Fallout Equestria : Lineage

by SunsetSpecter

Chapter Six: "Not a Pony"

There is a measurable difference between unintentionally causing the death of a living thing, and taking the time to steady a firearm and pulling the trigger.

“Thank Luna it's still here!”

Sunset bolted inside the rusted hulk of metal that once might have been a large passenger carriage. I trotted in after the tired pegasus my legs still shaking from the flight. I took stock of the interior, rusted metal exposed under the peeling paint and torn paneling. Most of the interior was bare, though that might have been by design since it was large enough for eight ponies and a driver. Most of the roof was intact save for where the metal had rusted away near the rear of the vehicle leaving brown streaks running down the sides of the carriage walls.

“Not gonna be as comfy as the beds, but...” Sunset lay down on a passenger bench causing the cushion to make a wet squelching sound in protest at his weight.

“Well, this is better.” I said flatly, lowering my packs onto the floor. My stomach growled as my face turned a light shade of red.

“Ya’d think by the sound of that you’d been the one fly’n us here.” Sunset chuckled from his seat near the back of the transport.

“Um... Tell you what, you get a fire started, and I'll cook us some dinner.” Opening my packs, I began pulling little odds and ends out of it. Small pieces of scrap metal, a screwdriver and some bobby pins.

Ooh, bobby pins! I levitated a few into my hair, pinning it out of my eyes.

“Okay, canned beans and dried fruits. Won't be as delectable as my chocolate pudding, but should fill up the stomach.” I said turning back towards Sunset, who was already asleep. He had not even stripped off his packs or Battle Saddle. Water dripped off his fur adding itself to the pool collecting within the metal carriage as he nuzzled his head into his cybernetic limb.

“Great... He’d better not snore.” Levitating a few pieces of splintered wood from the fragmented flooring, I then touched my horn to the pile, igniting it.

I sat there for a while letting my lab coat dry over my fur as the food slowly cooked atop the tiny fire. I didn’t know what this new world might have to offer but I had enough common sense to realize that a large campfire might attract the attention of, well anything out there. The sound of the rain pelting the thin metal roof was a constant reminder that I was, in fact, outside, and I wished I could see more of what was out there besides the dark rain soaked ground in my immediate vicinity.

It didn’t take long for the tiny fire to heat up the beans to a palatable temperature. The orange pegasus was oblivious to the food, so I let him sleep. After all, he seemed like he needed it. My magic levitated the warm can of beans over to me and I started to munch on them thinking about nothing in particular. My fur had mostly dried by the time I finished up my portion of the beans and since I was not really all that tired I figured that maybe I ought to have a look around the top of this platform.

Maybe because it’s so hard to get to, nobody has picked over these ruins? It was a good enough excuse for me and I exited the carriage. The rain had lightened to a drizzle which was a plus as I had just barely dried off from my first excursion into the Wastes. Looking around I saw few other rusting carriages crumpled into the roadway, the decay of time clearly written across their shattered husks. Walking down the road a bit, I stopped to look down through a hole in the deck trying to see the ground below.

Damn, too dark. Pushing myself away from the hole, I headed over to one of the more intact looking abandoned carriages. Running my horn over the metal my magic enveloped the whole vehicle with a slight green hue.

Well let’s see what we’ve got. Basic machinery, plenty of oxidation, runs off spark batteries; simple unicorn technology, not really much here worth picking over if they are all like this. Turning away from the carriage I walked to the edge of the road, looking over what little of the wastelands I could see. The lack of light and the rain obscured my view, but I could still just about make out a few details of the twisted landscape below me.

Looking out over the broken landscape before me I remembered something I was told when I was younger, after my first operation left the patient brain-dead. We're nothing but Dust in the Wind. I could not even come close to understanding what that phrase meant until just now. Standing on the edge of the collapsed roadway feeling the wind pull on my barding and the particles of water splashing into my face I felt a profound sense of insignificance under the rolling night time clouds. Looking up, in what little light there was I could still tell that the darkened sky seemed to stretch on forever. Memories of being lifted into its impossible expanse on our flight here made me lay down, not so much from the light-headedness, more so from wanting to have as much contact with the wonderfully solid ground as I could. Unfortunately that was not much comfort; this was not the ground I had been hoping for. A dilapidated weather beaten stretch of road several stories high was not my idea of a good place to stay for the night, but it was better than nothing. The surface below me felt pitted and rough under my barding.

