Fallout Equestria: Black Cat

by Rixizu

Chapter 23

Sure enough, it turned out Iron was right. The basement turned out to be a bunker of sorts. The owners of the inn must have created it to protect themselves and their customers when they feared the war might turn for the worse. Scavenger had no idea how well this bunker might have protected somepony after the Megaspells hit Equestria, but it was a good place for a crime boss to hide. Two serious-looking guards were guarding the entrance to a door in the basement of the inn. They had grim looks on the faces and were on high alert. There was still fighting up above as far as Scavenger could tell, but these guards kept to their job instead of joining in the fight. They each carried a heavy-duty minigun and carried them with a professional air of skill and care. Both were unicorns. The door protecting their quarry was thick and had a circular door, not unlike a vault, but it was clear this only a copycat and not the real thing. It didn’t look nearly as tough or thick.

“So much for Tact Coat keeping her location hard to find.” Brights muttered keeping her voice low to avoid detection. She hid behind a piece of roof that had collapsed over the years revealing the next floor.

Iron said nothing but gave Brights such a glare that the other mare recoiled. “Not a bad location, but now she is cornered, trapped. She won’t escape.”

“Yes, but how are we going to get past those two guards?” Brights asked. “And we don’t know how many guards might be inside.”

“We aren’t turning back.” Iron replied her voice cool and uncompromising.

"I wasn't saying we should," Bright said, "is there anything that will make her rethink things?" She said the last part muttering under her breath.

Scavenger peeked over the corner and examined the door in their way. It looked like it locked from the inside. That would be a problem. If they started a fight, Tact Coat could lock the door and they would be out of luck. However, he noticed, despite the havoc upstairs, the door wasn’t locked. Maybe Tact Coat didn’t want to go to the trouble, or the door wasn’t easy to unlock. Either way, it was imperative they avoid making much noise. They needed to take these guys out with alerting anypony inside the bunker. It would be a good idea to avoid gunfire, they didn’t know if it could be heard inside the bunker and risking it would be stupid. Scavenger told the others about his observations.

Scavenger didn’t like Iron’s smile. “Is that all?” She said.

What was with this mare? Did she not value her own life? Did she think nothing could stop her?

“We need to hurry then.” Iron said. “We have little time.”

Before Brights could even scream, Iron grabbed her with her magic and threw her into the hallway. The guards gapped for a second in surprise and alarm before raising their heavy duty weapons Brights way. The poor mare tried to fight back, but the guards shred her with their miniguns. Scavenger screamed in horror. Iron wasted no time and rushed out and took advantage of the fact it would take a moment for their guns to start up again to fire on them. These Stones weren't dumb however and dropped their oversized guns and pulled out a handgun to fight back.

Iron somehow jumped through their fire in time and killed one with a shot to the head. The other Stone hit Iron in the left shoulder causing her to drop her gun as she screamed in pain. This didn't stop her however and she dove at the stallion and wrestled with him. The Stone used his magic to pull out a knife from his belt and aimed it at her throat, but she also caught it with her magic and the two were in a temporary stalemate.

“What are you waiting for?” Iron cried out to him. “Kill the bastard.”

Scavenger trotted up to the two of them and he gazed at them dumbly as they fought. Brights was dead the poor girl. Kill for no reason at all. He felt numb and dead. So much death and it was for no reason at all. He just wanted to save his friend. Tears welled in his eyes. Why did this have to happen?

“Come on.” Iron screamed when the Stone kneed her in the gut, but she refused to let her aura fade. “Kill him. Remember the treasure dammit.”

Scavenger face twisted with rage. How could this mare care so little about the lives of ponies? She didn’t even blink at using them as meat shields. He glared down at them. This would be over soon. Her eyes widened in fear when the barrel of his shotgun pointed at them both. She yelled at him to stop, but she was dead moments later.

This would end. He would make it end.

---

Much to his surprise, Tact Coat hadn't locked herself in after all that commotion. He guessed she didn't have enough time to do so. The fight happened only about a minute ago. Scavenger tentatively entered the safe house gun at the ready. The mini-vault was bare containing not much more than boxes full of supplies and foodstuff. The owner must have used it for storage. However, in the middle of the room was a chair and there Tact Coat sat with her hooves crossed over her face. She glared at him as he entered.

