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// He's Not The Main Antagonist, But He's Close Enough For Where It Counts 
// Story: Fallout Equestria: Taking Life By The Horns 
// by Pokonic 
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"Celestia saves and Luna protects, but neither of them are paying my salary. That's Twilight Sparkle, so if you think praying to her will get you through here, go ahead sweetie, but it won't help you."







The big blue pony thing that was occupying most of the end of the room was giving me the evil eye, leaving Gabriel sitting very still and me trying not to make any sudden movements. The creature, only seconds after it finished speaking, lowered it's head closer to the floor and gave me a withering look, as if it could kill me if it just thought hard enough.

The Alicorn, because that was the name of what it was, if I remembered what I had heard from the radio in my home, looked like it was offended by our existence and wished to rectify it. It looked like it wanted to do horrible things to me on principle. 

But, before I could even process what it was saying, or consider the real threat that such a dangerous, nigh mythical creature posed to me, Candy Cane decided to boop it on the nose with a hoof and let out a little giggle afterwards.

A look of shock passed over the creature's face, it's expression of stony arrogance and infinite contempt for everything that wasn't itself being lost as it's eyes widened with disbelief. It's face was strange, with it's eyes on the sides of it's head and muzzle elongated, but even it's alienness didn't stop me from seeing that it was looking straight at the filly which could have been a tenth of it's impressive size.

"You dare touch Us, little one?" it spoke, it's whisper still somehow carrying more weight than the average pony's shout, "Do you know who We are?"

I heard Gabriel mutter something under his breath, and it sounded something like 'Oh why me.'.

"You're pretty!" Candy Cane replied cheerfully.

The Alicorn continued to look at Candy Cane like she was the most fascinating creature in the universe.

"That we are." it spoke after a moment or so, with no hint of irony, "We are the Goddess. You interest me, small one. What is your name?"

I felt a sudden surge of queasiness in my gut when I realized that me and Gabriel's chances on getting out of here revolved around whether or not Candy Cane could appease the giant pony who spoke in third person.

"My name is Candy Cane, miss Goddess!" the filly replied brightly, without any bit of hesitation.

The Alicorn didn't acknowledge her response physically, but I was starting to notice that the creature didn't move much at all. Even it's wings, half extended and built wider than Gabriel's, were still enough to look like one solid dark blue mass.

"Young filly, you amuse me." it quipped, "We do believe that you would be a fine candidate for Unity, if you had been born a unicorn."

"What's that?" Candy Cane asked politely.

"We are Unity." the Alicorn said, as if that answered the filly's question and left no room to doubt it's authority, "But We are simply a part of it. One piece of a whole." 

It paused, but I couldn't tell why just from sight. "You're fearlessness is endearing. Who whelped you into existence, small one?"

"My mama." she replied, which surprised me, because I didn't expect her to know what the word 'whelped' meant.

The Alicorn smirked the meanest little smirk I had ever seen at Candy Cane's reply. I think it might have been amused or insulted by the filly's reply, but I wasn't sure which.

"What is the name of your mother?" it said.

"My mama's name is..." 

Candy Cane rubbed the right side of her head with a hoof.

"My mama's name is Iron Chain, miss Unity!"

When I heard what Candy Cane said, I couldn't help but evaluate what she told me what her mother did. 

I felt a little sick when I realized that I was probably being optimistic when I thought her mother ferried around ponies in a wagon.

"Oh, is that so?" the Alicorn replied, a tinge of interest in her tone betraying that it was considering the filly in a different light, "Do you know who Red Eye is, little one?"

Candy Cane nodded quickly, "Uh huh! My mama worked for him! She brought ponies to a place she said he owned, and when she brought them there, other ponies gave her caps!"

The Alicorn, at that, raised her head up a little and began to laugh. It sounded like cruelty in audio form. 

Feeling like this was not going to be one of my better days, I turned slightly to the right, as I didn't want to look at Candy Cane directly. Seeing that most of Gabriel's extremities were twitching slightly and that he looked at me like he was considering putting that beak of his to use on me, I shook my head and hoped that I got across that I was just as unpleasantly surprised by what she said as he did.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

"Ah, such a precious child!" the Alicorn spoke loudly, as if it was speaking to an audience, as opposed to a filly and two weary adults, "Yes, you shall be spared today, but as for your friends..."

