Fall Out Equestria: The Centurion

by Equine Nigma

Chapter 3: Who guards the guard?

Who guards the guard?

"You know I had some doubts about you two being able to handle yourselves." I said as I avoided a slug aimed at my head with a quick roll as buckshot splattered the offending mare's face, "But I have to say you're a lot better than I thought you'd be." I knew there mom was dead they knew it, there was no point looking back, that was my motto, when you don't look back you're forced to look forward and that keeps you moving. Still I liked to think that maybe, just maybe I had become something of a mother to them.

"That was the last of them should we go collect a some caps or some supplies?" I asked, Weather looked up "Can I get a toy?" I smiled at her and ruffled her mane with a forehoof, "Weather for managing that sniper so well I'll get you anything you want in all of the Wasteland." She smiled happily knowing she'd done well. Rosalin just rolled her eyes, "Honestly I'd prefer caps, supplies run out easily and we don't know what they'll be willing to give us for this job it might be good or it might be garbage." I chuckled, she was a very smart pony. I looked them over, "Anypony up for a bit of singing while we fly back into town?" I said as I got into the harness again. Rosalin and Weather both said they'd like it and I thought about what to sing, I checked my entertainment files for some ideas and a certain song caught my eye I began smiling. "You girls are in for a treat."

Summer don't know me no more

Eager mare that's all

Summer don't know me

He just let me love in my sea

'Cause I do know, Luna, from you that

just died,yeah

I saw that day, lost my mind

Luna, I'll find maybe in time

You'll want to be mine

Don't stop that buck when it comes

It's the dawn, you'll see

Bits won't get there

Ten years passed tonight you'll flee

If you do that, I'll be some

To find you

I saw that day, lost my mind

Luna, I'll find, maybe in time

You'll want to be mine

I saw that day, lost my mind

Luna, I'll find, maybe in time

You'll want to be mine

Maybe in time

You'll want to be mine

Maybe in time

You'll want to be mine

* * *

"You're giving us a house here?" I was really surprised we'd only been helping out New Appleloosa with it's problems for about three days. The mayor looked at me seriously, "How many ponies do you see with smiles on their faces these days?" I looked around, "Well it looks like just about everyopony's smiling why?" I didn't see a point to his question, then he scratched his chin with his hoof, "I see and how many do you think were smiling before you cleared out the infestations of raiders, took out that attacking Chimera, and helped with repairing damaged houses?" I thought for a moment, "I don't think anypony was." He smiled, "That's exactly why, you've given us something no amount of caps has given us, you've given us happiness, you and your fillies are welcome here any time you want."

I smiled, then I realized it meant there wasn't much work to do around anymore I called up Homage, "Hey, you know anywhere that could use the help of a Centurion?" I was worried for a moment when there was no answer then Homage yawned into the microphone, "I"m sorry did you say something?" I chuckled, Homage looked like a tough mare she could handle herself I was just being a silly pony getting so worried about her. "Yeah do you know anywhere that could use the help of a Centurion?" Merry pouted and I chuckled, "Sorry make that a Centurion and her apprentices." Rosalin rolled her eyes but Merry was satisfied. "Let me just check the okay it looks like Gawd's got a few jobs rounded up at Shattered Hoof their griffins and a bit rough 40% of the profits go to improving Shattered Hoof are you okay with that?" I rolled my eyes, "Do I look like a pony who's concerned with caps? I just need enough to make my girls happy and I'm happy them and Equestria are all that really matters to me." I nuzzled Rosalin and Merry, "So girls ready for an adventure to a new town to help?"

Merry seemed excited so I was happy, but Rosalin... well she was being Rosalin a bit quiet distant, we'd have to have a talk if I could ever get her alone. "Okay girls hop in the chariot if you need to go to the bathroom just give a tug on that reign and I'll land at the closest place we can." Rosalin sighed, "We get it you don't want us ruining the paint job, jeez." I looked at her, "No I don't want you holding it in, it's bad for your health and that's one of the few things I'm concerned about these days." Rosalin looked down, "Sorry it's just a little hard to get through you know?" I had hoped to talk to her away from Merry but it had to happen now, I walked over to her and gave her a hug, "I know it hurts. I know I'm not your mom and I know no pony can ever replace her, but I will always be there for you until the day I finally break. I know you probably won't want to believe this but I love you and Merry more than you'll ever know." Rosalin raised an eyebrow, "And why might that be?" I sighed, "Because I had a kid once before I died." Rosalin for her part did seem shocked, "You were a mother?" I nodded, "I wasn't the best I put Equestria and my job before my kids and Celestia help me I feel terrible about that every day of my life. But I have to keep going, maybe she survived maybe she had a family, for all I know somewhere in those clouds is my great great great grand daughter and before I see her I've got to make sure this place is as clean as it can be. But most importantly, I have to make up for not stopping the Rangers from killing your mother and to do everything in my power to make sure you and your sister are okay." Rosalin was on the verge of tears, "You idiot!" I just sat on my flank while she hit me over and over again, "You could have been broken by those raiders without your repair function! You could have been gone, you could have left Merry and I all alone!" I smiled a bit as she started to slow down wearing herself out, "And I also could have left the Raider's alone knowing how dangerous they are to the ponies down here. I'm not willing to let them endanger others. I'm one of the only Pegasi down here and a lot of people seem a bit displeased with my kind. So I have to show them just how loyal I am to the country I love even though it's gone." Rosalin blinked, "Why would you be loyal to a country after it's gone?"

