//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Black Ice 
// Story: Fallout Equestria: Heartless 
// by dmgd_mind 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 8: Black Ice

It had taken us an additional three days, but our journey was almost complete. Daisy had proved stronger than she looked, after a day she was able to walk again with the help of Joe. He was now sporting a nasty looking black eye from Daisy punching him. I still felt a strong dislike towards Joe; it turned out I couldn’t stand a pony that made jokes during a fight.
We were currently standing on a pier, overlooking a large lake. On an island in the lake’s center stood a large, walled, town. The sun was just starting to set. Joe strolled over to an intercom that had been placed on the end of the pier and cleared his throat.
“Hey Laketown, it’s Trader Joe out here. Can ya’ send over the ferry?” He spoke into the microphone with his infuriatingly cheerful voice.
“Roger that Joe. Looks like you have a couple guests, have you told them the Laketown Law?” A gruff voice returned.
“I figured I’d tell’em about now,” Joe answered.
“Alright. If they fuck anything up you’re going to be partly liable. Riverbed is on her way now.” With that last statement the intercom turned off with a click. I put my mask away in my saddlebag and stretched a little.
“What law?” Canter asked from her place at my side. I noticed a small wooden boat cast off from the Laketown dock and start heading our way.
“Simply put, you commit a crime you disappear,” Daisy explained before Joe had a chance to open his mouth.
“Well what counts as a crime? And what do you mean by disappear?” Canter asked nervously.
“Things like theft and murder. The ones that are usually considered crimes in any society,” Daisy continued. “And as for disappearing, nopony really knows. If you are suspected of a crime your ass gets dragged in front of the town council, they hold a private little trial, and if they find you guilty you are never seen again.”
Canter shivered involuntarily.
“Don’t worry about it Canter,” I whispered to her. “Nothing’s going to happen to us.”
After a few more minutes the small boat pulled up to where we stood. A small hooded and cloaked pony sat at the boat’s rear, managing to hold a paddle with her two forelegs.
“Canter, Night, this is Riverbed. Riverbed, say hello,” Joe said with a laugh. “Nah, I’m just messin’ with ya’ River. She doesn’t talk.”
I was completely taken aback at the air of underlying cruelty in Joe’s joke. I hadn’t expected anything like that to come from him. I quickly glanced over at Canter and Daisy but they hadn’t seemed to notice it.
I felt a growing sense of unease as we maneuvered Meredith/Greg into the boat and set off towards Laketown. Canter nuzzled my neck with a soft sigh, looking forward to safety and a comfortable bed. I turned to look at our helmspony, Riverbed. She was completely covered by her hood and cloak, the garment was so long that it fell in a pile at her hooves. She shifted briefly to change our direction and I thought I heard a muffled clink, but my thoughts were interrupted by Joe.
“Well Mr. Night, since I suppose I have yall to thank fer us making it here safely, here’s a few hundred caps,” he said as he tossed a bag over to me with a clink. That must have been what I had heard.
I nodded hesitantly; a feeling at the base of my skull kept telling me something was wrong. This place isn’t safe, one of my internal voices spoke, I have to take her away from here. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to push away the feeling. Laketown was known as one of the safest places in the wasteland. We would be safe here.
“Alright, here we are!” Joe exclaimed with a grin as we arrived at the Laketown dock. Riverbed grabbed a rope at her side and tossed it to an armored pony waiting on the wooden structure. He quickly tied it to a post and began helping Joe move Meredith/Greg off the boat. Riverbed continued to sit silently as we headed up a small path towards the town’s main gate.
“Hey Joe,” the armored pony called after us. He was the same pony that Joe had talked to over the intercom. “Councilpony Reed wants to talk to you.”
Joe waved in affirmation as he led our small group into the town. A number of stores were scattered about the entrance and a large building sat in the area’s center with a neon sign flashing the word ‘vacancy’. A second wall cut through the town a bit farther back, with a group of guards standing about a closed door, separating the council quarters from the rest of the town.
“Well, I have to go see the councilpony, so feel free to wander about. The motel over there has some comfortable beds, tell’em Joe sent ya and ya’ll get a discount.” The trader pony gave us a wave and walked off towards the heavily guarded gate.
