turbine room, and I wondered aloud how deep we were getting.
"Not very, actually." Lyrical said, trotting close by me. "The complex is very near a cliff overlooking the lake. I haven't been able to do any precise measurements, but I'd guess we're getting pretty near the level of the lake itself."
I shrugged in agreement, enjoying the warm contact on my shoulder. Gnash halted us with a raised fist, and we stopped on the stairs, looking over another door. This one was barred on the far side, but was otherwise identical to the door at the top of the stairs. Squad one and two had stopped here as well, forming up on the walls to leave room, and Brick trotted past Gnash to consider the door. The slime had disappeared on our way down this stairwell, leaving the walls and floor dry and covered in a thin white film. The film was heavier on the door, and drooled off the hinges like tounges of rock. After inspecting the door for a few moments, Brick withdrew and waved Kettle Bell forward. While the Talons did their thing, I pondered Lyrical. She had been quiet and clingy since we had... lost Chalice, and I couldn't fault her for it, I was pretty rattled myself.
Kettle Bell's sledgehammer sang, and the door bowed to her. Windy and Gnash forced up the inside, and just like the previous door, Todger boosted this one out into the space beyond. Squad one walked in and went left, squad two going right. No gunfire or flames erupted, no shouts of anger or pain. I had started to relax when Burns lit up the room with a long gout from his flamethrower. The long single burst of flame and light was followed by silence and stillness. Nervousness sat heavily on my shoulders as the quiet lengthened, the faintest of glows bringing no details of the contents of this room. I stood at the back of the flat area, my body pointed towards the stairs and my weapon ready in my mouthgrip. Long moments passed before the muffled thumping of hooves announced somepony's prescense. I held myself ready, seeing the remaining Talons doing likewise. Thankfully it was Burns, trotting casually into the red flarelight.
"Looks good – it's a cave, no bats here, no sign of them either. Could use a star shell." Burns said happily. Brick nodded, pulling another of the arcane devices from his saddlebags. Brick's magic lit the shell and sent it sailing into the cave beyond, and we followed it in. Windy stayed behind at the doorway, and I was able to get a good look at the room beyond as Brick soared the star shell up to stick onto the rock ceiling. The white film that had been thickening and growing as we got lower was everywhere, giving the room an almost lunar feeling. Immediately in front of the door was a grated floor, similar to the catwalk from the floor above. Streaks of rust bled through the milky white like metal blood. A sniff revealed the strange substance to have a very faint salty smell, and a tenative kick showed it to be rock hard.
The grated section trailed off to either side in short stairs, with a railing at the front edge guarding a short drop. Looking over the room from the minor elevation of this position, I saw a gently sloping floor, abnormally smooth when it wasn't soaring up in a spike, reaching for a matching spike that descended from the ceiling. The floor worked it's way down before ending in a pool of still, quiet water. The pool lay at the far end of the room, and a huge pair of doors stood over it. The doors were massive, banded in steel and covered in a film of the white rock. Nearer to us, barrels dotted the floor, most still sealed on shipping pallets. Some of the barrels appeared to be rotted open, an off smear of color standing out in the dominating pale white of the room. A few of the barrels had collapsed, looking almost melted into rainbow puddles. I could just see a tin roof, peeking from between pillars in the back left corner of the cave.
We hung near the entry door as the Talons fanned out around the cave, Squirt and Frybread nosing into the hut to investigate, Burns guarding them outside. I approached one of the barrels carefully, Lyrical stuck to me like glue. The barrel we were looking at was one of the corroded leaking ones, standing in a puddle of goop. The goop was bizarre, almost unreal in appearance. It looked like a puddle of rainbow that the color had been drained from, leaving its colors muted and blurred. Returning from his run upstairs, Engineer joined us.
"Well that's curious. That's Taint, but something's wrong with it." The griffin said, bending to sniff at the puddle. "See how the colors are greyish?" He asked.
"It's the lake water." Lyrical said after a moment's thought. "The process would have worked, the lake water is neutralizing the Taint."
"I do believe you're right, young lady. The pool must communicate with the lake, and over time the Lunarium has been, well, attacking it."
