Fallout Equestria: Black Cat

by Rixizu

Chapter 14

Break readied herself for anything. She breathed in and out trying to calm herself. Panicking would only make things worse. She wished that she could think more clearly. Her headache was becoming a real problem, and it was getting worse. She also felt weak. Break gritted her teeth. She would get through this.

“Five," Robin said. From his look, Break could tell he was not playing around.

“Four.” Robin continued.

Break moved in closer. Everypony was too distracted by Scavenger to notice her.

“Three.”

Break could see in Scavenger's eyes his terror but refused to back down. She cursed. Being stubborn was helping nopony.

“Tw…” A shot ran out and hit Robin in the shoulder. He howled in pain.

Break’s eyes widened and cursed. She pulled the trigger on her gun at the large pony whose gun was trained on Scavenger who looked about to fire. The stallion winced as the bullet ricocheted off the wall and grazed his eye when Break’s shot went wide. The other Cosas responded in an instant getting into cover. Robin dropped low to the ground trying to stay out of the line of fire. Scavenger used the distraction to run into a nearby corridor.

Break took cover just in time when the wall where she was standing was showered with bullets. She ran down the hallway and tried to take a shot at one of her pursuers, but missed and dove behind a corner before they could put her in their line of sight. In her haze filed mind, she tried to think. Okay, Robin was down and at least one of the Cosas would try to get him out of here for medical help. His wound looked serious and the Cosas help their own. That left her with two Cosas and that hunter after her. Scavenger was an unknown factor. How well could he use a gun and could she count on him in this fight?

Break activated her Eyes Forward Sparkle. She saw a blue dot that was moving away from her position that was obviously Scavenger. He was scared no doubt and not in his right mind at the moment. Two red dots were coming towards her trying to surround her. Break realized she was trapped in this hallway with the two Cosas blocking the only way out. One was positioned right in front of the entrance she came in and the other was coming from around the hallway behind her. Break saw what she thought was the hunter in the distance. Maybe he was planning on sniping her if she got past the two Cosas? She gritted her teeth. If they surrounded her she was done for. Break decided to try to get the jump on one of them. They most likely didn’t know she could track their movements and she would use that to her advantage.

Break ran towards the entrance she came from. She saw the youngest Cosas a few paces in front of her. He was surprised for a second by her charge but fired his gun a moment later. Break twisted her body and took the bullet in her injured leg. She howled in pain. It didn’t hit her leg directly, but it left a nasty gash on the top of her leg. It wasn’t clear if it was the painkillers or just her desperation to survive, but she ignored the pain and fired her gun back. The Cosas wasn’t able to evade in time and it struck him the right part of his neck. He groaned and gasped. Break hit him hard on the head with a headbutt and the thug fell to the ground. She slammed his head into the ground hard just to make sure.

Using her EFS, Break saw the second coming up behind her and she fired at him when she saw his head poking behind the corner. It missed completely, and he fired back, but Break ran behind a pillar to evade the shot. She panted. It was getting hard to ignore how much pain she was in. Her injured leg was bleeding seriously. Keeping her strength was hard, and she felt like passing out at any moment.

If only she had some grenades. Break cursed herself for being in such a rush to escape and not thinking to bring anything besides her gun. The only warning Break had was a faint hoofstep behind her before a huge hole was blown where Break’s head was. She avoided the attack in time and held her head low as she looked for better cover. She found a nearby living quarters and dove into it avoiding more shots fired at her. Break peaked out the broken window and saw the hunter grinning. He dove behind a pillar of his own before she even had the chance to fire.

Break spent the next few moments searching the room for anything useful. Please let there be a secret cache of weapons. She hoped. Of course, there were none. It was just a basic living quarters. Posters of dragons, ponies with pointed ears, and other ponies with medieval weapons covered the walls. She saw a box full of little figures with ponies in various battle forms. There were bookshelves full of books that were mostly fiction, but one of them had something something 3.5 edition. It was fading making it hard to read. She found a sword hanging from the wall, but it was old and rusted and most likely just there for decoration. Nothing looked useful. Why is it she never found anything of use?

Break’s eyes widened as a grenade flew through the front window and landed next to her. Moving out of pure desperation and instinct and moving faster than she thought was possible and threw it over her shoulder back in the direction it came from. She winced at the heat as it exploded a little too close for comfort.