"I suppose you are one of the insurgents after my life?" She looked him over and scoffed not impressed. "Come and get me if you dare." She didn't have a weapon, but Scavenger didn't put his guard down and watched the mare for any movement.

“N-no.” Scavenger said. “A-all I want is the password to the safe in First Equestrian Bank.”

Tact Coat's look of defiance turned to one of surprise then turned into a scowl. "Oh, so you're one of her friends are you?"

“Please, I don’t want to fight or kill you.” Scavenger kept his voice strong and sincere. “If you let Break out, we will leave and bother you no more.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Tact Coat shot back.

“It’s the truth.” Scavenger replied. “Break and I don’t like or want violence. We just want to live in peace.”

Tact Coat spat on the ground. “Peace. All that mare has done is ruin everything she touches. She killed my brother, ruined my empire, and took away everything I have ever built. She will die for that. And so will you.” Her smile turned cruel putting Scavenger on his guard right away.

“I will die before I ever tell you the password to that safe.” Tact Coat’s smile turned cruel. “If I even know it at all. The truth is I made the password random just in case something like this happened. I will never allow that mare to escape that safe alive.”

"N-no." Scavenger's tongue caught in his throat. He wasn't expecting Tact Coat to be forthcoming about the password, but he never expected this. How would they ever get the safe open now?

Oh, Break, what I will do now? Would they have to blow the door open or cut through it? If he could find some hacking tool he bet he might be able to open it. As Scavenger mulled over his nonoptions, he almost failed to notice Tact Coat pulling a gun from behind her chair and aiming it right at him. He cursed and jumped out of the way almost losing his head.

Tact Coat didn't give him much a chance to recover. Before Scavenger could get back on his hooves, she rushed in and Scavenger froze when she pointed her gun at his head. His gun dropped to the floor forgotten.

“What did you think would happen?” Tact Coat asked contempt dripping from her words. She didn’t give him much of a chance to reply and used her magic to ready the trigger. She stopped when somepony stumbled into the bunker’s door.

“Thank Celestia, when I saw the dead guards I feared the worse.” The pony said. Scavenger recognized him as the sniper from the third floor.

Tact Coat pulled her gun away and kicked him in the head. Scavenger whimpered when he hit the floor.

“I can handle myself.” Tact Coat said sniffing. “Situation?”

The sniper shook his head. “Not good. I wasn’t able to get a solid count, but I believe we only have about seven ponies left.”

“What?” Tact Coat kicked Scavenger again. This time it was in the ribs. “How?”

“They attacked with significant numbers.” The sniper said. “They overwhelmed us.”

Scavenger howled when Tact Coat kicked him in the kidney. “Why? Why does this keep happening to me?” She said.

“The Stones we have left are fighting two of the rebels.” The sniper reported. “It’s a game of cat and mouse. They have avoided everything shot at them somehow. That pink one is something else.”

“Well, we will just have to do something about that.” Tact Coat stomped on Scavenger’s hoof several times. “I think we might be able to use this one. They might care if he lives or dies.”

Scavenger howled when Tact Coat used her magic to pull him by the hair and dragged him behind her.

I’m sorry everyone. I failed.

---

Boomerang smirked as he hid behind a table. They were in a large open lobby that before the war no doubt was impressive with its rich brown wood, but now looked grimy and worn with age. The room had couches and table for the comfort of the guests, but most of them now were shot up, outright destroyed, or turned over. The remaining Stones tried to fire on them from other pieces of furniture, but it was feeble and ineffective. One could tell their morale had been shattered. This, in large part, was due to his compatriot Bubble Trouble. She also had a large smirk on her face. Blood covered her head to hoof in blood and had strapped two legs of somepony on her head with a thick rope making it look like she had antlers. He had no clue why she did this. Won't it make her an easy target? But it did wonders on destroying the morale of their opponents. The mare was brutal and vicious. She mangled and disfigured Stones she got her hooves on. The thugs were terrified to get anywhere near her now.

