Fallout Equestria: Fly Away
By Freeflyingwolf
Chapter 22: Let’s Get Started
“Not too fast now, Angel bunny, you don’t want to get a tummy ache.”
Sunshy awoke feeling very rested and happy. Everything felt right with the world once more. He and Zen/Caesar were together again and not trying to verbally tear each other’s throats out from petty anger. Yeah, this was a bad day. Maybe chopping almost all his hair off wasn’t the best idea either. He regretted it only because he no longer had anything to hide his face with. It was a lot of work to keep it nice and dirt-free all the time.
Speaking of time, what time was it? Silver light streamed through the window at the right. Luna’s moon glowed brightly and the stars winked at him. The moon was positioned as though it was a Cheshire smile. He could almost imagine the legendary magical cat growing from that smile of the moon. Wow, he slept through the rest of the day. Sunshy finally took it upon himself to notice that he was alone in the bed.
Before panic or hurt could set in, Sunshy heard muttering voices outside. Actually, he heard a voice in his head, too. It was female, and without any accent like the zebras usually had.
<I>~~…that is our intent…No, we can’t afford that risk…Really? Ever have a boxcar dropped on you?~~</I>
It was like hearing one side of a conversation inside his head. It made him feel vulnerable. Curiosity overcame the buck and he stood up on his thin and tall legs. Silent on the carpeted floor, he walked over to the opening between the main room and the back room.
Before him was Zen, sitting on his pile of pillows. Legate Brute was to the right, sitting as well because standing might make his head hit the ceiling. To the left was Headshot, staring at the visitor in front of Zen with a blank face. There was a replica of Goddess Luna standing before them.
The visitor was a deep purple Alicorn with a flowing mane. She kept her wings closed as she looked down to Zen, who it appeared she was having a conversation with. Legate Brute was keeping his eyes trained on her—unsurprisingly, it was easy to tell he was much taller than her. The Alicorn’s flowing light purple mane shifted as her head turned up. Two bright green eyes locked onto Sunshy. With her voice and mind, the Alicorn screeched, ~~”YOU!!”~~
The world turned translucent purple just before Sunshy was swept off his hooves. The magical field around him shoved him hard into the wall behind him, knocking the wind from his lungs. A clock above his head rattled from the impact and smacked against his head, perfectly between the ears. Before he could even manage to regain his lost breath, the Alicorn was nose-to-nose against him, her wings flared up for added emphasis.
~~"WHERE IS THE MANTICORE?!”~~ She shouted at him. The force of the mind-shout made him feel like his brain was about to leak through his ears and nose. Something wet dribbled down his snout. Great, he actually had a nosebleed.
“She’s not here! She’s back in the forest! Please don’t kill me!” Sunshy shouted back as he closed his eyes from the terror before him. He curled up in as much of a ball as he could inside the levitation field.
As quickly as it came, the field was gone and Sunshy was dropped to the floor. His eyes shot open and darted around as he tried to understand what happened while trying to regain his breath. The Alicorn was pinned down by Brute, who barely moved as she struggled under his massive body.
“Sunny! Are you okay?” Headshot was by Sunshy’s side in an instant, quickly checking him over for any injuries.
“Just…just a nosebleed.” The doctor sniffled and wiped the blood onto his leg. Now he needed a bath.
Brute picked up the Alicorn by her flowing mane—apparently it was still physical enough for that—and dragged her back to where she was before Caesar. Along the way, Sunshy noticed she had a cutie mark of what appeared to be a drop of water. The brown eyes turned from Sunshy to stare at the guest, who had the decency to have her head down and appear abashed as she lie on the floor, mane still in the mouth of Brute.
“Miss Aqua, why did you feel it necessary to assault my buckfriend?” The robotic edge to his tone sounded stronger than before, as though the machine part was enhanced by the restrained anger.
“We…I apologize for that. I remembered seeing him as around Maripony, with a fierce Manticore companion. She slaughtered one of Us before he could settle things with Us. We only had to ban him from ever roaming too near Maripony. I only acted out of…remembered fear.” Aqua explained softly, as though trying her best not to be too loud. Her words echoed in Sunshy’s mind. He wondered if Shooty or anyone else heard them.
“Is this true, Sunny?” Caesar XIII asked, glancing over his shoulder to the pony. Sunshy was holding a rag Shooty had procured to his nose, as it insisted on bleeding still. He nodded affirmation. Shooty appeared more awestruck than anyone else.
“What?! Hold up, you saw Alicorns, [I[killed one of them and lived to tell about it?” She seemed unable to comprehend this information.
“Actually, it was the manticore female that killed one of Us. Not this preacher of peace. The only reason he is alive to this day was because he sincerely cried over her passing and pleaded to bury her body as an apology. The Goddess was moved and allowed him his life, in exchange that he never return.” Aqua corrected.
“You cried over the death of a creature everypony thinks—thought were monsters?” Shooty shook her head with a smile. “Only you, Sunny.”
“No matter their actions, Alicorns are still ponies. As far as I was concerned, Celly killed a pony that had only tried to protect her home. What kind of monster would I be if I didn’t feel terrible about that?”
“Not much of one, actually. In case you never listened to DJ P0N3, Alicorns have been—“
“Monsters terrorizing everypony for the last ten years, yeah I was down there when they began appearing.” Sunshy finished with a tone of impatience. His nosebleed was thankfully finishing, he noticed as he pulled the rag away. Shooty gave him a look as though she was wondering if she should punish him for the tone as she stashed away the bloody rag.
“Can you release me now? My head is starting to hurt.” Aqua inquired, looking up to Brute. The legate unceremoniously opened his mouth, letting her head and mane fall, before walking back to his Lord’s side. “Well, this is certainly not how we expected negotiations to go. By the way, why are your buckfriend and the other pegasus wearing dog collars?”
“That?” Zen questioned. At the mention of the collar, everyone turned to look at the ones on Sunshy and Shooty’s necks while Sunshy tried in vain to look at his own. “Those tell everyone that they work for me and they have a shield spell around them.”
“Oh. I had thought you were into something kinky.” The Alicorn deadpanned in a monotone voice.