“I don’t know about you all, but I’m going to go get drunk,” Daisy said as she turned and walked with purpose towards a bustling building up against part of the town’s wall.
Luna yawned and looked up at me with a smile. I quickly blinked and she was Canter again. “I’m getting pretty tired Night,” she started, “can we go get that room?”
“Sure,” I replied, forcing a grin that I wasn’t really feeling, “I have to go get some supplies though so you’ll be by yourself for a bit.” It should be fine. I’d only be gone for an hour or two.
Canter frowned a little. “Do you have to now? Can’t you wait till tomorrow?”
“I’m sorry Canter, but I really want to get restocked as soon as possible. Just in case we need it for some reason,” I answered.
The mare nodded in understanding and smiled again. “Alright. Let’s go get that room then.”



Dropping Joe’s name had netted us a very comfortable room at half the listed price. As soon as we had gotten inside Canter had jumped onto the bed and drifted off to sleep. I had stayed briefly to watch her before going about my errands.
I stopped by a general store and an arms dealer over the next hour. I picked up some more ammunition for my rifle and shotgun as well as some health potions and more basic things like food. I walked out into the moonlight, my task done and began heading back towards the hotel when something out towards the lake caught my eye. I could see the shape of Riverbed still in her boat sitting forlornly and alone on the water’s surface.
I changed my direction to go see what she was doing, my curiosity peaked. I trotted over to the dock, my hooves clopping on the rough wood. Riverbed started and turned to face me. I definitely heard a clink that time.
“Hey Riverbed, why are you still out here?” I asked, interested. I could see her eyes in the moonlight, two golden yellow orbs. They darted back and forth, looking about, before settling back on me. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a tiny piece of charcoal, then scrawled something on the dock’s surface.
Leave
I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant when I heard a gruff voice come from behind me. “You really shouldn’t talk to strangers River. I thought you already learned that lesson.” Riverbed’s eyes went wide with fear as she looked past me.
I turned to face the guard. “I was hoping I’d be the one to get to kill you,” he said to me as he drew his knife. “You look like you’ll be a good fight.”
I will be the one to kill you.
I adopted a defensive stance as the guard approached me, knife glimmering in the night air. He grinned and slashed at me. I dodged the attack and stepped to his side, bringing one of my forelegs down on his head. My limb bounced painfully off his helmet but I had stunned him. He stumbled back, falling onto Riverbed’s boat with a grunt. I moved to finish him off but before I could reach him the petite mare looped a length of chain around his neck and began throttling the life out of him. The guard spluttered and choked fighting for breath as I pinned him to the ground, keeping him from throwing Riverbed. 	
After he had been still for a minute the mare released her chain, falling back with a sob and holding herself.
The chain landed in a pile next to the manacle locking her legs to the boat, visible now that her cloak had been moved in the struggle. I searched the guard’s body for a key, finding one on a chain around his neck. I fitted it into Riverbed’s shackles and quickly released her. She shook herself and picked the charcoal from where it had fallen.
Get your friend before they take her. I will wait here for you.
I nodded and rushed off towards the hotel. I remembered why I had felt so uneasy. Years ago the council of Laketown had hired me to track down an escaped criminal. Before I had killed him and returned his body to the council he had claimed that he was a slave, that the trials in Laketown were a front for a slaving operation. That he had been falsely accused and set up. I hadn’t cared at the time, but now it seemed he might not have been lying.
I arrived at our room and anger began to grow inside me as I stared at the scene. It was a mess, sheets and furniture strewn about from Canter struggling. I drew my shotgun and turned to leave, almost running into Joe and Daisy, both leveling weapons at me.
“Leave it Void,” the unicorn said, “a pony like Canter will go for quite a bit of money, even without a leg. You don’t do anything and I can give you a split of the profit.”
I shot Joe in the face with all four barrels, directing all my anger at him, his betrayal, and the situation I had put Canter in into the shot. His body fell to the ground, a bloody stump where his head had been, as I slammed into the surprised griffin knocking her to the ground.  She screeched and slashed at my side with her talons, leaving a deep and bloody gash. I ignored the pain with the adrenaline rushing through my body and stomped on one of her wings, hearing the hollow bones shatter. Daisy screamed and kicked me to the side, knocking the wind out of me as I slammed into a wall. I rolled to my feet and kicked her chest, hearing bones snap at the powerful blow. She fell to the ground and began coughing blood, she managed to swipe at my flank with her talons, cutting deep into my flesh. I kicked here once more, nailing her head. The griffin slumped to the floor, unmoving.