It was horrifying true, but at this point; it was hard to care when his survival was at stake. He never believed he could survive this time, but somehow things were looking in his favor. An unfortunate Stone poked his head out giving him a perfect opportunity to take the guy out. The stallion crumpled to the floor after a shot from Boomerang's rifle.

“Way to go Boom!” Bubble beamed. Blood from the legs attached to her head dripped down her face.

Scavenger grinned back trying not to pay attention to body parts on the other mare’s head. It was best not to think about that for the moment.

He screamed when a bullet flew by his head from a direction he hadn't expected and tuckered in his hiding place to avoid any more cheap shots. Bubble did the same snuggling up close to him. Their skin touched, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about this at the moment.

Great, reinforcements. How many Stones are left? Boomerang thought grimy.

He looked in the direction the bullet had come and his breath caught. From a hallway was Tact Coat a sneer on her face and another unicorn with a sniper rifle in his hooves. That wasn't what scared him. No, what scared him was in Tact Coat's hooves. She had a battered Scavenger by the hair with a gun in her aura at his temple. His fur was bruised and bloody in several places giving him a grotesque appearance.

"Well, crap." Bubble said when she saw this.

It’s only Scavenger. Does that mean the others didn’t make it? Poor Brights. He had liked the filly. She was always the positive one when they were locked up as slaves and the world was a dimmer place with her gone.

“If you value this stallion’s life, I would suggest surrendering now.” Tact Coat’s voice was loud and clear making it all across the room with no difficulty.

Boomerang winced. He had been expecting this. What were they going to do now? There was no way he would sacrifice Scavenger. Too many ponies had already died today. Much to his surprise, Bubble appeared to agree with him and had a grim frown on her face.

“You better kept your word.” Bubble said with a growl.

Scavenger screamed as Tact Coat hit him across the head with the butt of her gun. “This isn’t a negotiation. Come out or he dies.”

"Tact Coat." Boomerang almost didn’t control his anger but took a calming breath. "I'm coming out." He would just have to play this out somehow and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike back.

“Good, kick aside your weapons. Both of you.” Tact Coat said gesturing with a hoof.

They did as instructed and kicked their guns away from them a moment later. The Stones they were fighting popped their heads out and gathered around their boss confidence restored and jeered at him.

“Excellent. Kill them both.” Tact Coat told her crew. Boomerang moved to get out of the way, but Tact Coat only made a cruel smile. “Move and he dies.” He froze in place and cursed.

He had hoped she would gloat some more to give him time to come up with a plan, but she just wanted them dead. She gave them no opportunity to make a counterattack.

Scavenger squirmed in Tact Coat’s grasp. “N-no, don’t do this! D-don’t worry about me.”

“Shut up!” Tact Coat hissed and hit him over the head again. Scavenger’s body went limp unconscious Boomerang hoped.

Boomerang wasted no time using this distraction as the perfect moment to strike. The thugs were ready for this and opened fire on him as soon as he pulled a revolver from the back of his belt. Bubble surprised them all and let out a feral cry and leaped at her attackers with surprising speed.

One thug tried to fire on her, but Bubble countered by jumping one of them and pounded his face in with her hooves. Surprised by this, the rest of the thugs hesitated for a moment giving Boomerang seconds he needed to shot three of them in the head in succession. He ended by pointing his revolver at Tact Coat’s head who still had Scavenger in her hooves.

"Put him down and I won't put a bullet in your head," Boomerang said.

Tact Coat’s face turned to one of fury. “No, you put your gun down or this one dies.” She glared at him and returned it with his own.

Bubble surprised all of them but jumping on another thug and grabbing his neck from behind. "Shoot him, and this one dies too."

“Like I care.” Tact Coat replied shifting her eyes from Boomerang for a moment. He wanted to take the shot, but she wasn’t distracted enough to risk it.

“Oh, oh well.” Bubble snapped the thug’s neck. Boomerang tensed terrified this would get Scavenger killed, but Tact Coat didn't even blink at the sudden death of one of her ponies. The rest of the Stones backed away and pointed their guns at Bubble terrified of what the mare might do next.