While Brute actually looked away with a grimace, Sunshy’s face flared and Shooty appeared disgusted. The former pegasus tried to distract himself by opening his only natural wing and biting gently at the feathers. Zen waved a hoof and said, “Psh, I wish. Just had surgery a week ago, can’t do anything fun like sex for a while. Damn half-metal bones.”
“Also,” Shooty interjected, “this buck right here is my brother. I have to draw the line at blood relations.”
“So, you’re positive you can’t spare a few of your girls to help?” Caesar quickly changed the subject. Aqua shook her head.
“None of us can afford to lose any more sisters. Even for what you promise, it will mean little if we are virtually wiped out in your war.”
Sunshy stopped preening, took a step forward, and cleared his throat to catch everyone’s attention. Now that he was standing in front of the Alicorn, he realized that they were almost eye-level. Once all eyes were on him, he forced away his shyness and began to speak. “Most zebras still don’t realize that there was a difference between Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon.”
“….Right….” Caesar replied, cocking his head to the side as he tried to understand where this was going.
“So…we could just paint your coat, do something with your mane and tail, change your eyes to dragon eyes, and then fit you with armor like Nightmare Moon.”
“Even if you coat one of us in armor, we still cannot take that risk.” Aqua replied.
“That’s the beauty of it. None of you have to fight. As soon as the opposing army sees that Nightmare Moon is on our side, they’ll be too scared to continue fighting. You can even use the Royal Canterlot Voice to shout something intimidating at them to make it seem much more realistic.” Sunshy smiled as he pitched his idea.
“But if ‘Nightmare Moon’ appears too often, they might get so scared that they’ll build a weapon to attack.” Aqua countered.
“Hmm…” Sunshy pondered for a moment. “We just don’t let you appear before every battle.” He stated, his words starting slow, but growing in confidence as he continued, “Make them random, just enough that it’ll scare the opposing side, but not so much that they’ll begin arming themselves against you. Besides, if they don’t know when you’ll appear, it’ll make you that much more terrifying.”
Aqua turned her head to the side and stared up at the ceiling. Then she shook her head and stamped her hoof in anger. “It is so frustrating no longer having the mental connection. I shall converse with my sisters before giving you an answer.”
Aqua then dipped her head in a bow to the group before turning and walking outside. As the door opened from her magic, he could see two other Alicorns. One was dark green, another was dark blue. They were almost identical, but there were just subtle differences, as though they really were all sisters. The rest of them bowed their heads in respect to the Caesar before they all touched horns. Sunshy felt a hoof on his shoulder and turned to Zen.
“Welcome to the Reformed Legion, my new Official Negotiator.” Zen beamed at him.
“What.” Sunshy replied.
“Our last three died in the attempt to contact that water dragon. With how well you worked negotiating what we have failed to do, it is only right that you become the new negotiator.” Brute explained.
“So I actually do have to talk to that dragon?” Sunshy inquired.
“Yes, you’re not getting out of that. Like Brute said, all our other attempts ended in presumed death. None of the rescue parties have returned. You’re our last hope.” Caesar XIII stated solemnly.
“Why Sunshy? What’s so special that you think he can convince a dragon to do something?” Shooty questioned.
“I was raised by a dragon, Drakon, remember? I told you about him.” Sunshy clarified.
Aqua returned to the room, her two sisters flanking her. “We have decided to return to Equestria. We shall talk it over with our other sisters and decide what to do. Do not feel too disheartened, this plan is the best you have pitched to us. I’m sure we can get a few volunteers.”
Then the mare walked over and planted a kiss on Sunshy’s forehead. The yellow pegasus just stared up at her in confusion, as did most everyone else in the room. Aqua gave him a pleasant smile that reminded him of his mother. Strangely, he thought he could see Princess Luna standing there instead of Aqua. The moment was ruined when Zen all but shoved the pony to the floor, gripping him possessively around the neck and trying to look angry and pouting.
“Do not fear, Caesar, I certainly wasn’t trying to steal away your fiancé. If I really wanted to, I could just teleport him with us out of here.” She giggled a little at her own joke. She looked upon the two ponies as her sisters drew closer. In unison, they said, “Celestia protect.”
“And Luna defend.” The two pegasi chorused back.
In a flash of purple light, the three Alicorns vanished. With some help, Caesar was able to right himself on the pillows. Now he was lying down and sulking angrily. So Sunshy did what anypony would do. He jumped on his back and yelled, “Dog pile!”
Of course, Shooty jumped in with a squeal. Brute only had to put a hoof on the pony’s back and put a little pressure on before all three complained that their backs were about to break. With laughter, the two pegasi got up, though the doctor stayed by Zen’s side on the pillows.
“Horsing around aside, Brute here will escort you two to the dragon’s cave. It’s actually a cave behind a waterfall that runs into a giant pool of water at least a hundred feet deep. If you can’t swim, don’t get too close.” Caesar explained.
“Why’s he gotta come?” Shooty questioned, not intending to be rude.
“To protect of course. Raiders are rather stupid and can’t tell a doctor from a radroach. They can, however, tell that I am over twelve hundred pounds of pure death.” Brute ominously said before walking out of the room.
“…That is someone who knows how to make an impression. Is he single?” Shooty asked the two remaining males.
“He’s already got a special somepony.” Sunshy answered. He’d have to be careful not to give away that he knows what should still be a secret.
“Hey, it’s almost Spring again, right? Do you know what that means?!” Shooty was practically bouncing in her horseshoes. “It means Hearts and Hooves day is just around the corner!”
“The calendar on my PipBuck says…” Zen was checking it over. The light from his fake eye was reflecting on the screen, somehow making Sunshy uncomfortable. “Ah, should be in another week. I’m guessing by the giant heart with a hoof print in the middle on a specific day.”
“I gotta find my own special somepony before then. You’re lucky, already having somepony special…or somezebra special. I’m so jealous that I’ll have to go and find someone of a high position to make my special somepony.” Shooty stamped a hoof down in a determined fashion.
“I guess we should get our boarding and stuff, then?” Sunshy questioned, pointedly ignoring Shooty’s bought of strangeness.
“Right! I’ll see you outside! They still have my stuff in that room they held me up in.”