"I'm almost glad we're protected enough that Gardens didn't eliminate this – eep!" Lyrical said, poking at the ooze with a quill. As she held up the quill, it slowly softened, drooping and falling down like a liquid to splatter on the floor. "It still has some potency, though." She continued sadly.
A sharp whistle drew our attention to the shed, where Burns was waving at us. "Found some log books!" He hollered, and we made our way across the gently sloping cave floor, avoiding the barrels and their rainbow splatters.
There were indeed some log books, as well as a pony corpse, cemented to the floor with the white rock film. A locker hung open on the wall, Frybread nosing through its contents. Squirt worked on a footlocker on the floor. There was a terminal, but it was dark and silent, covered in the omnipresent milky rock-film. Lyrical brightened and snatched at the logbooks, left sitting on the terminal. In moments they were floating in a cloud around her as she devoured the information. I hung out at the door to the shed, trying to stay out of the way. Glancing outside, the Talons were scattered around. I saw Engineer push off of the floor and flap heavily to one of the descending toothlike formations. Brick was near the entry door, Windy his silent shadow. Kettle Bell and Burns were talking quietly nearby.
"Ha! Got you, you tricky bugger." Squirt said from inside the shed, and I turned to watch him twist his screwdriver full over. The footlocker clicked and opened, revealing folds of shiny white cloth. "Oh, excellent – protective suits." He added.
I turned my attention back to the outside. Todger was moseying towards the shed, carefully avoiding the rainbow smudges of collapsed or damaged barrels. As he neared us, the whirring of wings announced Engineer. Even knowing it was his real name, I couldn't call him Egglebert. I greeted him and Todger with a smile as they both approached the shed.
"You guys find anything interesting?" I asked. Todger shrugged, but Engineer smiled as he held up a fisted talon. Opening it, he revealed a chunk of pale white rock.
"It's softer near the roof. Looked like there was regular dirt mixed in it at the roof, but I couldn't get that high." He said, offering the rock to me.
I sniffed at the rock, my ears pinning back. There was a strong odor of salt, and of rock. But underneath those normal smells was a metallic tinge, bitter and unpleasant. "That's weird. It smells like.. metal."
"Indeed it does.. It looks like the Lunarium concentrates in the salt rock as it deposits." Engineer said, offering the rock to Todger. The muscular pink pony gave a short sniff, then stepped back, shaking his massive head.
"Smells evil." He said. I blinked at that. I hadn't thought evil when that bitter smell had filled my nostrils, but cold and lonely.
I fumbled for words to question Todger on his statement, but I was interrupted by Squirt, sticking his head out the shed door.
"Oh, there you are, perfect. Todger, can you kick this thing loose? I want to move it to the door in case we need them or Brick wants to bring them up." Squirt asked.
Todger nodded his assent and traded places with Squirt. Engineer held the rock out to the blue unicorn.
"And what's this smell like to you?" He asked. Squirt dutifully snuffed at the clump of rock, then backed away, his ears pinned back.
"Danger and salt." He said. "Just like everything else in this place."
A grunt of effort and a clang drew our attention to the inside of the shed, and Todger came out. "Footlocker's loose."
"Thanks, Todger." Squirt replied, drawing the footlocker to him in his magic. With a nod for us, he turned and trotted off, winding his way through the pillars towards the entrance.
I turned and looked back into the shed. Lyrical had stacked most of the logbooks in front of her, and closed the last one as I stuck my head in. Her eyes closed as she thought, still and quiet on the smooth floor of the shed. I couldn't help but smile as she nibbled on a lock of her own mane, deep in reflection. As if a bell had gone off, she spit the hair out and jumped back to her hooves, her eyes flying open.
"Got it figured out?" I asked, the smile still warm on my face. Seeing me watching her, she blushed a delicate pink.
"Actually, yes, I think I do. Let's go talk to Brick."
Todger walked with us back towards the entrance. I stuck close to Lyrical, who seemed to be fading from the rush of her discovery. I leaned into her as we walked, and she sighed and leaned back into me. We walked along, winding our way towards Brick. Todger looked back over his shoulder again, jostling into me.
"What's up, Todger?" I asked.
"Not sure. Thought I saw movement in the water. Haven't seen it again." Todger replied.
