Chapter 21 - Q&A
"Looks like we might be due for a big ol' storm of chaos!"
===~+~===
I see Hearty, most of his head missing, but still standing in front of me, looking at me curiously. “You ruined my experiments, Ratchet,” He tells me. “The hope of all ghouls everywhere, shattered, in an instant.”
“No, you were insane. Using innocent ponies to further your research,” I shoot back at him. He laughs, causing blood to rise from his throat and spill upon the ground.
“Sure, justify it. You killed me in cold blood, I was defenseless,” Hearty says, his tone hardening. “I’d say we are the same, but you are a monster compared to me,” He says.
“What?” I gawk at him. “As if, you are the monster here.”
“You think you did good? What good did my execution accomplish? My cold blooded murder? I gave ghouls hope that they could be cured, I was working towards that goal. A righteous goal, a noble goal. You...what was your goal in killing me? Revenge?” He questions.
“That’s twisted and you know it! If I didn’t stop you, you’d have kept killing innocents!” I tell him.
“I was captured, I could not have harmed another soul if I wanted to. But you weren’t satisfied. You had to murder me. You could have left me for the future residents to deal with, to pass judgement on me. But you gave me no trial, no judgement, just an execution,” Hearty says, spraying blood on me as he speaks.
I glare at him. “I know, killing you was wrong. It was a lapse in judgement. If I could go back…” Hearty cuts me off.
“You don’t get to go back, Ratchet. One lapse in judgement, one mistake, and ponies die,” He says harshly.
“You’re right, I can’t. But I can learn from my mistakes, move forward. You’re the only helpless pony I’ve killed, and I hope you are the last,” I tell him.
“The only pony you’ve killed?” Another voice says. “What about me, Ratchet?” Thunder says as his twisted body limps out from behind Hearty. “You got me killed,” He accuses.
“No, that was...an accident,” I tell him, looking aside.
“The way you cast your eyes aside, you know I’m right. You had every opportunity to come back down stairs and check on me. Make sure I was alright. Instead, you kept going up the tower, worried about the time you had left to hide in your safe, secure armor,” Thunder says, staring at me.
“You volunteered to stay down there. I even called down to you a few times, to make sure you were alright. If you needed us, you could have said something,” I tell him, shifting to look at his body.
“Wrong. You know how prideful and courageous I was. I wouldn’t have asked for help, even if I needed it. You were our leader, you should have known. But your selfishness cost me my life,” He says.
“No, you’re wrong,” I tell him. “I risked myself for everyone at times, remember raider alley?”
“You think that makes you less selfish? That makes you the most selfish. Instead of leading, forming a proper plan, you decided to take everything onto your shoulders. We were given vague explanations of what to do, no real formation or idea of what to do. ‘Protect Rose’, ‘Get across the street’, those were your orders. Simplistic, idiotic, and selfish,” Thunder says with malice.
“Your former comrade is right, you know,” Hearty agrees. “You are selfish. After all, instead of talking to your remaining friends about killing me, you did it yourself. I’m sure Lightning was just itching to kill me himself, and you robbed him of that,” He tells me.
I shrink back from them, not wanting to listen to them anymore. “Stop it,” I mutter, falling to my haunches and covering my ears.
“It is no wonder Lightning and Arrow left you when Lily told them to. They doubted your ability to lead, to keep them alive. They made it seem like they had no choice, but it is all your fault that they left,” Thunder tells me.
“All your fault,” Hearty agrees.
“It is all your fault, Ratchet. We are dead because of you,” They say in unison. “Your friends left because of you. Cygnus and Shrill will leave you too, in time.”
“It’s all your fault,” They chant. “All your fault. All your fault. All. Your. Fault.”
===~+~===
I wake up with a start, my heart pounding in my chest. My breathing is ragged and I look around rapidly. Cygnus seems to wake up slightly and mutters, “Uhh, did Cora fall again?” But he just scratches his back and goes back to sleep. I look over at Shrill’s bed, but it is empty.
