Fallout Equestria : Black And White

by Philweasel

Chapter 1.2 - Turbulent Waters

Chapter 2 – Turbulent Waters

Zenai was under the impression that she was a pretty patient zebra. You had to be if you wanted to learn alchemy, as until you really knew what you were doing it involved long periods of just staring at jugs of liquid as they very slowly changed color. She was therefore embarrassed to say she was getting very, very bored. She had been prepared of course, having brought several books of research materials with her. Unfortunately she had got tired of them after the first six hours, not to mention her eyes stinging and her head pounding from the dodgy magical lights installed in the Altostratus II.

The view outside wasn’t much more interesting, seas of endless grey passing by the window. She had heard tales of these seas post apocalypse, of great monsters mutated by radiation and pollution. So far however all they had seen was crashing waves and high winds that suggested the ships lost here were down to more mundane factors, with not a single sign of life beneath those dark waves.

Star Swirl and Dust Kicker were coping much better, Dust spending brief periods exercising before playing incessantly with his weapons and Star Swirl as normal content to just stand there with a slightly dreamy expression on her face. Possibly due to the close confines and Dust Kicker’s presence Star Swirl seemed reluctant to talk at length, every attempt to spark up conversation quickly petering out on her end. Eventually Zenai just gave up trying to engage the alicorn, Star Swirl taking the opportunity to start up a griffon card game that she liked and start laying out bets of caps against herself. Star Swirl didn’t even bother to ask if Zenai had wanted to join, the alicorn had tried to teach her how to play once or twice but unfortunately it was near impossible with hooves. Zenai had little appreciation for gambling in the first place anyway. She certainly couldn’t quite figure how playing cards alone could be any fun, still Star Swirl seemed content.

“Four card shuffle?”

Star Swirl smiled excitedly as she looked up at Dust Kicker, nodding her head enthusiastically, “Yes. Do you play?”

“Nah, too difficult to play those complicated games with hooves. I prefer Liar’s Dice, simple games like that.”

“Oh, I know that one.” Star Swirl turned around, clumsily knocking her cards to the floor with her tail as she hurried over to her luggage. Zenai tutted and swept them up with a hoof, Star Swirl hardly seeming to notice as she near stuck her head into her bag. Zenai frowned at the sight of the alicorn’s bobbing backside, shooting Dust Kicker a look as he gave a wry smile. Eventually Star Swirl turned, a set of dice levitating in front of her as she shot smiles at the two of them, “Zenai, do you want to play?”

“I don’t normally gamble… especially against you Star Swirl.” Zenai sighed as the alicorn’s face fell, shaking her head as she realized she was being really grumpy. At least getting soundly beaten at dice was something to pass the time at least, and she wouldn’t just sit there and watch the other two have fun without her, “Ok, fine. Just go easy on me.”

Dust Kicker grinned as he moved over, “So she’s pretty good huh? Well maybe this will be interesting…”

In the end it went pretty much as expected, Zenai losing her dice pretty quickly and Star Swirl and Dust Kicker neck and neck for a while until Star Swirl made a risky guess and busted out. Star Swirl didn’t seem to mind, instantly suggesting another dice game that they both took to with renewed enthusiasm. Zenai let them play, retiring instead to the cargo bay.

Dust Kicker’s comment about leaving it late to get to the ship just before the attack had stung a little, and indeed it had actually been Star Swirl who had delayed them with her constant nervous organizing and re-organizing of an office they wouldn’t even see for another few months at least. She had reassured herself that the Applejack Rangers would have no reason to check the cargo, and hadn't guessed the Twilight Society would be desperate enough to mount an outright attack. That was... unexpected. They were either more desperate or more arrogant that she had previously guessed.

And that made her slightly paranoid. Although she had confirmed the presence of the crate she hadn’t had the opportunity or the courage to check on the contents yet, gingerly moving over now and inspecting the wooden container, helpfully marked as ‘Radiation protection suits’. A thrust of her hoof disengaged the lock and she flipped the box open, revealing the cold black steel of the armor inside. To her eternal relief it seemed intact and untouched, Zenai leaning inside and flicking a switch on the pipbuck mounted on the frame, “User Zenai, code Pinkie3KE. Core systems check.”

A young, female voice answered, light and playful despite the lack of emotion in her words, “Running core systems check. No failures detected, all systems running at recommended levels. Targeting array experiencing a 0.8 percent drift, servo wear at 8.5 percent, 0.4 percent damage to outer armor. Operating system PS2.0 is loaded and is currently in standby mode, no errors detected.”

Zenai felt guilty leaving her here in standby mode, though she was aware such feelings were rather silly. In standby mode she wouldn’t even be aware of time passing, higher intelligence functions completely offline and only the most basic systems operational. Really it was a product of the regrets, worries and second thoughts about the entire venture, and this ugly suit wasn’t helping. Not that the main problem was it being ugly, militaristic and immediately obvious as being produced on the same production line as Enclave battle armor, the sight of their insectoid forms still giving Zenai the urge to vomit.