I shrugged in response, but started keeping a look out behind us as well. Every time we got a clear line of sight through the stone pillars, I would shoot a glance at the still water. I never saw so much as a ripple before we made it to Brick. Lyrical took a deep breath, leaned against me for a moment, then trotted forward. Brick was in conversation with Windy, who looked agitated, her feathers
"Mr. Brick, I've processed the logbooks." Lyrical announced. Brick silenced Windy with a raised hoof, then favored Lyrical with an even look.
"Let me guess, this wasn't actually a facility to work Taint, it was a production facility for lifting gas for the Pinkie Pie balloons." Brick said, scowling.
Lyrical stopped, surprised. I moved forward, leaning a shoulder into her in support. "What the hell, Brick?" I said sharply.
"The Eggheads are pressing us again to let their teams down here. They somehow think that Chalice's loss.. means that they don't need further Talon protection." Brick growled.
"That.. that doesn't make any sense, Brick! But it's not her fault!" I said angrily. Lyrical was practically hiding behind me, now, and I squared off at Brick, concealing her behind me. Blinky, roused by the raised voices, stood up and chittered over my shoulder.
Brick sucked in a deep breath and drew himself up, face darkening in rage. "What would you know about it, boy?" He shouted. I recoiled from his rage, jostling Lyrical. She took off with a bleat of terror, disappearing into the forest of stone pillars. I returned Brick's glare with my own, planting my hooves and facing him directly. "If you had been able to take out two simple fucking feral ghouls, we wouldn't be having this problem!" Brick roared. Flattening my ears to my head, I pushed some thought through the red anger bleeding into my vision. Brick was shifting anger onto me and Lyrical, anger that...
With a flash of insight, I saw what the problem was. I unpinned my ears and reset my stance, shaking the tension out of each leg before planting it back on the floor. Blinky hissed in agitation over my shoulder, and I took a moment to nuzzle him into grumbling calmness. When I'd finished with Blinky, I turned back to Brick. I felt calmer and confident as I faced the infuriated leader of the Talons.
"You know, Brick.. I'm not sure what your problem is. But it isn't me. It isn't Lyrical, or even what happened to Chalice. And you'd better deal with it before it gets somepony else killed or wo-"
I was interrupted by a scream. I catapulted into motion, whirling away from Brick and throwing myself into a flat gallop. That scream had been Lyrical's, and it had come from behind. I dodged and weaved my way through the stone teeth, pelting towards the whimpering cries that had followed the screaming.
I passed around the last stone between me and the water, and ran into the source of the panic. Lyrical was running away from the water, and our collision sent us both to the floor in a tangle of legs and pony, Blinky sailing through the air like a startled shot from a catapult. I ended up on my face, legs tangled up with Lyrical, and her tail draped over my face.
"Lyrical, are you OK?"
"M-m-monster!" Lyrical gasped, scrambling off of me. I closed my eyes as her tail drug off of my face. Her frantic hoofbeats drummed off into the distance. I heaved a sigh and sorted myself out. I was unharmed, really, though one of my leg guards had been knocked loose. I tugged at the piece of armor, grumbling when I saw that a buckle had broken. I worried the leg guard off and tucked it into a saddlebag, then turned with a huff to see where Blinky had ended up. Lyrical had a case of the scareds, Blinky was probably on a rock that looked like a ghoul, or a skeleton covered in the white rock film.
That wasn't the case. I stood frozen in shock, staring at the fleshy pink abomination holding my pet Molerat. It had Blinky wrapped in a pair of tentacles, holding him level with two bulging eyes.
"Aren't you just the cutest wittle critter, aren't you?" It cooed, stroking Blinky's bullet-shaped head with a third tentacle. I slowly drew Stickbird, trying to keep my eyes on the vaugely pony-shaped thing. I fumbled as it came free of its holster, and my weapon dropped to the floor with a clang. "Eeek!"
"Aaagh!" I replied.
"Eeeeee-blrlbrlblbl!" the creature squeaked, disappearing into the water. Only a pair of eyes remained above the surface, staring at me.