As Shooty trotted outside the room, Sunshy went into the back room and put on his boarding, coat, and saddlebags. Walking back out, he saw Zen giving him a bittersweet smile. The pony nuzzled against his fiancé before giving him a kiss and walking out the door. The zebra gave the pony a half-hearted wave goodbye as the door closed behind him.
Sunshy waited outside, wandering up and down the nearby hallways. Even after ten minutes, nopony showed up for him. Frustrated, he stamped a hoof before walking down some stairs. Since he knew he would just get lost anyway, he just walked around aimlessly and kept going down.
Imagine the pony’s surprise when he found himself on the ground floor. An armored mare appeared shocked and trotted towards him with a determined glare. Just as she was about to say something, she stopped upon seeing the collar Sunshy wore.
“Is sorry. Forgive, please. No see that.” She said in broken Equestrian as she pointed to the collar.
”It’s quite alright. You’re just doing your job. Making sure no suspicious ponies can harm your leader.” Sunshy smiled serenely to her before walking outside of the building. The mare nodded to him as he walked out.
Outside, the first rays of dawn were shining. To the east, the red and orange of the sky could be seen. Bouncing in her armor was Shooty, standing next to some formidable and towering large creature cloaked in pure blackness and sporting a scythe on its back.
The hooded head turned and glowing eyes glinted at Sunshy, causing a shiver to run down his spine and ice chill in his stomach. He was visibly shaking as the glowing eyes stared him down; he felt the worst terror in his life. When the hood was pushed down by Shooty’s hoof, all the gut-wrenching terror vaporized, which left Sunshy feeling almost silly that he was so scared of Brute. Then why was he panting so hard?
“I’m sorry about that. My cloak is imbued with the power of overwhelming intimidation; ‘fear’ is the spell.” Brute explained as Sunshy gathered his wits.
“You did better than me, Sunny. I peed in my suit!” Shooty exclaimed in an almost proud tone.
“Why would you even admit that?” Sunshy questioned.
“Because you managed not to pee yourself.” Shooty stated as she planted a hoof on her half-brother’s shoulder.
“Come along, ponies. It’s a week’s walk from here and we’re burning sunlight.” Brute began walking forward, towards the north.
“Can’t we use the flying wagon? Celly may not be here, but Shooty or I could fly with it and pull the other two.” Sunshy offered as the siblings fell into step behind the massive zebra.
The way the cloak billowed with no wind was still scary—the sort of fear you feel seeing a curtain move in the middle of the night. Mindless, groundless, fear that still grips you and makes you cry out for the safety of your parents. That was some damn spell.
“Discord threw it into a volcano. When you left, he felt like you had discarded his quest and took it out on the <I>Alicorns’ Bane</I>. Now we have to walk everywhere.” Brute explained. Sunshy folded his ears down in guilt.
“Well, <b>you</b> have to walk everywhere. Sunny and I can just fly there. Redysetgo!” With inequine speed, the hyperactive pegasi took off flying. By the time she noticed the other two were not following, she was already miles ahead. Instead of flying back, she just landed and waited.
Until three minutes passed and she became too bored. Patience was not her forte by any means. So she lazily flew back south. The pegasus pony reunited with the bucks not far outside the outskirts of Peponi. Sullenly, she began flying in circles around the two.
“Uggghhh, why can’t you go any faster?” She complained.
“I’d rather not waste energy we may need confronting beasts and raiders. They are common out in these parts.” Brute explained simply as he continued at his leisurely pace. Sunshy was happy enough to walk behind him; he certainly didn’t have quite the long legs that Brute did, so it was a bit harder for him to keep up.
“How about you do that, while Sunny and I fly on ahead?” Shooty smiled at the brilliance of her idea.
“No.” Her smile was gone. She began spinning in the air and groaned in boredom. “I am under orders to protect you two. I can’t have you both go flying off.”
“I didn’t see you chasing after me.” Shooty pointed out.
“You’re not of high priority.” Brute bluntly stated.
“Hey!” Headshot seemed honestly insulted by this. Brute regarded her shout with a blank stare; Sunshy was still staring at the cloak, as though afraid it would attack him at any moment.
“I’m only being honest, Miss Shot. Your brother is of highest priority for many factors. Being the lover of my Lord is the least of which.”
“How is that the least important?” Shooty demanded, crossing her hooves as she floated along in front of the large buck.
“As a member of the Nchi Kavu—translated to Dry Land—he is of high priority as set in the Water Treaty of Post-Apocalypse year one-hundred and fifty two. For us in Caesar’s Legion, we have a duty to keep any accepted brothers and sisters of the Dry Land clan safe or else war will break out against the one source of water and grass we have.” As Brute explained this history, Shooty waved her hoof and imitated ‘bla bla bla’ with her mouth. Brute politely ignored this.
“My wings are tired.”
“So walk.”
“Nah.” Headshot proceeded to drape herself on Brute’s back, as though she were saddlebags.
The zebra buck sighed heavily but continued walking. The mare squealed at her small victory that she was not immediately bucked off. Sunshy was still entranced by the cloak. The only source of noise came in the form of the light breeze. A slight tickling startled the pony into tearing his eyes from the cloak. He noticed that they were walking through a field of tall savannah grass. It would completely hide any normal pony, but the tallest only came up to his neck. Curiously, he sniffed at a few stalks and ate the top of one. After a couple of chews, he found the taste deplorable and spit it back out.
Finding he had fallen behind, the pegasus ran to catch up to his zebra bodyguard carrying his sister. From the way she was wiping her tongue with a hoof, she had done the same as Sunshy. The breeze kept the grass moving. When Sunshy stared out to the west, where the breeze was going, he saw a great sight. The brown grass swayed and bent under the wind. The continuous layers of ripples reminded him of an ocean. An ocean of light brown that glowed in the bright sun.
“Why have I never been really hot out here?” Sunshy questioned as he once again caught up to Brute.
“It’s almost Spring. Summer’s heat won’t return for a while.” Brute answered.
“I mean, even in the Summer, I was never too overheated. It felt more like autumn or something.” Sunshy explained.
“Who can say for sure? Perhaps you simply adapt easily.” Brute replied with a shrug. Shooty stretched and yawned loudly before curling up. “Shouldn’t she be in the air, giving us advanced warning?”
