Fallout Equestria: Revamp

by midworld1999

Chapter 10: The Children of Sacrifice

Sector: Repentance
100 Years, 10 Months, 4 Days PSR

As we got close to Repentance, Swiss suggested that Wick stay with us. Better to be together and strong as group than to have our best fighter knocked off by some unknown threat. Wick grudgingly agreed.

We actually heard the town before seeing it. At eleven o'clock, Swiss remarked that he could hear something. I listened. He was right. A gonging sound, far off in the distance. Then it was gone, ceasing with as much speed as it began.

An hour later we heard them again. This time Wick was able to identify them.

"They're bells. Ringing off the hour. It'll be twelve gongs this time, listen." There were twelve.

"Must be a pretty ritzy town if they can afford something like that. Those bells have gotta be huge to hear them all the way out here," I said.

"Yeah. Maybe they'll have a hotel. We can order tons of food, we'll have more than enough–"

"I don't think we should stay that long," Swiss cut in. "Golden Mike was hiding something about it. I don't trust this place any more than I trust him."

"Besides, I'll need that money for the parts we need," I said. "Now that I think about it, he never said explicitly what parts he needed." I thought about this overlooked problem. "Oh well, nothing we can do about it at this point. I'm sure I'll know the parts when I see them."

The first part of the town we saw was its bell tower. The thing was at least five stories high, dwarfing the rest of the village. It was attached to a building a little over half as tall as it, but it was hard to make out. Strange colors of light seemed to be bouncing off the structure. I had no idea what to make of it.

The closer we got, the clearer it became that this was a bit more than a small town. Most of the buildings were small, but there were a lot of them. What's more, they all looked completely intact. We were viewing it from a nearby hill, and I noticed that the roads were paved and free of litter.

It was the nicest and cleanest place I'd ever seen, by far.

"Do you think all cities up north are like this?" asked Wick in awe.

"No," responded Swiss curtly.

"You're quite the downer today," I remarked.

"I know, I'm sorry," he flustered. "I just have a really bad feeling about this."

Around a hundred yards out, my PipBuck chirped that I'd discovered a new location. It brought my mind back to the freshly installed Pink Chip.

I'd had a hell of a time getting it to work. The thing had been simple enough at first glance; stick it in a slot, activate it, see what it does. The problem was I couldn't find it. It wasn't listed in with the rest of programs. I started out trying to figure it out from curiosity. By the time a month had passed, I was fiddling with it out of pure spite. This spite eventually paid off.

Three days ago, I'd been scrolling through the program list (again) when I went past the bottom on accident, falling on a program with no name. It had been hiding right under my nose. Needless to say, I quickly renamed it "Pink Chip" and turned it on. All it did was spout lines of random gibberish, something or another about lazy writing and cheap way to throw in references, and it went on and on about breaking a wall. Useless nonsense.

Even so, the scientist's records at the Lambda Complex said it might say something useful among the gibberish, so I checked to see what it had to say about Repentance.

>FLAGG WAS HERE
>GONE NOW
>HE LEFT SOMETHING
>LIKE IN TULL

Not too much, and nothing of obvious use. Oh well, worth a shot.

I saw what the glinting colors off of the bell tower were. Stained glass windows. I couldn't make out what the designs were from here, but I didn't really need to. They said enough just by the fact they existed. Whether they found the windows or paid someone to make them, stained glass windows were the pinnacle of ornate. This town was loaded.

The town wasn't bustling, but it wasn't empty either. Ponies and the odd griffon mulled around on whatever errands they had. Stalls dotted the street, vendors showing off their wares for all to see. It looked like most of the stores this town had were outdoor markets. I guessed most of the buildings were homes. If so, a lot of people lived here.

We spent a good half hour winding our way through the streets. We didn't make much progress. None of the stands we saw sold machine parts, only food, strange trinkets, and guns. There were actually a surprising amount of gun shops in this town, even for its size.

Everyone we passed seemed normal enough. Foals, some older than us, scurried through the alleyways, playing games. I felt a pang, equal parts nostalgia and longing. A few years ago, that was me. Hell, it still would be if I hadn't been in Shackle.