"Blinky!" I yelled, lunging forward. The creature responded with another terrified squeak, and a pair of tentacles shot up, depositing a soaking wet and coughing Blinky on the shore. I skidded to a stop next to the dripping molerat, nuzzling him as he shook off the worst of the water and coughed himself out. I knelt next to him and cradled him against my chest, holding him while he shivered. I considered the eyes still watching me from the water. They blinked, one after the other. I blinked. We sat at an impasse, staring at each other, until Gnash fluttered in from above, landing with a skittering of claws on rock. As he touched down, the eyes disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a swiftly disappearing ripple on the surface of the water.
"What the hell was that, kid?" Gnash said, his voice unsteady.
"It had.. tentacles. It liked Blinky." I replied, none too steady myself.
The rest of the Talons showed up shortly thereafter, Engineer ushering Lyrical with him. The little unicorn was tucked under one of Engineer's wings, just the tip of her muzzle and one eye showing. The two squads of front liners filtered through the columns of stone, pairing off on the edge of the water. I noticed each pair with their weapons drawn or readied, one of them facing towards the water, one away. Blinky shivered in my loose grasp, and I held him closer to my chest.
Brick came up behind me, Gnash and Windy flanking him. The lead team of Talons stopped quietly, and Brick walked slowly next to me.
"What did you see?" Brick asked, his tone low.
"Lyrical was running from something. I saw it for a few moments. It had lots of tentacles, but it took care of Blinky.. It wasn't violent."
"Did you talk to it?"
"Not really. I yelled Blinky's name when I saw that she had him, and she was talking to Blinky. I never talked to her, not exactly." Brick grunted in response, and stood silently in thought. Blinky stopped shivering, and made a ratty grunt of contentment. I lifted him up, and turned to pass him off to Lyrical. She stretched her head out from under Engineer's wing to grasp the molerat. "Keep an eye on him?" I asked. Lyrical nodded in response, and tucked herself back under Engineer's protective wing. I turned and stalked past Brick, who matched my glare with a raised eyebrow.
I walked to the edge of the water and knelt. I stared into the still surface, willing the shape of the.. monster to come into view. The beams of light from the starshell glared on the water, blocking any chance I had of seeing into the pool. I turned my head this way and that, trying to see past the light, but nothing availed. Immediately off to my left, Burns was facing into the cave, tucked in tight on Squirt's left side. Squirt was facing the pool, guns at the ready, slowly looking back and forth.
"Hey, Squirt – can you put a light spell on the door?" I asked. Squirt shot a glance behind me, I assumed at Brick, then nodded. A ball of light gathered on his horn, then sailed across the end of the cavern to cling to the door.
The more direct and consistent light of Squirt's spell shone through the water, allowing me to see into the sunken realm. Under the gently rippling surface, the sandy floor was dotted with rusted shells of barrels, flakes of bright paint surrounding rusted hulks. The door proved to extend well below the surface of the water, and one corner of it was bent or rusted away. There was a small pile of barrels on the floor near that corner, and a glint of motion gave away watching eyes underneath it. I focused on the faint hint of motion, feeling the return gaze lock on to mine.
I slowly reached a hoof up and waved. From deep within the crude pile of barrels, a smooth pink tentacle slowly extended, and waved back. I smiled, big and broad as I could while keeping my lips together. I stopped waving and gently placed my hoof on the surface of the water, slowly reaching underneath. The creature stopped waving as well, and slowly extended that tentacle, reaching out towards me. The tentacle came surprisingly close, but didn't reach the full 8 or so lengths between us. I stretched my hoof as far as I could, then relaxed it and frowned. The pink tentacle retracted into the piled barrels, then the whole creature emerged from its shelter.
The creature was pink, but a lighter, softer pink than Todger's sharp coloration. There were no legs attached to the thing's torso, but four seperate clusters of tentacles, long and strong. The smooth tentacles churned sinuously, pushing the slender body through the water surprisingly quickly. The creature looked female, slender curves defining her face and shoulders. Further tentacles sprung from her lips, mane, tail, even along her backbone. Only her eyes escaped, shining vivid red above the fringe of delicate tentacles at her face.
She paused several lengths away, her red eyes just above the surface of the water, her tentacles waving gracefully. I smiled again, and drifted my hoof forward, under the water. She extended one tentacle slowly, and gently wrapped it around my sumberged hoof. There was a crystal moment of clarity then, the alien almost-pony shape of the aquatic, tentacled creature joined in an embrace with my boringly normal earth-pony self. I could feel the tension humming in the air as I softly pulled the tentacle towards me. The soft pink form drifted nearer, gently slipping through the water on a cloud of waving tentacles.
