The Seige of Pripytrot
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"So, will, you please say hello, to the folks that I know, tell them - I won't be long! They'll be happy to know, that as you saw me go, I was sing-ing this song! We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when!..." The cool radioactive soda dribbled out of the bottle, settling in my stomach with it's tasty fizziness as the last notes played. Dropping the empty bottle and pulling Kindness' firing bit into my mouth, I grinned widely, a few bloatsprites minding their own business by a hellhound corpse. "...but I know we'll meet again, shome shunny, daaaay!"
The compressed air in the chamber sent the balefire egg flying through the air, the bloatsprites having time to turn and see what made that noise before the organ-ripping shockwave from the balefire egg detonating behind them liquefied their organs and otherwise rendered them a pair of bloatsprite corpses. I let off a cackle as the initial flash faded and a cute little mushroom cloud rose in it's place, pulling another bottle of the delicious glowing soda from my saddlebags and uncapping it, taking a whiff of the lovely scent of radioactive radishes. Clamping the bottle in my mouth and taking a moment to re-arm Kindness, the sound of a magic aura encompassing the bottle and lifting it caught my attention long enough to nearly inhale a good bit of the soda, coughing it back out and dryly swallowing what I could. Ew.
"I think you've had enough there. I can practically see your bladder glowing through your pants..." Minty let off a sigh and recapped the bottle, sliding it into his own saddlebags. C'mon, I only had two of them!... in the last hour. Five if we're counting from when we left Trotisk. My unicorn friend trotted past, shaking his head and holding a hoof against his face. "I didn't think somepony could get drunk off of soda."
"Says the pony who binges and winds up with a Sarsaparswilla-induced hangover." The balefire egg launcher at my side let off a pleasant click as it reloaded, the egg held firm on the firing piston, myself returning to a standing position. Minty responded in kind by throwing a snowball at my face. Sweetie Bot's eyes flickered, a smile crossing her face as her magic flared for a moment, before Minty shot her a stern look. "Pweh, well, hey, you did make yourself drink it! C'mon, at least let me finish that bottle before we get there."
"Aheh, yeah, no. Last thing I need is you nearly killing yourself by drinking all that radioactive stuff at once, I'm not dragging you to EQUAD so you can be healed and do it again. Besides, need I remind you that you're drinking perfectly good incendiary grenade fuel?" He glanced back at myself with a sly smirk, myself responding with an outstretched tongue, the radio reception out here fuzzing in and out. We crested a small hill looking out at the road leading towards EQUAD and what remained of Steel Creek, only spotting two Steel Rangers at checkpoints along the road. From the looks of things, they didn't even have any guns chambered in caliber bigger than point-three-o. Nasty, but light compared to what they usually carry. Was Pripytrot really that bad?
"Need I remind you it's perfectly good incendiary grenade fuel that you happen to enjoy drinking, too?" Releasing a small snicker, I turned my radio off - if Nikolai's station was still active, I didn't want to be the one to have to haul Minty around again - and started down the hill. We managed to get close enough to the checkpoint that the ranger there was focused on us, watching with intent and their machine gun idly tracking us as we moved forth. As we drew closer, however, Minty suddenly came to a full stop in his tracks, his eyes beginning to flutter as he bit at his lower lip. Okay, calm down Twintails, it isn't the station this time. He's just having another orgasm.
"Memory records this as the second occurrence of this type. Should we be seeking assistance?" Sweetie Bot watched on with a certain... unnerving fascination, her irises refocusing every now and again as Minty worked through his episode, his back legs failing him as he fell and began grinding against the snow. I couldn't help but let off a little chuckle, watching this grown stallion acting like he'd just hit puberty again and desperately needed some time alone with an old PlayColt magazine... which I shall always admit to reading for the articles! Those soft, curvy articles... The steel ranger approached us, machine gun raised towards the sky.
"Uh... is he going to be alright?..." The mare inside the power armor gestured down at the writhing stallion, snapping her vision towards him as he released a moan of pleasured exhaustion and layed in the snow, belly-down, for a few moments. Shrugging in response, Sweetie Bot trotted over to him, looking at him behind his fogged-up glasses, myself approaching the ranger.
"We think his augmentations might be on the fritz, shorting out in his brain's pleasure center. He's cousin to Paladin Nova, we came here when they did some doctoring about with his mind. Figured coming back would be our best shot to figuring it out..." My augmented friend wiped his face free of the sweat, getting back up to his hooves and stumbling slightly. He blinked a few times, glancing down at his underbelly and then squeezing his flanks together, a bright blush upon his face. Releasing a light snicker, I shook my head, the ranger glancing between us before bringing a hoof to cover her visor and slowly shake her own helmeted head back and forth. Minty caught himself, clearing his throat, biting at his lower lip lightly.
"T-they have washrooms there, right?"
---
Minty having been escorted off to where they did the laundry, I found myself idly waiting with Sweetie Bot outside of Elder Quazar's office. Man, this took me back... puh. You can talk and talk and talk all you want, some ponies just can't be convinced that you have no intention of building any kind of bomb and shouldn't be sent to reactor maintenance. Thank you Gamma Ray... Gamma Ray... it feels like it's been ages since I saw her for the last time. Oh, don't get yourself worked up right now you stupid pegasus, you've got a friend who probably needs some kind of brain surgery or something. Blinking some tears from my eyes, I rubbed them dry in time to catch the sight of the midnight blue unicorn with a deep-teal mane sprouting white strands trotting out, rubbing a hoof against her temple. "So many of our best... when will this battle be won?..."
"Elder Quazar?" She jumped slightly, spinning herself around in alarm before catching sight of both myself and Sweetie Bot, releasing a small sigh of relief. She adjusted her mane and robes, looking back towards myself as I stood myself up from the bench. "S-sorry to startle you. I, uh, I take it that things are pretty bad out... nevermind." The look in her eyes showed one level of stress I'd never seen before. I bit at my lip, the Elder releasing a small sigh and leaning up against the wall opposite, holding a hoof against her head.
"I'm sorry to hear that something has been malfunctioning with Minty's... my nephew's augmentations, after the surgery. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long for us to remedy the issue. I was just about to ask Nova if she knew anything of it..." She shook her head idly, taking a breath and pushing herself off of the wall, beginning to trot down the hallway. Myself and Sweetie followed, Quazar trotting slowly and easily about the myriad of other rangers and knights running about the hallways of the complex. She glanced back at myself, looking for a short while. "I have been curious, how do you know Knight Fringe? He had taken quite an interest in you two, enough that he seemed to have abandoned us shortly before the situation in Pripytrot began."
"Kn-knight Fringe? Uh..." Well, if that wasn't a hell of a loaded question. Of all ponies, at least she had to have known that he was a pegasus, but... if she didn't... "He, um, he said that... that he was just following orders from Nova to protect us. At first, anyways..." We passed through a corridor with windows upon one side, overlooking a series of desks in front of a massive curved screen displaying an old map of Equestria, as well as that of zebra lands. From the looks of things below, however, it was doubling as an overflow area for the wounded soldiers from Pripytrot... at least, those who came back, anyways. "He told me that he'd killed my mother, Wildfire, under orders. I guess he just felt he had to make up for it, maybe."
"That... that does explain a few things." Her voice faintly trembled, as if she felt some pang of regret for it herself. It was the Enclave to blame, not her... but, maybe it wasn't the 'orders' part that made her react in such a way. She took a breath, regaining herself, heading down a flight of stairs deeper into the facility. "You are just about eighteen years old, right? I accepted Moral Fringe into the Steel Rangers about four years ago... he was quite remorseful for his actions when it came to discussing his past." We turned down a corridor, passing a massive steel cylinder housing a ridiculously large spring. "I must say, he is quite adept at hiding his feathers when the need arises, isn't he?"
I nodded faintly, a pair of medical ponies carrying a wounded knight rushing past, his mane already starting to fall out and skin beginning to peel. Quazar released a small sigh, stopping in front of a door reminiscent of the ones in the Stable, watching as the medical ponies turned down the hallway past us. "The reactor being destroyed complicated things, to say the least. We are somewhat lucky that those who do become ghouls do not have to worry as much about fighting further inside the radiation zone, but only a few have actually turned as such..." The door opened to reveal a small living and kitchen area, the few branching doorways extending to two bedrooms and a bathroom. The Elder approached the door in the center, her magic activating a panel to the side, the doorway opening with a hiss of hydraulics. "Paladin Nova, your cousin and his friend are here to-"
The sight before us would've stopped anypony with a brain in their tracks, myself still trying to comprehend what my eyes were seeing. Okay, let's break things down; first off, Nova was completely stark-naked, and she apparently had a cutie mark of a star exploding... I think. Second, by Celestia, Cross Stitch did an amazing job with detailing that plushie of Minty, it really looked just like him, albeit with seams running down his face and mane staying completely still as it was pressed into the pillows on the bed. Third, I really don't know how to feel about seeing Minty... plush being rutted by a mare. And fourth, which I really didn't want to believe was true... that mare just happened to be his second cousin. A line of drool stuck from her mouth to the Minty plush's horn as she lifted her head, blinking a few times, panting. "Oh... Mom... hi."
Quazar was silent for quite some time, myself and Sweetie still looking on in disbelief and quiet contemplation, respectively. She stood herself up straight, glaring firmly at the stunned Nova on the bed, the plush still between her flanks. "Nova. Your cousin is here complaining about his augmentations activating his pleasure centers within his brain without warning." Well, that turned her one hell of a shade of red. She stared on for a few moments, her pupils small, unable to form coherent words as Quazar took a step back from the door. "Make yourself presentable."