No, the main problem was that it was built for a full grown pony. Zenai enjoyed the many advantages of being naturally small framed, unfortunately the ability to fit into and operate powered armor was not one of them.

She thought about transferring the program to her old adventuring outfit, unfortunately the memory storage and processing power of the power armor’s pipbuck was easily ten times that of her own. She had little knowledge of magical computational systems but brief studies had raised the possibility that said pipbuck might well be unique, or connected to slaved systems within the suit itself. She could transfer the program into a terminal, still that wouldn’t solve the problem of being practically immobile. Besides, the few details she had received had suggested that the sensory deprivation could well be harmful, and she would never forgive herself if she… broke her somehow.

It was frustrating, and she was well aware that she was an inexperienced… filly really, playing at a game that her opponents had been winning at for a lifetime. She didn’t even have a plan beyond a vague hope that she would be able to find allies in the Zebra lands, or at least keep vital playing pieces off the field long enough to allow the brewing conflict in Equestria to simmer down.

And she had only got this far on luck really, there being a million ways in which this could have all gone wrong. Councilor Silent was so eager to have the Followers on his side that he had totally failed to confirm that Zenai actually had any authority to act as their representative. Indeed she almost wanted to be caught, just so she could see Velvet Remedy’s face when she was told that an archivist and a initiate librarian had completely without authorization forged a alliance with the Applejack Rangers, launched a diplomatic mission to a foreign nation and smuggled a piece of valuable and very illegal technology out of the country in her name. She was still appalled by the ease with which she could flirt and talk her way into the mail room, Zenai having been intercepting the missives to the Follower’s intended envoy for months and instead sending him pointless, dull updates suggesting actual contact was still months off. Likewise Fluttershy was a sweet old dear but for anyone who had actually read the Chronicles of Littlepip ‘Rarity’ wasn’t exactly a hard password to guess and the old mare wasn’t even remotely suspicious of a random zebra she had never met before turning up to clean her office. After all of that it had been remarkably smooth sailing, ironically the power struggles in the NCR and her own manipulations had made it easy to convince Councilor Silent and the Applejack Rangers that he should conduct all dialogue with her personally for ‘data protection reasons’.

It least she hoped it had all gone so smoothly. She could be flying straight into a trap.

She looked back at the living area as she closed the box again, making sure it was locked before heading back over to the others. Star Swirl and Dust Kicker were still furiously planning their moves, a rare and totally genuine smile spread across Star Swirl’s face as the game moved back and forth between her and the mercenary. Zenai watched the mare for a little while, feeling the guilt and pain that reminded her that she hadn’t completely lost herself in her manipulations and double crosses.

Star Swirl had found it hard to adapt to life without the Goddess. Even though the alicorn was absolutely loath to talk about her life before she joined the Followers that much was very obvious. Even after she joined she had found it difficult, retreating from the world and absorbing herself in books about old Equestrian history, understandable considering the not so subtle bullying she received from the others in the Followers compound. It… was partially her own fault, in a organization of somewhat arrogant and wishy washy scholars Star Swirl was blunt, stubborn and poorly articulate with her opinions, inviting ridicule and scorn from those far more adept at presenting their arguments. And yes, for all her good intentions Star Swirl was one of the least practical ponies Zenai had ever met, almost entirely unable to deal with the real world outside her books.

But she had good intentions. She was sweet, harmless, caring and gentle to a fault. She had been hurt badly by the Goddess, forced to do things that went totally against her nature. Now all she wanted to do was make it up to the world, yet found herself totally inadequate in that task.

And she had broken numerous laws, betrayed the Followers and been accomplice to one of the most serious cons in Equestrian history. She wouldn’t insult the alicorn by thinking that Star Swirl hadn’t been mostly aware of Zenai’s actions, even though she had tried her best to shield her friend from any direct co-operation. Despite this Star Swirl had not once seemed to even consider turning Zenai in, naively trusting in her friend through double cross and betrayal of the people who had given her entire species a home and chance at a new life.

Zenai had to make this alliance work. She was totally willing to offer her own head for her crimes, for Star Swirl’s sake however she had to make sure she had cards to play when this was all over. An alliance with the Zebra was Fluttershy’s dream and Star Swirl had long worshiped the old mare from afar, by making that dream a reality she was certain she could convince Fluttershy to take Star Swirl on as an assistant and protect her from the consequences of Zenai’s actions.

At least she hoped it was. If it wasn’t… well Zenai would go straight to pony hell, and Star Swirl would be even more deserving of a nice spot with Luna and Celestia. That would be justice at least.

“Ow… nice bluff there. You know, you’ve got a damn good poker face.”

