Fallout: Equestria- Forsaken Heroes

by Dj Scratchjack

Chapter 7: Back Home

Chapter 7

Back Home

" Well, aint that just b-e-a-u-t-ful! Hope it doesn't come to bite you back in ya' ass!"

So here I was again, in the middle of the night, lying on the cold rock, working overwatch for a friend, scanning the camp for any obstacle in Cloud's way. Since I wasn't sleeping tonight due to this little endeavour, I had my bedroll strapped tightly around the end of my barrel, silencing it as best I could. Seeing Cloud fly over the fence, I scanned the guard tower closest to her. Luckily the guard didn't spot her, or he would have had a bad day with a hole in his head. Cloud slid around the the inside of the fence towards the building that looked like a barracks. I followed my friend as she crawled to the next building, and to the next, and to the next. She came to the main office building, I assumed, since it seemed to be more intact than the rest.. Cloud peeked through the window. Her face went from confused to shock to disgust in a few mere moments. Celestia only knew what was going on in there. She continued on to another and did the same. Peeking through the window, I saw her grin. She looked up to me and nodded, crawling through the opening. I clicked back the scope to get a bigger view of the camp. Patrols were walking around, doing their rounds.

A few hours ago...

"What?! You’re going to try to break into there? That’s insane, they almost shot you!" I yelled at Cloud.

"Those aren't the regular guards, they looked like raiders to me." Cloud replied, sipping on a cup of coffee she had brewed. "Like I said, I will sneak in at night and try to figure out what is going on."

I looked at her in awe. " You truly are insane, aren't you?" I sat across from her with my tea in hoof. She just sighed in response. I looked down at the tea, going through my head what was the pros and cons of this plan. After a few minutes in silence, I looked up and put on a stern look. " What do you need me to do?"

She smiled and pointed at my rifle. " I need you to keep me covered. Provide..umm..what's it called?" she asked.

"Overwatch....Okay, I think that I could do that." I tossed back the last of my tea and smacked my lips. I got up from my seat and grabbed Fang.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

I turned back to her. " If I am going to do this, I need to find the most opportune position, somewhere where I can see most of the camp and keep watch over you while you’re down there. But understand, I’m not taking a shot till they are confirmed hostile. Okay?" I explained.

She hesitated for second, then nodded slowly. " Good. Now, I'll be back. Be careful." I turned and trotted out of the mouth of the cave.

"You too." I heard her respond faintly.

The Present...

As the last patrol passed by Cloud's position, I grew impatient. She’d been in there for more than 10 minutes. What was taking her so long? I saw the faint movement of a shadow in the building. Then, a faint green light shone through the window. A terminal? Maybe. But If I could see it, so could the patrols. I scanned around the perimeter, finding a couple of the guards eyeing the building suspiciously. "Oh, sweet Luna, get out of there, Cloud, now!" I screamed inside my head. The patrol wheeled around the building, disappearing from view. The moment I saw them vanish, Cloud slid out of the window with something in her teeth. She shot straight up in the sky disappearing from sight through the slight cloud cover. I began to crawl back from my perch, still scanning the towers and guards for in case they spotted me or Cloud's departure. None seemed to notice.

As I got back to the shelter, I heard the faint noise of crackling, not of parchment or anything like that, just a slight clicking. Then the rock in front of me moved. A cockroach scuttled away. I jumped back in surprise, letting out a small shriek. Damn bugs. I slid out my knife and stabbed the thing in the back of it's head. floating it towards me, I got to a better look at the bug. This thing was huge, almost as big as my leg.! The radiation really did a number on the wildlife if they all looked like this. I tossed the bug out of the way and looked up to see Cloud peeking around the mouth of the cave. I waved at her.t She didn’t return the gesture. She just sat there looking pale, ready to hurl up her dinner.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "What did you find?"

"We need to go, now." She replied shakily. She threw my hastily rolled up bedroll at me, grabbing it with my magic. She flung her stuff over her shoulder, strapping it in the middle of her back.

"What going on, What's the hurry?"

She turned on me like I insulted her. She grabbed my head between her hooves and stared at me with those cold, icy eyes. "They are going to attack Charity if we don't go NOW! I’m gonna go ahead and warn the others." She let go and took off into the the sky, leaving me behind.

Charity City? Why Charity City? They hadn’t done anything wrong, as far as I’d seen. I slung my gun over my shoulder, and trudged towards home. Cloud would make it back before long at the rate she was going. I picked up my pace as I got to the base of the rocky hill. The weather seemed to give me a break for once, showing neither rain nor thunder. I came to a fork in the path, with one road leading towards Las Pegas, the other to Appleloosa. I checked the map for the direction back to the town. The waypoint I had set helped, but showing me how to get there wasn't on the device’s mind, I guess. I spotted a big pile of rocks in the distance. I waddled through the thick mud that still denied my advancement towards the city. Hopping up the rocks, I was granted a better view point toward the north. What I saw was a sight that I would never forget. The darkness of night hid away and covered up the evidence of a band of raiders’ horrible hobby. Pony corpses littered the ground in a mass grave. Some looked as though they had been torn apart by chains and ropes. Every filly and mare looked like... Damn, what sick perverted bastards would do this? This...I was beyond control of myself at this point. I was pissed off already at the mistreatment I had received from the slavers, now this... I sniffed back a tear of hatred and remorse for the lost.