I looked at her, "The same reason you're not happy with me, because you don't want to betray your mom. Equestria was were I was born, it was where I was raised, it was where I died, and it's where I have a chance to help it be reborn." She just looked at me tears in her eyes, "How did you figure all of that out?" I just smiled, "I already told you, I was a mom a long time ago, and while I may not be your mom, I'll be bucked by Applejack in the face if I let you two be hurt by the land I loved as long as I lived and that I still love to this day."

* * *

I landed in Shattered Hoofs and was approached by a Griffin almost off the bat, "We don't allow Enclave past this point." I smiled as I looked at her, "I'm not Enclave miss." She looked suspiciously at the chariot with the sleeping unicorns in it and at me smiling like I had a screw loose, "If you're not Enclave where do your loyalties lie?" I smiled again, "To Equestria, and to it's inhabitants, griffin, dragon, pegasi, earth pony, unicorn, every single solitary creature that's out there trying to make this place better." She looked at me a bit surprised, "Okay then, why exactly are you here?" I smiled, "For some jobs." She looked me over, "You don't look like much but Gawd doesn't let us oust out of looks since the Stable Dweller gave us this land." I smiled again, "So where can I find the jobs?" The griffin jerked her head towards a bill board covered with fliers." I looked at her, "The fliers are for the jobs?" She laughed, "No the fliers are for people looking for jobs." I didn't see a difference until I went up and saw that they all said the same thing "gun for hire" I grabbed one and put it on and a young griffin approached me, and tugged on my tail holding a stuffed pegasus I recognized as Rainbow Dash, "Miss my little sister went missing... she said she was going to check out Appleloosa but it's slaver territory."

A shiver went up my spine, and I looked at the griffin, "Can you keep the kids I came with safe and entertained?" The griffin nodded, "Then you get the Centurion special discount, 100% off." I jerked up into the sky and flew off "Sheila set primary objective at Appleloosa!" "Affirmative new target confirmed." "Sheila?" "Yes?" "Thank you for everything, I haven't had time to say it but you've been a wonderful partner, and in case I don't make it back I just want you to know that." "The sentiment is... returned."

After a couple minutes flying at my top speed towards Appleloosa I felt my hooves pressing into something, I yelled, "Sheila!" "How may I help you?" was her response, "ETA?", "Calculating... calculating... at current rate you should arrive in 1 hour and 30 minutes." That was too long who knows what those slavers would do to that griffin. "Sheila?" "Yes?" I knew this was stupid idea, "drop all energy except what's necessary for my head to function and funnel it into my speed." "Warning that could result in the equivalent of a Sonic rainboom and could tear you apart if you don't succeed." I growled, "Sheila I don't have any other choice do it now!" "Affirmative." I felt what I was pressing into get ripped through like paper as a loud explosion formed behind me my limbs seemed to be on fire as I moved every inch of my body was over heating Sheila was citing warnings left and rights about which parts were about to overheat and stop functioning unless I could get repaired, I knew I'd have to get repaired after this, and if I was lucky I could manage it before Rosalin and Merry were up.

* * *

"Sir!" A young pegasus new to her job yelled to her commanding officer "What is it Lieutenant Claurisa?" General Gale asked. "A sonic rainboom has been detected in the Wastelands!" She replied seeming panicked and confused about what was going on. Gale sighed, it would have to happen two days before he could retire wouldn't it? His wife and his kids were all at home just waiting for him to get home to a dinner so they could be a family and have fun together, it looked like his plans to retire and have a nice quiet life would have to be postponed though. "Okay search every pegasus we've sent down in the last twenty years and check there maximum speeds." Claurisa started to type furiously into her cloud terminal, "No match sir!" Gale pounded his hoof on the table, "WHAT?! How can there not be a match?!" He knew what this meant, he couldn't dispatch the Wonderbolts or the Shadowbolts to deal with someone they didn't know who could perform the Sonic Rainboom. "We're going to need to send her in..." Gale sighed, Claurisa gasped, "But you know she inherited her great great great grandmother's stubbornness!" Gale slammed his hoof on the table silencing her before she could protest more, "DO YOU THINK I WANT TO DO THIS? WOULD YOU RATHER WE HAVE A ROGUE UNKNOWN FACTOR RAMPAGING THROUGH THE WASTELAND WITH OUR SECRET WEAPON?" Claurisa quieted down, "I understand sir, when should we dispatch her." Gale sighed, "In three days we're going to need to make sure the Enclave realizes this as a threat and not a test or something."

* * *

"Get off me you bucking cowards!" A lone Griffin was facing off against several slavers trying to collar her when an explosion sounded in the sky and something sped towards them, no pony or Griffin moved they all stared in shock as a crater two feet deep formed when a pegasus mare landed.