Star Swirl averted her eyes in embarrassment at Dust Kicker’s praise, her shy grin clearly visible from this vantage point. Zenai suspected Dust Kicker had likely let her win as Star Swirl was rarely savvy enough to win against the real pros, though he did it convincingly at least. It certainly warmed her up to the mercenary, especially alongside his failure to leer at her prominently displayed rear earlier.

True, she didn’t trust Dust Kicker yet, he was after all a killer for hire with an extremely improbable pre-NCR history absolutely full of holes. Neither had he seen fit to reveal the cutie mark hidden under the leather coat he wore, something that almost screamed ‘something to hide’. She was well aware that all too many of the smarter raiders had promptly ditched their armor and locked themselves in their own cages the second they saw the Applejack Rangers coming, indeed she wouldn’t be surprised if some of the Rangers themselves were hiding severed head cutie marks and an ugly collection of past sins under that power armor. Still Dust Kicker had carried himself with dignity so far, which was more than she could say for many professional soldiers she had met. He might… just might even stick with them when he found out that the whole mission was a load of bunk, at least for Star Swirl’s sake. Or he could just shoot her there and then, she really didn’t know him well enough to tell.

Zenai sighed and shook her head at how depressed and self recriminating she was getting, an unfortunate consequence of being stuck with nothing to do but think after all her dishonesty had finally paid off. Fortunately she didn’t have the chance for further contemplation, the sudden alarm splitting the peace like a knife.

Everyone looked up as a red light came on next to the door to the driver’s compartment, the low alarm continuing to sound in a looping whine. Loose Trigger rolled off his bunk with a yawn, tired eyes gazing around as he tried to orientate himself. A solid thump shook the airship and Zenai couldn’t stop a shrill scream of panic escaping her mouth, looking around desperately for failing equipment or signs of attack, “What’s going on? Are we…?!”

“Don’t you worry none miss, just the engines engaging.” Trigger wiped a hoof across his eyes, giving a deep yawn and trotting over to the door, “Hey Ice Break, everything ok?”

The door opened and the mint blue Pegasus trotted out, his face grim and serious. Zenai would have been worried more by that if his face wasn’t always grim and serious, Ice Break having at some point gained a nasty scar across his face that stopped him from easily adopting any other expression. He didn’t look frantic at least, looking around to make sure everyone was listening before explaining himself, “We’ve hit the slip stream.”

Trigger raised an eyebrow, “We’re early.”

“Either Clear Skies was wrong, or the winds are changing.” Ice Break looked over at Trigger, tapping the side of the table, “It won’t be a problem, we’ll just have to adjust our course a little. I’ve already shifted us into the slipstream but it feels unstable, I’ll need you in there with me for a little while Loose Trigger.”

“Aye Captain.”

“And get your cold weather gear on, it’s looking stormy out there.”

Dust Kicker gave the frowning Pegasus an apprising look, stopping the Pegasus just as he was about to move off, “Hey Captain, just for the record. How’d you get your cutie mark?”

Zenai frowned in confusion, wondering what triggered the rather random question…

“Nice call.” Ice Break didn’t hesitate for a moment, looking down at the broken icicle that matched his name perfectly, “Got it guiding a squad of Enclave soldiers through the Crystal mountains, half their team injured, no supplies, their power armor down. Didn’t lose a man.”

Zenai blinked in disbelief at the story, “You did that before getting your cutie mark? How old were you?”

“Didn’t grow up in Stratusburg girl. My father guided people through Griffon territory for fifty years.”

“Don’t let his pretty face fool you, the captain is a true frontier stallion to the core.” Loose Trigger shot the pegasus an affectionate look, “Followed him twenty years now, never steered me wrong.”

Ice Break snorted, his expression not shifting an inch at the praise, “I’m pretty sure your memory’s getting selective about my decision making, but when it comes to weather…” A flash of lightning illuminated the cabin, the roar of the wind outside getting louder. Ice Break simply paused to regard it dispassionately, even as the low rumble of the thunder filled the air, “Well this isn’t the worst I’ve got through by far. Just buckle yourselves down, try not to vomit if we have to get fancy.”

Zenai felt a vague and rather embarrassing fear of flying come over her, increasing as the airship shifted under them at the wind’s howl. She looked outside, the rain coming down thick and fast now, outright hurled against the structure like missiles of exploding crystal. She was just three years old when Littlepip activated the SPP, she could honestly say she had never seen weather so violent, “We’re… not in any danger are we?”

“I think those two know what they’re doing.” Dust sighed, busy collecting some ropes that had been laid at the side of the room, “Just try to get some rest, it will make it a lot easier.”

Star Swirl swept the dice and chips off the table and into her saddlebag, expanding her wings slightly as she looked across at her friend, “If something goes wrong I can carry you.”