I galloped back outside, reloading my shotgun as I went, heading towards the gate leading to the council area. One of the guards saw me and hollered a warning. A few shots came my way as the panicking guards fired their weapons. I put them down with precise shots from my gun and ran through the gate. Shouts of alarm and confusion had begun to fill the town, the gunfire and fighting had stirred the residents from their sleep.
I turned towards a building with barred windows and charged inside, reloading my shotgun again. I killed the first guard I ran into with a blast of buckshot and broke the neck of his companion. I grabbed a large key ring off of the first’s body and ran deeper into the structure. I came to a large central area with rows of cells lining its walls, around ten total. I ran to each one, ignoring the pleas of the ponies inside, looking for Canter. I found her huddled in a corner of the fifth cell I checked. I started trying the different keys out on the door.
At my approach she looked up at me, her expression immediately changing from one of hopeless acceptance to elation. “Night!” she exclaimed as she jumped from the floor and ran over to the bars. 
Her cellmate, a green uncicorn, looked around nervously. “Hurry up, the guards’ll be here any minute.”
I found the key and unlocked the cell door with a loud clunk. The unicorn raced out, wooping, and disappeared down the corridor I had used to get in. “Come on Canter, we’ve got to go.”
“We have to help the other ponies,” she demanded softly.
“What? We don’t have time for them! We have to go now!” I shouted as the stress of the situation bore down on me, not meaning to yell at her.
She flinched a little, as if expecting me to strike her, before she continued. “We can’t leave them like this. I’m not leaving till we get them out.”
Force her to leave. She’ll hate you for it but she’ll be safe. I hesitated as my desires to protect Canter and have her love me fought for dominance. “Goddesses damn it!” I shouted into the air as I made my choice. I ran to the next cell and opened it after a few tries. I stopped one of the ponies before he could leave. “Take this and open the other cells.” I instructed him as I gave him the keyring.
He opened his mouth to object so I leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “You know who I am right? I’m Void. The Monster of Manehattan. If you don’t do what I say I’ll make you watch me kill everyone you’ve ever loved, and then I’ll cut off your legs and toss you into the Manehattan river.”
The pony’s eyes widened at the sheer malice in my voice. He nodded frantically and ran off, starting to open the other cells.
“There, now we can leave,” I stated to Canter.
“What did you say to him?” she said looking at me with suspicion.
“I told him about a backdoor he could take to escape after helped the other ponies,” I quickly lied. “Now we really need to leave.
Canter hesitated briefly, but nodded in acceptance as another cell was opened. We galloped out of the building and back into the town. The scene was chaos, somehow the bar had been lit on fire and it was spreading to the building flanking it. Civilians and guards were running everywhere, some attempting to put out the flames, others just running in a panic. Gunshots started coming from behind us as a group of escaped slaves liberated some guns from the guards I had killed and engaged in a firefight with the town guard.
Canter started to turn back but I grabbed her shoulder. “It’s up to them now,” I shouted over the noise, “leave them!”
I spotted the waiting form of Riverbed and her boat at the town dock. Canter was just barely able to keep up with me as we ran, her prosthetic leg making quick movement difficult. Canter climbed into the boat as I quickly undid the mooring and pushed it away from the dock. I jumped and landed on the boat, rocking it as we moved away from the town. A guard spotted us and shouted something, firing in our direction with his pistol. I knocked him down with a couple blasts from my shotgun.
By the time we made it to the other side of the lake it appeared as though the entire town was ablaze. Gunshots, screams, and even a few explosions filled the air as it burned. I ignored the sight and hopped out of the boat, tying us to the pier. Canter stepped out as well, and then turned to help Riverbed up. Her eyes widened in understanding as she saw the chains where the small mare had been sitting. She drew Riverbed into a hug and whispered something in her ear.
We quickly gathered ourselves and ran into the night, leaving one of the safest towns in the wasteland burning behind us as we went.