//------------------------------// // Chasing a Dream of Light // Story: Fallout Equestria: Power Ponies // by Comrade Bagel Muffin //------------------------------// "So how long have you been in the vigilante business?" Lapis asked as Fluid Moves worked on fixing her window. She couldn't believe that she'd meet him outside of his alter ego, but then again this was the repair pony that Fortiis had hired, and her boss knew him as the Disco Do-Gooder too, so it wasn't to far out of the ball park for her. "For about a decade," Fluid answered taking the dirty window pane down and grabbed one that looked brand new. "Ever since my parents died." Lapis sat up at that. "I'm sorry." "It's alright, I've come to term with it, and I'm working on resolving it." He put the thick pane of glass into the new frame that he made for it. He looked over his shoulder to Lapis, his eyes were oddly calm. "What about you, what happened to make you want to be a hero?" "Ponies need one." Lapis answered after a long pause. Fluid smiled and nodded at her answer. She blushed, it felt really good to get approval from a peer. Not a law pony that thought she was just a weirdo with a tights fetish, but a fellow 'power pony' for lack of a better word. "The colony town I grew up in was a big one, maybe eighty thestrals and about a dozen ponies. We lived in a cave and were always fighting with hell hounds; one of them was a real psycho like demented raider tier psychopath. The mask helped me not be me, I was able too be like one of those heroes in the old comics. And I fought him and won. It felt so good to help everyone, and they needed me then, so I just kept going. You know." "Yeah I get it." He nodded. "It's nice to finally be able to talk about it to a pony that doesn't think that I'm just a crazy pony in an old Nightmare Night costume." She sighed contently leaning back watching him work. "I get that too." He laughed, as he cocked the new window with a wonder glue mixture. "I can't tell you the number of times I've been criticized for my choice of apparel. But it's not as cumbersome as actual armor, and I can fight in it, so I don't see the problem." "Yeah, and I just saved your caravan from a pack of raiders, for free, the least you could do is not call me a freak." Lapis gestured with her hooves. "Is it so hard to just be happy and thankful." "Yes, ponies like that are the absolute worse, or the ones that you save only then to turn around and try and mug you, or something?" "You're preaching to the choir colt wonder, I can't tell you how often a scummy buck tries that nonsense. And I can never figure it out. I mean you just watched me kick the asses of ten raiders, you couldn't even handle one, but when I turn my back to fly away you suddenly think you can take me?" Lapis laughed. "Luna, it's nice to be able to talk about this stuff to somepony that finally gets it." She sighed and leaned back in her sofa her stomach grumbling. "Hey I know it's an odd question Fluid but, ah. You wouldn't happen to know an eat in diner that would be open this close to sundown would you?" I keep giving all my take out to the colt and filly that sleep on the landing." Lapis looked out her window it looked like only an hour until sun down. "I mean I wouldn't mind you coming over to my place. It'll take some time, but I could introduce you to the rest of my team." He offered as he set in the window seal. "Team?" "Yeah team, I work with a group of ponies that help keep both myself and this city safe, and I'm sure that they would like to meet you too." He began putting his things back into his bag. "Aw, did you tell them all about the pretty bat pony that saved you butt?" Lapis smirked. "Actually no, my handlers found out about it in the paper. The sheriff gave a statement about how a second masked vigilante had assisted in the capture and arrest of half a dozen snatcher." He sighed. "The two of them gave me an ear full, about how dumb I had been going out in my state." " Well that's good because it was dumb." Her stomach growled again. Lapis chuckled a little bit "You know normally I don't go with stallions I just met especially back to their place, but I'm hungry and you owe me one." "For the last time, thank you, but I had it," Fluid countered playfully. "Right, sure." She got up and stretched. "And Oliptera's really are just flying mice. But if you're inviting me to your place for dinner I'm not saying no. But we should probably hurry, the sun's already low in the sky as it is." Fluid nodded, leading the way out. Lapis followed him at his side. The two of them headed down the street heading north. Lapis could only stair in shock, her jaw slightly agape, at the building that Fluid led her to. It was on the outskirts of the north western edge of town. A large prewar mansion sitting