“In this weather?” Dust Kicker gave a low chuckle, “I’ve been in weather like this, when you can’t walk for ten minutes before you lose the feeling in your hooves and the urge to just lie down and sleep becomes impossible to resist. Trust me, your wings won’t do us any good out there.”

Zenai frowned at him, turning back to look out the window, “Well thanks so much for the reassuring words… what’s that?”

Dust raised an eyebrow, trotting over, “What’s what?”

“Is that a fish, or a…” Zenai focused on the object floating nearby, peering through the rain and darkness at the indistinct shape being thrown about in the churning waters, “I think it’s… it’s a boat!”

“It’s a box of corpses if it is.” Dust leaned over, shaking his head, “Whatever it is, it’s already breaking up.”

Dust was right, and as they got closer Zenai realized she was right too. It was a ship, made of metal by the looks of it and already falling apart against the colossal waves that were bombarding it. A wave of fear and concern overwhelmed her, her voice rising, “Mr… Mr Ice Break! You have to stop!”

There was a curse from the cabin, Ice Break trotting out in a sleek NCR jumpsuit, “What is this...?”

“It’s a ship, with people!”

Ice Break trotted over, his aging eyes struggling to pick out what Zenai was pointing to. He quickly located the object in question however, his expression calculating as he drew back, “They’d likely be already dead by the time we got there. Re-entering the slip stream during this weather would be very dangerous as well, it was difficult enough just now and the wind has only picked up since.”

Star Swirl suddenly spoke up in anger, her expression mirroring Zenai’s own, “We can’t just leave them!”

Ice Break whirled on her, his scarred face twisting in anger, “If your next words are to call me a coward, hold your tongue filly! We need one pegasi in the cabin, or at the very least on the Altostratus. That means we’ve only got one pegasus to mount a rescue, which means we’ll be risking all our lives for a single passenger aboard that vessel. It’s not worth the risk.”

Star Swirl’s wings expanded with an explosion of air, sending chairs scattering and almost knocking the table over. She strode forward, head raised and nostrils flaring, “I have wings too!”

“And a spine and voice, I honestly was beginning to wonder.” Ice Break faced her down, eyes as cold and hard as his name suggested, “But I’d still bet you don’t know the slightest thing about flying in this weather. Don’t know a single alicorn who does, there’s a reason you never heard about any sonic rainbooms from Celestia and Luna. You’re too big, too clumsy and too heavy. You won’t last five seconds out there.”

Star Swirl glared and advanced past him, Ice Break growling as he moved to stop her. She simply expanded her wing and sent him tumbling onto his side with embarrassing ease, the pegasus rolling back onto his hooves and barking an order, “Do not let her open that door!”

Dust Kicker sighed and calmly placed himself between her and the cargo bay, backing up until he had crates to either side. He smiled softly at the angry looking alicorn as she advanced, “Now come on Star Swirl, you know you don’t want to fight me…”

It seemed Dust Kicker didn’t know Star Swirl as well as he thought, the alicorn leaning her head down as sparks flew from her horn. Dust Kicker attempted to struggle but it was too quick, the earth pony thrown off his hooves and slammed against the wall by Star Swirl’s telekinesis. He slumped down as the alicorn trotted past, her magic flaring again to tear open the rear door before her with a blast of rushing air.

Zenai decided she had to speak up now, not about to watch her friend throw herself out an airship without saying something, “Please Star Swirl, we need to plan this, you can’t save all those people alone.”

“Looks like I’m going to have to.” She expanded her wings, her great feathers stretching almost all the way across the width of the airship, “Just try and convince them to wait for me.”

Ice Break snarled and broke into a gallop, shouting out a final warning, “Stop it you idiot mare, you’re going to…!”

She leapt, her wings expanding against the wind. For a second she honestly looked like some glorious alicorn goddess from time past, her form silhouetted against the raging storm…

And then the wind caught her, parachuting her wings behind her and flinging her hard into the Altostratus with a terrific clang. Zenai’s eyes shot round in horror as she watched Star Swirl’s struggling form, the alicorn cartwheeling by the window and into the raging storm with a look of frantic desperation. Ice Break simply watched her with mounting irritation, “That mare is the worst kind of idiot.”

Zenai almost shouted the words, rising panic filling her breast, “Help her!”

“Not going to happen. She has wings, she can take care of herself.” Ice Break cut off any protest by galloping forward, shooting past the recovering Dust Kicker and launching himself out the back door like a torpedo. Zenai rushed forward to watch in not a tiny bit of awe as he dived through the wind and rain, his wings plastered tight against his muscular form as he descended upon the stricken vessel.

“Did the captain just jump?!”

Dust Kicker growled at Loose Trigger’s shouted question as he pushed himself to his feet, “Keep us steady Trigger! And you…” He seized Zenai’s tail in his teeth and pulled her backwards, causing her to yell as she felt her roots tug and her body slide backwards along the increasingly damp floor, “…get away from the open cargo door before you become another casualty!”