I can use this. Boomerang thought. These thugs were more worried about Bubble than him. No, he was wrong. One Stone did pay attention to him. It was that unicorn that accompanied Tact Coat when she appeared. The stallion had a sniper rifle pointed at him his face calm and impassive.

Tact Coat scowled but remained composed. A thought seemed to strike her and her expression turned cruel. "Are you here to rescue the so-called Hero of Foalson prison too? You can't save her. I made the password to the safe random. Nopony can get her out now."

Break no. This was bad. How were they going to save Break now? Boomerang could tell that Tact Coat wasn’t joking. Damn her.

To his horror, he realized too late that he let himself get distracted giving the sniper the perfect opportunity to fire on him. Boomerang was able to jump out of the way in time to save his life, but the impact of the bullet made his shoulder explode into hot blinding pain. His revolver clattered to the floor and fell out of sight.

Ponyfeathers. I’m such an idiot. He fell to the ground and froze when the sniper pointed his gun right at his head.

“Game over.” Tact Coat said. “Kill them all.”

This is it. I’m sorry Break.

Boomerang waited for death and his eyes widened when he noticed that Scavenger had regained consciousness and so far Tact Coat hadn’t noticed. In fact, she didn’t even have her gun to his head anymore confident she had won. She only held on his head loosely. But did it matter? He would be dead in mere moments. The sniper was already pulling the trigger.

Boomerang howled in pain as the bullet grazed his head blood oozed from the right side of his head. The sniper adjusted his aim and readied to fire again. He never got the chance. Scavenger bit Tact Coat in the same leg she was using to hold him and sniper turned in the direction of the commotion.

All hell broke loose. Bubble charged the remaining thugs and received several bullet wounds for her trouble. But she was lucky that they were only minor wounds. She pummeled the closest pony she got her hooves on and used them as pony shield as the thugs tried to fire on her. The shield died from the shower of bullets.

When she noticed her shield was dead, Bubble threw the pony into his compatriots and they fell into a heap. She picked up a nearby gun in her magic and fired into the heap. They were all dead moments later.

"Look out!" Boomerang tried to cry out, but his voice came out a weak croak. Bubbles ear twitched towards the sound but couldn’t avoid the shot from the sniper as she tried to scramble to safety. She was still breathing though despite her serious looking wound.

“Get off me.” Tact Coat howled and tried to throw Scavenger off of her, but he held on with surprising strength. She tried to grab a small gun from her holster with her magic, but Scavenger used his own magic to push it back. The two were in a deadlock over control of the gun and kicked at each other to break their opponent’s concentration.

The sniper eyed both him and his boss considering. There was no way he could get a clear shot at Scavenger with the way they were all over each other. He turned his aim towards the two helpless ponies on the ground so he could quickly finish them off before helping his boss deeming them more of a threat and to get them out of the way.

Boomerang cursed. Bubble was in no shape to fight and he wasn’t any better. The sniper aimed for him first and Boomerang’s eyes raced to find his gun to fight back. He found it hiding under the remains of a table.

Not good. There was no way he could grab it in time and fire on his opponent. Aiming it would take far too long. He was in no position to find cover. At least not fast enough. He had only one chance even if it was totally crazy and wouldn’t work. He charged the sniper.

This surprised the sniper for a moment, but he recovered and fired. The wild shot grazed the side of Boomerang’s head, but the bullet contacted with his right eye. Boomerang screamed in pain terrified that he might have lost any use in that eye forever. He used the pain and fear from his injuries and pushed himself forward. He pushed himself too close for the sniper to use his weapon in any effective manner and threw a desperate punch into the Stone’s face.

The Stone recoiled from the hit, but seemed more annoyed than hurt and glared at him. He tried to back away, but Boomerang kept close to reduce the effectiveness of the sniper rifle. Boomerang’s movements felt sluggish as he circled his opponent like his body was made of lead.

Ponyfeathers, I must have lost a lot of blood.

Worse was that his opponent was sharp and alert looking for the best chance to take out his foe. Boomerang wanted to collapse and sleep. Would he even be strong enough to do serious damage? If only he hadn’t lost his gun. He wished he had time to look for it.