Gabriel got off the chair he was sitting on and, leaving his coffee behind, started walking slowly towards the Alicorn. I decided to do the same, because I wanted to live.

"Oh, you seemed to have them well trained! Truly, little one, you are more than what you seem!" it said to Candy Cane, sounding like it was enjoying itself, "Little one, if you wish, We shall lead you and you're slaves to where you are to be at now." 

"Okay miss Unity. But they arn't my slaves, they are my friends!" Candy Cane said chipperly as the Alicorn started to turn into the hall.

The big blue mare gave Gabriel and I a disinterested glare before returning it's gaze to Candy Cane. "If you believe."

I didn't know what that meant, and I couldn't see the look on Candy Cane's face, but I forced myself to keep looking forward when the Alicorn walked out of the room, Candy Cane following too closely behind it for my taste. Also, I kept looking forward because Gabriel started cursing wildly as soon as the Alicorn left the room and I didn't wish to attract his direct attention by looking at him for too long.

When we left the room, we didn't say anything to each other, but I noticed Gabriel kept looking too closely at my jugular for my taste. I couldn't blame him, I suppose, but I kept myself on guard until we arrived to where the Alicorn was leading us.





Which wasn't for long, because the the room where the alleged peace talk was one door down from where we were. 

I found darkly funny for some reason.

The scene where we entered in was almost a miniature of what the hotel's lobby looked like, if far more heavily armed. 

There was a large wooden table separating the room into two sides. The one closest to the door was Rollcall's group. He himself had discarded his jacket at some point in the last hour as well as his hat, which showed that his slate blue body was largely defined and was peppered with small scars, to the point where his back was an off-white color because of the lack of fur. Without his hat, I could see that he didn't even have much of a scalp, with much of the right side of his head a mass of scar tissue and having a hole where a ear should have been. He didn't even have a cutie mark, with the patch of flesh where it should have been displayed a shiny red mess.

He was flanked by two other ponies, one of both genders, bearing battle saddles and greenish-grey combat armor but unarmed nevertheless. I could see that on the far side of the room, there was a small collection of large guns; presumably it wasn't practical to take off those saddles in a place like this. The two of them had stern looks on their faces, but they were unnerved when the group I was in came through the door, which was understandable. I could only imagine that a pony, in a fight between a minotaur, a griffon, and a Alicorn, it wasn't a question of if they would die so much as which one of them would kill them first.

The first thing I noticed about Charity's side of the table was that she also had two guards, and both attracted my attention immediately.

I smiled slightly when I saw Karen, unharmed and perfectly alive. Her guns were gone and she didn't seem injured, but she didn't look like she especially happy at the moment and she didn't seem to be especially relieved that I was alive, so my smile faded quickly.

The other mare next to Charity was one I did not recognize. She had a light yellow coat with a orange mane, and she looked like she wasn't used to smiling often. She wore a bluish-grey jumpsuit of a sorts, one which had more then a few pockets lining it's sides, and I couldn't help but notice that it had the number 73 emblazoned on the back of it in big bold letters. She also had two large, bulky objects around her hooves; each a blueish-green in color and consisting of two pistons, a large metal plate, and a moderate amount of metal acting as a sort of glove for the hoof. I had no idea what they were, but they both looked heavy and, presumably, both were weapons.

Seeing that I didn't know where to start when it came to asking questions of extreme relevance to my interests, such as why I was stuck in a room for an hour with a griffon who probably wanted to kill me at this point and why, for example, a Alicorn was walking around so far up north, I said nothing at first, preferring to simply stand still and smile blankly at the ponies centered at the table.

The room was silent for a few moments.

Then, Rollcall spoke up, sounding quite unamused, hard eyes staring at out general direction.

"This is a farce." he said roughly, turning back to Charity, who was giving him a big grin that I didn't feel was genuine, "You cannot possibly expect me to believe that you are telling the truth."

The mare let out a little snort and shook her head at him, as if she was scolding someone half her age, when it looked like the opposite might have been true. "Oh, but I am! Griffon, you work for Dive Bomb, right?"