"Mom, I-I can ex-"
"Paladin Nova. Get your robes on and meet us in the main conference room. Now." Okay, even I jumped as her voice went stern like that. Nova pulled herself off of the plush, her head hung in shame, slowly trotting over to where her red robes were discarded upon the floor. Sweetie Bot blinked a few times, getting herself back onto her hooves and starting to trot behind the Elder slowly, myself taking pause to look back through the doorway. Nova was practically left on the verge of tears... okay, I know it is SO weird and creepy that she's attracted to her cousin... second cousin, whatever... but, I don't know, it wasn't hurting anypony. Isn't like she'd -actually- sleep with Minty.
...right?
---
"I don't believe I have to explain why we're here right now. I'm quite sorry for any inconvenience my daughter's actions have caused you, Minty, she acted of her own accord." We were gathered in a large conference room, a long oval-shaped table in the center with the end Quazar currently was sitting at overlooking the same large room that I had seen from the hallway earlier. The big board that displayed a map of Equestria flickered every so often, some screens to the side displaying static video feed or scrolling text that was almost unreadable from this distance. Nova sat to Quazar's right, her head still hung over the table, mane fallen over her eyes. Minty scratched at his head idly, Sweetie Bot beside him, adjusting his glasses for a moment before looking over at Quazar.
"I'm sorry, I'm still a little lost. We came here because my augmentations were shorting a bit, why does it feel like Nova's being convicted of a crime or something?" He rested his hooves lightly upon the table, gesturing towards his cousin across from him. I kept my lip bit - did not want to blow the surprise in store too early. Quazar released a sigh, adjusting herself in the chair and brushing some of her mane from her eyes.
"Paladin Nova, as it would seem, placed a part of your conscious mind inside the body of a... plushie, she had bought. Considering the scribes operating the wash facilities reported you suddenly began acting as if..." She paused for a moment, a faint blush appearing upon her face. Nova's own face, behind her mane, cringed tighter. Quazar cleared her throat, tapping her forehooves together in front of her face. "Regardless, any prior incidents that have happened are due to that. Nova, do you have anything that you would like to add in your defense?"
The poor mare that sat across from us sputtered for a few moments, tears rolling down her cheeks as she looked up at the dumbfounded face of her cousin. Yeah... I'm just going to try and not let the fact that for the past few nights she's practically been sleeping with him get to me too much. That is really goddess-damned creepy... Nova caught herself, using the sleeve of her robe to wipe her eyes lightly, opening them with sorrow upon her face. Poor girl...
"I... I swear that I- I didn't realize..." Minty only blinked, his expression of disbelief softening slightly as Nova fell to tears for a few moments again. She recovered herself, her breathing faintly ragged. "P-please, forgive me. You don't know what it's like down here every day... a mare can get lonely." She sniffled, silently sobbing and hiding her face behind her mane again. Minty sat for a few moments, jaw agape still, his non-augmented leg moving to his head and pushing his mane up. I gently nudged his augmented leg with my own hoof, catching his attention for a moment and nodding towards Nova. She was breaking down to tears again.
"You... you just stuck a bit of my brain inside the plushie Cross made, without knowing what it'd do? What made you think that was a good idea?!" Nova's sobbing increased, Minty blinking for a moment before biting at his lip and tapping his hooves on the table, dropping his head slightly. What a fun family reunion, isn't this? Quazar watched on sternly, Nova starting to recover herself. "L-look. It's creepy, but... uh... Nova? I-I'm not angry over it. You can... uhm, you can keep the plushie, just... take my brain out of it." Minty released a sigh, looking between Nova and Quazar. Nova sniffled lightly, rubbing her eyes and brushing her mane back, while Quazar sat herself up in the chair.
"Her continued possession of the plush is up for debate, but the removal of the traces of your conscience from it will be performed without question. I'll have what scribes and doctors that aren't tending to our injured get on reversing it immediately. Nova?" The teal-green mare raised her head, looking up at her mother. The elder mare's expression softened slightly, Quazar releasing a soft, quiet sigh. "Just don't let me see it again. You're dismissed."
The mare across from Minty wore a smile, rubbing her strained eyes and sliding herself off of the chair. We followed behind, my unicorn friend trotting up alongside Nova, the both of them seeming to chat as we moved towards the large entrance door. Myself and Sweetie Bot fell back, letting them chat about what they needed, before I felt the familiar sensation of magic tugging at my tails. Ow. I glanced behind, catching a rather weary Quazar trotting closer, moving out of the way of a group of rangers also heading out.
"Twintails, was it? I... I have some news you may want to hear." She moved a few strands of her mane aside, taking slow breaths. Sweetie Belle glanced between us curiously, catching the Elder's attention for a moment before she turned back to face myself. I blinked a few times, watching her; we brought a robotic, sentient filly into Steel Rangers HQ, and they left her alone? What -was- going on in Pripytrot... Quazar released a sigh, looking at myself with her weary eyes. "The most recent platoon that arrived in Pripytrot included Knight Fringe. He seemed to be the most knowledgable one of any of us on Major General Mosquito and General Titchbreeze, I was trying my hardest to keep him from being on the front lines at first because of his tactical knowledge, but..." She released a long sigh, leaning against the wall. The exhaustion was very apparent in her voice as she continued.
"You have to understand, we've never had to deal with a war like this before, and it's taken it's toll upon everypony. From what he's told me of Mosquito and Titchbreeze, I have a feeling he may be off to enact some personal vendetta or something against them when he finds them... You and Minty know him, could get through to him." She stepped close, resting a hoof upon my shoulder. Glancing quickly over the armory I had on myself, she nodded faintly. "I don't want to send either of you off to do this, but at the same time I don't wish to lose such a valuable knight off on a revenge-fueled rampage. Please, if you feel that you can find him, bring him back..."
"Twintails, Sweetie! C'mon, the light's fading out." Minty called down the hallway towards us, Nova still with him as they stood at the doorway. Fringe, he could take care of himself, I don't know why she was worrying so much. But, on a second glance, that look in her eyes, that longing... maybe it wasn't just because he knew so much about the enemy. I nodded firmly in response, Quazar sniffling lightly and wearing a faint smile, turning and heading back into the bunker complex as myself and Sweetie Bot continued to the entrance. Nova pushed open the heavy door, the crisp air of the wasteland greeting us again. She shuffled on her hooves as we passed through, a faint blush on her face.
"M-Minty! Wait, I, um, I just wanted to say..." My augmented friend paused, turning to face his cousin as she stepped up to us, wearing a smile and looking at him for a moment. He tilted his head, blinking a few times, Nova letting off a giggle and... kissing him smack on the lips. Well, um, okay then. She broke it after a second, letting off a small squee of delight and skipping happily back inside the bunker, the heavy door shutting behind her. Minty stood frozen stiff for a good few moments, jaw agape, the color in his cheeks a very vibrant red. He released a sigh, stumbling onto his back legs and falling backwards into the snow, eyes still wide and staring up at the roof. I stepped over to him, glancing over at the door in confusion, then down to the shocked unicorn.
"Well, um... Well." I scratched at the back of my head, blinking for a few moments in confusion. This was one weird wasteland.
---
"Welcome back all you pony popsicles out there, you're listening to Bert the Turtle on CONELRAD, six-forty twelve-forty on your AM-band radio! Providing full coverage of what the Steel Rangers are doing out in Pripytrot, when we aren't playing music, at least! For those just tuning in, we've got an interesting selection for you this evening, I managed to convince our own Tom Neighrer to continue his performance for all the mares and stallions of Mooscow. I tell ya, two centuries and the stallion still hasn't lost his touch with those ivory keys, or those brilliant songs! I'ma tune the program into him, see what else he's got playing. Tom?"
"Thank you Bertie, I'm just glad to be back being the one holding the audience members captive. Anyways, this one is one I had done up in the wake of the development of weaponized megaspells, as we all know wartime is a great time for artists and musicians... most of them, anyways... because it gives us so much material to work with in writing cheerful, uplifting songs about how fun it is to charge off in the face of our foes and win. Because that's how every war ends, right? Eheh, at any rate, here's the song that some of our fine stallions and mares serving with the big toys may have sung when all of Equus was temporarily turned into the testing grounds for all of the megaspells and balefire weapons from both sides."
"So long, mom,
I'm off to drop the bomb!
So don't wait up for me.
But while you swelter,
down there in your shelter,
You can see me, on your TV!
While we're attacking frontally,
Watch Brinkley and Huntally,
describing contrapuntally,
the cities we have lost!
No need for you
to miss a minute
of the balefire holocaust, yeah!"
---
The little bell above the doorway to the plasma spaz rang as we shuffled our way inside, Nikolai sitting behind the counter and reading through an old textbook. He glanced up from his pages, setting the book aside and wearing a smile, Sweetie Bot moving to look at some of the different goop guns and laser things. Huh, they sold flamethrowers here too? Ooh, a flare gun, that might be useful... maybe. I just like things that go boom and make pretty lights. Nikolai let off a small chuckle, looking over at the stairway, Minty following his gaze.