on a hill, even from the front gate she could hear the sea the separated Equestria from the Griffon lands. Everything was in pristine prewar condition, the grass was even mowed and green. She looked between him and the mansion and then back to him. "You live here?" She pointed to the mansion. "Here. In a mansion. That mansion?" "Yep, that is my family's estate. My family were low members in the prewar aristocracy, but aristocracy none the less, it did come with it's perk apparently, this mansion and its security being one of them." He continued walking the gates opened automatically for him. "Come on, are you hungry or are you just going to stand there and gawk?" He asked with a playful smirk. "I can't believe you're loaded?" "Sort of." Fluid walked up to the gate which opened automatically for him, Lapis following at his side. The two of them walked up the old cobble path up to the mansion. As they approached the front doors of the mansion they opened for them. A protectopony stooped to the side of the door. "Welcome back young master, is this your guest?" "Yes and thank you 41fr3d," Fluid said Lapis gasped again as she walked into the mansion, not just was it pristine on the outside, but it looked like she had stepped back into time. The mahogany walls were clean and looked brand new. The marble flooring looked like it had been polished just this morning, even the carpet looked full and soft. The colors were full and vibrant, and nothing looked like it was about to fall apart. She looked around, this couldn't be real. "I must be dreaming." "No, this is all real, Welcome back kid." Lapis' ears shot straight up. She looked to the stairs standing on the landing. "I thought it was you when I read the paper. This sucks, my sister's going to give me a lot of crap about this." Disc Jocky gave her a smile as he started walking down the stairs to them. "You two know each other?" Fluid asked his turn to be surprised. "Yeah we met yesterday right after I got passed the toll section on the bridge. Thanks for lunch by the way. I hope you don't mind but I'm munching supper off of Fluid tonight, so I guess I owe you guys, two meals," Lapis said. "I'm kind of curious what was the bard wire for?" Disc's friendly eyes became cold and steal like sending a shiver down her spine for breaking some unspoken faux pas. "Drop it and don't bring it up again," he said bluntly before shifting back to his friendly and inviting smile so fast it should have given him whiplash. "Now lets go to the dinning room, I'm sure Ash, Jet, and Dub, are starving." He lead the way Fluid and Lapis to a large dinning room. There was a large table, of polished wood in the middle of the room. Against the wall were massive windows that went from floor to ceiling, giving a commanding view of the grounds. The room was so grand she almost missed the four ponies sitting at the table. The oldest of the four looked just like Disc, but she had a bit more of whimsical look in her eye, and the second that she locked eyes with Lapis her lips curled into a playful smile. Lapis braced herself for the teasing that was doubtless going to involve her. The other three were close to the same age as Fluid, late teens, maybe two years into their twenties. One of them was looking over his shoulder his back having been to them as they walked in, he was an earth pony with a rust brown coat and an orange mane. The other colt at the table, was a pegasus, with a small teddy bear resting on the table in front of him. His coat was a light brown, with a two tone red mane and tail. The pony sitting next to him caught her attention, she wasn't a pony, but a changeling, an orangish body, and an ashen gray mane. Her wings weren't like the wings of the hoofful of changelings she'd seen before, her wings were more like those of a pegasus. "Hello Fluid, I see you met brobro's marefriend before me." "Friend that is mare," both Disc and Lapis said causing everyone in the room to laugh. "I'd tell you about Dub's coltftriends, but I wouldn't finish until breakfast." "Hahaha." Dub exaggerated, "That was so funny, brobro. Come on Lapis take a seat and tell us about yourself dinner is going to be a while." Lapis smiled and took a seat next to the rust brown earth pony. Fluid sat between Dub and the pegasus, and Disc sat between her and his sister. "Seriously though, tell us about yourself, Fluid didn't know much about you this morning, and I want to make sure you're not some scumbag in disguise, not that I think you are but still, you wouldn't be the first stinger the Big 13 sent after us." "What do you mean stinger?" "You know sleeper agent. Like what Pinkie Pie was, as double agent that gets really friendly before springing their tarp. We've had to deal with Pinks before." "For the last time Rusty Pinkie wasn't a Zebra