“Yow! Gettoff!”

Dust paused, letting her tail drop as his jaw dropped open in incredulous amazement, “You… taste like strawberries.”

“I…” Zenai blushed, hoping not to reveal that little tidbit until a more appropriate moment. At least she knew it worked, “Can we discuss my care products some other time? Where’s Star Swirl gone?”

Dust Kicker’s fierce demeanor returned, giving her a cold glare before inching towards the rain soaked opening as his eyes searched the skies. Zenai wasn’t about to get her tail bitten again and so rushed to the window instead, looking about for any sign of the purple alicorn…

She was there, in the storm. She soared through the wind like a goddess, using her shield to cut her way through the elements. Spray was flung away from her in a rainbow of shattered light, the alicorn following Ice Break as they flew towards the stricken ship.

Ice Break had just reached the vessel, pulling up at the last moment clutching one, then two figures in his teeth as he passed. Zenai watched as he struggled to regain altitude, gasping as he dumped one back in the water and flew back upwards towards them with his remaining passenger still clutched tight.

Star Swirl on the other hand flew past him like a comet, managing to grab hold of three struggling figures with her magic. Zenai’s heart did a cartwheel as the alicorn misjudged her velocity and hit the water, flinging her magic downwards to force herself back into the air in a fierce explosion of crashing spray. She lost one of her passengers on the assent and quickly veered into a crazy arc to catch them between her teeth, driving her wings in fierce powerful beats in an attempt to catch up to the Altostratus. It was both inspiring and… insane. Zenai knew Star Swirl wasn’t the most athletic of ponies, and honestly had no idea how long she could keep this up.

She was distracted from her singular focus as Ice Break touched down in the cargo bay with a half drowned Zebra clutched in his teeth and his fur completely soaked through. He hurled his passenger sliding into the living area with a flick of his head before turning back to look down at Star Swirl below, “Celestia save us, that mare is crazy.”

Zenai looked back out the window, feeling the need to state the obvious, “She’s tiring…”

“Of course she is. She’s been pulsing magic constantly and she’s carrying three ponies near the equivalent of twice her body weight in gale force winds.” Ice Break rolled his eyes in annoyance before trotting back towards the exit, “But no matter how hard she’s trying to kill herself, I don’t lose my passengers.”

He dived again, Dust Kicker galloping over to check the unconscious zebra Ice Break had rescued. Zenai knew she should really help, still she couldn’t take her eyes off Star Swirl. The alicorn was now definitely struggling, her wing beats getting slower and her magic beginning to flicker slightly. Zenai actually had some bloodwing talismans stored at the bottom of their luggage somewhere, she was still wondering if she should have gone looking for them at the beginning…

Who was she kidding? It was taking everything Star Swirl had to stay on course and she was a strong, experienced flyer, Zenai would have gone spiraling into the sea near instantly if she tried to fly in this weather. She looked up at the black, stormy skies, wondering once again where this was coming from. Had they truly pushed all the bad weather out of Equestria and into the lands beyond? And if so, what did that mean for the Zebra territories?

“Zenai! Concentrate!”

She was knocked out of her daydream by Dust Kicker’s gravelly voice, the Stallion running towards the cargo entrance. She looked out the window again as Ice Break soared past Star Swirl and snatched a smaller figure from her grasp, spinning in mid air and hurling them up at the Altostratus. Dust Kicker was already ready, standing at the cargo entrance with a rope tied around his waist. His body tensed briefly before he leapt into the elements with a fierce yell.

“Dust Kicker!” Zenai galloped over in terror at the sight, realizing her mistake when she attempted to stop and near slid right over the edge as her hooves attempted to find purchase on the wet metal. Her dinner briefly attempted to escape as her muzzle poked over the edge, her hair quickly plastered against her skull as she spotted Dust Kicker swinging wildly below with a Zebra foal clutched in his hooves. She took a second to bury her sheer bedwetting terror before dancing back, locating the taught rope holding the pair and seizing it firmly in her teeth as she tried to pull them back up.

In retrospect she should have considered the possibility that all she would end up doing is looking like a moron, trying to pull two ponies back upwards with no proper leverage, both of them seized by gale force winds that sent them constantly swinging in random directions. A second or two after her face had gone bright red from the exertion an exhausted looking Ice Break landed beside her, throwing a… huge, wet, unidentifiable ball of fur through the air to land beside the Zebra they had previously rescued. He looked towards Zenai and she instantly released the rope with a completely abashed expression, Ice Break however could only stare back with a look of near total exhaustion on his rain sodden face.

Star Swirl landed a moment later, sweeping through the both of them and sending them all sprawling into the living area with a chorus of yells and swears. Zenai managed to escape being trapped at the bottom at least, rolling to a stop and just letting herself sink against the hard metal floor.