Decay, everything out here is rotting away.

The impact of what happened today hit me and sent shivers up my spine that made my fur stand on end. I was outside. Outside outside, in what I had always been told was nothing but a barren irradiated landscape where nothing could survive. Sunset’s existence proved that wrong, and a quick check of my pipbuck showed only radiation levels mildly higher than standing outside the medical labs. Still, the pegasus landed here because it was ‘safe’, rattled off a whole list of names, most of which sounded bad, then passed out. E.F.S. was still showing nothing but the one white bar of Sunset to my left, however...

I really need to practice firing this thing. Levitating my beam pistol in front of my face I looked over the cobbled together device. Yawning for the first time tonight, I slipped the firearm back into my saddlebags and trotted into the softly lit carriage where Sunset was resting, I lay next to the fire thankful the small amount of heat had dried a spot on the floor.

Well, this has certainly been an eventful first day. Lost your home, shot a ghoul pony in the face, and flew on the back of an oversized pegasus. Closing my eyes to sleep, a single thought floated through my mind.

[At least your hooves are already red] Wh...? I began snoring lightly.

It was already midday when I cracked my eyes open, embers of a fire remained at the rear of the carriage and still spat out the odd flame if the wind caught them just right. I looked around for Joules but he was not inside the vehicle.

Maybe he’s already gotten up. I’m still breathing so it’s unlikely the Enclave paid us a visit. I tried to calm my breathing; this camp was fairly sheltered from the Wastes, slavers, raiders and scavers never made it up here. Still I needed to convince myself he was safe. Crap. How far can he have wandered off? This artificial plateau was at least a mile in length, which wouldn’t be all that hard to search, however not all of it was structurally sound.

That was not the smartest plan, just falling asleep like that, should have at least told him not to wander off too far. I exited the makeshift shelter and looked skyward. It had stopped raining however the omnipresent cloud cover looked as if it was going to open up again soon. Quickly scanning the roadway I was relieved to see the flanks of a white unicorn sticking out from a hatch on one of the other larger carriages not too far from the one we spent the night in. I trotted up loudly so as he could hear my approach I couldn't help but smile.

"Mornin’!" I said cheerily "Find anything good?"

“Ooh, this is tricky.” Joules was sitting in front of a small gray box, his mane spilling onto his face being only half pinned back by bobby-pins. I heard the telltale snap of a pin breaking.

“Gah! This should be easier!” The small stallion backed up out of the carriage followed by a floating screwdriver and a broken bobby-pin. “Those books I read made this out to be foals play. It really isn't...” He looked over to me. “Say... It's just a box. Why don't we give that new hoof of yours a strength test?” His horn glowed brighter for a moment as the unicorn floated the box out and set it in front of my hooves. “See if you can pry the top off.”

"Not quite sure how you mean me to do that," I said giving the gray box a little kick. I thought about it a moment then batted the box onto its side. "You may want to stand back."

Hovering a few meters above the box on the road I dove, landing with full force on Tes' gift, 'Hard Impact Detected' flashed across my vision.

Okay that’s an understatement. I thought wincing at the pain which shot up my body. While the mechanical limb didn't give way or show any signs of damage, it was however, attached to my skeleton in a multitude of places. This became painfully apparent when shock transferred from the unyielding mechanical limb to the squishy bits of me. I shook my head to clear my vision blurred by the impact and looked down at the box and I was rewarded with the sight of crumpled metal and the sound of the lid landing a few yards away, unfortunately its contents fared about as well as the box.

"Only some two hundred year old paperwork." I said looking back at Joules right before my stomach erupted in protest of my aerial antics. "Heh... Think ya can get that fire going again?"

After prying up some more of the splintered floorboards a slightly larger fire than I would have liked was burning nicely under the rusted hole in the roof. The unicorn emptied the rest of a can of beans onto a small sheet of metal that looked suspiciously like the side door of the carriage he was scavenging earlier before placing it above the flames.

Well at least he had something to eat last night. My stomach grumbled at the sight of the slowly cooking food.