The silence was palpable, and then one of the slavers smiled, "We got a streak of good luck boys! A Pegasus and a griffin delivered themselves to us! Get a collar on her!" I stood there and waited for the one with the collar to get close and then I delivered a buck that snapped his rib cage in he fell to the ground coughing blood until he choked, "So who wants some." My stare told them all they really needed to know about the situation, I didn't come here for a fight, I came here for a massacre, and if they didn't run they were going to be a lot worse off than the Wastelands were. The mare of the group growled and started to yell to retreat, I didn't like that very much I was on her in seconds and a hoof punched through her throat blood spilled down it as I tossed her aside. "Come one come all to this little game, it's so fun you could just die when you play!" One of the bucks with the group launched forward with a knife in his jaw I socked him so hard with a forehoof the knife cracked with his face. There were two left, "Come on it's two against one you've got guns, stop trying to hit me and hit me." They unleashed a spray from their SMGs but I flew out of the way and then slammed one into the other and stomped through them both before I calmed and walked towards the griffin. "Hey." She took out a knife, "Stay away from me!" I sighed and looked at her, "Your sister's worried sick about you, you know." She blinked, "My sister?... How do you know that?" I looked at her, "I got hired to bring you home, come on, I need to make a stop at New Appleloosa for a few repairs. Do you think you can stay close to me until we're back at Shattered Hoof?" She nodded and we took off.

* * *

I walked in to New Appleloosa and was met by a few of the fillies of the town giving me a few gifts, some health potions, ammo, a few bits of food. I looked at the Griffin I had rescued, "Hey kid!" She looked at me. "My name's not kid it's Ganya...." I smiled, "Well Ganya you hungry?" She looked at some of the food, "A little but don't worry abou-" I cut her off by tossing a can of cram to her, "Eat up." She ate voraciously and thanked me as we walked to Ditzy's store, "Hey Ditzy!" She wrote out "Hello Centurion" on her black board and before she could ask what she could help me with I told her, "Ditzy don't worry you don't have to be a proper store clerk with me. I need a few repairs done and you're one of the few mares around here I trust to do it. She nodded and I laid on the table.

"I thought you came here for repairs." Ganya said, I looked at her, "I did. go ahead Ditzy." Ditzy came back with a knife and proceeded to cut through my skin and Ganya turned pale, "You're killing her stop!" I looked at her and said to Ditzy, "You know you'd think she'd realize I wasn't screaming." She looked at me, "Y-you enjoy this?" I looked back at her, "Not particularly no but things break down over time and my repair function only works for wounds if something over heats then it's broken until fixed." Ganya looked at me, "What the hell are you talking abou-" The she saw the metallic body underneath my skin, "You're a robot?" I rolled my eyes lightly, "Not quite android, I'm still me I'm not programmed I'm just a less killable me than I was during the war." Ganya looked terrified, "You fought in the war?" I nodded, "Fought and died, one of the dragon attacks got me, I was helping out Rainbow during one of the Dragon raids and then it sliced through my back I was weakened by it and got sick soon after and died from illness." She looked at me, "Then why were you?" I smiled, "Brought back? To be honest some pony talked me into going into Project Restoration, it's a lesser known program, officially I died, unofficially I was the first pony based test for a cybernetic pony that could be used to terrify Zebras, there were plenty of mice and cows we tested it on, even a dog or two but I was the first pony to have it done." Ditzy had already begun fixing all my over heated parts and finished up I looked at her and waited for her to hand me some scrap metal so my repair function could heal the cut.

"Thanks Ditzy, oh right I managed to pick you up something and forgot all about it! I found these on a few of the Raiders I took out around here." I took three packs of muffins out of my bag and gave them to her her eyes lit up. She wrote began to write "How did you know?" But I stopped her at how, "I'm two hundred and five years old I recognized your name when I heard it but it took me a while to remember who you were." I smiled and put a hoof around her shoulder, "Man did you ever make some great conversation back then, remember all those bets you and Pinkie made about cooking?" She nodded, "I still can't believe you won the contest of confusing Twilight I place twelve bits on Pinkie's Pinkie sense winning out." I chuckled, "Glad to see you again I have to take Ganya here back to Shattered hoof, tell Silver Belle I said hi." I walked out of the shop with Ganya looking at me with a mix of respect, fear, and disgust. "I can't believe you touched it I mean did anything get on you." I have Ganya a harsh stare, "That 'it' was and still is one of the best friends a I could ever ask for, she puts her self last unless it's absolutely necessary for her to take something, and she has never ever given up on hope even after two hundred and five years two hundred of which she began turning into something that Wastelanders fear and hate." Ganya shrunk, "I'm sorry it's just she looked like you could catch infections from her..." I looked at her eye brow arched, "oh... right... you don't get those do you?" I smiled and shook my head, "Come on let's get to Shattered Hoof and get you back to your sister."
----
Footnote: Level up
New Perk: Maternal might: When somepony who you're travelling with is injured to 25% of their health you become 50% stronger and faster until they've recovered.
The song used is El Manana with by the Gorillaz with slight alterations.