"You've got some good timing, Greasy said that she ought to have the modifications to your coil rifle done. From what I last saw, you're really in for a treat. C'mon, let's see how she's getting along." The zebra let off a light chuckle, trotting forth towards the stairway as Minty followed behind. Sweetie Bot was busying herself with a pile of those empty cells Minty's rifle used - Jolts, right? - while I shuffled about between the aisles with my armory on my back. Huh, forty-millimeter plasma grenades? Neat.
"Success!" Sweetie's voice perked up from where she was working catching my attention as she suddenly levitated a few of the cells that she was messing with earlier over, fitting them into my saddlebags. She kept one out, wearing a wide smile. "Recycling and overcharging microfusion cells in the right manner produces a small improvised explosive. The fun factor has increased exponentially!" Improvised explosive... did she just turn a pile of spent cartridges into small bombs? And stuck them into my saddlebags!? Dropping the bags to the floor, the four or so explosives she had made rolled off of the top, Sweetie Bot gathering them together as I stuffed the few bottles of Sparkle-Cola RAD and normal Sparkle-Cola back in.
"Oh, come on! I thought I was supposed to be the one making all the explosives!" Letting off a small huff of annoyance, the unicorn filly levitated the grenades in a slowly rotating ring above her head, myself leaning back against a shelf and crossing my forelegs over my chest. Minty, Greasy, and Nikolai all trotted down the stairs a few moments later, my unicorn friend keeping his rifle levitated out. He was wearing a wide grin, myself getting up onto my hooves and looking over the coil gun. Were those just extra cells on the stock, or something?
"Hehee, oh, I can't thank you enough, Greasy. How did you figure out that recycler system, anyway? It's brilliant!" He giggled, looking over the device on the stock of the rifle with me. It really did just look like a pair of the cells stuck in some kind of metal case with a few extra wires attached. So, this actually recycled the cells, or something? The ghoulified pegasus stepped over, wearing a wide smile.
"It was one of Rusty's old designs, I never could get that darn thing working while I was stuck in the bunker but Nikolai here finally helped me with what it was missing. Just needed a back-charge arrestor to keep it from exploding, eheh..." She rubbed at the back of her mane, looking down at the device and flicking it on. It hummed and glowed faintly, Minty letting off a small cackle. "Should be able to recharge the cells to full every twenty minutes, or give fresh cells a little extra kick if needed. Just switch it off if you aren't recharging or firing, otherwise... yeah, just remember to turn it off."
"Right. Had to go through two of the earlier models because... eheh... it kind of slipped my mind. Oh! Twintails, speaking of things that slipped my mind, Flash-Bang and Sugar Rush left these behind. Didn't say where they went off to in such a hurry, though..." Nikolai pulled a metal box out of the back of the shop, hefting it up onto the counter and pushing it over. I glanced at Minty for a moment, stepping up and undoing the latches. A small box of forty-mil grenade shell casings... no, they had plugs and charges. What kind of grenades were these? Minty glanced in as well, rummaging about and pulling free a boxy-looking laser gun...thing. Least it was the size of a pistol. A note fell from it, myself catching and reading it off aloud.
"Minty and Twintails, we're heading into Pripytrot after Fringe. If either of us come get you, things have gone really bad, and we need your help. Put these forty millimeter slugs and dragon's breath shells, and my recycler pistol to good use. -Sugar Rush & Flash-Bang." Minty was examining the pistol idly, turning his view back to myself as I read off the letter. I took a small gulp, folding it back up and looking to the small case inside the box, sliding it into my saddlebags and looking between Nikolai and Greasy. They looked as surprised as myself, Minty fitting the new pistol under his jacket and glancing about the room.
"Fringe was sent off to Pripytrot? Huh, could've sworn he went there after he broke off with us." My augmented friend adjusted his glasses idly, blinking a few times and looking at myself. Oh, why didn't I tell him while we were walking here... oh, right, because he was trying to get the taste of Nova out of his mouth. The thought drew a small snicker from me, the expression on my face going back to one of dismay a moment later, Minty confused. "What? Something wrong?"
"Fringe wasn't supposed to go to Pripytrot. Quazar pulled me back to chat while we were leaving, she asked me if we could try and get him before he was killed going after Titchbreeze and Mosquito. Or worse..." Nikolai and Greasy looked to each other, jaws fallen, worry clear upon their faces. The zebra bit at his lower lip, brushing some of his mane from his eyes and shifting uneasily on his hooves. Okay, that's a few red flags going up that they know something...
"W-we didn't realize that was who was attacking Pripytrot... Sugar Rush and Flash-Bang, they were afraid that it was ponies going by those names. Grand Pegasus Enclave. I've only heard stories from Dead Air's station about them, and they were never pleasant..." Nikolai looked to the metal box, and over to us both. "If they are attacking Pripytrot, then I would not doubt Flash-Bang or Sugar Rush coming back to get you... good luck to you. You will need it." Myself and Minty shared a glance, surprise, worry, fear, uncertainty, all upon both our faces. Enclave... and they were the same ones that had the thing that destroyed Minty's stable. My augmented friend seemed to remember that fact, his face gaining back a bit of color, stiffening his lips.
"Minty, it's getting late. We should go back to Featherweight and Buzzy's, sleep the night, and then we'll go off to get them, whether they come and find us or not." Resting a hoof upon his shoulder, I looked up at him, his eyes firm. He nodded faintly, looking to Nikolai and Greasy and thanking them again, stepping for the door. Sweetie Bot followed behind him, the five grenades still levitated in her magic, myself looking back towards the zebra and pegasus ghoul. "Keep yourselves safe. We'll bring back Sugar Rush and Flash-Bang. Goodnight." The crisp evening chill of the wasteland air felt all the colder as we moved down the street, heading with the sun behind us towards the small town down the road. Our radios were silent, and over the sound of Sweetie Bot walking, you could almost hear the war going on.
Neither of us knew what tomorrow would bring with it.
---
The night was dark. I was cuddled up snug in the blankets with Featherweight, the large, dreamy stallion's body keeping us both warm while the storm pelted outside. I couldn't get myself to sleep - whenever I tried, I'd dream, and they'd snap me out of it. The sounds of my Stable after the bomb. Gamma Ray buried in the snow and ice. A stallion's body hanging from a parachute. A mare with a bullet hole in her forehead. A small skeleton holding a plush toy. Minty and myself, vaporized in balefire. That last one had me frightened - it seemed so real. The heat pulse, setting our coats and barding alike on fire. The blast wave, tearing skin and muscle from bone and rupturing internal organs. We became dust, and it moved so slowly... I felt everything.
There was a sudden thud and knocking at the doors that made me jump. Featherweight snapped himself awake, getting himself upright and wrapping his forelegs around me, rubbing a hoof gently through my mane. The knocking continued, and we both got ourselves up, stepping for the doorway. I glanced at my pip-buck - four in the morning. Featherweight passed through the kitchen area, opening up the door. The exhausted eyes of Sugar Rush met us both, focusing on myself. My breath caught in my throat for a moment. Featherweight blinked a few times, stepping aside, Sugar Rush moving inside and letting him close the door behind her. She placed a hoof on my shoulder, looking into my eyes. I saw fear and uncertainty in hers.
"Twintails... it's gone bad."
-----
I jumped out of bed at the sudden loud knocking, Buzzy sitting up in bed as Sweetie booted up. I pulled the laser pistol out from the folds of my jacket, flipping off the safety as the tubes on the recharger bit began to glow. Opening the door slightly, I caught Twintails and Featherweight talking with Sugar Rush. I immediately pushed the door open, all three turning to face me. “Would somepony explain what’s going on? I thought you and Flash Bang were in Pripytrot.” I placed the pistol back in my coat pocket, Sweetie and Buzzy stepping out from behind me.
“Things aren’t going as smoothly as we’d hoped. Titchbreese and Mossie aren't giving it their all just yet, but they're pushing out as much as they dare to try and break through Pripytrot.” She gulped, trying to calm herself. I couldn't imagine that an easy task... “And… we’ve picked up bits of their radio chatter. Mossie's been pushing to authorize more orbital strikes, and they’re preparing to use those to attack our lines. It... you don't want to know what happens when that falls on a bunch of ponies in the open.” Featherweight helped her over to a chair, letting her sit down. “Flash-Bang is helping to organize the attacks with some of the knights. Fringe was the new head of the sniping squad, but he’s been missing for days. We’re still not sure if he’s been captured, or deserted, or…” Her eyes were welling up as she spoke. She wiped them dry as I walked up and tried to comfort her. “I’m sorry, it’s just… this has been going on for so long… I could recognize a few of the markings the troops on the other side were wearing.”
“It... it’s going to be alright.” I gave her a hug. “I’m sure Fringe is fine… we will find him.” She sniffed again before returning the hug. We broke it and she stood up. “I take it we need to head out now?” She nodded, her horn lighting up as she drew her laser RCW. Twintails rubbed his eyes groggily, looking like he hadn’t slept at all, before he returned to Featherweight’s room for his weapons and saddle. Featherweight watched him as he clumsily opened the door, giving a long yawn.
“I could help you guys get there. I don’t trust Twintails trying to fly like that... he's been having a bad night.” Sugar looked nervous, staring up at the larger stallion. “Don’t worry, me and Buzzy have a little thing we've been saving for a rainy day, or hellhound rampage. Picked it up from the SCAB before it was... ah, well, another abandoned wasteland place. C'mon." The large stallion stood himself up, stepping over towards the doorway, the rest of us following behind him. He moved over to an old railshed nearby, opening up the doors with a creak, Buzzy moving inside with him. After a moment of waiting, they pulled a viscious-looking skywagon out of the shed, a pair of gun barrels twice the size of the ones Featherweight usually had sticking out of the sides, Buzzy's head poking out of a circular cage-thing mounted halfway along the wagon's length. That sight certainly would wake Twintails up.