“Say... about last night.” Joules stirred the beans with a clean bit of scrap. “You're right, I am a clever pony, and I've been thinking, throwing a few theories around, and only one makes sense. Your blood, asking about the Canterlot Medical Records...” He stopped stirring and sat there thinking for a moment, “I suppose we both have things the other doesn't know and each of us has their own reason for exploring the wastelands. I wonder, what is it you strive for out here? What has kept you going for so long?”

I whistled low. "Now that's a good question," Taking a moment to think. "Yes, ah do have somethin’ from my past that I'm... not really runnin’ from, just... more don't want nopony to know about." I looked back at Joules stirring the beans on the metal again before scraping half back into the can.

"And?" he asked passing me the partially filled container.

"Ain't nothing bad, ah assure you." Grabbing the offered can in my hooflets.

Really need to ask what those were called.

"Just, well I'd be worried if the wrong pony found out, and we're gonna leave it at that." I buried my muzzle into the can after the cooked beans.

"Uh... huh..." Joules said as he started to eat with much more dignity from the scrap metal plate.

The rest of the meal was spent in silence. I didn't want to ask Joules any questions, and he apparently was content with me just having my face squeezed into a can. By the time we had both finished the rain had started up again.

"We'd better go." I said checking the chrono. "It's at least another six hour flight ‘fore we reach New Applelo-"

"NO!"

Surprised that such volume could come from such a tiny unicorn, I turned and looked at the demure stallion.

"N-no... please, no more flying I..."

"Gotcha." Remembering how he clung to my back shivering from what I thought was the cold of the rain. "We'll walk, but now ah do gotta fly us down to the ground, you gonna be okay with that?"

Not like he had much choice in the matter.

"Yeah just..."

"Ah won't drop you, Pinky Promise."

Joules looked scared, but nodded. It was going to take the better part of two days to walk from the overpass to New Appleloosa. I decided it would be best to avoid the tracks seeing as I particularly didn't want to deal with the Talon mercs at Junction R-7, but then again I knew it was suicide to try and pass through Old Olneigh on the ground.

Why couldn't we just fly? I kicked myself, which only seemed to confuse the terrified unicorn more. Right train tracks it is.

We had been walking for nearly three hours, roughly following the tracks but staying well out of sight of them. I had explained to Joules dangers of sticking to well-worn paths. Slavers and raiders watch those carefully as they both pray on the caravans that are forced to use the packed trails because of their carts. Oddly, for the wasteland, the journey was uneventful; sure there was the occasional bloatsprite that needed to be dispatched. However, Joules was getting the hang of things quickly and by the sixth downed bug he only needed one shot to fell the mutated insect.

"Well look at you, Wasteland exterminator." I said after the sprite fell to the earth smoldering from the beam strike. Joules just smiled at me.

Oh sweet Luna the stallion can smile! My brain yelled as I took a moment to make sure I had not just said that out loud.

We carried on, the terrain forcing us to move closer to the tracks and finally as the canyon closed in we were walking on the ties themselves. I didn’t like it. This portion of the trail was always infested with some vermin, pony or otherwise. Passing the switching station we turned north to follow the lines to R-7. That's when I saw the tiny wisps of smoke rising up above the canyon walls around the bend.

"Hold up," I said placing a hoof across Joules' chest. "Take cover and keep an eye out I’m going ta scout ahead, see if that's friend or foe." Pointing a wingtip to the rising smoke columns just visible over the cliff.

Joules nodded and I left the ground pulling near vertical flight. I wanted to get as high above them as I could, didn't want whoever it was to notice the metallic pegasus flying above their camp. A few seconds later and I had a good view of what was just around the bend.

I hate being right...

Raiders, not too many, but enough to pose a problem if we were to just try and sneak past. I activated my E.F.S. and scanned the area on my next flyover.

All red, no green. Either they had just finished their meal and killed off the last of their captives, or they were hungry and about to go live up to their namesake, either way I felt an old familiar emotion boiling up in my gut. I banked and flew back to where I had left Joules landing behind the rock he was using as cover.

"We got a problem, ‘member those raiders ah mentioned? Well we got a whole bunch a 'em holed up just up the tracks." I said as I placed my Battle Saddle's bit in my mouth with the mini-hooves. "Now ah don't want you ta get involved, but if any of em run your direction, don't hesitate to open fire. Raiders ain't ponies no more."