Then, I feel the warmth around me and look down. Shrill is in my bed with me, hooves wrapped around my waist. I let out a sigh and try to catch my breath. Shrill wakes up as I do so, and looks up at me, wiping the sleep from her eyes. “Mmm, morning Ratchet,” She says.
I look down at her, putting on my most ‘unamused’ face. “Shrill, why are you in my bed?” I ask her.
“Oh? Am I?” She says, looking around groggily. “Oh, so I am. Guess I must have sleepwalked my way into your bed,” She tells me.
I keep the same expression and just keep looking at her. “What? You’re not suggesting that I watched you as you fell asleep, and then once I thought you were sleeping deeply enough climbed into your bed, are you? Because that would be, well, you know…” She trails off and gives me a puppy dog look.
“Sorry, I won’t do it again,” Shrill says, puffing out a cheek and looking at me sadly. I let out a sigh.
“See that you don’t,” I tell her. “Now, could you let go of me please?” I ask her, looking down at her arms still wrapped around my waist.
Shrills eyes go wide. “You mean you don’t even want to cuddle!” She gasps. Again, I flash my ‘unamused’ face at her, and she pouts as she lets me go. “Fine, fine. I’m going to take a shower then. In that ever so clean bathroom...Oh my, it is so beautiful,” she says with a slight smile as she gets up off the bed. “Join me if you want,” She says in a sing-songy voice as she walks toward the bathroom.
I watch as she walks over and closes the door. “She’s odd,” Cora says from right behind me, causing me to literally jump out of bed.
“Son of a…Cora, when did you get in here?” I ask her.
“A few minutes ago. I heard you talking in your sleep, and I was a bit concerned. Bad dream?” Cora asks.
I nod. “Yea, something like that. Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing,” I tell her with a smile. She tilts her head, but doesn’t say anything else. “So, you get used to the body?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “Yep! I’ve even got more range of motion than a normal pony! I should be able to help you all fight now!”
“That’s good, though I hope we don’t get into too many fights,” I tell her. “Anyway,” I say, pushing myself up from the bed, “Shrill is taking a shower, so tell me about your new body. Everything you found out while you were testing it out last night,” I say with a smile. “Though, let’s go to the workshop, Cygnus is still sleeping,” I add.
Cora nods quietly and we quietly walk to the workshop where she tells me all about her new body.
===~+~===
After a while, Cygnus wakes up and Shrill finishes up her shower. The four of us, including Cora, gather in the small kitchen attached to the living quarters. It isn’t much, a sink, stove, fridge, and a few cabinets that used to be filled with food. A few of the cabinets still contain dishes and utensils.
Pushed against one of the walls is a small table with five simple chairs around it. Before, most of my staff eat while they worked, but occasionally someone would eat in the kitchen. We never had large meals at a specific time, it was a sort of make something when you’re hungry arrangement. Mostly, the table was used for breaks when my staff would play cards or use the time to catch up on the latest news about the war.
However, those times are long gone. Now, it is just the four of us, and of course Cora isn’t eating with us. We don’t have much in the way of fine cuisine, but it is food. Cora just practices sitting in a chair while we eat. We eat in silence other than a few remarks about Cora’s body. Once we finish, I decide to get down to business.
As Shrills sets a plate into the sink, I clear my throat and address her. “Shrill, I think it is time for us to talk about Grimoire,” I say. She turns back around to face us with a sad smile on her face.
“Yea, I suppose. Let’s get this out of the way,” Shrill says as she walks back towards us and then sits back down. “The topic of Grimoire is pretty broad. Want to start me out with some specifics?” She asks.
I’m about to ask the first question, but Cygnus beats me to it. “How many raiders does he have under his command?” He asks. Not the first question I’d have asked, but it wasn’t a bad one.
Shrill furrows her brow in thought. “Last I knew,” She begins, “a few thousand. An actual count has never been taken, but I’ve heard him utter the word ‘thousands’ a few times when discussing his army. Though, his recent attack on that Stable...36, I think it was, wiped out a good number of his force in this area,” She explains.