"Buzzy and I have flown near Pripytrot before, we know what the conditions are like. We actually were going to try and offer some assistance, but we couldn't get any of those rangers convinced we could do more than just be a liability.” Sugar still looked concerned, but agreed, for the moment. Seriously, if they were turning down help like this... those guns look as big as Twintails' grenade launcher! Twintails himself soon joined us, shifting his saddlebags around and staring in awe at the attack wagon. We headed out of the railyard, Turnpike barely lit by the soft flickering lamps placed here and there. Sweetie and myself climbed into the back of the skywagon, giving me a good chance to glance at where Buzzy was sitting. A machine gun turret!? Goddesses, this was practically a warship. Twintails prepared to take off, but Featherweight stopped him. “Come on Twinnie, you’re not fit to fly. You’re going to fall asleep and crash into the snow before we even get there, hop on.” Twintails sighed and did so, leaning into me a bit. His head bobbed as he tried to stay awake. “Alright Sugar, you’re up.”
Sugar shook her head, grinning, looking back as there was a flash of brass as Greasy’s mechanical wings flared on either side of her. “Greasy built these into my armor before we headed out, lets me get around a heck of a lot faster without burning out my horn.” Buzzy blinked a few times, hovering out and up onto Sugar, admiring the sharp bladed wings. Featherweight shrugged before they both took off, Buzzy returning to her spot in the turret. I leaned a bit over the side of the wagon, watching as the ground flew by beneath us. I quickly sat straight back up, shivering and looking at the floor of the wagon. I’m never going to get used to flying. The wind whipped at our manes as we flew along through the air, Buzzy's turret falling below and whirring as she operated the motors. “We need to find the road once we get closer to the city. Orders are to shoot at anything not entering through the main gates.” She shouted over the wind. “It’d probably be best if we land a ways back from the gate too. We don’t need them mistaking us for Enclave scouts.” Featherweight nodded, and both of them flew a little closer to the ground.
I scanned the snow beneath us, levitating out my plasma rifle as Jolts bounced against my back, still slung over my shoulders. Twintails was holding me tightly; I couldn’t tell if he’d actually managed to fall back to sleep or not. “What exactly’s been going on in Pripytrot, anyways?” I made a note to ask somepony once we arrived there for a more detailed explanation, I didn’t want to go stumbling into a war zone completely blind. Sugar looked over to me, Buzzy scanning the ground with her turret, looking for any threats. Past the blinding snow, a low thump was heard to the west, a pair of parallel tracks cutting through the snowbanks and small hills. Must be the tank.
“At the moment, we have control of the northernmost entrance to the city. Most of the rest of it's been barricaded, though we suspect the Enclave must have some sort of entrance around the south end for shipments. We haven't been letting any of their vertibucks get through.” The wind buffeted us again, the snow swirling around us as the moon shone through the clouds overhead. “It’s relatively safe around the gate and a few of the outposts surrounding it, barring the background radiation, but anything past the outskirts of the city go bad fast. Both sides have dug trenches and set up heavy automatic weapons posts. They’ve got more hardware to bring in than we do, but that tank you found keeps us a bit more unpredictable. Anything past the trenches is a mystery, though judging by the reactor’s failure and maps of the area before that, it’s likely they’ve got control of a megaspell missile silo. Empty, we would imagine… and hope.”
In the distance I could see a large collection of buildings looming. Sugar motioned to Featherweight and they began to descend. Every now and then there were flashes of lasers and plasma, a couple cracks of bullets or a rocket being launched up, but otherwise it was surprisingly quiet. We touched down, Sweetie and I sliding off of the battlewagon as Twintails more of stumbled off. “Are you going to be alright?” I asked, looking concerned. He nodded, rubbing his eyes again, while Buzzy hopped up out of teh turret and stood on the front of the wagon.
“We’ll head back to the Turnpike for now. If you need any air support, though, we’ll be ready and waiting.” He spread his wings, Buzzy hovering over and tapping on his shoulder a few times, holding what looked like a pair of binoculars with a radio strapped to it. "O-oh, right, eheh, use this to spot and mark the targets, and call us in. Got forty mil heavy autocannons with thirty high explosive phosphorous shells each, and two balefire impact bombs. Will need about ten minutes to reload each time though, but we'll try and linger as much as we can while we're there." Buzzy gave the designator-thing over to Twintails before hovering back to the turret, them both taking off in a slow pattern, quickly lost in the dark sky.
Sugar turned down the road towards Trotisk. “Alright, keep your weapons down. These guards aren’t going to ask questions if we look hostile.” She began to head down the road as Twintails, Sweetie, and myself followed. Her wings folded in as we approached the gate, a few ponies in power armor stationed on either side of it watching us. Sugar trotted up to one of them, handing over several papers she pulled from her armor. “Initiate Sugar Rush escorting notable civilian assets, Minty Candy and Twintails, along with a repair droid.” The guard looked over the papers before glancing back up at our group. His gaze lingered on Sweetie before he looked back down, stamping the papers and giving them back to Sugar.
“Alright, you’re clear.” He unlocked the gate, the hinges squeaking as the swung open. We followed Sugar down the broken up road, my Geiger counter starting to tick more often. Sugar lead us into a small building which was filled with beds, a few medics darting back and forth. The building was clearly not meant to be a barrack, several office desks were crammed in the corners, the space between the top bunks and the ceiling being almost non existent.
Sugar led us down a hallway to a smaller office with only four beds occupying it. She pulled a few blankets off the top of some filing cabinets, tossing them to us. “Alright, you guys can get some sleep for now, things shouldn’t be heating up for the rest of the night.” I swung my saddle bags off and slid them under one of the bunks, Twintails doing much the same with his saddle. “I’m going to find Flash and see what our plan is for the next day. Breakfast’s at O seven hundred, you’ll want to show up early before it cools off.” She trotted out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Twintails climbed into a bed, throwing the blanket over him and turning to face the wall. I flipped the lights off as Sweetie plugged herself in and I lay down to finish sleeping, setting the alarm on my Pip-Buck. Every now and then the silence was broken by the sound of artillery fire and the occasional power armored pony trotting by our room. I reached into my saddlebags, pulling out the tiny plushie of Cross Stitch. I cuddled him in the dark, rolling myself over and trying to fall asleep.
---
"Good evening wasteland, welcome back to Neighrer Nightly. I'm your host Tom Neighrer, and we are giving you twenty-four hour coverage of the growing situation in Pripytrot. This recent news comes from a pair of ponies who had passed by Pripytrot only a few hours ago, a more clear update on the combat situation. As it stands... Enclave forces are in a perpetual stalemate with the Steel Rangers. The battle currently underway, I found, very much so mirrored what defined the first few stages of the war that led to Equestria becoming what it is today. It also reminded me of a song I had once heard from a fellow composer, a more traditional, hopeful song of what may have happened on remote stretches of the front lines, but for propaganda purposes had had most of it's mention destroyed and removed by the Ministry of Image. By some miracle, however, we here in Stable 92 have a surviving copy of the song, which we wish to share with all those brave souls who are risking their lives on the front lines, just as those who had made the greatest sacrifice in the war before... Sorry, I, uh, I need a moment. This song is Hearth's Warming in the Trenches."
"My name is Virtuous Oath, I come from Ponyville,
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school.
To Canterlot and Glyphmark, and Hollow Shades to here
I fought for princess and country I love dear.
'Twas Hearth's Warming in the trenches where the frost so bitter hung,
The frozen ridge Shattered Hoof was still, no Hearth's Warming song was sung,
Our families back in Ponyville were toasting us that day,
Their brave and glorious foals so far away.
I was lying with my messmate on the cold and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound
Says I, "Now listen up, me boys!" each soldier strained to hear
As one young Zebra voice sang out so clear.
"He's singing bloody well, you know!" my partner says to me
Soon one by one each Zebra voice joined in in harmony
The cannons rested silent, the gas clouds rolled no more
As Hearth's Warming brought us respite from the war."
---
My leg buzzed as my Pip-Buck beeped loudly, cold light of morning streaming in through the shattered windows. I wrestled my metal leg still before I was able to press the button to turn the alarm off, laying bed for a while more, the sound of gunfire and artillery echoing through the air. I looked over to Twintails, who was awake, staring distantly ahead at the wall opposite him. I climbed out of bed, scooping up my Cross plushie from the floor and slipping him into my saddlebags. Twintails rolled out of bed as well, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His mane was disheveled and there were large bags under his eyes. “Are you okay?” He tried nodding, but his head just flopped about. “Twintails... Twintails, what’s wrong?” I stepped closer to him, Sweetie finally having finished booting herself up.
Twintails released a shuddering sigh before saying anything. “I don’t know… I… I think what’s been going on is just starting to really get to me. All the ponies that died… this war… Fringe… Gamma…” He started to cry, turning his head away from me. “I don’t want to think of what I’d do if I lost anypony else… That anytime you could be killed because I blundered into something I should’ve left alone…” I pulled Twintails into a hug, squeezing him tightly.