It was quiet now. Too quiet. She was eventually forced to ask, however inviting just lying here was, “Dust…”

“I’m here.”

“Oh good.” She could feel Star Swirl above her too, the familiar roughness of her wings on her back and the rasping of her breaths a short distance from her ear. She continued her mental list of possible disasters, keen to just lay here in clear conscience without anyone dying for a moment, “Star Swirl, are you laying on anyone?”

The alicorn’s voice sounded strange, raspy and sore, “I don’t think so…”

Dust Kicker spoke up again, “Your wings are tickling my ear.”

“Sorry…”

Star Swirl withdrew her wings back into her sides, Zenai taking the opportunity to stand up and take stock of the situation. Everyone was here, Star Swirl belly down on the ground next to her and Dust Kicker lightly resting against the alicorn’s side. Ice Break was in the far corner, coughing roughly into a bucket, a white unicorn pony she didn’t recognize beside him. Also arrayed around the room were the other survivors from the downed ship, the zebra buck and ball of fur joined by the zebra filly Dust had caught.

Zenai was the only one who hadn’t been caught in the rain, or really done anything to help so far. She drove that thought to the front of her mind as she kicked herself into action, running to the filly first.

She was a tough looking thing, much unlike those who had grown up in the relative safety of the post-gardens wasteland. Muscled and bearing an old scar across her side, Zenai quickly ascertained the filly was still breathing and out of immediate danger. The unicorn was another matter, even from this distance she could see that unlike the other casualties her chest wasn’t rising at all. She ran over to the mare but quickly stopped short, looking sadly down at the alabaster pony. Her neck jutted oddly where her spine had been displaced; her eyes open ever so slightly to reveal glazed, dead eyes. Zenai reassured herself that she had probably died instantly before turning back to the creatures she could still help.

She was instantly startled as a loud yell sounded out behind her, turning to see the big ball of fur up on his hooves and staring around with a look of wild terror in his small, beady eyes. It was only now that she realized what he was, his horns and muscular body structure clearly identifying him as a buffalo. Zenai was rather taken off guard by that, buffalo being a rare species even in the Equestrian Wasteland. She hesitated to even guess what he was doing on the open seas.
“Sabah, Prism! Ungh…” The huge creature stepped forward, his hooves instantly failing under him and dropping the massive beast the ground with a crash. His eyes filled with tears as he tried to crawl forward, giving a loud, painful roar and looking about desperately with unseeing eyes, “Prism, where are you! Call out for me, I’m coming!”

“Please sir, you are badly hurt. You will only injure yourself if you move any further.” Zenai galloped across to lean before him, keeping her voice low and sweet as she whispered in the great beast’s ear, “Please, you are safe now.”

The buffalo looked up at her, trying desperately to focus, “Sabah…?”

“Is Sabah a Zebra filly with a scar on her side?”

“Yes… yes…”

“Then she is safe too, and in good hands.”

The buffalo relaxed, his body sinking back into the ground and his breaths easing. After a moment his spoke again, forcing the words through his cold, exhausted body, “Diamond Prism… a white unicorn pony… please, is she safe too…?”

Zenai’s heart seized, forcing herself to keep the emotion from her voice as she lied, “She is with us too. Please, rest.”

The buffalo gave a soft sigh, a broad smile edging across his face before he finally lapsed into merciful unconsciousness. Zenai watched him for a second more before snatching a few blankets off Dust’s cot and draping them over the beast, hoping that would keep the hypothermia at bay until they could dry and heat him properly.

She set to each of them in turn, wrapping them up with all the blankets she could find and placing them close to the magitec engine for the extra warmth. Fortunately there weren’t any injuries she could see apart from a couple of teeth marks from Star Swirl and Ice Break’s tight grip, and none of them seemed to have swallowed any significant amount of sea water. Given that she was hopeful that they would all wake up unharmed once she had raised their core temperatures, giving each a healing potion just in case. She threw a few blankets across Star Swirl and and Dust too, just about to go over to Ice Break when Loose Trigger galloped out of the driver’s cabin and over to his bedraggled captain, a fluffy blue towel balanced on his wing “Damn Captain, I saw the whole thing! You sure haven’t gotten rusty!”

Ice Break grumbled in replay, shifting his matted mane aside with a hoof, “Get back into the cabin soldier, we’re not out of this storm yet.”

Trigger gave a grinning salute, “Aye captain, I’ll get us through this safe and sound! But you’re kidding if I was just going to let that go.”

The stallion trotted over and gave the older pony a kiss on the forehead, draping the towel across his head and sponging off the worst of the rainwater. Zenai tried to pull her eyes away from the pair as Ice Break’s horribly scarred face peered back at his subordinate through damp, ruffled fur, the stoic pegasi’s composure broken for just a moment as he nodded in gratitude, “Thank you soldier. Now get back to your station.”