Adults shopped without paying us much mind. Vendors bragged about their whatever they were selling. Other than the abnormally high quality and size of the town and the strange number of gun shops, it was average.

"You still nervous, Swiss?" I teased.

"Yes," he said. "Something's... weird here. I don't know whether it's good or bad yet, but something's off. We just haven't seen it. Hopefully we won't have to. Let's get the parts and get out."

"Alright," I sighed.

We approached the nearest vendor, an orange mare with a frizzy brown mane. "Excuse me ma'am."

"Oh, hello there. What can I do for you kiddies?"

I cringed at the greeting. "Uhm, we're looking for some machine parts. A code transmitter. You know where we'd find something like that?"

"A codey what?"

"Cut the jargon, Revamp, you'll scare her," Wick chastised. She turned to the mare, who was looking at her curiously. Wick had an unorthodox appearance to uninitiated. "Sorry about him, his brain's too big for his own good. I'm Wick, and that's Swiss. What Revamp meant was radio parts. Do you know where we could buy some?"

"Oh, radio parts! Two streets down, look for Gearshift's stall. He sells stuff like that."

"Thanks, Miss..."

"Tangerine. Here, take a few. My treat, for such polite children."

"Thanks! We'd better be going. By–"

"Wait! Are you three new in town? I've never seen you before."

"Yeah, we're from here. I stay on the other side of town most of the time, otherwise I'm sure you would've seen me. I'm not easy to forget, you know? But yeah, we don't come this way often, so we don't know where all the shops are."

"Oh, alright. Well, be sure to stop by the chapel this evening for service."

"Will do! Maybe we'll see you there!"

"Such a little dear. Good luck with your radio whats-its!"

We headed to where the mare had pointed. Wick walked with her head held high, clearly pleased with herself. Swiss and I were speechless.

Swiss finally broke the silence. "Wow. Didn't know you... that you could..."

"Use manners? Lie like a bamf? Yeah. Bert taught me about more than guns, you know. He was also good at talking to people and making them like him. You never know when you might need an ally."

"Is there anything Bert wasn't good at?" he asked.

"Terrible cook."

"So, what do think of the service tonight? Should we go?" I asked.

"Sure."

"No!"

"What? Why not, Swiss?"

"Have you even been listening? This place gives me the creeps! I'm not staying here that long."

"Well, we're both going. Right Revamp?"

"Yeah, I'm curious now. I wanna see what this service is about."

"C'mon, don't leave me by myself!" he moaned. "I'm no good with the guns. I haven't even practiced yet!"

"And who's fault is that? If you don't want to be alone, come with us."

I watched helplessly as my too best friends argued. I was beginning to reconsider myself, just to diffuse the sudden tension.

"Please, I'm telling you, I have a bad feel–"

"We're going Swiss. Whether or not you come is your decision," growled Wick.

"Guys, this isn't worth fighting abou–"

"Fine."

"What?" said Wick and I simultaneously.

"I'll come," he muttered. "But I'm not staying in town for the night. I'm sleeping a mile or two away, with or without you."

I could see Wick's temper rising again. "Come on, Wick, that's fair. We couldn't afford to stay here anyways. A bit out of our price range. We haven't been paid yet."

She huffed smoke out her nostrils. "Yeah, I suppose," she grumbled.

"Great, then lets get those parts," I said, moving us along before another fight could develop. I had no idea what had gotten into Wick, but it was past us for now. Somehow Swiss had tweaked a nerve. Better to just leave it alone for now. We could discuss it later.

With a few more minutes of searching we found Gearshift's stall. I had to consciously keep myself from drooling. These weren't just machine parts, but highly specialized machine parts, most of which I didn't even recognize. That alone was enough to get me excited, but there was tons of it. I couldn't stop shifting my gaze from item to item, trying to decipher what each part part did.

"Can I help yuh?" asked a gruff voice.

I turned my eyes to an old, bearded blue pony who could only be Gearshift. I pulled myself together as best I could.

"Yeah, I hope so. I'm looking for a code transmitter. I was told you might have one."

"Ayuh, sure do. What do yuh want it for?"