Gabriel let himself relax slightly; I saw that he wasn't clenching his claws as tightly as he did before. "I do."

Charity giggled. "So, you can say that you are not contract-bound to protect the interests of the Purebred and it's encompassing groups? Just Dive Bomb's interests, which happen to be part of the Purebred's."

Gabriel spoke immediately after Charity finished speaking. "That would be correct, miss."

"So you don't have a reason to lie about what you think about the Purebred, but you are contractually obligated to state the truth if it would help the Purebred?" she said pointedly, making me realize where she was going with this.

"That would be correct." Gabriel replied, sounding a little sour.

"So, are you currently obligated to help protect or serve any pony in this room?"

Gabriel took a deep breath. "No."

Charity turned to Rollcall, motioning at the door we just came through. "That'll be all, honey. You're stuff is up on the roof with you're friends. The filly can go with you too."

Gabriel suddenly looked very uneasy, and it took me a few moments to realize that either he never told her his name, or she had gotten it from other ponies.

Candy Cane, on the other hand, didn't look so upset, and she followed Gabriel happily as he walked out the door. I was slightly thankful that she didn't say anything to Charity, because at this point I didn't think I could stand near her for a few days.

But, after they left, that left me in a room with five unfamiliar ponies, one donkey with which I had slight acquaintance with, and a Alicorn, who was standing far too still for my tastes.

"So, do you say it as 'Goddess' or 'The Goddess'?" Charity quipped, motioning at the Alicorn, "Or do you want to be addressed as 'Unity'?"

The Alicorn turned it's head to look at Charity, almost on cue. "We are to be addressed as The Goddess."

I stepped to the right slightly, so I didn't feel like the creature's wings could touch me if they extended to their full length.

"Well, that's fine with me." Charity said casually, before motioning to Rollcall, who looked like he wasn't happy with anything that was going on around him, "Great one, would you mind telling the stallion other there why you are here today?"

The Alicorn raised a eyebrow at Charity, but shrugged a very stiff little shrug and looked over at Rollcall, who flinched lightly when it turned it's gaze at him. When it saw that he was slightly uncomfortable at the sight of itself, the creature smirked slightly.

"We were invited to the wedding of the pony known as Boffenspark. We were contacted by the usage of a terminal where We dwell, and We were both amused and flattered."

Rollcall, looking slightly unnerved, eyed Charity, who just kept the same smile on her face. 

"Thank you, Goddess." Charity replied to the Alicorn's words, sounding far too bored to even pretend to put any meaning in her words, "As an apology for taking you're time, I have had the waters within the baths changed for you're leisure."

The Alicorn did not seem to especially care, but as it left the room, I thought I saw another smirk pass over it's face.

When it left, I had the attention of the room, the room full of dangerous ponies who I didn't have a reason to trust. I saw the orange mare shift slightly in place, and the two large gauntlets she wore echoed through the room. I saw one of Rollcall's guards look me over once, as if trying to see if I had any means of defending myself.

"So, we know you are working for Nightcore." Charity said lightly, as if she was trying to break news lightly to me, "And according to the chunky blue mare you and the filly came with, you've done stuff with Charnel and Troubadour. And all three of them hate each other, and I know for sure that you had something to do with Cheesecake Crumbles and her friends being off'ed in that farce down near the river. So, I have two options to consider."

She paused, and gave me a gentle smile. "Either you are working with all three, and all of them are in cahoots and you're a new minion who they've kept out of sight, or you just happen to be the unluckiest son of a bitch in the wasteland."

To put it bluntly, I was boned. 

"It's the latter."

At that, Charity let out a whooping laugh and hit the table a few times, and I think I saw Karen smile slightly. Even Rollcall's two guardponies looked slightly relaxed.

The yellow mare didn't laugh, though. She just kept the same expression she had on her face as she did before, bright blue eyes unblinking and small mouth unmoving. I, quite suddenly, was missing the company of the Alicorn.

"Well, now that that's settled," Charity managed to get out after her last bout of laughter, "Mind telling me how you plan on explaining my brother in law's death to my sister and her three foals?"

I felt like my mind was growing fuzzy and my heart pumping in my chest, and I realized who she must be talking about. I looked at Karen, who had adverted her gaze from me some time ago.