“Yessir!”

Ice Break watched Loose Trigger go, waiting until the cabin door closed before shooting the blushing Zenai a harsh, piercing glare, “I’ll let you talk to the alicorn. Rest assured, she does that again and I’ll toss her out the cargo door myself.”

Zenai flushed, giving him an awkward nod, “Um… yes sir. Sorry sir.”

~

After their daring rescue in the face of improbable odds it wasn’t a surprise that the next hour passed quietly. Zenai’s patients had progressed as expected, all of them having now passed into a deep sleep that was only occasionally broken by moments of incoherent wakefulness. Diamond Prism had been cleaned and wrapped in a sheet by Star Swirl, the alicorn seeming to feel responsible for the unicorn’s death from what Zenai could observe. And observe was really all she could do, since Star Swirl hadn’t spoken a word since she woke up, whether by guilt, embarrassment or whatever Zenai could only guess. Dust occasionally looked like he was going to say something before thinking better of it, eventually announcing that he was going to get some sleep and retiring to his bunk.

Zenai actually jumped a little when she moved to check on the Zebra filly and the girl’s eyes flicked open, focusing on Zenai with a wary, distrustful glare as she shifted backwards slightly. She stayed in that position until she was sure Zenai wasn’t about to attack, her eyes quickly flicking around the room. She pushed herself onto her haunches, her voice rough and scratchy despite its youthfulness “Where’s Diamond Prism?”

Zenai really wasn’t ready for this, especially not to a young filly. Her courage failed instantly, “You’ve only just woken up…”

Her voice instantly raised to a piercing yell, muscles bunching as the Zebra pushed herself up onto her hooves to face up against Zenai, “Where is she!?”

“I…” Zenai shot a look at Star Swirl but the alicorn wasn’t any help, quite obviously hiding her face from view and pretending not to hear. She knew trying to protect this filly from the truth would only make her angrier though, Zenai mustering her courage and facing her, “She didn’t make it.” Zenai gulped noisily, trying not to babble and failing miserably, “I’m so, so sorry. We… we did what we could to save you all but...”

The filly’s lip trembled for a moment before she swallowed the emotion, her body tensing up as she silently tried to process this information. Zenai forced herself to remain quiet, the girl eventually lifting her head and speaking with an immense, crushing weariness, “Who are you? Why did you save us?”

Zenai looked about, realizing they must make a pretty strange looking group, “We’re from Equestria. We’re traveling to the Zebra homelands to make peaceful contact there.”

The filly seemed to find this deeply affecting, having to avert her gaze for a moment. Of course looking everywhere but at Zenai meant she eventually located the wrapped body at Star Swirl’s feet, her body tensing once more as if in pain. Her voice was totally without emotion as she asked the question, “Is that her?”

“I don’t think…”

“I want to see her.” The filly didn’t wait for confirmation, walking past Zenai and over to the body with slow, but only slightly hesitant steps. Zenai didn’t move to stop her, Star Swirl observing her with wide eyes for a moment before slowly backing away to give the Zebra filly some space. The filly stopped before the body and observed its shape for a moment before moving a hoof up to its face and shifting the sheet aside.

Zenai had to admit Star Swirl had done her job well, the unicorn’s eyes closed and her face peaceful, her mane brushed and laid across her body. The filly stared at her for some time before gently bending down and kissing the pony on the neck, breathing a prayer in what Zenai recognized as the Zebra tongue, “May the light of the moon and sun never leave you Diamond Prism, may it be from Celestia or the Allmother. Let the warmth of love guide you through the darkness, protect you on your journey home. Those left behind will keep your memory in our hearts, gaining strength to live on for your honor.”

It sounded like a prayer, though one she had never heard before. Zenai’s curiosity won over her feeling that she should really remain silent on such an occasion, “Was that… a zebra prayer?”

“I don’t know. It’s what my grandfather said at my parents’ funeral.” The filly stared down at Diamond Prism, her face calm and achingly soft, “Except for the part about Celestia of course. Diamond Prism believed in her, that she was still watching us from within the sun. She would probably have her own rites she would like to be performed, but… you’re from Equestria, do you know any prayers to Celestia?”

“There… aren’t any. Not really.” Zenai shook her head, wishing she knew more about it. She considered herself to have a reasonable education, but had to admit her knowledge of pony theology was limited, “There are funeral arrangements, but Celestia always insisted that her authority was temporal…” She shook her head clear, angry with herself for bringing scholarly arguments into this, “It doesn’t matter, what you said was beautiful… Sabah? Is that your name?”

The filly turned round, surprised and suspicious at her unexpected knowledge, “Yes… how did you know?”

“The buffalo woke up, he was calling for you.” Zenai looked over to the sleeping form of the massive creature, “The three of you were traveling together?”