I made up a story off the top of my head. "I found a prewar stable that only opens from the inside. I know the code, but I need to unlock it using the coder."

Wick raised her eyebrows in respect.

"Aren't yuh a bit young to breakin' into prewar stables?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"Well alrighty then. I've got an idear here. Lookin' at yuh, I can see yuh probly don't have a whole bunch a caps on yuh. How's about I give yuh this here coder for a down payment, and yuh can get me the rest when yuh've looted the stable. Sound fine?"

"Sure does." I put down ten bits. "How's that for down payment?"

"That'll do."

"Okay then, I'll see you later."

I put the code transmitter in my saddlebag and left with my friends in tow.

"You're gonna wanna look over that," commented Swiss. "He was holding back something. Probably put a tracker or something in the coder, to make sure you stick to your word."

"Nice catch," said Wick. Swiss smiled at the compliment. I was glad the argument was already blowing over.

"So what do you guys wanna do now?" I asked. "We've got a couple hours before the ceremony or service or whatever it is."

"I just wanna check out some of these stalls," said Wick. "Those gun shops are calling my name." I gave her a look. "Don't worry, I won't buy anything. I'll meet out front of the chapel for the service in bit, okay?"

"Cool, see you later," I said as she went her way. "What about you, Swiss?"

"I'll stick with you, thanks."

"Alright, then lets look at one of those trinket shops. I wanna see what they're selling."

I browsed through the strange necklaces and bracelets of one of the stalls. Most of the pieces had a common symbol, and on further inspection I realized that I recognized the symbol from somewhere. I'd seen the same symbol I'd seen emblazoned on the stained glass windows of the chapel, although I hadn't been able to make it out earlier: a heart with a crosshair in the center.

"What does this symbol mean?" I asked the salespony.

"You don't know it? It was my knowledge that that symbol was known all over the Wasteland." She sounded borderline offended.

"Maybe up north, but I'm from the south. I've never seen it before," I explained.

"So you don't know about the Children?"

"Children?"

"The order. The reason this town exists! The Children of Sacrifice!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with them."

"Well, I'm a bit busy running my shop at the moment, but it's their service tonight. Litany will explain the group there, as well initiate a new member and perform a baptism. Now I'm sorry, but if you're not buying anything, I have other customers to help."

Swiss and I trotted away more confused than when we'd approached. "Any idea what a baptism is?"

"Not a clue."

My interest in what ceremony was happening tonight deepened. There was no way I was going to miss the service now.

---

The chapel doors opened opened at five o'clock. The schedule on the door stated that the service was to start at six, so we took advantage of the hour and explored the building. The building was more lavish than ant I'd been, with such detailed craftmareship that it put even the already high standard town to shame.

The first thing we noticed was the ceiling, a high arch painted to look like the sky. The back of the chapel, where we entered, was obscured by grey clouds. As the ceiling continued, the clouds became white, then began to dissipate. By the time the arch got to the front of the chapel, the clouds had cleared to reveal blue sky, unblemished except for a rainbow line speeding towards the cloud cover and a bright sun. I looked closely at the linear rainbow, and saw a pegasus at its front, intent on dashing away the grey.

My attention was next grabbed by the stained glass windows lining the side of the chapel. There were six on each side, each sporting a different picture. One showed a grey unicorn mare exiting what I could only assume was a Stable, a yellow "2" patched on her blue jumpsuit. It became quickly clear that every window showed the same mare. In another window she fought an orange dragon, with the help of a pegasus in a Battle-Saddle. In another it looked like she was riding a roller coaster with a zebra. The scenes of adventure went on and on, and for some reason seemed familiar.

The circular window at the front of the chapel held the symbol Swiss and I had seen earlier at the trinket shop; the emblem of the Children of Sacrifice. I shivered.

The long building was lined with benches all the way up to the front, with an aisle dividing them down the middle. At the front of the chapel was an alter with a thick book lying on top, which was either new or extremely well preserved. Behind the alter was another table, backed against the wall and holding a silver box. Just before the alter was a two foot deep indentation in the floor, with steps leading down into it from the alter. The hole was lined with pristine white tile, and looked recently cleaned.