“In this area?” Cygnus repeats. “Does that mean he has small armies spread across the wasteland?” He asks.
Shrill nods. “That’s right. Keeping an army of thousands in one place would be troublesome. He has smaller divisions spread to each area of Equestria, some are even beyond, but not many. I’m pretty sure he has a group in the area of each major city. Manehatten, Baltimare, Hoofington, and others,” She answers.
“So much for finding a central location,” Cygnus mutters. “Ratchet?” He says, offering me the floor. I clear my throat.
“Well, we’ve seen Grimoire around here a lot. Does that mean he directly commands the raiders around Canterlot?” I ask her.
“He commands all the armies directly,” She replies. “Grimoire does have leaders to command in his place, but for every major operation, Grimoire is there giving the orders,” She explains.
I raise an eyebrow. “But you said his armies are all over, how can he possibly direct them all? Wouldn’t there be weeks he would go without giving orders to one of them? I haven’t picked up any other radio signals and I don’t think any other communication devices work anymore. Even if he was constantly on the move, it would take him weeks, if not months to make the rounds. Especially since he has seemed to be here for the past few weeks,” I tell her.
Shrill shakes her head. “Do you remember how Grimoire captured you last time?” She asks. To be honest, I am pretty confused about the whole thing. One moment it was just me and Cygnus, the next Grimoire was there and then I lost consciousness.
“He just blinded us and knocked me out, right?” I ask her.
Shrill frowns and shakes her head as she says, “He teleported. The flash was him appearing. He then put you to sleep and teleported you out. It was just him, no one else. That is why Cygnus here is still alive as well.” She gestures to Cygnus. I look at him for confirmation, and he nods.
“So, let me get this right. He teleports between his armies on a whim then? It takes a lot of magic to teleport, the longer the distance, the more it takes too. Even Twilight couldn’t constantly teleport around, and when she did, it was exhausting for her,” I say.
Shrill shrugs. “I don’t know. He seems to have found a way to not get fatigued by it, not use up all his magic. I don’t think he is using teleport spells we are familiar with. I can teleport, up to a hundred feet. But it uses all my magic. And when I appear, there isn’t a blinding flash. Normal teleportation is a small, sometimes smokey flash. His is different,” She explains.
I bite my lip. Did he get ahold of some ancient spell or artifact? Something that allows him to teleport with none of the negative effects? This wouldn’t be good. He could show up any moment. “Can he just teleport anywhere? Or does he have to know where he is going?” I ask. This was the important issue.
She thinks for a moment, then says, “I’m pretty sure he still has to see the location prior to teleporting here.”
“Then how did he find us?” I ask.
“He mentioned something about spotting you when he was checking out Stable 36 again. He was planning to assault it again, but saw it was destroyed already,” Shrill answers. Damn, so he just happened across us? That’s it? What luck. But, as long as he can’t just appear anywhere, that is one good thing I suppose.
“What else can you tell us about Grimoire? Any other special magic or anything of the sort? I heard from the Rangers of Stable 36 that bullets were passing through him almost, that he was regenerating faster than they could shoot him?” I ask her.
Her eyes go wide. “I...I don’t know anything about that ability. I hadn’t seen him since the last time he captured you though. He could have found something, learned some new spell?” She suggests. That is worrying. Shrill continues, “Other than that and teleporting, he is just a powerful unicorn, stronger than most and seems to have a lot of magic at his disposal.”
“He is also quite the character. You’ve heard or read stories about super villains before, right? Well, picture that, but with a large dose of madness. Anyone who doesn’t join him, he kills. Even if one of us questions or doubts him, without hesitation, Grimoire kills them. His raiders know better than to do as such now, but when a new group joins, quite a few make that mistake,” Shrill tells us.
“He told you about his plans, right? To bring chaos to the world, to kill any who oppose him? Well he truly believes he can. He sends his lackies on missions to old ruins looking for old world items and technology. Rumor has it, he is even looking for Discord’s remains. No clue why he is doing that, though,” She mutters.