“I think it’s her nap time.” Sunshy joked. “Do you want me to—“
“No, that’s fine. I’d truly prefer it if you walked beside me, rather than behind. You’ve already fallen behind twice.”
Sunshy grinned awkwardly at the truth in that statement. He did as asked and began walking beside Brute. A few times, the pony tried to match the Legate’s large stride, but it hurt his muscles, so he continued at his own pace.
More than once, he would hear a slight rustling in the tall grass. Every time, Brute was the first to glare at the direction the noise originated. Nothing appeared, so they continued in uneasy quiet. Even through the entire day, their walk through the seemingly endless expanse of dry grass left them feeling like they had accomplished nothing. Only the tiny dot that was once the great Peponi was the only sign they had continued to move.
By nightfall, they were still in the sea of savannah grass. Brute bucked Shooty off his back—which was hilarious to Sunshy—and then proceeded to roll around and around in the grass. Despite the oddity of this action, the Legate stood back up without a hint of embarrassment as he assessed what had to be work. The grass was now leveled in an uneven circle, just wide enough for them to all lie down without being cramped. The rest of the tall grass would easily hide them as they lied down.
Brute pulled out a few dry sticks, paper, and rocks. He set up a campfire with the sticks arranged for maximum kindling. After a few failed clicks of flint and steel against each other, Shooty just used a laser beam pistol to set the kindling aflame. The zebra shot her a dark look before regaining composure and setting the rocks back.
Sunshy produced three cans of creamed corn for them to dine on. The silence was polite, but silence was far from what Shooty preferred. She stirred her corn around with a stalk of grass and stared at it with a hoof holding up her face. Her black helmet rest beside her, as she saw no need to use the E.F.S. Most animals were smart enough to stay away from a fire.
“So, Brute, how old are you?” Shooty tried to strike up a polite conversation.
“Two hundred and fifty-four.”
“Oh…okay?” She smiled as though she couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. “Uhm…favorite color?”
“Purple.”
Sunshy came close to choking on his corn and passed it off easily as nothing. His mind had instantly connected PurpleRoyal LaceBaby he shouldn’t know about. Gaah, he’d have to find a way to let them know he knew or it would drive him nuts.
“So, if you’re older than the war, you should have a few kids running around, right?” Shooty smiled innocently. Sunshy’s stomach twisted in terror, but he forced himself to hide it.
“Plenty. They’re all gone, though. Died in the wars that horrible Caesars have waged…” Brute’s usually stone-blank visage changed to a frown of deep pain.
“Oh…Well, they’re up there with the gods, right? Maybe they’re some of the stars.” Headshot offered, pointing skyward with a hoof.
At her mention of the stars, the three equines glanced up. Without any light pollution nearby, there appeared to be an endless sky full of white dots. The great big moon was shining down at them once again. Sunshy smiled at the stars and moon.
“Why do you smile?” Brute questioned the pony.
“Just thinking…I don’t believe the stars are evil. I think it’s the whole ‘one bad apple spoils the bunch’ idea. The star under the original Roam tainted the idea of stars, but I think most of them are helpful.”
“What of the ones that aided Nightmare Moon?”
“If it wasn’t for them, Princess Luna would never have been able to be freed. Maybe that was what they wanted.”
“Don’t try to argue too much with him. Sunny gives everything the benefit of the doubt.” Shooty interjected.
“I will have to say that stars do sometimes just want to see us creatures suffer.”
“Some of them, sure…but back to the rotten apple idea. Just…look at the stars. Right there is Orion.” Sunshy pointed to what could be either nowhere, or a specific spot. In his mind’s eye, he could see the outline of the great hunter zebra. “If stars were all evil, then why do we have constellations named after great heroes?”
“Oh, oh! There’s the Little Dipper!” Shooty pointed her hoof at another constellation series.
“That’s Ursa Minor. You don’t want to see one of those down here.” Sunshy commented with a chuckle.
“That’s the Camelopardalis.”
“What now?”
“It’s an old name for Giraffe.”
“I found Taurus.”
“This is fun.”
The two bucks pointed out any constellations they recognized while Headshot silently followed where they were pointing. She had exhausted her knowledge with Orion’s belt and the Ursa Minor. She was the first one to fall asleep, curled up on Sunshy’s hooves.
“Lacey is pregnant.” Brute stated in a whisper, his eyes still on the stars.
“Really?” Sunshy tried his best to sound mildly surprised while keeping his own voice down.
“I think I love her.”
Well, that was as shocking as a bucket of cold water. Good thing the fire was keeping the nipping cold at bay…come to think of it, Sunshy realized the night should be a lot colder than it felt. What was wrong with him? Maybe this came from Luna’s blessing as well? Answer Brute, damn it!
“Oh, uhm…ah…” You sure sound like an intellectual, Sunshy. Great job.
“Pretty much sums up my feelings, too.” Brute turned his eyes to the fire. The glowing orange and red flickered and danced. It reflected in his ice-blue eyes. “And I can’t tell her.”
“Why not?”
“It’s illegal for us to be wed. Her family would disown her if we did anyway. I can hardly elope with the position I have now… I don’t make enough to let her and a child live comfortably. With this work, she’d be scared to death of me not coming back… It’d be best for the both of us if we…” The Legate trailed off, his expression turning to profound anguish. A black hoof wiped the tears away before they could fully form. “Anyway…she wants you to be the godfather. Will you agree?”
“Of course. If worse comes to worse, I’ll look after your child as though he or she was my own.” Sunshy promised with a smile.
“Thank you. Truly, you have no reason to agree and you do without a second thought.”
“Helping friends is just something I do.”
“So you know my age and favorite color and suddenly we’re best friends?” Brute teased with a grin.
“Oh no, I said friends. You’ll have to work harder to be my best friend. Don’t even <b>try</b> to be a best friend <b>forever</b>. You’re a hundred years too early for that.” Sunshy joked back.
“You go to sleep, I’ll take first watch.”
Sunshy nodded and rested his head atop of Shooty’s, as it was the most comfortable position he could have without waking her up. It didn’t take long for the warmth of sleep to embrace him. He forgot to notice that he was facing East.
Searing bright light made the world behind eyelids all red and disturbed his sleep. Sunshy yawned as the last of his dream of frolicking with Princess Luna on the moon dissolved. Finding no pressure on his legs, the buck was able to stretch out akin to a feline.