Joules just nodded with a grim look on his face as I racked the bolt on Morning Light.

"Hey now, this ain’t anything ah can't take care of, but..." Joules looked at me with a pang of fear. "Do me a favor?"

"What?" The unicorn’s ears perked up slightly.

"Rack the bolt back on the fifty? The springs too heavy for me ta do it by cable." I said with the biggest 'everything's going to be just fine' smile on my muzzle.

Joules chambered the massive round with a deft kick of his hind leg.

"Right, we're in business, remember, stay hidden, don't shoot unless you have to, but for the love of Luna ‘shoot’ if you have to!" Without waiting for a response I took back to the air. This time, however, when I banked to circle the camp I dove hard and triggered S.A.T.S.

Here goes nothing!

I looked at the dismal hit percentages displayed by the targeting spell and decided that if I was going to miss, I was at least going to miss and be awesome about it. Selecting two raiders with the fifty caliber shotgun I bit down on the right trigger of Morning Light and accepted the spell. The sky in front of me erupted in flames as the muzzle blasts from my twin guns barked forth sending lead down onto the unsuspecting raiders. The recoil from the .50 on my left nearly spun me in air before I corrected. By the second massive round I had figured out how to compensate so I continued to bite down on both triggers as S.A.T.S. dropped away letting both guns cycle on full auto. My body twisted and rolled navigating the speeding air as I dove bringing the saddle's aim-point onto each target that I could see.

"That's for Carmel! That's for Sugarsnap! That's for Maple!" I yelled sending round after round down upon the raiders every time my teeth clenched. I wasn't sure if these were the same raiders that descended upon my caravan so many moons ago, same camp yes, but who knows if these savage ponies were any of the ones that had mutilated what remained of my friends. Not sure if I even cared. I pulled up from my dive spiraling back up to gain altitude. Looking back at the ground I noticed the muzzle flashes from raiders lucky enough to be armed with ranged weapons. Those without started to flee, most running north along the tracks but one went south towards...

“Joules!”

Before I could do anything about it, a red flash of energy lanced out and the raider fell in a glowing pile of ash.

Atom by at- ERGH Shut Up!

I dove again bringing my guns back on target once again to the remaining raiders not scattered into red mist by my combined firepower. The light popping sounds of Morning Light were interspersed with the thunderous crack of the fifty. The twin retorts issuing from the muzzles just below my head deafening my ears. Bullets zipped back up at me as the raiders started to find cover. However I returned more than my fair share of lead back down onto them. Their aim was horrible, but so was mine at this range, luckily I didn't have to be as precise when lobbing shells the size of a unicorn’s horn. The tracer rounds thrown into the mix helped. One raider did get lucky however and something bit my flank as I banked to spiral back to gain altitude for the second time.

One more pass and the fight would be all but over. Which I was glad, the recoil from the AM-

No, I had the name now.

The recoil from Twister's Rage was causing my flank to bruise as each round fired rammed the gun against my body. Though that could have been the bullet I'd collected from the now spattered raider. Either way I put a few rounds from Morning Light into the last red bar on my E.F.S. and flew back towards Joules.

One green bar, good.

I landed next to the shivering unicorn who was clutching his beam pistol tightly against his chest.

"I-I-I... " Looking up at me deeply troubled, "Killed somepony!" He blurted out as tears started down his cheeks.

"Whoa there, you did no such thing." Putting a wing around the stallion. "Sure it looked pony like, much more than a ghoul that's for sure, but there ain't nothin’ left in there that was remotely pony like, common you gotta see something ta understand."

I helped the shaking unicorn to his hooves before putting his beam pistol back in its harness, Joules being too distraught to mind his belongings. I walked with him, wing over his back, past the still glowing pile of ash towards the camp just around the bend in the tracks. Many shaky steps later we finally rounded the side of the small bowel in the canyon wall which was location of the encampment. Tactically speaking, from a pegasus point of view, it was a lousy place for a base, only two ways in and out, no cover from the air, though I suppose their normal prey aren’t flying.

I was jerked from my tactical assessment of the crazy ponies by a gasp as Joules fell to his rump, mouth agape in horror at the sight before the both of us. Body parts littered every surface of the makeshift encampment, most of them not placed there by my munitions. Ponies partially dissected and strung up on railroad ties planted into the earth. Entrails stretched between the posts like streamers at some sick party. Empty rib cages littered the side of the camp, some still glistened in the dim light. The smell was thick enough in the air to almost taste, overpowering even my jaded senses.