double agent." Dub groaned, "But yes that's what a stinger is, the Big 13 had a real nasty one try to infiltrate us a couple years ago, so please tell us about yourself." Dub smiled. "Well I'm not a stinger, I came here to work with Mr. Fortiis. I wasn't even aware of the Fluid until Fortiis told me about him, and then when I met him last night." "She is telling the truth." A robotic voice said. "Also, dinner is served." The robot returned carrying several plates. There were salads, soups, stuffed vegetables, and a cake. Lapis' stomach grumbled loudly. "Okay okay fine, if 41 vouches for you then you're good. And you sound hungry too, so let's chow down." Dub smiled floating over a salad. The others grabbed plates, "Go ahead grab a plate or two nopony's going to judge you." Lapis didn't need telling a second time she gabbed a bowl of soup and a plate of stuffed veggies, and dove in. "Good?" Disc asked. "Delicious." Lapis nodded. "What's that noise?" She looked up at a high pitch beeping coming from the rust colored earth pony sitting next to her. The colt pulled up his modded pipbuck and started flipping through the prompts, cutting off the beeping. "Uhm Dub, do we have a job tonight?" he asked looking past Lapis and Disc. "No." The Mare shook her head. "Why?" "I think we just got one, western side of town there was a big group of snatchers, It's bad really really bad. I think they're trying to smoke this new hero out." He gestured to Lapis. "We're going to do something right?" Fluid got out of his seat. "Yes we are," Fluid said. "I'm going to grab my stuff." "Right Ash grab your stuff too." Dub nodded. "Rusty find out the numbers that we're going up against." "Jet get medicine lot's of it." Disc got up. "Do you have your stuff on you?" He looked to Lapis. "No I don't normally carry my things on me, they're all in my apartment on the western side of town," Lapis answered getting out of her seat. "I could get back to my place in a few minutes if I fly as fast as I can." "Right wait for Ash she'll run cover for you." Disc nodded. "Rusty you have a head count yet." Rusty looked up from his pipbuck. "About eighty upward estimates are just touching triple digits." Rusty looked up to Disc, "The sheriff is raising all kinds of hell; he want's everyone on the streets now." Ash the changeling ran back into the room, she was wearing something a kin to a suit with a white shirt, a magician's hat, and a pair of reflective glasses. Fluid was back in his suit, and the pegasus returned with two large medical saddle bags. Once they got back Dub ran off to the stairs going up. "Ash you're going with Lapis to get her stuff, you're going to be going ahead of us so stay smart while you're out there. We'll follow you as fast as we can." "Right good luck." Ash nodded. "Good luck," Lapis repeated as she and the changeling galloped out of the mansion and took to the air as soon as they were out of the door. They were just entering into the city when they fell under attack by two pegasi in thick plated combat armor. "Shit get to safety. I've got this." Ash's wings caught with green fire which she lobbed at the two pegasi forcing them to break off. "Good luck and don't be late we're going to need all the help we can get!" She charged after them not letting up for a second. Lapis flew low in the shadows between the buildings after that, screaming and gun fire could be heard everywhere, she landed on the roof and rushed into her apartment. She grabbed her stuff rushing to put her suit on and get her arrows ready. She rushed out her door but stopped for a second, surely they wouldn't go into buildings, would they. The thought made gave her pause before she ran down the stairs to the landing. The colt and filly huddled into a corner. "You two come on, there's a door open upstairs go." They hesitated. "Come on!" She grabbed one inn each arm before flying up the stair and back to her apartment. "You can stay here till it's safe got it?" The colt and filly nodded. "Good, lock the window behind me." She opened her window and jumped out. She hoped none of the snatchers saw her, but that was a problem for later she could hear the fighting it was just one street away now. She flew to the roof top in the street below her several police officers were in a fire fight with nearly a dozen snatchers. The fight was maddeningly one sided. She pulled out her bow and fired a explosive arrow into the middle of the largest bunch of snatchers. With a boom a group of ten or so snatchers were sent flying in every direction away from the impact. Her efforts had certainly helped even the odds for the officers, but a moment later half a dozen rounds bit into the concrete block of a building that she was perched on. "Up there!" She ducked dove down into cover as bullets chipped away at the