Sabah followed her gaze to the sleeping buffalo, “Gentle Horn is a traveling merchant. He’s… not the smartest tool in the box, but he was nice enough to take me on. It’s a dangerous job and I can handle myself in a fight, and we were always banding together with other travelers for protection. Diamond Prism was one of them, and just… attached herself to us after a while.” Sabah looked back at the unicorn, pained affection in her eyes, “She was a traveling teacher and storyteller. She didn’t even ask for money, just donations to get her to the next place. She taught me how to read, and speak Equestrian.”

Zenai bit her lip, appalled by how matter of fact the filly was about it all, “I’m sorry.”

“I wish you could have met her. That’s…” For a second Sabah almost sounded like she was about to cry, however she quickly caught it and her voice filled instead with a quiet determination, “She wasn’t scared to die. She knew Celestia would take her and keep her safe, and that she had lived a good life. I’m just sad that you never got to meet her. She was a wonderful pony.”

Sabah made Zenai… ache. She was everything she hated about the wasteland, a tiny child who hadn’t even attained her spiral mark, so totally accustomed to death that she wouldn’t cry at the death of someone so obviously dear to her. She wanted more than anything to give the filly a hug but she got the feeling that Sabah would not appreciate any attempt to comfort her. She decided to keep things practical instead, “Where were you going?”

“Star Fall. It’s an island off the golden coast.”

“Then we can give you a lift, we’re heading there too.”

Sabah nodded, moving a hoof to gingerly touch Diamond Prism’s face. She etched it down her cheek before placing it back on the ground, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, “There’s supposed to be a Church of Celestia there, I should take Diamond Prism there. They’ll know what to do next.”

“There…” Zenai had no idea what to expect from Star Fall, but this certainly surprised her, “There’s a Church of… Celestia?”

“I… think so.” Sabah looked up at Zenai, her expression etched with confusion, “I’ve never been there, but they say it’s a land where all lost souls end up eventually. Diamond Prism was from there, she said that she sometimes wondered if it was the only place that survived the war, and the rest of the world was some horrible hallucination. That’s why it’s called Star Fall.”

“Why it’s called…?”

“The land of the damned. A monument to the world’s ending.” Sabah turned back to Diamond Prism, “It’s where she should be buried.”

It was quiet for a long time after that, Zenai eventually realizing that she couldn’t just stand here watching the filly mourn, “Do you want to be left alone?”

“Yes please.” Sabah looked over at the Buffalo, “Gentle Horn won’t take it well. Tell him not to talk to me ok?”

Zenai thought that was pretty cold, though she understood the sentiment, “Ok. Do you know who the other Zebra is?”

“No. Maybe one of the crew.” Her face contorted in contempt, “If he is, tell him not to talk to me either. I… if I find someone I can blame, I will tear their throat out with my teeth.”

“O… ok…”

“I mean it.” Sabah lay down beside Diamond Prism, her voice low and cold, “I haven’t survived in the wasteland on my own by being squeamish about how I kill, or what I eat.”

Zenai quite wisely shut up, Star Swirl heading over to the other side of the room to stare at the wall with grim intensity. Zenai’s thoughts were even more clouded now she had met one of the inhabitants of the Zebra wasteland, both curious and frightened to see what lay beyond.

Their first stop was Star Fall, land of Churches of Celestia and the countless lost and damned. It seemed as good a place as any to start.

_______________________

Footnote: Level up! (3)

New Perk added: Black Widow – “I can be a bad filly sometimes too...”
Not just a pretty face, your understanding of the weaknesses of the rougher sex give you a 10% bonus to damage against male opponents. Outside of combat, you'll sometimes have access to unique dialogue options when dealing with the opposite sex.

This fanfiction is based on Fallout Equestria by Kkat, it is highly recommended that you read that first for context. Reading Fallout Equestria: Pink Eyes by Mimezinga will help understanding, but isn’t required.

Many of the characters and much of the setting are not mine but are on loan from the very awesome Kkat, or are taken from My Little Pony - Friendship Is Magic by Hasbro. This story makes no pretentions at being canon with either, and is merely a ‘what-if’ set in the same world.

If you enjoy Fallout Equestria Side Stories, you will want to check the Fallout Equestria Side Stories post on Equestria Daily and the Fallout Equestria Side Stories thread on Ponychan.

Comments

[Philweasel]

Just posting to tell everyone, next chapter will be up early next week. It's a big one, it sets up quite a bit of future plot and several important characters. I hope you like it.

In other news, I'm looking for pre-readers. Anyone want to volunteer, I'd be very grateful.

[mustangdrew4]

That was some action packed mission impossible stuff toward the end there but you made it feel so desperate and frantic that it felt realistic (well as realistic as techno colored ponies who can talk can be). Excellent job with the pacing as well. You built up to it with the rain leading to storm which went based pretty quickly. Well done.