"Not! A! Pony!" I added for emphasis. "Let's go, I want to put as much distance between here and sundown, if anypony else was near here they would have seen my little light show." I practically had to headbutt Joules in the flank to get him to start walking again.

Two hours later and the sun was sinking into the west when I saw a small switching shack like the one we passed by earlier next to the rails. Sunset quickly looked about in what I could only guess was E.F.S. assisted vision. After a quick nod to himself the pegasus cracked the door open and walked inside the small building.

"Think we should hold up here for the night." He said as I entered the small building behind the stallion.

Dust in the wind... Never thought to take it so... literally. The image of the pony... no, raider charging me, being hit by the beam, disintegrating... I shook my head. Learn to get used to it quickly. [Or just kill yourself here.]

I shook my head again. Standing up, I began to explore the shack a bit. It was small, two rooms divided by a single wall with a doorway in it. The image of the camp flashed through my mind as I imagined organs and body parts strewn about and strung up.

There we go! Quickly sprinting outside, I emptied my stomach onto the wasteland. [You know, I’m pretty sure those beans were expir-] Shut it, not now! Walking back in, I noticed the table. Right... Still need to make repairs. I floated out the screwdriver and some scrap metal. Just need to make a shell to protect against all this rain.

After taking a while to start fabricating a simple bit of plating to hopefully better resist the ever present elements, along with letting my stomach settle, I could no longer contain my mind and my muzzle let slip a simple question.

“Say, Sunset, I was wondering...” Well, a lot of things, but one in particular. “Those raiders, when you attacked them, you were yelling something. What was it?”

I watched the color drain from Sunset’s normally orange fur.

"Of all the questions you could have right now, you ask me why I was screaming out the names of-" His voice cracked as I stopped working and looked at him, not really sure why such a simple question would cause this much despair.

"L-look... " The pegasus cleared his throat, "I've been out here a long time, longer than most. The one thing I've learned is that you gotta have friends, or companions, or somethin' with you else the Wastes will kill you. I'm not talking about any specific way mind you, but it'll figure out somethin’ gruesome."

Sunset sighed and started to push some of the empty crates littering the abandoned shack into a set of makeshift beds.

"Ah just... Well ah have a tendency to outlive mostpony ah meet." Tears welled up in his eyes as he turned back to look at me. "Do you have -any- idea how much it hurts to make friends knowing you're going to outlive them all?!?"

I rightly didn’t know what to make of how that conversation went. I had been expecting a simple explanation like, ‘they were friends’, or, ‘I was yelling ammo count’. I sat there, tools hovering in my magic forgotten looking at the stallion at the other end of the shack.

“Yes and No,” Finally bringing myself to answer, “Do I know what it's like, knowing that everypony around you will die? Yes. Do I know what it is like to lose a friend? No. That would require actually having friends.” I opened the saddlebags, floating out another white capsule into my mouth.

“That shelter... It holds more dark secrets than I care to know about. All evil derived from good intent, makes it hurt worse.” I finished making the ‘sleeves for my cybernetic leg, leaving only the pip-buck visible. “Down there, you simply worked to get your next 'upgrade'. Eventually... you stop being pony and start being machine. Like Tes had become; stripped, of memories, feelings, anything that let you know you were once alive. Eventually, the clock stops and the horror that you now are is euthanized automatically. Of course, unicorns weren't allowed to be upgraded, we were too important...” I felt a tear in my eye. Looking at the table, I realized I had driven the screwdriver into it.

“There was never room for friendship.” Pulling the screwdriver out, I walked over to a corner and lied down, resting my head on my hoofs.

"Well now," Said Sunset from the corner beneath the veil of tears running down his snout. "Aren't we a pair or regular toughponies."

I chuckled under my own ragged breath trying my best to hold back my emotions. Several minutes passed as the sun settled lower in the sky casting colored rays below the ever present cloud cover.

"Who was Tes?"

“If you had asked anypony else, they would have called him a failure.” I started fiddling with the screwdriver between my hoofs. “He... When a unicorn is born, they are put through intense schooling. They must learn the simple mechanics of cybernetics and medicine.” I started flipping the screwdriver.