Shrill blinks for a moment. “I’m actually really glad I had a reason to leave Discordia. I never liked him, but I was too afraid to try to leave on my own,” She says with a slight smile. “Thanks,” She adds.
“No problem,” I tell her. “Do you know of any weaknesses he has?” I ask her. “Like, is he afraid of anything, doesn’t do well in small spaces, that sort of thing? I suggest.
She shakes her head. “Other than the usual stuff that us unicorns are weak against, not that I know of. I don’t think he’s share that information if he did anyway. From what you said, even bullets might not do the trick on him,” Shrill says with a frown. “How are we going to take him down if he can just regenerate or whatever?”
“Good question,” I mutter. “A question we’ll answer when it comes up. Till then, we’ll just plan to throw everything we have at him. I don’t think I have anything left to ask at the moment. Cygnus, you have anything to add?” I ask him.
Cygnus thinks for a moment then says, “You said that Grimoire’s army is scattered all over the wasteland. But, does Grimoire himself have a base of operations? One specific place he centralizes all of his work?”
Shrill tilts her head. “I don’t...think so?” She says, thinking for a moment with a hoof to her chin. “Nothing I know of for sure. Though...I do remember hearing him saying something along the lines of him ‘returning north’ at one point. Though, I’m not sure if that was to go back to some base of his, or just another group of his army.”
“Not much up north,” I state. “The remains of the Crystal Empire and the frozen wastes. A few smaller towns, and I think a few Stables. But I don’t know where they would be at. There could also be top secret research facilities there too, and we wouldn’t know till we looked,” I mutter.
I let out a moan of frustration. “This sucks! We got a decent amount of info on Discordia, but Grimoire is still a huge mystery. We don’t even know when or where he will show up.” I complain and fall onto the table in a disgruntled heap.
After a moment, I pull myself together and straighten up in the chair with a cough. “So. Let’s summarize. Discordia is located in small groups around the wasteland, and in total there are a few thousand. Grimoire *may* have a base of some sort up north. His magic is crazy and he can teleport around at will, and even regenerate insanely quickly and pass through solid objects. Right?” I say, looking at the others.
Shrill nods, but Cygnus adds, “He is looking for magical artifacts and other such things. We might be able to use that to trap him some way.” That’s a good point. But, we would have to find something that he would...want...to...Cygnus. I smile at him. “What?” He says, blinking.
“How would you like to be our bait?” I ask him. “He’s looking for magical artifacts of power, and you have the ability to make things out of nothing. Think about it, if he knows what you can do, he’ll really want to catch you and experiment on you.”
Cygnus frowns. “That’s not the most pleasant of thoughts. I’m not opposed to the idea, but if we fail to stop him and I get captured? He’ll kill Shrill and either experiment on you too or just kill you. We need a plan. We need more information on him,” He says.
I close my eyes and think for a moment, breathing steadily. “Shrill, you were an ambassador, right?” I ask her.
“Yea, I used to scout out prospective gangs and raider groups to join up with Discordia,” Shrill replies.
“Do you know any that are still undecided about joining? Preferably ones that aren’t complete wackos? Ideally, ones that don’t actually kill innocents?” I prod.
“A few. Most aren’t what you specified, but...I think the Gremlins and the Junk Rats might be not that bad?” She suggests.
I let out a breath and open my eyes. “I’ve got a plan then. At least something we can start with. We’ll go talk with the Gremlins and Junk Rats, they know you Shrill, so you are our in with them. Once we meet with their leaders, we try to convince them to join Discordia as spies for us,” I explain with a smile.
“What makes you think they would help us?” Cygnus asks. “They are raiders, or gangsters, or whatever. What if they have already made up their minds and the moment we suggest it, they decide to kill us?”
“Then we’ll fight our way out,” I tell him. “Less members of Discordia, either way. Besides, Shrill said that these two groups don’t seem so bad. Maybe they will listen to us, perhaps we can offer them something that will persuade them,” I suggest.