He gave to brief glance to Scavenger's fight amazed that the little unicorn was putting up such a good fight. Tact Coat sweated as she tried to tear the gun from Scavenger's aura. Yet, Scavenger wasn't even breathing hard. Boomerang never knew Scavenger was that powerful with magic. Tact Coat was almost in a full-blown panic as she failed to push the gun away from her head. Scavenger wanted her dead and won't let anything stop him.

The sniper also noted the exchange worried about his boss's safety. It was obvious he wanted to join in and help his boss but didn't want to turn his back to Boomerang despite his opponent being shot up and half dead. Boomerang saw in the Stone’s eye that he came to a decision. Instead of pointing and shooting at his target as expected, the sniper turned his weapon around and used its blunt end as a club and aimed it at Boomerang’s head.

Boomerang yelped in surprise and ducked under it, only to have the breath knocked out him when the sniper delivered a swift punch to the gut. Boomerang wheezed as he tried to get his breath back. The sniper floated his rifle at Boomerang's head a look of triumph in his face.

“No!” Scavenger cried out, and he floated the gun he was fighting over in the sniper’s direction. It went off and the Stone thug fell to the ground dead a bullet wound in his temple.

This distraction gave Tact Coat the opening she needed to smack Scavenger in the throat and he coughed and wheezed. The gun clattered to the floor. She didn’t stop at this one blow. She screamed and howled with fury as she wailed on her opponent. Scavenger curled into a ball trying to minimize the damage from her blow.

Tact Coat cursed and screamed beyond furious at this point and was almost incoherent. “Do you have any idea what you have cost me? It took me twenty years to build this organization, and all of it is gone because of you!” She held nothing back as she beat on Scavenger’s helpless form.

“Everything gone! Everything!” Tact Coat howled. She seemed barely aware of what she was doing. She didn’t care about winning. No, she wanted to hurt something, and wouldn’t stop until Scavenger was nothing but a bloody pulp.

She breathed hard as her beating slowed down. Scavenger laid there hurting and bloody. He howled when Tact Coat stepped on his throat. She smirked as she pressed down harder making it impossible for Scavenger to breathe.

Tact Coat made an incoherent snarl as she crushed his windpipe. Scavenger tried to push the leg off, but it was no use. He was in no shape to fight her. Tact Coat took delight in the pain she was causing him. She didn’t even seem like a pony anymore. Her face was contorted in a way that shook Boomerang to his core.

He struggled to his hooves but failed to do so. He was so tired even blinking felt like he ran 100 miles. No, he had to do this. He had to save Scavenger. After what seemed like an eternity, he pushed himself up to his hooves. He didn't try anything fancy or tactical. His brain felt like mush, so he did the only thing he could muster. He jumped and fell on Tact Coat who was too distracted with her victim to notice. They fell into a heap. Scavenger's next breath was glorious and beautiful. Boomerang had never heard something so wonderful.

"Get off me." Tact Coat kicked him off and punched in one of his wounds for good measure. She got back on her hooves soon enough and kicked him once more. Boomerang wasn't in any condition to fight back.

“I will deal with you soon enough. “ Tact Coat said before she scanned the room for Scavenger.

Damn, that whore has a hate on for that stallion. He dimly thought on the ground helpless. His blood oozed into a pool around him. He knew that if he didn’t get medical attention soon, he would die.

Boomerang broke out into a grin when he noticed that was in Scavenger’s hooves. It was Tact Coat’s gun. The little stallion had trouble breathing, but he held her gun in his aura.

Scavenger didn’t say anything as he leveled Tact Coat’s gun at her head. He wasn’t smirking nor had a look of triumph. No, this was a somepony that wanted her dead and that is it. He had no intention of making her suffer or making her squirm. He had the look of somepony that wanted this over with. He didn’t say anything at all when he shot her in the head. Tact Coat tried to scream something defiant, but she was dead before she even got a sound out.

Comments

[Rixizu]

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Thanks for the comment. To be fair, this is the first fic I had ever written. I think the story has improved quite a bit since then. I didn't have any grammar programs on my computer for one. I will keep your criticisms in mind.