“After completing schooling, we perform our first surgery of attaching cybernetic limbs. Then this continues for a few years until we...” I closed my eyes, sighing. “We remove the brain and place it inside of this... gel. It preserves the brain far longer than anything else had. Tes was my patient.” I curled up into myself sitting on the floor. “Something went wrong his vitals began to fail. It...He...” I took a few ragged breaths in. “We managed to transfer the brain, but not without damage. As punishment for a failure, they connected me to him through the grid. I was ten. Then about... I don't even know how long ago... Tes locked me in cryogenics. Only woke up a week ago, when you showed up. Everyone was gone... dust was everywhere. The grid showed that there were only six ponies alive, me, Tes, and four others that had left before...” I placed the screwdriver down.

“I wasn't even sad that everypony else was dead. They were cruel and corrupt. All I was to them was 'little ‘miss’ battery', just couldn't get enough of the teasing.” I curled up into a ball. “He was my guardian, and he was my child, I suppose... There's still a lot I'm not telling you, I hope you can understand that.

"I..." my mind locked up.

Should I tell him? Would that be a mistake? If he knew would it crush him or help him? Knowing could help him see that his problems aren't so bad, or would that be patronizing?

"Oh Luna guide me with your moon..." I said under my breath tapping my hoof against the floor of the shack in an attempt to ‘do’ something.

He's a clever pony!

"Hey..." I said to the stallion.

Foal? He did say he was locked in cryogen when he was ten. Or did I misunderstand something? I mean he does look young.

"You ‘member when you said that breakin’ the color spectrum with a sonic boom was impossible?" I unbuckled my Battle Saddle carefully laying the guns and packs beside the makeshift bedding.

"Yeah, but... how does that have anything to do wi-" Not letting Joules finish I stepped outside looking at the sun just touching the horizon. I started to limber up, stretching one wing at a time. Preening a loose feather here and there I ignored the dull ache of the bullet lodged in my flank from our friendly neighborhood raider. Flexing my back I turned to look back to where the unicorn was standing just outside the shack looking at me quizzically.

"It’s been too long since I've done this properly." Eyeing the slowly sinking sphere of burning light. "You might wanna cover your ears in a moment."

With a small jump my wings caught me in their downward arc and I climbed as steep as the currents would allow. I gained speed, despite my steep ascent, the winds prevailing out of the west as the hotter air from the sunward side of the earth rushed to fill the dense cooling night air behind it. Reaching an altitude not too high as to alert anypony above the clouds I corrected, pointing my muzzle directly at the dimming light. I had to adjust my natural flight slightly due to my weight being slightly off center as I climbed away from the soggy ground. I tucked my metallic limb up against my chest and started to build speed.

Here we go.

I felt the wind breaking against my face, the pull of the drag against my mane and tail. Thankfully my barding was fur tight and offered no added help to the forces acting against my acceleration. I pressed on, faster and faster. The wind screaming past my ears as the pressure on my one extended hoof built. I pushed all twenty wingpower into my flight and soon enough I felt the air crack. A cone formed around my body in flight, thunder ringing in my ears as my vision, or what I could make out through the wind streaked tears smearing my vision, exploded in a finite spectrum of colors ranging from the deepest of rust red to the most vivid of purple, yellow to orange, and every variation thereof. There wasn't a pony alive that could wipe the smile off my face at that moment. Joules sat back on his haunches looking at me off in the distance as a word escaped his muzzle just barely audible above the din of the rushing air as I streaked back over the shack.

"Sun... set."

Footnote:

Maximum Level Reached

Level Up!

((Authors note: Right, due to work constraints, of both myself and my editorial team this chapter took longer than I had wished, but hey, I’m not really on a schedule, and neither are they. So in the end all that really matters is that this tale keeps on moving forward. Once again massive thanks to both Kkat and Somber for creating and expanding upon this universe respectively. Honestly without your two, along with the wonderful assistance of The Wiseless Stallion I would not have even started writing in the first place. Along with that many thanks to frozenpyro71, Istalir, KaraSkakalac, and That Awesome Brony Guy for editing and pre-reading this mess, making it something actually presentable. Last, but never the least, thanks to all of you for taking the time to read this story. Honestly it does mean a lot to me. ))