As she drew nearer, I held on to her tentacle, grasping it gently. A blush crested on her pink cheeks as she approached, and I could feel the Talons quiveringly tense behind me.
"Hi." I said, grinning broadly.
"H-hello." She replied. The fringe of slender tentacles descending from her head flowed forward to hide one eye, just like Lyrical often hid behind her mane. "Are you a real pony?"
"A real pony?" I asked in return.
"I haven't seen anypony in so long, except in dreams.. " She replied. A second tentacle slipped out of the water and stroked the side of my face. I reached up with my other hoof and gently grasped the tentacle I was still holding. The tentacle was smooth and furred, like normal pony hide on a long flexible leg. There was a tiny stub of hoof on the tip of it, clean and well kept.
"No, I'm real. We're real. I'm Wicky – Wicked Cut. What's your name?"
"I don't remember... I think I had one, before."
"Before?"
"Before.. I'm not sure what happened. Everything got scary. I came here. The barrels hurt me." She said, sadly. Pulling her tentacle out of my hooves, she held a bunch of them up in front of her, staring at them sadly. "I got these. I used to have just.. four legs. Like you."
She hesitantly extended a tentacle back to me, and I gathered it up, holding it gently. I heard hoofsteps, and Lyrical knelt next to me. She stretched her neck forward and dropped Blinky, who snuffed his way towards the water's edge. Another tentacle slid out of the water, stroking the molerat gently on his wrinkly head.
"You don't remember your name?" Lyrical asked sadly. The pink once-pony shook her head slowly.
"No. I don't remember anything before pain and rainbows. Then this." She said, waving four tentacles. "I haven't had a name since."
"That's horrible!" Lyrical gasped. "Everypony has to have a name!"
The pink creature shrugged, a wavelike motion of tentacles and shoulders. "I think I had a name once."
Brick stepped forward, murmuring into Lyrical's ear. Lyrical nodded, and Brick stepped back, sitting down behind her. "Would you like a name?" Lyrical asked.
"Yes.. I think I would. Then I would be real.. " She replied, drifting closer to the shore.
"Oh, honey.. " Lyrical crooned, reaching forward to stroke the tentacled pony's cheek. "You're already real." The pink tentacle pony blushed bright red, and Lyrical laughed. "And there's a name for you, you blush like the sun coming up, you can be Sunrise."
Sunrise froze, her only motion one tentacle tip idly rubbing Blinky's head. Her eyes drifted shut and she smiled broadly. "Oh I like that. I have a name!" She cried, tears squeezing from her shut eyes. Lyrical pushed forward to embrace her, and the two girls laughed and cried, hugging each other.
I kept my attention outwardly focused on the emotional scene playing out in front of me, but my mind was whirling, trying to figure out the reasons behind Brick's strange behavior from earlier. The Talon leader had been confident and professional, even friendly, up until now. Nothing had changed after Chalice died, not until one of the griffins on Brick's squad, probably Windy, had gone back up with the latest report.
What did it say about the Talons relationship with the Eggheads here that one report could rattle Brick that badly? Did that mean the Eggheads were in the wrong? Or the Talons? I was confused and uncertain, the confidence I'd had at being associated and respected by these warriors wavering and unsteady. I knelt, lost in thought, as Lyrical chattered with Sunrise, both of them playing with Blinky. Behind us, the Talons drifted one by one out of the defensive posture they had first assumed. Eventually, Brick and Engineer were the only Talons left.
Lyrical sat smiling, watching as Sunrise made her elegant way through the water to the pile of barrels she called home, going to fetch a sea shell that had come through the hole in the door. Brick coughed unexpectedly, and I shot him a look over my shoulder.
"I'm sorry, both of you." Brick rumbled quietly. Engineer shot him a raised eyebrow glance, and me and Lyrical both turned to look at him. The burly unicorn seemed uncomfortable under our combined gazes, and dropped his eyes to his hooves momentarily, before meeting our stare. "I was out of line. It's not your fault or your problem that the leadership of the Eggheads is trying to play silly buggers with the contract terms."