The pony stood up and shook off the last of sleep that clung to him. It was strange to not feel his own hair hitting against him as he shook. The pony finally managed to open his eyes and found Shooty was nibbling on the remains of a hay cake while Brute was scattering the ashes from the remains of the fire.
“Why didn’t you wake me to take a watch shift?” Sunshy inquired quizzically before deciding he might as well finish the last of his creamed corn. It was a good question, as he didn’t once remember waking up; his acute night-vision would have been useful.
“I didn’t see any need to disturb your sleep. I was fully capable of going through the night.” Brute answered.
“You’d better not pass out on us or we’ll leave you behind.” Headshot warned.
“Noted.” Brute replied before standing up and wiping the last of the ash on the grass.
Once the yellow and red pegasus finished his meal, the zebra giant took the tin can and stowed it in a sack under his fear cloak. Then the zebra turned to the north and began his steady walk once again. Shooty decided to repay Brute for yesterday by flying up into the sky to scout ahead. That left Sunshy to walk beside the great mass.
A few more times, they heard the rustling from yesterday. Once again, they could never find the source. Whatever this creature was, it was well camouflaged and kept its distance even as it followed. Brute stated that it didn’t matter; they would be out of the grass by noon.
Just as the Legate promised, once the sun was high in the middle of the sky, the brown sea ended. The strange thing was that it ended abruptly. One second there was grass, the next, just flat land. Sunshy found that bizarre, but wrote it off as this grass having once been grown on a specific amount of land intentionally. As Brute said nothing about the oddity, Sunshy decided it wasn’t worth questioning any further.
The dry ground held little and allowed them a far view of what was to come. As Shooty was no longer needed to scout, she began walking on Brute’s other side. Every hoofstep kicked up a bit of dust that the dry ground could not keep down. Any tufts of grass were dehydrated, brown, and appeared long since dead. The skeletons of trees were much the same. Tumbleweeds were rather common. Other than a couple speedy lizards, there was little in the way of life.
The most interesting thing was when they entered a few of the many small cities. Sunshy wished to call them a town or village, but the tall skyscrapers seemed to demand that these areas were classified as ‘small cities’. No matter how much of an oxymoron as that appeared.
The buildings reminded Sunshy of the trees. They were skeletons, shadows of their former selves. Every building was falling apart. Most were leaning heavily or had fallen over altogether. None had any glass remaining in the windows. Near the base, there was a multitude of rude graffiti painted everywhere in Zebra. Some were in Equestrian, but those were equally uncouth.
Strangely, there were no cracked up paved streets, like in Equestria. In fact, other than the countless hoof prints that kept the dirt flat, there was no indication of a road. Only the fact that the buildings were further apart from each other gave the idea that this would be a main road. Once in a while, he could see the faded tracks of wheels, most likely from caravans. At least these indicated that others walked this path. That also meant that there was a good chance raiders might be present.
If there were, Shooty’s E.F.S would have picked them up. Brute gave no indication that there was any need to arm themselves. Sometimes, though, Sunshy could swear he saw a shadow moving, just at the corner of his vision. Whenever he tried to look directly at it, the thing would vanish. Combine that with the fact the ‘fear cloak’ still gave him the heebie-jeebies and he was a winding bundle of nerves.
When the afternoon started to become evening, Brute suddenly held up a hoof to have them stop. They were right on the outskirts of another city. Shooty swept her gaze to and fro, trying to find a sign of why they stopped. Brute told the two to step back before he pulled the hood up and strode forward.
“Tribe of Invisibles!” His voice boomed out, ”We wish to pass through this city without any bloodshed. Please, allow us this safe passage and I, upon my honor as a Legate of Caesar’s Legion, shall reward you! What say you?”
The sound ended when Sunshy finished translating for Shooty. For a long time, there was nothing but silence. After a while, she even asked Sunshy in a hushed tone if Brute was crazy. Then the two ponies were the ones to be shocked when a voice rang out from nothingness.
”You walk with ponies! What is the reason behind this, sir Legate?”
“I am escorting these servants of my Lord to a dragon of water. We hope to negotiate with said dragon to allow water to flow through more of the Savannah. This will be beneficial to free tribes as well.”
Another pause followed this, broken only by the hushed whispers in Zebra by this Tribe of Invisibles. From the sounds, there was likely quite a few of these invisible zebras.
”We have come to a unanimous decision!”
The three waited with baited breath.
The answer came in the form of a missile flying right at them. Headshot was the swiftest to react; she took off to the air and began raining red beams of death upon the invisible enemy. Her idea of doing this was to follow the smoke trail of the missile and then just aim randomly. This left Brute to take the full force of the blast to the right side of his head in an attempt to protect Sunshy.
The blast wave from the missile blew the pegasus backwards. He caught himself after a few rolls and noticed that he was being shot at. The doctor, thankful for his insane luck to have not gotten any shrapnel from that blast, got over his shock and quickly ran to cover. He dodged the horrible aim of the Invisibles and their guns and swore loudly at the misfortune that he was too weak to drag Brute to safety and treat him. He cried out in pain as a bullet bit into his right calf. The pegasus used his wings to carry himself the rest of the way to safety, as running on three legs was virtually impossible.
As it turned out, Brute needed no treatment. The Legate stood up almost immediately and seemed to feel nothing from the hailstorm of bullets aimed his way. The pinged and flew off his hide as though they were nothing. Some were aimed up towards Shooty, but her training showed through in her evasive sky dance mixed in with her counter-attacks. More than once, a previously invisible enemy would let out a death scream before turning into a pile of glowing ash.
“You will see why they call me the Reaper!” The Legate bellowed as he reared up and stamped his hooves down.
Brute took his scythe off his back and charged forward. The first slice decapitated an invisible zebra with cold accuracy. Once the head was severed, the cloak gave up the spell and allowed the zebra’s head and body to be seen. Before the first body even fell, the second victim of the Reaper was taken with the head and shoulder separated from the body.
Sunshy was so entranced with the fighting that he forgot about his own wound. Then the dizziness from blood-loss began to blur his vision. The pony quickly opened the side with his medical supplies. He sterilized the wound and found that the shot went clean through. So all he really needed to do was drink a healing brew and viola! The wound was now gone.