“No, no… I’m not going to die, Twintails. Neither of us will. It’s not your fault at all that those other ponies died, or that Fringe went missing.” I gave him another squeeze. “We’re going to be okay, Twintails.” We hugged for a while longer, Twintails still sniffing a bit. I waited until he broke the hug, letting him wipe his eyes clear. “Come on, we should get something to eat.” I said quietly. He nodded and grabbed his gear. We followed a few Steel Pony soldiers down the hallway towards the mess hall, the scent of a bitter stew wafting through the air as we got close. We stepped into line behind the soldiers and were given a couple bowlfuls of a thick soup. We sat down and began to eat, myself watching Twintails, wishing I was able to do more to help cheer him up.
Sugar and Flash sat down beside us at the long table, Sweetie taking an interest in their advanced armor. “Morning. I, uh, I'm sorry for sending Sugar out to get you, but we really need you to help us track down Fringe.” The pegasus mare took a spoonful of stew, swallowing it down with a small grimace. “Right now, we’re going to need everypony we can get. We’ve managed to find a weak point in their lines of defense, and as far as we can tell, they haven’t caught on yet. We’re planning a push soon.” I nodded as she explained the situation, shuddering at the taste of the soup. Ugh, even Sparkle-Cola didn't taste this bad... well, that might be pushing it. “Hopefully getting a spearhead will ease the tension a bit, then we’ll be more free to let you two search for Fringe. We know he’s still alive, his armor would’ve sent back a radio conformation otherwise, but he’s managed to jam enough signals on it that we can’t contact him or find him with any sort of tracker.” She paused for a moment, her ears falling to the side. “Still, alive doesn’t mean healthy, or away from the Enclave... I don't know what they would do with him, or us.”
We finished up our soup and placed the bowls back on the counter, heading back through the hallway. “Alright, you two head with Flash-Bang to the debriefing room. I’ll go see if I can find any sort of helmets for you, at least.” She glanced down at Sweetie, pausing for a moment, the robotic filly looking back up at her. “Something for her wouldn’t hurt, either.” She scooped her up and turned the corner to the armory. We followed Flash back outside, turning down the road towards another building, which was embedded into a barricade spreading all the way around the Steel Ponies controlled sector. Flash opened the door for us, allowing us to walk down the hall to a large room full of other power armor clad ponies sitting in chairs. We scooted into one of the aisles, Flash’s armor hissing as the pressure shifted to allow her to sit.
A chocolate colored stallion stepped to the front of the room, pressing a button on the large screen before him. “Alright, our plan for attack is relatively simple.” The image of an overhead view of Pripytrot came into focus, the various buildings and trenches covered in a light blue grid. “Any soldiers having become ghouls will attack through the power plant. The levels of radiation there are high enough to force any of the Enclave back, it should allow for a safe way of spreading their forces into disarray. Others will head through the trenches to the east, their hold on the residential area has finally started to loosen over the past few days. If we continue to keep the pressure on with mortars and the TOG, it should allow us to break through and set up a defense there. We’ll then look to move forward and take down their control of the train station and school blocks before planning an attack on their main forces by the silos.” He pointed to various points on the map throughout his speech, before shutting the screen off.
Everypony stood up, heading for the south end of the facility towards the trenches. Flash slipped on her helmet, trotting back towards the entrance. “Hold up!” Sugar called to us, as she trotted in. Sweetie was riding on her back, dressed in some makeshift armor, the rusted metal looking even more worn when compared to her still shining exterior. The robotic filly hopped off of Sugar as she passed us a few metal helmets. “They wouldn’t allow non-members any power armor, but these should do better than nothing. I hope you have something to help with the radiation out there.” She pulled on her own power armor helmet, the visor lighting up as she did so. Twintails and I pulled our gas masks out of our saddlebags and slipped them over our faces, adorning the metal helmets over them. “Alright, stay close to me until we’re in the trenches.” Sugar said, drawing her RCW. I pulled out my own rifle as we opened the back door of the building. Sugar immediately started running past the large cannons towards a maze of small valleys dug into the earth, and surrounded by barbed wire. Twintails and I sped after her, Sweetie hopping up onto my back.
We skidded to a halt in the icy dirt, crouching down to stay out of the line of fire. Sugar looked back to see if there were any others coming before turning back to us. “Flash and I are going to be assisting in aerial combat. You two stick with the group, there’s no way you’d survive charging through here alone.” Her metallic wings flashed, and she took to the air, flying low towards a group of ponies staked out in a demolished building. Twintails had his grenade rifle and BEL at the ready as we began to follow the group through the trenches. I realized just how much Twintails, Sweetie and I stuck out among the whitish-grey-painted power armored soldiers, and I immediately regretted not requesting some sort of metal armor.
The group soon reached the easternmost edge of the trenches, sticking as close to the ground as they could. A few lasers shot above us, the familiar sound of somepony being burned to ash cutting through the air nearby. I levitated my plasma rifle to the ready as the soldiers all sat in the dirt, waiting for their signal. The air was unnaturally quiet for what I imagined a total war zone to be like - if anything, that made it worse. Aside from the occasional bursts of plasma and lasers, there was no sudden upsurge of sound from either side... though Celestia knew that was going to change the minute we started to charge.
Without warning, my ears were filled with the blasts of the larger guns behind us, replaced quickly by ringing and the muted sounds of the soldiers’ hooves pounding against the ground as they jumped out of the trenches, sprinting across no-stallion’s land. Twintails and I clambered up, Sweetie hopping up behind us. All around us shells crashed into the ground, screaming as they flew through the air. Dirt and snow were spattered up from each blast, making running towards the collection of small houses difficult. I stumbled and Twintails righted me as we ran, still moving ahead and trying to not die from the artillery. Lasers bounced off of the more heavily armored ponies, but burnt and scarred those in the lighter recon armor. I sprayed a few shots of plasma in the vague direction of the enemy trenches, praying I’d hit something.
A few ponies to the left of us were thrown and fell to the ground as a shell struck them. I swear I saw an armored leg fly from them, but I focused back ahead of me, doing my best to dodge the oncoming energy projectiles. Twintails fired a balefire egg at the entrenched Enclave members, swapping for his rifle as the blast sent what few survived ducking down for cover. What remained of the group of soldiers leapt down into the trenches, blasting at the Enclave members with their weapons. Twintails and I dove for cover in the pits, Sweetie holding onto the cape of my coat. The soldiers took a moment to orient themselves, one with a plasma caster standing at the back while those with lighter weapons took the front of their small team. I stood up, quickly reloading my rifle as Twintails did the same with the flat orange shells. A small panel on the side of Sweetie’s head flipped open, a prong looking like some form of welder sliding out. It sparked as we began to march through the trenches with the soldiers. I cursed not being able to have a nice line of sight to use Jolts with as we trudged through. The soldiers fired on the Enclave’s forces, who quickly returned fire. I ducked behind the larger stallion with the plasma caster, firing between the Rangers at the Enclave.
One of our soldiers fell to the ground, twitching a bit before lying still. We charged forward, Sweetie’s welder sparking as an arc of lighting flew between it and the Enclave soldier. The pony froze, sparks jumping across his armor before he collapsed, his armor still sparking a bit. We continued through the trenches, the bodies of a few Enclave members being blown in by the incoming mortars. My stomach twisted up at the sight of them being blown apart by the explosives, Twintails busying himself shooting what looked like a ball of fire at a pony who had the mind to take flight, his wings igniting and being shredded. My attention was torn away from the dead soldiers as a laser shot seared my ear, myself firing off a few rounds of plasma by instinct, melting the assailant. The soldiers turned down one of the trenches, heading towards the small buildings as a couple stayed to begin setting up sharp wire and planting explosives around the sides of the trenches and bodies of the Enclave soldiers.
We climbed out of the trenches, walking among the small houses, not sure what damage was caused by the first war and what was caused by this one. “Keep your guard up; there are probably still some remnant forces around here.” One pony brandishing a laser rifle said through his mask speakers. The group split into pairs, Twintails, Sweetie, and myself heading into one of the taller houses at the edge of the intact residential area. I suddenly realized just how fast my Geiger counter was ticking, despite the mask I’d been wearing. Ugh, maybe the nauseous feeling wasn’t just from all the gore... I pulled out a bag of Rad-Away, slipping the little drinking tube under the breathing mask. The needle on my Pip-Leg dropped back down to just above zero, but immediately began climbing slowly. I’m going to need a lot of these...
Twintails and myself trotted up the stairs, checking each room for any soldiers. “Enemy sighted! Emitting electromagnetic pulse!” Sweetie shouted. I ran to her position, watching as her horn released a pulse of energy at a soldier in Enclave armor and a shaggy white suit. Twintails took pause, his grenade rifle loaded with another flat orange round, looking at the stallion inside.
“Oh hell!” I paused, feeling I recognized his voice moments before he was blasted by the pulse, knocking him onto his side. I pushed Sweetie back as Twintails rushed over, his launcher stowed on his back and mask back in place, and eyes glwing faintly. The soldier put his hooves up “Hold it! Gah, bloody hell, that hurt...” He coughed, reaching up and removing his helmet. Fringe’s green coat and singed brown mane were uncovered as he coughed again. “Hell, I forgot how much a pain EMPs can be. Nearly broke my bloody back... the hell is that thing?” He used the post of the bed to lift himself to a standing position, still a little shaken. “What the hell are you two doing here anyways, eh?”