I paused at that, formulating a reply, but Lyrical needed no such preparation. Pushing herself to her hooves, she walked forward and leaned against Brick's shoulder. "It's OK, I forgive you." She said quietly.
Brick blinked in jaw-dropped surprise, and Lyrical smiled brightly at him before turning back to the shore. I shrugged, finding my own voice. "I guess the same applies to me, Brick. It makes sense now, at least."
We sat quietly after that, us three males watching the girls talk and play with Blinky. Brick replaced Squirt's light spell with another starshell, and I watched fascinated as he poured magic into the arcane device. The brief period of rest was ended by the arrival of Gnash, landing in a flutter of wings and click of talons on stone.
"The eggheads are here. Squad one is back up on the first floor with one group of them, Squad two is on the turbine floor with another. The leaders are coming here, they want to meet.. her." Gnash said. Lyrical flipped an ear at him in irritation. Sunrise, for her part, slid back into the water until only her eyes and muzzle were above the surface.
"Her name is Sunrise." Lyrical stated, drawing a raised eyebrow from the griffin. "She's a very nice girl."
"Ahhh, OK. Sunrise. I'll go tell the Eggheads." Gnash replied, taking off in a flurry of feathers. Lyrical turned back to Sunrise, who was looking between the rest of us nervously.
"So many ponies... who want to meet me?" She asked nervously.
"They are the leaders of my herd, Sunrise. It'll be OK, they just want to talk." Lyrical replied, gently stroking one of Sunrise's leg-tentacles.
"OK.. maybe for a little bit. But will you stay here? Both of you?" Sunrise asked, including me in her question.
"Of course I will, Sunrise!" I offered cheerfully. Lyrical nodded, and with a sigh, Sunrise came forward again, hoisting her torso onto the land. I was struck by how ungainly and wrong she looked when she was on land, her tentacles not quite strong enough to operate correctly outside of the supportive embrace of water.
The arrival of the Eggheads, Curled Scroll coming directly to the water's edge with his assistant Penny, sped things up. After the initial shock of the monstrous Sunrise being introduced as a pony passed, Penny and Curled Scroll were full of questions. Between Sunrise's vague memories and Lyrical's adept interpretations and deductions, we were able to prove to Curled Scroll's satisfaction that the Lunarium, or Starmetal, in this unique environment, was able to neutralize Taint.
Arcane showed up shortly after we had come to that conclusion, and he went into close conference with Curled Scroll, sparing nothing more than a glance for Sunrise and a 'well done' for Lyrical. I ignored the higher-ups from the Egghead contingent, telling Sunrise a story about Blinky falling asleep in my food. I couldn't help overhearing, though, and their conversation made me nervous. Sunrise was a 'problem' for them, and would keep them from putting this place 'into production.'
Sunrise herself didn't seem to hear any of this, thankfully. I stayed with her and Lyrical after the Eggheads left, arguing amongst themselves. Our conversation drifted aimlessly, Sunrise endlessly curious about our lives away from the lake. She could make it outside through the door, but it was difficult and uncomfortable, so she avoided it. Fish and occasional sea weeds made up her normal diet. I was just reaching out to boop Sunrise on the nose in the midst of a yawn when Squirt rounded one of the pillars, trotting into our little grotto. Coming to a stop, he waved his Pipbuck-encased leg at us.
"Hey folks, it's getting on towards nightfall. Shall we call it an evening?"
We put deed to word, saying our goodbyes to Sunrise. Squirt magicked at the star shell adhered over the door and it shut off, the faint hum of its operation dying away. I gave Sunrise a hug, as did Lyrical, before the soft pink pony monster flowed her graceful way back to the barrel pile she called home. The spring was back in Lyrical's step as we trotted around the pillars. Todger fell in with the three of us as we paused at the bottom of the stairwell to let Squirt shut down the star shell lighting the area.