Cygnus sighs. “Yes, let’s go into the center of an unknown group and fight our way out. Your aim is horrible, Shrill isn’t a fighter, and I am the only one who can fight properly. But by all means, let’s just go in and ask them. Why not,” He says sarcastically.
“Well, let’s find out more about them then, before we make a decision to meet them,” I tell him, looking over to Shrill. “Shrill’s been answering our questions for a while now, what’s a few more, right?” I say with a smile. She nods.
“Good! Now then, let’s start with the Gremlins. What can you tell us about them?” I ask her.
Shrill clears her throat. “The Gremlins are based out of northern Manehatten, separate from most of the other raiders and wastelanders. Gremlock is their leader and he is a bit odd, but he has morals. He runs a loose ship, letting his underlings do what they want, as long as they follow a few rules. The first rule is never to kill a fellow Gremlin. He lets them fight, but if one kills another, Gremlock kills them outright,” Shrill explains.
“The Gremlins are sort of scavengers, and have designated northern Manehatten to be their ‘territory’. This leads to the second rule. If anyone is looting in Gremlin territory and refuses to leave, kill them. The third rule is a follow-up to the second. If someone wanders into Gremlin territory looking for food or shelter, they are welcomed for the night and fed. They are then asked if they want to join the Gremlins and told the rules. The fourth rule is the final rule. Anyone who has been shown hospitality and yet refuses to join the Gremlins is allowed to leave, but if they are seen again, they are killed,” Shrill states.
“That seems harsh,” Cygnus mutters. “What if they change their mind and want to join later?” He asks.
I shake my head. “It makes sense. My guess is that Gremlock doesn’t want ponies who aren’t completely dedicated. If they refuse the first time, but join later, they might decide to leave whenever they want,” I guess.
Shrill nods. “That’s basically correct. Now then, remember I said Gremlock is odd? Well, his personality basically is the nature of the Gremlins. He likes pranks and causing mischief. As a result, the Gremlins are all about pranks. On each other, on random ponies near the edges of their territory, it is indiscriminate,” She tells us.
“They even pranked me when I was there the first time,” Shrill says with a slight smile. “Put a whoopie cushion on my chair. One of my escorts walked into a spring loaded boxing glove,” She says with a chuckle. “They are jokesters, but they are also ruthless to anyone that steals from their territory, and they know how to fight.”
“Huh, so they are like Pinkie Pie. Prone to pranks, but also terrifying if you cross her,” I mutter.
“They even have a figure of Pinkie Pie locked in a display case,” Shrill says. “That figure is the cleanest thing I’ve ever seen in the wasteland. Even cleaner than your bathroom, and that’s saying something. It is like it isn’t part of this world,” She explains.
“Ok, so, they are jokesters. Don’t seem like the type that would join up with Grimoire. Well, I’ll think of something to get them on our side. Anything else you know about them?” I ask her.
“Well,” Shrill says, putting a hoof to her chin. “A lot of minor things that aren’t too important. Nothing you’d need to know. Want me to tell you about the Junk Rats now?” She asks. I nod. “Alright, they are way different from the Gremlins in almost every aspect.”
“They are based in a small former military base along the rails to Manehatten. You know how just east of here, there is a junction where one goes to Hollow Shades and one to Manehatten, right? Well, they are on the northern path, a few miles before the tunnel,” Shrill informs us.
“Oh, that place? What was it called again…” I trail off, thinking.
“Checkpoint 3-84, I think,” Cora says. “If I remember correctly, it was used to inspect supplies heading into Manehatten and served as an early warning in case of enemies coming along the rails. It was a former railway pitstop, converted into a military base.”
“That’s right,” I say with a nod. “Not that I think of it, didn’t have have some sort of special weapon?” I ask. Cora tilts her head. “Oh, I guess you wouldn’t have heard of it Cora. You didn’t know much about the specifics of the fighting. I don’t remember what the weapon was though,” I say, frowning.
Shrill coughs. “Can I continue?” She asks. I nod and apologize for interrupting her. “Where was I...Oh yes. Checkpoint 3-84 or whatever is where they are based at. A fairly useful position, given that it is nestled just outside of a valley between two mountains, the only direct way to go to Manehatten unless you take the Hollow Shades route.”