As we were looking around, the people of the town began to crowd in, taking seats on the benches. We took the hint and found our own bench in the back, sitting on the edge of the aisle so we could see what was going on.

As the bell tower rang six, the doors to the chapel slammed shut, the sound reverberating throughout. A petite green unicorn mare got up from her seat in the front row and walked behind the alter. I supposed she was Litany.

"We have gathered here today... to honor the holiest of virtues taught to us by the Light Bringer. She who faced the greatest dangers of our Wasteland. She who rediscovered the Elements of Harmony. She who put the world on her shoulders. She who gave everything to deliver us the greatest of gifts, the sun, and then gave more, left a life of happiness behind to ensure all could enjoy her gift. You of whom I speak."

Littlepip. Of course. Every foal in Equestria knew that story, or had at least heard parts of it. Now I knew why the window paintings looked so familiar.

"She embodied that virtue to her core. Sacrifice. We are all equals here, my friends. All of us, pony or griffon, mere students trying to follow in our teacher's hoofsteps. We hope to attain the level of enlightenment and giving that the Light Bringer did. We do this, knowing that it means sacrificing everything, if we must. Our time, that could be spent with friends or family. Our money, that could be spent making us happy. Our innocence, that allows us to sleep soundly in our beds at night. Tonight we initiate a new member of our order.

"While many of this town attend our meetings, follow the way of the Light Bringer in your everyday lives, and donate to our order, few volunteer to join. It means leaving everything, everything behind. It means travelling the Wasteland in isolation, helping all you can, baptizing the sinners that would harm others. It is a heavy burden. I myself braved the wastes for ten years before being chosen as the chapel's lector. Were I called to serve again, I would take up my burden where I left it and continue."

This service was strange so far, but the idea behind it seemed beneficent. It was sort of like what we were doing, helping people in the Wasteland. We weren't doing it for free, but still. I hadn't gotten any clearer idea about what a baptism was, though.

"Whet Stone, please step forward." A twenty-something year old stallion stood up from the audience and walked towards the alter, stopping at the circular hole just before it. Litany went to the silver box behind the alter, opened it, and removed something I couldn't make out from where I sat. She brought it to Whet Stone.

"Tonight, you will perform your first baptism. Bring out the offender!" The back doors of the chapel flew open. A burly stallion dragged something... oh Celestia, someone, behind him in. The entire building was silent but for the rattling of chains. As they passed us, I saw that it was a pegasus mare. She couldn't have been older than twenty.

The stallion dumped her into the hole, bringing a yelp of pain. The stallion walked out of the chapel and closed the doors without ceremony.

"You will perform this baptism of initiation with the weapon of teacher, the Light Bringer." Litany gave the object to Whet Stone. I knew what it was now. A pistol. If it really was the weapon of Littlepip, it had a name. Little Macintosh.

"You may now begin, Whet Stone."

Whet Stone's voice was filled with pity, but offered no recourse. "What is your crime, offender?" His voiced echoed in the silence of the chapel.

The mare was crying, blubbering. "Please... please... I needed the food, my foal hadn't eaten in days. I thought the house was empty, I didn't mean to kill anyone!"

"But you did."

"Please, please no... my baby needs me..."

"We will take care of your foal."

"No, he needs me, he needs me!"

"For your crimes against Equinity–"

"No, no pleas–"

"–and morality–"

"–NO NO PLEASE I'M SORRY–"

"–I baptize you with fire and lead. In Littlepip, the Light Bringer's name,–"

"–NNNOOOOO–"

Bang! The sound reverberated through the hall, along with the final screams of the mother.

"–I cleanse you."

Litany waited until the last of the echoes faded, then approached Whet Stone. "You have given up all you had, that which is most precious. Your innocence and your mercy. Those are luxuries beyond your reach now. Tomorrow you will leave this town and begin your service."

There was no clapping, no stomping. A melancholy shroud fell over the congregation. Litany returned Little Macintosh to its box before taking her place at the alter. Whet Stone found his seat again. After several minutes of silent nothing, people began to stand up from their seats.

Thank Celestia! Swiss was right, this town is fucked up! We'd better scram.