roof edge. A second later she felt a painful crack in her ribs as a black coated pegasus slammed into her ramming her off the roof. Sapphire bit down hard on the pegasus' ear and twisted, a second later they collided into a dumpster. Sapphire the Crystal Archer struggled to get to her hooves, her world was a blur of pain, but even through that she could hear a dozen or so ponies charging to were she had fallen she pulled out her bow and notched the first arrow she could grab. The first snatcher appearing around the corner screamed as lightning erupted from the arrow. The next two charged her with another four coming up after them. "Gotcha!" One of them cheered jumping on her. She slammed her head into his, the crunch of a broken nose was soon followed by the pain of having several more ponies slamming into her forcing her onto the ground. Despite her struggling she couldn't get them off of her. "You fucking bitch you broke my nose!" Was all she heard before her mind went white with pain. Her left wing stung and pulsed with pain as the stallion's hooves fell on it. She clenched her teeth with no intention of giving them the pleasure. "You should apologize." "You first. Party Bash!" The air above Sapphire's head boomed as the Disco Do-Gooder's displacer hoof went off. Knocking three of the ponies off of her and sent them flying into the ally way. She felt the ponies holding her hind legs down loosen their grip. "Get off." She bucked the two bucks where she knew it would hurt them. They quickly fell off of her faces scrunched up in pain. Sapphire's smirk lasted for all of two seconds before the barrel of a shot gun was put against her temple. "Don't even try anything, now take that displacer hoof off freak show or I splatter squeaky's brains out." The last snatcher, a grey mare, glared between Sapphire and Disco. "Bada Ban-Achu!" The Mare looked up only to have her face smashed in with thin metal rod. As a white mare landed with a grin, her yellow eyes full of playfulness as she gave Disco and Sapphire a wink. She was about the same age as Disco. She wore a khaki brown gastby hat, she also wore a khaki shirt with a blue jacket over it. She had a mask similar to Lapis' but blue, and was wearing khaki shorts. "How're you do-Achu!" "Gesundheit." A yellow unicorn stallion walked up to them, he was a few years older than the mare, closer to Dub's and Sapphire's age. He was wearing a simple stable suit sans numbers. He sniffed. "Sorry for butting in but we're new in town just finished swimming across ocean there." He sniffed again. "Then there's this big thing. You don't mind if we join you're team do ya?" "Honestly, welcome aboard." Disco helped Sapphire back to her hooves. "Who are you?" "Wait you two swam across an ice cold ocean? Why?" "Names Light!" The mare smiles before sneezing. "Gesundheit. And my name's Dream." The stallion smiled wiping his nose. "And we did yes, we didn't have the caps for the toll, but I really don't recommend." He sniffed again. "Got a terrible cold." "Okay, I'm impressed, I can't even stand to be in the water for more than a few minutes, I'm the Disc Do-Gooder." "Sapphire the Crystal Archer, shit they really messed up my wing." "Jet's a few streets down, he's got medical supplies, I need to move up. The rest of the group is making a push." He looked to the east toward the city. "I'm going too." Light smiled. "I want to fight, the one with the highest score wins." "I'll escort you to the Jet pony, he's an actual jet pony right with like an engine and things?" Dream asked walking next to Sapphire. "No his name is Jet, he seems to be Disco Do-Gooders' team medic." Sapphire said walking with him away from the fighting, for now at least. "I'm, not sure how good he is this is my first time working with them, I'm new here two second day in town." "Nice, what brought you here, promises of riches, fame, and fun?" "No, I was offered a nice day job. I had a rude awakening when I came here. What about you two?" "Nah, we heard that this was where the bad ponies were and we decided to come over and give it our best shot to fix it." He shrugged, and wiped his nose with a sleeve. "Sis always likes to play hero and I mean we weren't really doing anything else." The two soon walked in on a hastily constructed medical table. "Are you okay?" Jet's head shot up as she approached. "Ash told us what happened." "I'm fine. But some snatchers messed up my wing. Do you have something for that?" As soon as she finished the pegasus dove into his bags pulling out a shot of Med-X and a healing potion. "Thanks, you need got anything for colds?" "Eh, I'm fine actually, fit as a fiddle no shots needed." Dream stepped back. "All good." "Afraid of needles?" Sapphire asked as she gave herself the shot and quickly gulped down the berry flavored purple