Sweetie looked back to me, asking if she should fire again. I flipped her horn shut, helping Fringe to sit down. “We were looking for you. Sugar Rush and Flash-Bang have been incredibly worried, and apparently even Elder Quazar’s going almost mad trying to find you again.” Fringe shook his head, pulling out a cigar from his armor, flipping open a lighter and drawing in a large breath to light the end of it. He blew out a long stream of smoke before hanging his head, looking at us.
“I’m sorry, but if I told anypony what I was doing it’d just lead to a greater chance for Titchbreeze and Mossie to find me.” He took another deep breath in before blowing another smoky cloud. “They've been trying to set up a base in the residential area for quite a while, but I’ve managed to scare most of them off until the rest of the Rangers arrived. Had to disable my communications so they wouldn’t be able to find me, not to mention those bloody arseholes have a bad habit of checking in with their members at inopportune times.” He glanced out the window, the various soldiers checking in on other buildings, prompting him to release a sigh.
“Look, even with the Steel Rangers setting up their own forward defense here, it’s going to take a while for them to properly dig a trench and establish connections with the main base. I’m not heading back anytime soon, and you can’t tell the others what I’m doing.” He was starting to look both angry, and almost depressed. “It’s bad enough they sent you two out to find me, I don’t need others going on suicide missions just to save me.” He inhaled deeply again, standing himself up and casting the half-spent cigar out the window and into the bloodied snow below. He scooped up his long rifle from the ground, slinging it over his shoulder.
Twintails stopped him as he tried to head out of the house. “Fringe, wait.” He paused, looking irritated. “Fringe, it’s because no one’s heard from you that we were sent out. You need to go back, or more ponies might keep getting ordered to look for you.” He simply stared at Twintails a bit more, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t know if you think you owe something, or just want to finish off Titchbreeze and Mosquito, or something, but Quazar needs you back at EQUAD. Flash and Sugar are devastated, they think you’ve been captured, or are barely surviving.” He dropped his head, sighing again.
“I’m not going back. After what I’d done with the Enclave, the things I've seen, I can’t sit back in that underground concrete maze and just watch while the rest of the soldiers throw themselves at Titchbreeze and Mossy's forces to die.” He looked back at Twintails, who tried to speak, but couldn’t. “You two head back to the bunkers, find some way to get out of this. Tell them I died, snuck out after dark, whatever you want, just get out of here. I didn’t tell them where I was going or what I'm doing for a reason, I don’t want you killing yourselves over me.” He pushed past Twintails, heading back down the steps. I looked over to Twintails, who looked unsure of what to do. We watched as Fringe left the house, slipping on his helmet and quickly running down some empty streets towards a large snow bank filled with rubble, away from the wandering Steel Rangers.
I looked above where he was running, seeing a large structure embedded into the mountain range to the south. Pulling out Jolts and peering through it's scope, I caught sight of several guards which were stationed around the entrance, a few manning several massive guns around it. The path leading to it was a mess of trenches, artillery, and a collection of collapsed buildings. A sign along what used to be the road towards it bore the familiar symbol of a black on yellow trefoil, the words 'Pripytrot Missile Silo' faded below it. I looked over at Twintails, who was still staring at the rubble that Fringe had disappeared behind. I pointed out the base, letting him gaze through the scope, examining the area. He looked back at me, a grin ever so slowly crossing his face. “Minty, you must be turning into me.”
I nodded, smirking. Looks like we were going on another suicide run, anyways...
-----
Okay, Pripytrot had a missile silo, that I didn't know. That was something to look forwards to... ooh, they might even have more guns there! Or-or more balefire eggs! Or... Celestia, please let the reason the Pripytrot Missile Silo didn't pop up on my pip-buck be because it still had a megaspell warhead inside. A whole, unlaunched, ready and waiting megaspell warhead-tipped missile... this day went from bad to very good very quick. I giggled in excitement, Minty jabbing me in my shoulder and encompassing his rifle in his magic. Glancing back at him, his expression was half-disbelief, half 'I need a diaper now' as he pointed to the sky above the missile silos. Leaning out the window, I looked around for a few moments at the low cloud layer. Huh, must be heavier than-
The thunderous crack and boom of really big artillery guns and massive lightning cannons erupted from a smoother-looking cloud, gigantic turrets appearing as the shockwaves moved the dark clouds aside. The shells screamed over our heads, detonating with a series of extremely loud bangs in the houses behind us, the shockwaves nearly throwing me out of the window I was leaning from. The metal hat covered my vision as I felt the familiar tugging of my tails in magic, Minty dragging me back from the edge. We shared a quick glance before wordlessly heading for the doorframe.
"What the FUCK is that!?" There was another discharge of the guns above, sending whatever shells they were packing downrange and practically right on top of us. The hallway shook, Sweetie Bot hastily plowing through a doorway at it's end and reaching where the stairway once was. Our geiger counters clicked hastily, the robotic filly's servos whirring to push her back from the edge as the splintered wood and brick gave way to a faintly glowing, massive crater, a thick cloud of dust obscuring our vision beyond that. Above the sounds of fires crackling and the far-off gunfire, panicked screaming could be heard, a hauntingly familiar wail I felt that I'd heard before. Where didn't matter now, though, as Minty grabbed a nightstand from one of the rooms inside and promptly sent it flying through the window at the other end of the hallway, the building beneath us starting to groan as the floorboards grew hotter. Oh, this was supposed to have gone much smoother in my head...
The window let out onto a fire escape, myself taking a chance glance back at the scars of battle in the ground as we made our way down it as quickly as we could manage, the metal groaning under our weight. Where there once was trenches manned by Enclave soldiers, now there was just large glowing craters, topped by...
Mother of the goddesses...
Minty and Sweetie leapt into a snowbank from the last level, myself stuck in awe at the sight of a skyscraper-sized mushroom cloud upon the battlefield. The head was a green fireball, rising skywards and illuminating the dark sky above it with the sickly green light. More screams were added to the cacaphony already filling the air, gunfire and explosions thrumming across the trench lines behind us. Minty and Sweetie dragged me off of the escape and into the snowbank, my augmented friend adjusting his cracked glasses on his muzzle and looking over at me. "Twintails, what-... goddesses above..." A third firing went off as the head of the clouds crested the buildings, one of them being alarmingly close to the structure we were in just moments ago. I shook snow from my mane, getting back to my hooves and looking to the place where the cloud... gun-thing was that was firing these shells. The screams had been muffled over the sounds of gunfire and the rest of the battle, the third salvo impacting and causing the ground to rumble beneath our hooves.
"C'mon, we've got to find where Fringe went! We're not leaving without him." Minty looked to myself, blinking a few times in disbelief, as I motioned up to the clouds rising behind us. Yeah, we are not going to let him go off on his own suicide mission while those things are still live. Sweetie Bot shuffled herself about in the snow, sitting upright and doing that weird scanning thing again, this time on the streets around us. Finishing, she stood herself up, looking between us with a smile. It was... pretty creepy, to say the least. "Uh..."
"New friend; Knight Captain Moral Fringe is currently on approach to Pripytrot Missile Silos. He is within radio range and still, shutdown order issued to his armor." With a cheery bounce, the robotic filly moved off along the street, the screams and sounds of war echoing around us as she seemed to... dance through the chaos. Minty blinked a few times, rubbing at his eyes and readjusting his glasses, myself giving a glance back to him before answering his confused look with a shrug. Well, at least we've got him held down now, right?
Rounding the pile of rubble Fringe had passed, we soon caught up with Sweetie Bot, the robotic filly having sat herself down in front of the camoflauged Fringe as he cursed inside his now-static armor. The sounds of battle in the streets beyond filled our ears as the power armored pegasus grumbled through his suit's speaker. Minty fiddled with the latch, Fringe letting off a grunt as the helmet was slid off of his head. "I'm starting to really want to send a bullet through that robot's head, you know. The hell are you two doing, I thought I told you to go back!"
"In case you didn't hear through your helmet, there isn't really much to go back to, and we are NOT walking through another ground zero." Minty gestured in the direction of the clouds, Fringe looking back towards him for a moment, his eyes glancing up at the sky. Though the clouds themselves were hidden by the building wrecks, the balefire-green lights from the fireballs still illuminated the cover above, the older stallion's eyes growing wide for a moment before a grim look came across his face. He chuffed a small cloud out into the cool air, the day shrouded to night by the clouds above us.
"Forgot the Tsetse had those shells to load. Maybe Mosquito did too, until now, at least." He paused in thought for a few moments, looking at the rough location of where the battleship-cloud-thing was. "Alright. That changes things, we need to get up to the Pripytrot silos and blow the Tsetse out of the sky - if we launch one of the missiles up at it, regardless of if the megaspell payload detonates the explosion from the fuel alone will blow the clouds supporting it off, it'll come plummeting from the sky. Hopefully with Mosquito and Tit-... Titchbreeze inside. Don't suppose you two managed to convince Quazar that the TOG was a main battle tank and not just mobile light artillery, did you?"
"No, but we've got some friends in the air on standby. You think they'd be expecting an aerial attack?" Sweetie Bot beeped a few times, Fringe's armor responding by turning back on and allowing the stallion to move more freely about. He chuckled faintly, fitting his helmet back on and looking towards us, his camoflauged rifle moving about with his head. He peered around the corner for a moment, Minty taking the time to flick on his rifle's charger-thing and keep it held at the ready.