Someone shouted, ”Flee! Flee for your lives!”
The Legate charged forward and continued his relentless attack on the fleeing invisible enemies. Headshot landed and went over to the sliced corpses. Carefully avoiding the blood, she began to pick at their things. Anything her installed PipBuck-like suit of armor labeled as valuable, she took. Gems were also taken for her weapons. Sunshy finally wandered out from behind the building that had taken quite a few bullets for him. The pony had to look away from the grotesque scene of seeing bone and muscle clearly visible, when by all rights it should not.
A little bit later, Brute returned at a gallop and only just managed to stop before them. Somehow, he wasn’t panting at all. He planted the end of his scythe into the ground, allowing the blood-slick curved blade to shine in the sunlight. Brute took out a clean cloth and began rubbing the zebras’ blood off his weapon.
Only when it was clean and returned to his back did Brute lower his hood. Sunshy screamed before he could stop himself. Shooty took a few steps back and paled under her helmet.
Brute no longer had any form of skin or muscle left on the left side of his face. The right was fine, if a little singed. Where a skull should have been, there was glinting metal. Metallic teeth built like a grinning skull could be seen. The oddest thing was seeing his mouth end at all—a blank expression turned into the showing of teeth was simply surreal.
“I would have thought you had already figured it out.” Brute simply stated to Sunshy. Nopony should be able to see someone’s tongue moving as they form words out of one side of their face.
“I…I kind of…thought you were…but…I guess I just wasn’t prepared… Does that hurt?” Sunshy tried his hardest to fight back his revulsion.
“The doctors who did this removed the pain receptor of my brain, so no, nothing hurts.” Brute stated again.
“So…what are you? Who made you? What for?” Shooty questioned, her curiosity driving her to overcome her fear.
“I’m a cyberzebra; one built almost completely metal and synthetic inside and flesh outside. The names escape me, but it was simply a large collection of equines that made me into what I am. I was simply built for the war effort. A living machine, virtually indestructible, and capable of independent thought; useful to take orders and do what I deem is the correct path during a fight. I was built too late, and the world went to hell before I could be fully utilized in the war.”
“You said equines…” Sunshy pointed out.
“Yes. Any sort of animal hoofed and capable of our level of intelligence was working on my project. Earth ponies were the ones who made most of my body structure.”
“Okay, before you go any further, heal that half of your face. It’s really freaking me the fuck out.” Shooty grimaced.
Brute nodded and oddly walked over to the zebra with the head attached to only the shoulder. He put a hoof down on the shoulder and bit into the head. The two ponies watched in growing horror as the zebra giant tore off the dead zebra’s face with a sickening sound. Just as they thought it couldn’t get any worse, Brute spat the flesh and bits of muscle into his hoof and then slapped it onto the metallic half of his face.
Shooty managed to tear off her helmet before she expelled her stomach contents. Sunshy wondered why it was growing dark and the ground was coming up to meet him.
The pony woke up lying on the ground with the terrible sense that he had no idea how he got there and the feeling of lost time. A water canteen was placed in front of his mouth, so he took it and greedily drank the liquid. He felt like he was on fire, but as the water slid down his throat, he began to feel better.
“Perhaps I should have told you to look away. I forget that not everyone is used to horrors of war.” Brute’s cool voice said. He was sitting down to the pony’s left.
“Horror is right! You ripped his face off!” Shooty was to his right, her face still pale. She was eating some garlic—probably in an attempt to get the taste of sick out of her mouth.
“I’m better now, aren’t I?”
He did have a point. Both halves of Brute’s face were perfectly fine. There was no indication that he had ever taken a missile to the face. The skin and stripes appeared to be exactly as they were before. This was confusing; how did it do that? Why was that necessary? Why did he need to steal that face? Sunshy voiced these questions and received an uneasy grimace from the cyborg zebra.
“I don’t know everything. I just know I wasn’t made to heal on my own, so…donated flesh is needed for repairs to the skin. Somehow the skin changes to fit over the metal and the stripes are altered to fit the pattern I was born with. As to why that is necessary, how would you like it if you were made up of a bunch of different colors? Having my own stripes and my glyph mark keeps me sane. When you live forever, even these seemingly insignificant things become an integral part of keeping yourself.” Brute explained as best he could.
Headshot gasped before she squealed and zoomed away. While she did whatever that was, Sunshy asked, “How did you see them?”
“I have different sights. There’s something like E.F.S, except it only tells me where things are based on echolocation through the ground, like how elephants communicate over long distances. Another is heat vision, as in I can see things based off how much heat they’re giving off. Not like shooting lasers out of my eyes or anything. And of course, normal vision.” Brute seemed just as calm as ever as he answered the questions about himself.
“Look at what I found!” Headshot returned with a brown rabbit in her hooves. It appeared to be trying to escape her grasp by squirming around.
“DOOMBUNNY!” Brute bellowed in fear before quickly turning tail and fleeing inside one of the run-down buildings.
“I am so confused right now.” Shooty stated.
“Doombunny is the name given to Fluttershy’s rabbit Angel. There are a lot of stories about what a fierce fighter he actually was. That bunny created Stampede, actually. I guess Brute must have seen Angel sometime before the Balefire Bombs fell. What’s weird is that Angel was a white rabbit and this one is brown.” Sunshy explained as he kept his attention on the building, waiting for Brute to exit himself.
“Maybe seeing a rabbit that can kick ass gives you the fear of them all.” Shooty offered.
“Not unlikely.” Sunshy agreed as he turned his gaze to the rabbit.
That was no rabbit!
The brown furry creature was, for all purposes, just like a rabbit… Except for the two horns growing out of its head, each with three points. Its little nose twitched rapidly as it stared back at Sunshy, who was openly gaping at the creature.
“Is that a jackalope?!” He finally managed to exclaim once his voice returned.
“Yep! I found him and he’s all mine.” Shooty proclaimed as she rubbed her face against the face of the fuzzy creature.
In return, it speared her face with the wicked-sharp horns. She cried out and instinctively threw the creature away from her person. Once on the ground, the jackalope darted to hide behind Sunshy. The yellow pony ignored this, pulled out some band-aids, and placed them on the injured parts of Shooty’s face after cleaning the blood. All the while, the jackalope stayed by Sunshy’s flanks.