"There is one final announcement I'd like to make before we end this ceremony. Please take yours seats, I won't keep you long."

Fuck.

"I'm sure you all remember the out-of-towner that came around this time last year."

For the first time there were murmurs among the audience. Nervous mutters.

"His... gift... the blue... showed me things this past fortnight. I'm sure you've noticed I haven't been out to market these last few weeks. I assure you, it was of the utmost importance, as you will soon learn."

The muttering ceased, and all eyes locked on Litany with attention so rapt it was spooky.

"It showed me prophecy.

"It showed the sun, the sun our savior gave us, fading. It showed me a dark mare, a mare of great power, showering Equestria with flaming stone and speaking the tongue of star-spawn, commanding them do her bidding. The Darkling."

The crowd was muttering again. Some were even crying. I turned to my companions. Wick was eyeing the back door. Swiss, who I expected to be terrified, especially after warning us earlier, was lost in thought.

"I know what you think! Is this outcome certain? Can we do anything to stop it?"

Heads bobbed across the congregation, and there were a few shouts of "Yes!" and "What can we do?"

"I have seen that another will pave the way for this dark one. The Harbinger! The Harbinger, wielding the weapons and speaking the tongues from a fallen world, a world moved on. The Harbinger, the one who will care for and teach the Darkling, teach her to wield this unholy power. The Harbinger, a bastard, a freak of nature, the ungodly abortion of equine and drake."

FUCK!

"Wick, we need to leave right fucking now!"

"SHE'S HERE!" cried a voice. "I SAW HER! THE HARBINGER! SHE WAS AT MY STALL TODAY!" I remembered the voice. It was Tangerine. "SHE SAID SHE"D BE HERE TONIGHT!"

A new voice, this one close by. "I SEE HER, SHE"S BACK HERE!"

"GET THE CUNT!"

"SHOOT HER!"

"FUCKING RUN!" I shouted.

Wick didn't need to be told twice. Not even once, for that matter. She was already crashing through the window by the time I'd finished screaming.

In the chaos of chasing Wick, no one noticed me. They were all focused on finding "The Harbinger". I doubt anyone even heard my helpful outburst. Maybe that was for the best. Wick had flying as a quick means of escape. I didn't.

That reminded me of my other flying companion. "Come on Swiss, we gotta help–"

Swiss was nowhere to found. He was gone, either fled or lost in the flurry of ponies still charging past to get to Wick. Whatever, he'd find us or I'd find him. We were safe, at least for now. We weren't the target.

Once I found an opening, I squeezed through the front door. The mob was heading out of town. I heard gunshots in the distance. I sprinted.

I looped around through the side streets, avoiding the mob as best I could. Night had fallen, the world dimly lit by the light of the full moon. As I left the buildings behind, I caught sight of muzzle flashed in the distance. Most were low to the ground, but several were coming from a fixed point in the air, alternating with red and green light. Wick.

As I galloped toward the battle, I levitated my guns out of my saddlebags. The pistol and the energy rifle. The crowd wouldn't expect an attack from the rear. I remembered my SATS just in time. I was a shitty shot, so I'd need that. I flicked it on.

Time froze, and a random pony in the crowd was highlighted in neon green. I read the statistics.

>ZEALOT
>HEAD 22%
>BODY 61%
HIND LEFT 42%
...and so on.

I picked the front right leg. The one holding the gun. Once I made my choice, the world unfroze and I fired. There was a shout of pain. I'd hit my mark. Still running, I activated the SATS again. I managed to land two out of four more hits before it needed to recharge. By that point I was nearly to the mob, who somehow hadn't noticed me yet.

The crowd had gathered right below Wick, firing shots in a frenzy straight up at her. She fired shots of her own, still using the carvers. She would run out of ammo soon, and I couldn't hold off a mob of hundred of people by myself. I needed a plan.

Some way... to contain them? Keep them in one spot so we could get away. Let's see... I couldn't make a shield big enough to keep them all in.

What could I... a fire. I could use my welding spell to create a circle of fire around them.