As if it could sense my rage and sadness, the blasted rain started coming down. I sat there, not caring for anything else in the world but to weep for the dead, but I couldn't. Not now. This was too much. I was going to kill every single bandit and raider i came across till I found the ones responsible for this transgression. I started back towards the town, taking only a few steps before I had to stop and choke back my sadness, saving it for a later time, before finally managing to continue

Something rustled beneath a pile of the dead. I swung my gun around to take aim at the pile of dead ponies. Then something popped out from under the grave, right into the barrel of Fang.

A small earth pony colt the color of crimson with a black and red mane like mine went cross-eyed at the business side of the gun. He then proceeded to pee himself and began to cry. I was shocked. I lowered my rifle and sat down to listen to his cries. This little colt had witnessed the harshness of this hell, had hidden himself under his dead family to escape from the "Big, mean Uglies". The rain seemed to fall harder is I listened to the blubbering of the younging. I didn’t know what to do at this point. I never could take care of my cousins, let alone a child, but, I couldn't just leave him here. He reminded me of myself when I had been his age, losing everything I had because of a fire that had burned down the barn where we stored all our stuff back in Pastureland. I looked toward the horizon. He'd die if he stayed here. Plus, I had to get going: Charity would be attacked soon. Then I felt something wrap around my leg. I looked down to see the colt poking at my prosthetic limb. He seemed curious about it. From sadness to curiosity in the blink of an eye. The wonder of children. He was no older than ten years old. He looked up at me with pale green eyes, shining with innocence. I gulped and leaned down towards him, about to ask him he wanted to go with me, but he already had a plan. He hopped onto my neck, knocking me to the ground, and pulled me into a hug. He cried some more into my neck, wanting his parents back. It broke my heart listening to him.

"Hey, hey. Come on. I know somewhere where there are a lot of ponies that would be very interested in meeting you. Would you like that?" He looked me in the eyes, his own reflecting nothing but sheer sadness, but nodded.

He trudged to his deceased family, and mumbled something under his breath, while I checked the area for hostiles and supplies. We were going to need them. I looked back at the young colt, who was just laying his head on his mom's bloody forehead, her eyes looking back at him with cold, glassy stillness. After I finished picking through the remains of the small settlement, I picked up the colt and placed him on my back. I wasn't a strong stallion, but he didn't weigh that much to begin with. He gave his parents one last, wistful look, waving a kiss to them. I had to pony up for this little one, or we’d never get far in this world. But at least I could save him from a harsher death than what became of them. We walked across the fields towards home, hoping to find the city the way it had been when I left.

After a few hours of trotting, I checked the map to see we were almost to Charity City. I looked back at the colt to find him staring at my leg. " Hey, i never asked you what your name is." I proclaimed. He seemed startled at my suddenness, but looked at me.

"M-m-my name?...Elric. Elric Harmony." He replied. He looked up to me and swallowed audibly. "Umm... Th-Thank you, mister." He whispered. I looked back quizzically.

"What for?" I replied.

"For not shooting me. A-And getting me away-" he started to choke back tears as he spoke.

I put him down on the ground gently. "Hey, It's okay. It'll be okay." I wrapped him in a hug, letting him cry it out. I might not have experience as a father, But I had experience as a friend and brother. "They... They are in a better place now, okay? They will always be with you wherever you are, okay?"

He looked up at me with red, watery eyes. "How do you know?"

I looked down at him with sincerity. "My parents are watching me too, Elric. Have faith in that."

He sniffled and returned the hug. A crack of thunder came from the west, sending chills down my spine. I glared at the sky, wishing the Pegasi would fix this crap and help the ponies down here. Or why didn’t Luna and Celestia raise the moon and sun anymore? Questions for a later time, I guess.

A thought that had been sitting in the back of my head for some time sprang to the surface again. I looked back at the little colt and smiled. "Hey, do you have any family you could try to contact? Someone to take care of you?" Elric just shook his head. "Tell you what: how about this," I picked up Elric and put him on my back. "I'll do whatever i can to get you home. The ponies at the city are really nice. They'll take care of you, ok?" Elric just nodded. I smiled and turned to back to the north.

The town was in a state of evacuation. The chapel's bell rang through all of the commotion of the townsfolk. I never knew so many ponies lived here. There hadn’t even been a third of them on the streets when I had first arrived..

I saw Cloud in the air, flying towards me and Elric. Doctor Stein was passing out weapons and instructing the militia for the battle. Whip Leash was nowhere in sight. Cloud landed next to me and shot a look at Elric, who cowered back from the new pony. She gave me the same confused look. I just shook my head.