“Okay, so it’s not mine. Guess you can have him.” Shooty resigned as she rubbed her still sore face.
“Certainly not! I can’t keep something that scares our bodyguard.” Sunshy said, but made the mistake of glancing down to the aforementioned creature.
The jackalope was staring up at him with the biggest, saddest, cutest look it could muster. Sunshy couldn’t contain himself. Twenty years of caring for animals led him to be weak. He scooped up the jackalope and nuzzled his face into the little creature, babbling baby-talk nonsense at it.
“We’re not…keeping it…are we?”
Sunshy was so distracted with the jackalope that he failed to notice Brute returning. He was staring down at the brown antlered rabbit with a mix of anxiety and fear. The yellow pegasus turned to the jackalope, which was once again regarding him with that cute stare. The pony turned his gaze between the anxious zebra and the pleading cutsie-wootsy little face and those big brown eyes just <I>begging</I> to be his pet.
“I think his will is too weak to refuse the poor thing.” Shooty declared moments before Sunshy squealed in a totally masculine way and hugged the jackalope once again.
Brute sighed heavily and appeared to fight himself internally. He was saved by a ringing coming from somewhere on his side. The zebra dug out a small radio thing. He pushed a button on the thing.
“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?!”
The Legate winced at the sheer volume of Caesar XIII’s shout through the gray box. The jackalope had to hold its long ears down against his head to avoid going deaf. The sheer level of cuteness forced Sunshy to rub his face against it again. The jackalope was much more accepting of contact with Sunshy than with Shooty.
“Just a tribe of Invisibles, My Lord. I took care of all of them.”
“Then why did I get a ton of warnings about the state of your health?!”
“I took a missile to the face.” He said as though commenting on the weather.
“And your skeleton?” Continuing the weather conversation.
“Relatively dent-free. For the real reason you called, Sunshy is just fine. Passed out seeing how I fix my skin, but that was it.”
“Good. Is he there?”
“Yes, now convince him to get rid of this demonic rabbit he seems to have picked up.”
“Sunny, what’s he talking about?” Zen questioned through the talky-box.
“Headshot found a jackalope and it likes me.” Sunshy answered.
“So?”
“Brute is deathly afraid of rabbits.”
“But it’s not a rabbit, it’s a jackalope.”
“It’s a rabbit with freaky horns.” Brute argued.
“I still don’t understand what the big deal is.”
“Ever heard of Doombunny?” Brute asked with a slightly sarcastic tone.
“Nope! You just sound like a big baby. Sunny, you can keep the pet as long as you bring it back. I wanna see it!” There was the sound of hooves clopping together that was drowned out by the sound of Brute groaning.
The talking-box-thing shut off, prompting Brute to put it back in his bag. The Legate then turned back to the north and continued walking, as though nothing had interrupted their path. The jackalope jumped onto Sunshy’s head as he galloped to catch up to Brute. Shooty floated beside the two bucks.
“So, what are we going to name him?” The pegasus questioned before sliding on her helmet.
“Good question. What is your name, little guy?” Sunshy glanced up, but as you can’t see your own forehead, he was unable to see the jackalope perched atop his head. The critter jumped down and landed in front of the pony. He made a motion of standing on his hind legs and making a fierce face. Sunshy reacted with a “huh” as the jackalope jumped onto his back.
“What the hay was that?” Shooty questioned.
“He said he doesn’t have a name, but he wants it to be something intimidating.” Sunshy answered. The jackalope nodded his head.
“Well, if Fluttershy had Angel Bunny, you get Devil Jackalope.” Shooty pitched the idea, but the jackalope shook his head with his little front arms crossed.
“How about something like…” Sunshy began to hover so he could tap his chin with a hoof.
“What about something cuter? Maybe just Jack, short for what he is.” Shooty offered. The jackalope shook his head again.
“Doombunny works.” Brute chipped in with a monotone voice. The jackalope jumped to Sunshy’s head and stuck his tongue out at the zebra.
Sunshy stared up at the slowly darkening sky. A few of the stars were just starting to show through the cloudless sky. A constellation stuck out at him, and he almost facehoofed.
“Lepus! The constellation of the hare! It’s not exactly fierce, but it’s good, right?”The jackalope brightened and stomped his rear leg down to let his ride know he approved. “Good! Glad to have you on board, Lepus.”
“I want to test something out, alright?” Shooty asked.
“What?”
The mare pushed Sunshy over and flew up higher as the newly-named jackalope jumped as high as he could, lowering his head enough in an attempt to skewer Headshot. Gravity was not on his side, so Lepus landed and bounced to reach her again, but to no avail. Brute had stopped walking to stay closer to the others.
“He’s your little protector!” Shooty said with a wide grin for someone who had an angry jackalope trying to stab her. “Look at him try to gut me like a fish.”
“Do you even know what a fish is?” Brute questioned, his cold eyes trained on the futilely hopping horned rabbit.
“I’ve seen them in pictures.” She replied.
“Come here! Come here!” The words were, shockingly, coming from the mouth of Lepus. Only Sunshy seemed unaffected, as he got up and pushed Lepus to the ground with a hoof. He turned and glared at the pony, but did not make any attempt to attack him.
“Lepus, no. She is my sister and didn’t mean any harm. I don’t want you to hurt her. Okay?” Sunshy stated sternly and yet softly. The jackalope made a spinning motion around his head. “Not even if she goes crazy. No excuses.”
Lepus crossed his arms in anger, but nodded with a scowl. This earned a smile from Sunshy, who in turn rewarded the jackalope with a kiss to the brown creature’s temple. The jackalope turned and rubbed his tiny nose against Sunshy’s with a smile.
“The fucking rabbit just talked and you’re blowing it off!!” Shooty shouted as she landed. Lepus glanced at her as though he was considering gutting her anyway.
“Oh, he can’t talk, not really. Jackalopes are special with their own set of rules.” Sunshy explained as Lepus jumped onto the pony’s back, situating himself between the wings. “They mimic speech to lure hunters away. They don’t really understand the words, just the effect some of the phrases they learn have on pursuers. It’s also said that the females can be milked and their milk have special healing properties. You can also leave out a flask of whiskey to make them easier to catch. They also only breed during electrical storms that include hail, which is why they’re so rare.”