But wait, if I did that, would I have enough time? They'd definitely notice a fire, then I'd be down, dead, and no use to anyone. I needed to make the fire go around all of them at once. How could I do that? I didn't have the talent to pull something like that off! How could I...

Maxi-Spell. Duh.

I wrenched the talisman out of my bag and whipped it around my neck. I pulled my goggled up from my neck over my eyes, so I'd be able to see through the flames (one of the goggles many useful properties). I cleared my mind of everything but the spell. C'mon fire...

The world was instantly bathed in harsh blue light. A wall of fire fwooshed up around the mob, trapping them.

"SHIT, FIRE!"

"WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT COME FROM?"

"MY MANE!"

Screams of pain and terror. Caused by me. I unsuccessfully tried to keep my breakfast down. Maybe it's just a side-effect of Maxi-Spell I thought. I didn't think so.

"Wick, get down here!" I managed to choke out. She must've somehow heard me, because next thing I knew she was at my side.

"Where's Swiss?"

"No idea. Should we find him?"

"No. He can find us. He can fly. Hey, why the fuck weren't any pegasi after me?"

It hadn't occurred to me. "Not a clue." Then I realized what she was saying. "Wait, we can't just leave. These people will die! I need to put out the fire."

"Are you fucking kidding me? They'll just get back up and follow us! They tried to kill me!"

"They were being misled. They're leader told them to, they were just scared and–"

"I don't give a fuck! Let 'em burn!"

"Wick–"

A calm female voice spoke. "Revamp, douse the fire."

"Who're–" I turned to face the voice and stopped. What... in the actual fuck.

"Douse it," the voice repeated. I did what it said.

The moment I did, the anyone in the crowd that could still fight was up in arms.

"KILL THEM!"

"I'LL BASH THEIR FUCKIN' HEADS IN!"

"I'LL–"

"You'll do nothing," said the mare.

"YES WE FUCKIN' WI–" the angry stallion stopped mid-word. His jaw dropped. "How the fuck...?"

"The prophecy was false. These ponies are innocent, and you will let them go peacefully. Look, you shot this poor mare in the wing."

"But Litany said–"

"Who're you going to listen to? Litany, or me?"

There was silence.

"Thought so. Now go back home."

"But what about yo–"

"I'll be with you soon."

The congregation stood there stupidly for a moment, still in shock of what had just happened. Slowly, they came to their senses and began trotting back to Repentance. All that remained of the mob were a few bodies, victims of Wick's aim. In the distance, we heard shouting of joy. "It's a miracle!" "She's back!"

I turned to the mare, searching for something to say. I looked her over, trying to determine if she was really there. She was short in stature, about my height, but I was just a kid. She was full grown. Her fur was grey, her mane brown. She had green eyes. Her cutie mark was a PipBuck.

"You're... you're Littlepip," I breathed.

Littlepip smiled. "Not quite."

"What? But... who are you then?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get the fuck of here."

"She doesn't need to explain," said Wick tensely.

"What do you mean?"

"That's Swiss. He– she– that's Swiss."

I turned back to Littlepip, her head hung in regret. "What is she–?"

I stopped as what looked like Littlepip was enveloped in a surge of bright green fire, consuming her in a matter of seconds. When the fire was gone, Swiss was left in her place.

"What the fuck–?"

"We need to go."

"No Swiss, tell me what the fuck is going–"

"Now is not the time. We gotta go before they catch on."

Wick nodded. "Later Revamp." She faced Swiss. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, changling."

Comments

[CartsBeforeHorses]

Oh god my eyes, they burn from the caps. I mean I'm sure it's a decent story, but please do us all a favor and use regular case?

[MalO]

looks cool, should probably finish my essay and lab report(s) before reading it tho

[Snowfyre]

I remembered my Eyes Forward Sparkle just in time. I was a shitty shot.

actually that's SATS, EFS is more or less the HUD and FoF thing.

[Majora God of Chaos]

>FLAGG WAS HERE

>GONE NOW

>HE LEFT SOMETHING

>LIKE IN TULL

That's.... interesting. Also, Flagg.... is that a Stephen King reference? Or am I just being overly nerdy again?

[midworld1999]

3747661 Thanks for the tip, I'll get on that.

3748255 ...