"Sure would give them one hell of a surprise if they're who I think they are. Hope to hell they know how to peel out quick, because twenty mil cannons won't do much without direct hits. C'mon." The power-armored stallion darted across the street to the rubble of another collapsed building, laying prone against the snowy, icy mound and looking around the area. Minty, myself and Sweetie Bot all fell against the bank with him, the robotic filly breaking a mirror off of the wreck of a nearby cart and levitating it up, letting us both peer over it. Puh, clever girl. Fringe glanced towards us, focusing on Sweetie Bot. "How exactly are you going to contact 'em when we're in a position to see the forward trenches, eh? She turn into a radio transciever or something?"
Sweetie Bot shot Fringe an unamused look while Minty took the mirror from her, placing his rifle on the snowbank and seeming to try and aim down the scope with it. Fringe chuckled and shook his head at Minty's efforts, myself pulling the binocular-radio-thing out of my saddlebags and flicking it on. "They, uh, they gave us this. Think I know how it works, um..." Fitting the earpiece on and picking up the binoculars, the speaker in the headphone crackled, Featherweight's voice coming through. Fringe picked himself up and we all shuffled over to another pile of debris, this one within some sense of sight of the trench lines leading to the missile silos.
"Reading your signal Twinnie, Foxtrot Bravo is at the holding point, just mark the target for us and we'll clean them out. Sugar Rush got the word out that we'll be helping you, if you see the rangers shooting at us it's a diversion tactic, don't get frightened." Fiddling with the headset a bit as I settled in behind the rubble pile, Minty held the mirror up for me. Okay, five lines of defense, heavy artillery above the silos with mortars and nasty heavy armament every so often along the trenches with low air cover, nopony carrying anything nastier than those boxy laser rifles in-flight though. The headset crackled again, Featherweight's voice over it, Minty and Fringe getting themselves set up as a few rangers moved forth towards the lines. "Whats the situation over there? Those mushroom clouds you or the tank?"
"Uh, n-neither Featherweight, those were some kind of artillery ship-thing the Enclave have. We're going in to try and take it down, uh... you shouldn't encounter much resistance in the air, hope you can help clear out some of these trenches they have set up on the way. Marking targets." Poking my head up over the rubble as rifle fire and lasers pinged and hissed against the sides of the ruined buildings, I pulled up the pair of binoculars, blinking and setting them down after a good look through them. Okay, wasn't expecting things to be in black and white, but if it works, it works. Please let it work...
Pressing a button on the outside of the boxy binoculars, the optics displayed a black targeting rectile in the center of my vision, a white line pointing towards it. Focusing in on where the second line of trenches began, it beeped a few times, emitting a series of four bloops moments before Featehrweight crackled through my ear again. "Wilco, Foxtrot Bravo inbound with the goods. ETA thirty seconds, sit tight." The radio crackled, Fringe and Minty mumbling between each other as they positioned themselves for sniping, Sweetie levitating those few grenade-things she made out of Minty's saddlebags, looking to me with curious eyes. I blinked a few times, ducked behind the cover, looking at her. It was almost like she was checking if Kindness was... oh no.
"Spread increase of damage done by your balefire egg launcher can be safely achieved with minimal impact on range and flight performance if accounted for. I can have three scrambled egg payloads constructed and ready for use. Cutie mark in weapons design, yay!" Her cherry attitude in creating a weapon of mass destruction drew a weak chuckle from me, Fringe's rifle erupting with a loud bang as an ungoddesly loud scream filled the air. The gunfire stopped for a moment as everypony looked around to see where the hell it was coming from, before the second and third trenches up along the road erupted in plumes of explosions and fire, the silvery form of Featherweight's skywagon coming into view. The big cannons retorted with a loud thumping sound as the ground was blown apart around the entrenched Enclave forces, firey explosions flowing along the trench lines as they desperately tried to get clear of the attack. Fringe and Minty both looked up in surprise, myself letting off a small chuckle. Talk about eye candy...
The silvery skywagon swung around, the smoke starting to clear from the trenches in time for the sight of two silvery pipe-like objects to be dropped from the skywagon at either end of the third and fourth trenches, the ground erupting in a pair of near-blinding white flashes, the blast waves clearing what clouds were left and replacing them with a pair of small mushrooms, drawing a wide grin from me and screams from the poor saps stuck in the trench lines. The clouds were given a moment to dissipate before the skywagon returned, the pair of machine guns operated by Buzzy tearing up the ground in the trenches as a steel ranger somewhere nearby let up a cry, watching the strike clear up. Featherweight and Buzzy did a quick pass over the houses before peeling away, the larger stallion's vocie crackling in my ear.
"Good co-ords, seeing lots of little pieces down there. Stay safe, Twinnie, I'll have some stew and the plug waiting for you back home. Foxtrot Bravo out, back in twenty." ...goddess-damn that stallion, doesn't he know that I'm in the middle of a warzone!? Why did he have to say that. Minty snickered lightly, no-doubt noticing the blush coming across my face, myself stowing the binoculars away and climbing over the rubble. The sounds of gunfire and explosions slacked off, myself pushing ahead towards the wrecked trench lines, mostly trying to not have to listen to Minty and his comments. A few Steel rangers were crossing ahead of me, climbing over the lines and every now and again firing their guns in response to a laser or bit of goop flying past, moving up to the rear lines and mortar trenches.
For those who don't know what white phosphorous is - hell, even I only faintly remember it from the Stable chemistry classes - it's a special chemical form of your every day run-of-the-mill phosphorous. Crystalline in structure, it burns extremely fiercely when ignited. Great for when you want to start a fire somewhere and make sure it won't go out for a while, if you don't have unicorns around to help with it anyways, and it makes a lot of nasty smoke, too. The two balefire egg bombs they dropped between the third and fourth trenches cleared a bit of the stuff out, but that wasn't going to keep me from keeping my mask on, even if the fallout from the reactor wasn't as bad up here. Pack the stuff around a high explosive core and fire it into a confined space, it'll make the phosphorous ignite and send out a lot of smoke from all the little bits of shrapnel that it gets shattered into. Shrapnel that still burns, and doesn't have much trouble finding weak spots in power armor. Suddenly, that lingering smell of cooking, seasoned meat wasn't as appealing as I thought.
My breathing slow, the chemical smoke stung at my eyes as I looked down over what had become of the inhabitants of the trench lines caught in Featherweight's first pass. You could still hear the sizzling as the white phosphorous ate through the flesh beneath the armor of the Enclave troops, some of the bodies emitting low moans or screams before being silenced. I felt my breaths becoming quick and ragged - this... this is what I'd done? Is this what the other trenches look like? Sugar said we pushed through their weaker spot. The breakfast I'd managed to keep down was seriously looking to come back up as I looked around at the carnage in this muddy, frozen ditch, slowly backing away and only encountering another charred body.
Another charred body, that just grabbed my leg.
"G-g-goddess... help... forgive me..." Frozen in the shock, I stared down at the still-living Enclave pegasus. Where their wings once were now was just bloody shreds, acrid smoke flowing from inside the armor. Where their back legs were was now just a bloody stump, one of them rendered completely free of their hip and having left a dark pool. The dying figure stared up at me through his shattered visor, one eye bloodied and red, and the other piercing through me like a knife, his jaw fallen to a silent scream as he tried to drag himself closer. "W-why..." With a strained, gasping breath, the life left the maimed pegasus, his body falling limp atop one of his trenchmates' own and his grasping hoof releasing around my leg. I couldn't have gotten out of there faster.
Landing with a heavy thud back near where Fringe and Minty had been sniping, I stumbled on my hooves, promptly depositing what contents of my stomach were left onto the snowy, muddy street. Falling against the brick wall of a nearby building, I took a few moments to spit what taste of the breakfast remained in my mouth out, breathing heavily. Sweetie Bot's servos whirred as she approached me, catching my attention for the moment, her eyes wide and curious. Oh, how I just wanted to go back home and drink some Sparkle-Cola... Fringe and Minty followed behind her, rounding a corner and stepping up to myself.
"Twintails, there you are. Mossie's personal vertibuck touched down outside the launch control bunker, both her and Titchbreeze are on the ground. We can put a stop to all this fast. Minty found a back road right up to them..." Blinking a few times, I readjusted myself, Fringe chuckling inside his helmet. "To think this war'll be over only a few minutes from now. C'mon, we don't have time to waste." Fringe and Sweetie Bot moved forth, Minty giving a paused look towards myself as I tried to calm down. Looking back to him, I gave a faint nod, pushing off of the wall and turning to follow Fringe. He stopped beside me, placing a hoof on my shoulder and looking long into my eyes, concern very apparent on his face.
"Are... are you going to be alright? What did..." I stared back to him, and he fell quiet, his broken glasses glinting what sun got through the clouds above. He responded with a small nod, his magic encompassing Jolts and hooves starting to crunch through the snow. I looked to Kindness for a moment, then down to the machine guns either side of myself, the firing bits bouncing in front of my face. If I never have to use these things on other ponies again after this, it'll be too soon.
---
"There they are. Keep your fire, we need 'em seperated from their entourage. Wait for them to get into the bunker..." Minty had his rifle levitated for me to see downrange clearly, Kindness' firing bit in my mouth. The vertibuck's engines were whirring at idle, a pair of pegasi stepping from it and into the concrete structure they had landed beside. The group of armored Enclave troops stood outside the bunker, just barely in view through the scope as I angled upwards, the modified round Sweetie had put together loaded in. Fringe paused for a moment more, then tapped on my shoulder, my jaw clenching around the bit.