“If you know so much about these oddities, how were you so surprised by its existence?” Brute questioned.
“They’re usually only found in the Equestrian Wild West. I never imagined they’d be this far East.” Sunshy explained.
Brute stood up and walked over to one of the more stable-looking buildings back south. The two ponies, noticing the creeping darkness of nighttime rolling in, followed. When they entered the building, they found it was relatively clean. No raiders seemed to have ever bed down here, but by the way rubble was stacked into neat piles against walls, it was clear others had been here before. Most likely, everything would be looted. That didn’t stop Shooty from trying.
Legate Brute was already setting up another campfire, as he had the night before. This time, he managed to set the paper on fire with the flint before Shooty had to use a magical energy beam. The fire was positively roaring within seconds. Lepus bounded over to the fire and curled up near the warmth. From his tensing, it appeared that Brute was using all his willpower not to flee. Doombunny must have been terrible from how he was reacting. It would be harder for him to warm up to a rabbit with the ability to stab.
The three broke out half sandwiches as well as their canteens of water. Shooty, in an attempt to have Lepus warm up to her, offered the creature a daisy petal from her sandwich. He sniffed at the food curiously before making a face of disgust and turning his head away.
“Jackalopes are carnivores.” Sunshy stated simply. Lepus nodded and went over to the doorway without a door. He stood up on his hind legs, staring out into the darkness with ears perked and nose twitching.
“I feel so much safer with the Doombunny keeping vigil.” Brute stated sarcastically as he lied down.
“Hey! Hey! Over here!” Lepus shouted in the voice of an unknown buck. It was strange as hell to see a rabbit whinny when it should make screaming noises at the most.
Brute quickly bit the neck of the jackalope and pulled it inside. Shooty quickly took over the spot, but hid on the side of one of the doors, standing upright on her hind legs. Brute and Sunshy moved out of the line of sight, but left the fire as it was. Brute dropped the jackalope and put a hoof on his mouth.
“Hello? Is anypony in there?” A mare called out from outside.
Everyone held their breaths and waited in silence. A few moments later, a zebra mare walked in. Her black and white mane was spiked up. A blood-caked raider boarding coated her body. She held a serrated knife in her gruesome crooked yellow teeth. A laser beam pistol was placed against her temple, causing her eyes to go wide. Upon seeing the pony in Enclave armor, the other pegasus with an assault rifle, and a giant zebra buck, she couldn’t control her bladder.
“Are you one of those raiders I’ve heard so much about?” Headshot questioned with a tone that made it very clear she had better answer correctly.
Before she could respond, Lepus squirmed out from under Brute’s hoof and ran over to the raider mare. He jumped forward and stabbed her in the neck with his horns. Whatever answer she had was lost as she gargled her own blood. Shooty moved away as the mare clutched at her throat and flailed before falling in a puddle of her own waste and blood. Lepus must have hit her jugular vein.
Preempting the jackalope’s rather clear intent, Sunshy bit him on the back of his neck and pulled him away from the corpse. Lepus wriggled and tried to escape, but it was in vain. Shooty simply took anything of value from the mare. Of the things she scavenged, she came up with a steak of some sort of meat. The mare tossed it to her brother and his flailing pet. Sunshy released the jackalope, allowing it to immediately gorge itself on the steak. Strange how something that should have flat teeth could rip into meat. Shooty then dragged the body outside, leaving a trail of blood.
Brute seemed to be the most disturbed by this scene, if his paling face was anything to go by. Somehow, Sunshy was smiling upon the jackalope proudly. Shooty came back and stared at Sunshy smiling upon Lepus with an expression of being deeply disturbed that he was alright with this rabbit-creature gorging itself on meat.
“I do recall Caesar telling me that you freaked out when he tried to eat meat.” Brute stated blandly, though his black stripes were now definitely gray.
“That’s because we ponies and zebras are herbivores. Lepus is a carnivore, so eating meat is completely acceptable.” Sunshy nuzzled his nose against the jackalope’s head between the ears.
“This is the most surreal thing I have ever seen.” Shooty muttered as she flew over the raider’s mess and lied down opposite the door.
“Think we should clean that up?” Sunshy questioned.
“Nah, rain’ll take care of it.” Shooty replied.
“It’s not cloudy enough to be raining.” Brute argued, now pointedly staring at a wall away from the flesh-eating not-rabbit.
“Pegasi.” Sunshy reminded him, fluffing out his wing to emphasize the point.
Lepus, finished with his meal, curled up at Sunshy’s belly with the horns pointing away. The pegasus smiled and curled up in the same manner as the jackalope. Soon, the little creature wiggled around until he managed to get comfortable between the pony’s hooves. There was the sound of a camera shutter just before Sunshy drifted off to sleep, swiftly followed by the rain.
Level up! You are now level 22!
Speech at 40!
Main Quest added: Water Dragon: You have to convince a water dragon to give water out from its home. Apparently it has already killed three other parties. Good luck.
Perk added: Official Negotiator of the Reformed Legion: What a mouthful! With your new title come new responsibilities. You gain a total of +15 Speech when on a quest regarding this particular job.
Companion perk added: Fear the Reaper: Legate Brute is the Reaper of the Savannah Wasteland and he has earned that title. Enemies lose 50% Nerve, your Damage Resistance is 100% when he guards you (only available per side he protects), and you yourself lose 75% Nerve when staring at/distracted by ‘fear’ cloak.
Companion perk added: Doombunny 2: Just as Fluttershy had Angel Bunny, you now have Lepus the Jackalope. With those sharp horns and his unfathomable attachment to you, he is your new protector and can do his job well. +9001 Cuteness when with him*.
*Only on those who find rabbits and/or you adorable, anyone who finds neither of you adorable or find one of you downright intolerable are effectively immune to this part of the perk.</b>
((Big Props to DancingOnTheAshes for using the ~~ for alicorn thought to each other. I thought it was neat, so I hope she doesn't get mad at me for using the idea. I already use italics for Zebra language, and the squiggles give it just the right touch to make the difference known. Again, thank you for that great idea, Dancing. I really hope you don't mind if you ever read this.))