potion. "Jabbing yourself with sharp pointy things shouldn't be anypony's first choice." He sniffled again. "For a cold I could give you healing potion." He quickly grabbed another from his bag. "Great give us two his sister's got a cold too, and is currently helping the Disco Do-Gooder out." "If your heading back to him give him this." Jet tossed a dash inhaler to Sapphire, and passed a gabbing another healing potion out of his overly sized medical bags gave them both to Dream. "From reports that Rusty's getting all the snatchers are pouring into this area, there's about to be a big fight, but everywhere else is quickly turning back to law and order." "That's great news." Sapphire nodded and headed back into the sky. "I'm heading back now." "Hey wait for me!" Dream chugged his healing potion and bolted down the ally way back toward the sounds of fighting. "Oh and thanks for the potions kid!" Sapphire didn't have to fly far. Disco and Light were fighting anywhere from ten to twenty ponies the only thing keeping them from being over run was the narrow alley way that they had made their stand in. The rear part of the ally was completely blocked off by a stone wall. Ash was flying helterskelter patterns in the air, avoiding the fire for eight pegasi. Dub and her twin brother Disc were firing off spells and were mostly relegated to a support roll for the actual fighting, though they did take turns shooting into large masses of snatcher; Dud with her battle saddle, and Disc with a small one shot grenade launcher that seemed to be loaded with tear gas. "Disco! Catch." She dropped the inhaler down on him pulled out her bow and quickly joined Ash in a bid to get aerial supremacy away from the snatchers. "That's cheating no fair!" Sapphire couldn't help but smirk as Light's complaints were followed by a sneeze. She pulled out her bow and started taking out the pegasi in the air that were trying to take out Ash. If they were treating this like a game then she was going to take the high score. Arrow one hit, two hit. The remaining six pegasi quickly readjusted trying desperately now to stay in the air as Ash lit the sky in green fire balls. Two more pegasi fell out of the sky. "Took you long enough. Did you iron it out first?" "Sorry it was at the cleaners and we got talking then we swapped mango recipes." Sapphire laughed as Ash blew her a raspberry. She had never gotten to banter with peers before, not like this. There was a loud boom as one of the remaining pegasi were blasted out of the sky. The last one flew off routed. The twenty odd snatchers that had been struggling too get Disco and Light were charged from the rear, as Dream led a charge with the city's police force in-tow . In less than a minute the snatchers were scattered and running. A good thirty of them lay cuffed on the ground with more reports coming in on the griffon's radio about other successful arrest going on all over the west side of town. "Well did we win?" Sapphire asked walking up to the griffon and Disco and his team of allies. The griffon nodded. "Besides two more mask wearing weirdos showing up and an all out raid on the supposedly safest part of town I'd call this a win, we've arrested nearly half of the snatchers that pulled this stunt." He looked around. "I don't even want to know who you two are." He pointed to Light and Dream. "Don't cause trouble and your welcome to stay got it?" "Yes sir mister police officer." Light smiled and nodded her head. The griffon just sighed. "Just go home for now." He walked off. "Anyway we could bunk with one of you guys? We don't actually have a place yet." Dream asked. "Sure cutie." Dub put her arm around him. "And you can tell us all about yourselves on the way back. "Sorry dinner was bust, come by whenever you want. There's a room always open for ya." She smiled to Sapphire. "I'm good and I will but I like where I'm at now. Speaking it's nearly midnight, I've got to go. Bye!" She flew off as the others waved. A few minutes later she landed on the roof of her building, and walked back to her door, and unlocked it. The next thing she knew a frying pan hit her in the side of the head. The pain was mercifully dulled do to the Med-X. "Sorry!" The colt quickly backed into a corner cowering and terrified. "Crud that hurt kid." She looked at him huddling next to his sister the two looked like they were about to piss themselves from fear alone. "Look it's okay. You're fine. The snatchers are gone. You can sleep here if you'd like?" The two looked at eachother before cowering back to the landing. "Th-thank you." It was a soft whisper she doubted they even knew she heard it. Lapis sighed and with a smile took her mask off, followed by her suit and put them back in her bag, before flopping down on the well used mattress and blacking out.