I kept my attention on Lyrical as we made our way up the stairs and through the dark and quiet turbine room. There had been some first cleanup attempts, leaving the path clear of debris and chunks of dead ghoul. Lyrical's mood darkened as we approached the 'B2' floor, where Chalice had fallen. I stuck close to her side as we made our way up the final staircase, and with a sigh of relief, I saw that somepony had cleared the aftermath of combat. The bodies and rubble were all gone, leaving only some dark stains on the floor. Burns was waiting in the elevator room, playing at cards. As we walked into the room, he swept the cards up in a flicker of magic.
"Hey guys. You all done downstairs?" Burns said, tucking his cards into a pocket of his rubbery protective suit.
"For tonight, anyway, Mr. Burns." Lyrical replied. "You should come down tomorrow and meet Sunrise, she's quite sweet."
"So I've been told, so I've been told." Burns replied, pushing the button on the elevator. The door slid open and we packed in, the five of us filling the space. Burns hit the button for the top floor, and we whisked back to the well lit safety of the Talons bunk area.
It was a big change, for me. I kept falling back into 'combat mode', ears up and alert, twitching at the noises and motions of the Talons and Eggheads moving around the public space. The group of students I had met at the breakfast table had swept Lyrical away, and I was more or less alone.
The first room off the elevator was barred, Four-claw leaning against it. I hastened past, stopping at the second room to shed my armor and store my weapon. I still didn't have a key to the footlocker here, so armor and weapon both went on the bunk. Blinky followed, and swiftly returned to his natural rest state. This evening, that meant 'curled up and snoring on my pillow', apparently.
I was still jumpy as I trotted downstairs and stuck my head into the bathroom on the first floor. Finding it empty, I got the hot water running and started scrubbing. My head felt stuffed with thoughts and worries. The day had been very strange, on any number of levels. Starting from the top, I had gotten somepony killed due to my own lack of fighting ability. Sure, I wasn't trying to set myself up as a Great Warrior, but two ferals..
Of course, Lyrical and Chalice hadn't been able to take care of a single feral on their own, which did put things in a different light. I pondered on that as I worked the soapy foam into my mane, dirt and blood running into the floor drain. I wasn't a fighter, a warrior like the Talons. I wasn't an intellectual like the Eggheads. I didn't know what I was, but with the image of Chalice ripped open stuck in my head, I felt like a failure. I poked at that feeling as I switched from washing to rinsing, suds pushing the last of the blood into the floor drain. I had failed, technically speaking. But that didn't make me a failure.
Or did it?
I stopped thinking. I wasn't getting anywhere chewing on this by myself. The trick would be to get clean, get fed, and talk to someone I could respect. Engineer was still on that list, even with his silly name. Brick wasn't, which was a shock. I didn't have more information now than when it had happened, but the way he had treated Lyrical, treated someone he was supposed to protect, had bothered me.
With an effort of willpower, I pushed that line of thinking out of my head as well, and concentrated on cleaning. Shortly, I was working a towel around myself and drying off. Just getting the grime of ages and the salt of the lake off of me helped. I felt almost fluffy once I finished. I cleaned up the soap and towels I had used, and headed back out – maybe the cafeteria had some food, and -
The door opened as I neared it, and Lyrical was on the other side of it, tears streaming down her face as the door wobbled in the uncertain grip of her magic.
"W-wicked, they're going to make me leave!" She cried, and suddenly I had my forelegs full of sobbing unicorn filly.
Footnote: Level Up! Skill upgrade – Melee +8 (60), Guns +3 (18), Speech +5 (41)
Companion Perk: A Clever Pony: Lyrical Thesis is trained in the deductive and analytical arts. This provides +1 chance to solve puzzles, traps, and intellectual challenges.
Level Perk: Awareness (L4): Examining a target shows hitpoints, weapon and ammunition count.
Lyrical Thesis: Level Up! Skill Upgrade - Guns +3 (30), Science +7 (49), Survival +6 (20)
Level Perk: Cautious Nature: +3 to PER during random encounters.
Afterword:
Three cheers for dental problems, automotive problems, and the support of friends! I am self-medicating for pain and lung suffering with black tea and IRC. Life doesn't get much better than this.
All props to my pre-readers and those who give me advice – at this point, the list is Too Damn Long, but Arcane_Scroll, volrathxp, Snow, and our freshly minted pornographer WiggleJiggleSquiggle float to the top.
Come join the chat on #FalloutEquestria, on canternet!