"Whip Leash wanted you to see him as soon as you got back. I hope you got some rest before you got here. A group of Raiders have massed to the north and east, blocking our way to get help. Did you see any on the way here?" Cloud asked.

I shook my head again. " Only sign of raiders was the attack on Elric's family." I nodded back at the colt. Cloud just nodded once and shot a worried look at Elric.

"I'm sorry, My name's Cloud. I'm sure you'll like it here with us." She turned to me and waited. I looked around to see if she looking at something else, but it was definitely me.

"You’re still standing here." She remarked.

I flushed a little bit, and bumped Elric for him to follow. When we were out of earshot of Cloud, Elric climbed to the side of my head and whispered, "She's scary."

"You’re dang right she is." I whispered back.

I pushed past the ponies building makeshift barricades of tables and beds. Elric and I found Whip Leash instructing the other children to hide in the inn basement until he or another caretaker came to get them. The older orphans had firearms and weapons, and were told to stay and protect the younger colts and fillies. He turned to me as I approached.

"Reign. Thank Celestia that you’re all right. After I heard what happened at the Offices, I feared you got lost."

"Nah, I'm all right. Just got a little' sidetracked." I slid Elric off my back and pointed to the group of young ponies. " Go with them, They'll take care of you, I'll be right back to get you."

He wrapped my leg in an embrace. "Promise?"

I looked at him and gave him a big smile. "I promise."

He held on for a moment longer and ran off to the group. Whip Leash watched him go and turned back to me with that ridiculous grin.

"What?" I shrugged.

"It seems to me you made a new friend." Whip Leash playfully punched me in my shoulder. "Come on, bro. I need your combat experience here."

He wheeled himself to the nearest table, slid out a map of the town from under his blanket, and laid it flat, placing little pebbles to keep it still in the breeze. He pointed to several places on the different twists and turns of the streets.

"These are the places we are barricading. We have militia placed here," He pointed to the west of the chapel. "And here." He pointed to the north side. " The rest are scattered about at the different barricades and alleyways where we feel most vulnerable."

He looked up at me studying the map in more detail. I saw several pockets where the raiders could slip in. Whip Leash nodded in agreement when I suggested what they should do about those flaws, showing off that goofy grin the entire time. He reached back under the folds of his cover and produces a walkie-talkie and relayed the new commands to his leaders. Once the information was relayed, Whip threw the radio onto the table and put his head between his hooves. I reached over and pat his back.

"Hey, don't worry. We’ll get through this all right." I reassured my friend.

"I know we will. I'm just concerned about the reason behind the attack. Why us? We didn't provoke an attack on this place. We're a peaceful town. I... I just don't understand." Whip Leash leaned back in his wheelchair and stared forward in thought.

"I don't know either, But what I do know is that they will get their asses kicked if they try anything stupid." I retorted. "There isn’t any rest for the wary, right?" I smiled at my brother-in-arms. We were just two battle-hardened ponies trying to defend their home, and Goddess help the ones threatening the kind ways of Charity City.

Whip Leash looked up at me and started to laugh. I chuckled a little myself. Pre-battle jitters will do that to even the most hardened veteran. I’d felt it often enough to know.

"Good Luck, Reign. I'll see you after all this for a bottle of whiskey, eh?" Whip Leash help out his hoof.

"You too, Sarge." I returned the hoof-bump.

Cloud lighted next to us, nodding at me.

"We need you on the front barricade as soon as you’re done here." She nodded at Whip Leash and set back off into the darkening sky. I looked up and watched the clouds which were threatening another miserable rain spell.

"Never stops, does it?" I sighed.

"Nope." Whip Leash replied. "Don't have too much fun without me, Captain." He pushed me toward my next objective.

I turned toward the north, galloping to the barricade. Time to return the favor.

Author's Note:

From the Author:

Sorry guys for the delay. Crap just started happening all at once and it got hard to keep up. but no worries! I'm back and ready for more!
Cheers and remember... don't feed the hedgehogs!

--Dj Scratchjack

Comments

[Turtledude]

Geez... hate much? I don't think I've ever seen a FoE fic get so many dislikes on it's first day after being posted. Really, it's not all that bad after chapter 2. The first couple chapters are a little rough, but that's expected (at least, I've noticed it in most FoE fics, including my own).

As soon as I get caught up enough, I'll start that thing for you.

[Dj Scratchjack]

2809572

nah, i had a little trouble in the beginning with editing. not to mention, my computer decided to post before i was even ready, so it was just a pile of blah.

but now,with my editors, its all clean, fixed-up, and ready to go.

[Turtledude]

Question: What color is Reign's coat? His mane and tail are red and black, based on this line:

A small earth pony colt the color of crimson with a black and red mane like mine went cross-eyed at the business side of the gun

But I can't seem to find what his coat color is.

[Dj Scratchjack]

2820882

images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130513192042/falloutequestria/images/thumb/e/ea/Broken_Reign.png/612px-Broken_Reign.png

this is broken reign before he lost his leg, he is a bit taller than everypony else he knows, too.

you know what Cloud looks like?