The compressed air in the chamber threw the modified egg downrange, the payload seeming to tumble as the duct tape fell off in flight, the grenades seperating from the egg. The payload detonated on the windscreen of the vertibuck, rendering both the machine and it's occupants entirely destroyed, vaporized in the explosion. The grenades, scattered by the initial blast, detonated about the area and cleaned up what other forces were left, Fringe charging forth up the back road with Sweetie Bot on his back, Myself and Minty following. Well, they know we're here, at least.
Fringe ran up the side of the bunker, landing with a skidding stop on the outside as Minty and myself approached the side door. Sweetie Bot hopped off of Fringe's back, trotting up to the thick door and doing that scanning-thing on it, blinking once or twice after finishing. "Scan indicates explosive-resistant construction coupled with megaspell blast-dampening systems. Anti-teleportation systems are offline. Uplink to missile control maneframe located inside." Minty wore a smirk, looking over to myself. An energy cell levitated out of his saddlebags and placed itself against his temple as he pulled me close, and everything vanished in a flash of whitish light.
"No, no no no, fuck! Oooh, how did this piece of junk wo-" The smell of ozone faded, and the interior of the missile command bunker came to view. The pegasus mare was leaned over the controls, the stallion standing beside her, both of them looking backwards to see what made the noise. Minty's magic encompassed the mare, ripping her from the control panel and slamming her against the concrete ground, my augmented friend wasting no time in jumping on her and putting his heavier metal leg to use. The stallion watched as he beat on the mare, his eyes metting mine in surprise and disbelief as I brought my own full weight against him. General Titchbreeze... Fringe... Wildfire... my mother.
With a satisfying crack and thud, the stallion skidded along the control panel, his wing impacting hard against the ground and trying to bend in two ways at once. Bringing my right hoof against his face and watching as he spat a small dribble of blood onto the floor, my eyes refocused on the Luger I kept holstered there. Gamma's Pistol. Minty kept his beating going, the side door mechanism straining and rolling to an unlocked position as I leaned down and grabbed the mouthpiece, sliding the gun from where it was on my foreleg and bringing it to place aimed at his head. The door swung open with a loud creak, Fringe jumping over Sweetie Bot as tears started to stream down my face. This was the bastard who ordered my mother to be killed... "This is for my mom, you asshole!"
"W-wait! Celestia damn it, wait!" Fringe caught my attention, wrestling Minty off of the mare - Mosquito, her name was? - Titchbreeze likewise laying his head to look at the power armored stallion who'd come inside behind us. Minty flailed his hooves in the air furiously, Fringe keeping him held until he broke down to sobs, slumping down beside Sweetie Bot. The mare wasn't moving - much, anyways.Fringe stepped up to us both, looking first at myself, then down at Titchbreeze. "General Titchbreeze. Good to see you on the ground for once. I'd like to revoke my statement of Wildfire being a success... I didn't kill the child. But the child sure looks like it wants to kill you... you bastard." The power armored stalion brought his armored hoof across the General's face, teeth flying from his jaw as he spat more blood and blinked his bruised eyes. He seemed to take a moment to think, Gamma's pistol still aimed at his head. His eyes went wide as they met mine, his breathing ragged.
"Y-you didn't... you're... son." Wait... what did he just say? My hooves slid off of his forelegs, Gamma's pistol still aimed for his head as Fringe looked between us. Titchbreeze scurried his battered self up against the wall behind, Fringe turning to have his rifle aimed at him as well, the trapped stallion looking over myself in earnest disbelief. He coughed again, wiping his face of blood, blinking and looking up at me with his old eyes. "You were... that's Wildfire's foal. You... you're my son." WHAT!?
"I was a fool... Goddesses, I was a damn fool for trying to have you killed." The stallion tried to crawl closer to me, Fringe's rifle and Gamma's pistol aimed at his head. This just, I, WHAT. "When I cast Wildfire out after knocking her up, I thought I was saving myself from ridicule. But after Pripytrot, I... I couldn't bear any more foals. I couldn't have a successor. I immediately regretted it. But now... we can rule together. We can conquer the northern wasteland in the name of the Enclave. We can-" With a satisfying thwack, my pipbuck-clad foreleg struck Titchbreeze in the side of his head, sending him sprawling onto the floor.
"After all these years... after what you did... after, after all this shit, you think I'm going to join you just because I'm your only fucking son!?" Fringe had stepped up to Titchbreeze, a hoof keeping him pinned against the concrete. "You want me to rule alongside you? You want me to help you do... do what's happening in the city? To the entire fucking nortehrn wasteland!? Are you fucking insane?!" Sweetie Bot had trotted over to one of the maneframes, a spark of electricity arcing across to a panel, a series of screens and buttons lighting up on the control panel. She stood for a few moments before letting off a beep, hopping up onto the controls and looking up through the darkly tinted glass. The thunder of the artilery guns above rang out, the shells flying down to kill more rangers, cause more death. I looked down at Titchbreeze, turning to face the controls. "I might be your son, but I'm not like you. You're a monster." My hoof rested upon a flashing red button, pressing it down with a click.
The snow outside seemed to fall away to a gaping abyss as the ground opened up outside. A warning klaxon sounded, the structure shaking faintly as steam and smoke erupted from the new hole, a massive spear of destruction headed by a self-contained megaspell flying forth from the concrete silo and up into the air. I watched from inside the bunker with a blank expression, following the missile as the glass tinted to the light of the exhaust. It reached a peak height, the bottom of the battlecloud-ship being illuminated by the flame of the thrusters for a split second before everything was engulfed in white.
The glass tinted to block out the explosion as best as it could, the stark form of the Raptor being fully iluminated by the missile's warhead detonating. The fireball carved a massive crater into the side, the blast clearing the clouds that supported it and sending the two halves of the ship in opposite directions, tearing it apart in the center. The ground wave shook all of us inside the bunker, some of the vertibucks that were returning being imprinted against the background of the sky before being blown out of it, crashing in flames. The flash faded, both halves of the cloudship plummeting to the ground, the bunker silent save for the sounds of the computers.
"Goddesses above!" I turned back, seeing Fringe and Titchbreeze both looking at myself like I was insane. The general on the floor rolled himself onto his back and scurried up against the wall, his eys fixed to me and breathing ragged. I don't see why he's surprised, he brought this on himself. Drawing Gamma's pistol from my forehoof, I brought it to bear on Titchbreeze, Fringe still frozen in looking out of the window as the fireball faded and gave way to some odd wispy cloud. Staring him down for but a few moments more, I took aim, and fired. Twice.
You know, there is a surprising amount of stopping power in the .45 automatic caliber bullet. It can entirely decapitate somepony if you hit the right spot - and their body was being melted into ash that same moment, anyways - and does a very good job at removing other pesky limbs as well. The two bullets I had fired at Titchbreeze as he cowered for his life against the concrete wall hit their targets perfectly, acting just as I had hoped they would. The shockwave from the rounds burrowed through his wings halfway along their length, reverberating off the wall behind and entirely shattering all bones and other structure inside, leaving two large, gaping holes where the bullets went through. Bloodied feathers filled the air as Titchbreeze's eyes rolled to the back of his head, the de-winged pegasus falling forwards and twitching on the floor of the bunker. I slid Gamma's pistol back into it's hoster, everypony staring at myself.
"The battle's over."
---
A cheer went up from the trench lines and city streets as the TOG trundled through them, myself and Minty resting on the long, flat back. I cradled the small plush of Gamma Ray close against my chest, looking down at it's small plush head and letting everything else fall out of focus. I thought back to when I was in my stable, how monotonous the days spent tending to Bruce were, how trivial the thought of watching a megaspell or balefire bomb live was, how boring things really could get. How much Gamma Ray loved me. I wished that I could just go back to all that, crawl down into Stable 34 again and just forget everything that had happened since I left. Oh, if I could just get Gamma Ray back, that would be enough...
"Hey, Twintails..." Minty scooched himself closer to me as the tank rode over the trenches in the city. We'd be out soon. My augmented friend wrapped his foreleg around my neck in a light hug, looking down at the plush I held for a moment before turning his vision back to me. "I... look, are you alright? I mean... I don't know what you're going though with all this, but... look. I'm here for you, alright? I always will be." He gave a weak smile, hugging me a little closer. I adjusted myself, cuddling closer to him, the breeze coming off of the wasteland seeming colder than ever.
"Thank you, Minty..." The unicorn gently nuzzled against my neck, his thick coat giving off quite a bit of heat in the cold air. Keeping the plush of Gamma Ray against my chest with one hoof, I wrapped the other around him, returning a tight hug. Tears began to stream from my eyes as we held each other, myself sniffling in and releasing a shuddering breath. "Th-thank you..."
The TOG soon reached the outskirts of Pripytrot, continuing onwards across the wasteland. In just a short while we arrived in Turnpike, hopping off of the back and heading to the familiar railyard, the lights on in the carriages. Featherweight stepped out onto the end platform, hopping down and coming over to greet us. The smell of the radishy stew hung in the air, a soft smile on the stallion's face. "Welcome home, Twinnie. Glad to see you both okay. C'mon, dinner's almost ready..." With a light chuckle, we folowed behind Featherweight, myself lingering behind, thinking. I wasn't hurt, no, I wasn't injured by bullets or plasma or lasers. I was okay, physically.
Mentally, though...
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Damn, the white phosphorus part reminded me of Spec Ops: The Line.
Quite a brutal chapter and reveal near the end. Very enjoyable.