I nod in agreement. When going to Manehatten these past few times, we’ve taken the Hollow Shades route. Mainly because we got side tracked by the DJ’s broadcast. But after the first time, we went that way simply because we knew it was clear and relatively safe.
“Now, speaking more specifically, there are thirteen members of the Junk Rats. Less than a third of the size of the Gremlins. However, the Junk Rats are much stronger and well trained. That base of their apparently held some goodies from before the war. Including a few sets of power armor,” Shrill tells us.
“Power armor? How many suits?” I ask her. If they had power armor, I could see why Grimoire wanted them.
“Seven suits, last I knew,” Shrill replies. “They started out with five, or so they say. Built two more from scavenged parts. Though, their power armor isn’t exactly as flashy as the Ranger’s is. Originally, it was the same, but being abandoned for so long, parts of it began to rust. The Junk Rats have cleaned the suits they have, and fixed what they could with scrap metal. Some of the suits are in better condition than others because of this,” She explains.
“They are quite intelligent. Managing to build two new suits just because they saw five poor condition suits? I think they said they were even working on a eighth. Normal raiders wouldn’t be able to do such a thing. That’s where their leader comes in. Her name is Saber, apparently a former Ranger Paladin,” Shrill says with a shrug.
“She’s collected an oddity of former raiders under her command and now she charges a toll for travelers that cross her territory. From what I’ve heard, they keep the pass between the mountains clear of monsters, so it is better than going the Hollow Shades route. If ponies can’t pay, they turn them away. Those that try to sneak past are killed. They have a graveyard out back just for the ponies they kill,” Shrill says with a slight sigh.
“It isn’t like they kill indiscriminately though. The wasteland is just a very territorial place. At least the Junk Rats have the decency to bury the ponies they kill instead of leaving them to rot,” She says, clearly remembering something foul.
“Regardless, Saber has a pretty rough attitude. She’s harsh, but also fair. When I was talking to her, she made me uncomfortable the whole time. Staring at me like she was waiting for me to slip up or something. She is a very analytical mare,” Shrill says with a frown.
“So, thirteen members, and they have power armor. They also run a toll on the pass. Huh,” I mutter. “I think they might be easier than dealing the Gremlins.”
“How so?” Cygnus asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, they have power armor, I have power armor, kind of. But, I’ve worked on power armor a lot. I’m sure we can work something out. Maybe share some plans with them, help them make another suit?” I suggest.
“You really want to give them more armor? And even help them make it better?” Cygnus asks. “What if they decide to betray us? They could even share the plans you give them with Grimoire!”
I put a hoof to my chin. “From Shrill’s description, I don’t think they are that bad. After all, Saber is a former Ranger. Though, she probably came from one of the less savory groups of them. I don’t think she’d be the sort to want total chaos,” I tell him. “We’ll just have to talk with her and see what happens. Anything else Shrill?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Sadly no. They aren’t as forthcoming with information as the Gremlins are. That’s all I know about them, and most of that came from Grimoire’s scouts,” She says.
I nod. “That’s alright, it should be enough,” I say. “Well, I think we should leave tomorrow morning and meet with the Junk Rats. I should download some plans onto my PipBuck just in case, and we should go over our gear one more time. Unless of course anyone has something they’d like to suggest?” I ask.
Cora and Shrill shake their heads immediately. Cygnus looks a bit concerned, but finally sighs and says, “Fine, this will have to do for now. I don’t have anything better. Worst case scenario, we fight our way out of their camp against the seven of them with power armor and the other six without it.”
I roll my eyes. “Stop being so cynical, Cygnus. Have a little faith, alright?” I say with a smile. He lets out another sigh. “Ok, so if there are no complaints,” I say, getting up from the table, “let’s get ready for tomorrow!”
===~+~===
Quests Updated!
-The Chaos Crusade - Locate Grimoire
-Firepower - Talk to the Junk Rats
-Smile! - Talk to the Gremlins