"Temperance." I replied weakly, "I didn't kill him. Please, I didn't-"

Charity shook her head, and her fake smile turned into a fake frown. "Of course you didn't, sweetheart. The glass in room he was killed in was buckled inwards, so the bullet came in from outside."

Rollcall gave Charity a spiteful glare, but the mare didn't seem to notice, or care. I tried to see if Karen reacted to what the mare was saying, and to my mild confusion and despair she wasn't.

"But that doesn't matter, actually. With Temperance dead and my sister away for a week or so, she doesn't have to know he was killed with you and you're friends in the room." Charity said, jade-colored eyes as green as the jewels hanging off her ears big and wide and filled with nothing but greed, "But the thing is, Prudence doesn't like to think that things happen 'by accident'. She see's conspiracies everywhere." 

Charity paused, waving a hoof around exaggeratedly, "But, for you're safety, I think we can make a deal right here. I appreciate the fact that you managed to stop the good gentlestallion," she motioned over to Rollcall, "from utterly destroying Dayside. So, I have a offer for you."

After Charity finished speaking, Rollcall leaned slightly away from the table and whispered something to the stallion at his left, but I wasn't sure what he said, only that it made his eye's widen slightly. 

Deciding to wait for Rollcall to finish speaking, I waited for him to turn back to Charity, and made the point to nod slightly after I saw that he was finished. I didn't see a reaction from him, but the guard he spoke to nodded briskly in my direction.

"What would happen to me if I declined your offer, Charity?" 

Charity blinked, and I saw a fleeting amount of surprise on her face. 

"Well, I could have Charger here," she paused motioning over to the orange mare next to her,"break your arms and legs with her big metal hooves and have you moved into a supply closet until my little sister comes back. Then Charger would probably just have to crush your skull a few days later."

The orange mare, Charger, apparently, didn't react to being called by name. She just kept looking at me intently, like I was a especially interesting piece of furniture. A piece of furniture that she could break with her big metal hooves.

"Or, I could tell the our special guest, the Goddess, that you aren't under our protection." Charity said, somehow keeping a smile on her face, "Or the filly, or Blubbery Cream or whatever her name was. You wouldn't last long. She likes to kill things, you see. Or, I could just tell all the townsponies outside that you killed Temperance and those two poor ponies you stumbled on when you arrived her."

The way she said that, without any real malice, just fake sugary sweetness, made my stomach churn. Karen did give me a apologetic look, one that did make me feel slightly better.

"I take you're point. What would this deal be, then?" 

Charity smiled. "Oh, well, the fact of the matter is, you're friend said you wanted a job in the Purebred. Is that correct?"

Suddenly, I had the feeling that this day was only going to get worse and worse.

"That is true." I said, deciding to not say anything especially rash, like adding that I didn't expect my life to be on the line.

"Well, I could have you set up as part of Boffenspark's security at his wedding. There's going to be so many ponies there, you understand. But, Boffenspark has a bit of a problem."

I took a breath. "What sort of problem?"

Charity's grin grew a little bigger. "He has a very powerful pony after his head. His name is Silent Night, and he is a ghoul from before the war who just hates him for whatever reason. Naturally, this is his mortal enemy's wedding, so he's going to try and crash it. Boffenspark, because he isn't stupid, has surrounded himself with some of the most powerful ponies who trust him. He even pulled some strings so he could have that alicorn around to protect himself." Charity rolled her eyes, as if that was simply too much.  "There was already going to be guards everywhere, but supposedly Silent Night is a powerful magic user, so security is going to be extremely tight. That's where you and you're friends come in."

I suddenly had the feeling that my life was getting far too complicated for my tastes.

"And I'm going to help keep this 'Silent Night' from killing Boffenspark?" I asked.

Charity, for a few moments, looked over at Rollcall, who looked almost disgusted that he was in the same room as her. She looked over at Karen, who was doing the exact same thing but was hiding it pretty well. She looked over at Charger, who looked as blank as ever. 

After looking over the room, she looked at me, fluttered her eyes, and spoke.

"No, sweetie, you and you're friends are going to help kill Boffenspark."