Break coughed at the smoke and her eyes watered. She could barely see anything. A figure appeared in the smoke from the window and pointed a gun down at her. In desperation, she grabbed a nearby box and threw it into their face with a hoof stunning him for a second and throwing figures everywhere. Break leveled her gun at him and fired. The shot hit him square in the shoulder and he collapsed in pain. She moved up to finish him but ducked in time when she saw the hunter in the distance avoiding another shot.

Break heard the Cosas she shot whimper in pain. With caution, she peeked over the window. She could see his hat peek out behind the pillar. Break winced as she was hit with a wave of dizziness again. It was getting hard to ignore the pain now. She couldn't keep on like this. Break heard a shot and ducked low. Somepony screamed.

“A-are you okay?” Scavenger yelled from somewhere.

“Fine!” Break yelled back.

“I-I’ll come get you!” Scavenger said. There was another gunshot. A few moments later he entered from the door. His eyes widened when he saw the state Break was in. “Y-y-y-you’re hurt!”

“I can make it.” Break said weakly. Scavenger put her on his back and they exited the room. Break noticed the Cosas she was fighting laid back against the wall. It was hard to see through his thick red mane, but she could see a bullet wound on his forehead and it dripped blood down his head onto his lap.

“Where is the pony with the hat?” Break asked worried.

“I-I-I clipped him in the s-side. N-not sure w-where he is n-now.” Scavenger said in sudden dismay. He kept his gun in his aura at the ready.

Moving to a better position I bet. Not liking the two on the one odds. Break guessed.

They moved with caution towards the overstallions office. Break used her EFS to find the hunter. He was gone. Break scowled. Not good. What if he was planning on sniping them from a distance? Break already felt her consciousness fading. It was difficult to even hold her gun up, but she refused to let her guard down. After the rush of the fight wore off, Break felt herself getting more tired, exhausted. She didn’t even feel the gun fall from her hoof.

“It’s okay Break, I will look out for you.” Scavenger said with gentleness and stroked one of her hairs off of her face. He scanned the area with keen-eyed precision. "I-I know the area w-well. T-they won't f-find us."

True to his word, Scavenger avoided any trouble, and they were soon far away from the vault. He stayed low and used rocks for cover in case somepony tried to snipe them. Break saw no trouble in her EFS and relaxed after about a half an hour or so. Before she knew it, everything went dark, and she lost consciousness.

---

Break awoke and found herself on a bed. It appeared she was in a tent of some kind. She felt horrible and tired. She shook her head and almost screamed as a robot appeared in front of her.

“Hello!” The robot said in a cheerful tone. “How are you feeling?”

The robot looked like floating silver ball. It had an eyestalk that protruded from its head. Several appendages came out from its bottom with several tools at the end of each of them. Somehow the thing was floating. Break hoped the thing was friendly.

“Um, not great, but doing better I think.” Break said after a moment.

“Grand.” The robot replied. “You were suffering from severe radiation poisoning and a serious injury from multiple bullet wounds in your left leg. The radiation poisoning was cured, but about your leg…”

Break looked at the leg that was shot. She just realized that she felt nothing from it. When she looked at it, the reason was obvious. Break screamed. Her left leg was just a stump.

“Yes, I was afraid of this.” The robot said tilting its eyestalk. “It got infected and had to be amputated. You would have died otherwise.“

Break eyes widened in horror. She could not believe her eyes. This couldn’t be. She used antiseptic. Everything should have been fine. This shouldn’t have happened.

“Look on the bright side.” The robot said. “Robotic limbs are very popular nowadays. I’m sure you could get one and be right as rain in a jiffy!”

Break scowled. Was that supposed to make her feel better? A sound startled her out of the dark mode she was in. Scavenger walked in. He brightened when he saw her.

“B-Break!” Scavenger exclaimed. “Y-you’re up! H-h-how are you feeling?”

“I could be better.” Break said looking down. “I wish I didn’t wake up to this.” She pointed to her stump of a leg.

Scavenger became somber. “W-we tried everything to s-save it. W-we had to c-cut it o-o-off. I-it was the o-only way.”

“I don’t blame you.” Break said. “It was just bad luck.” She cursed that damn Stable and radioactive water. She was never going into a Stable again.

“The d-doc said you will be up and r-ready in a few days.” Scavenger said with hope in his voice.

“Two to be precise.” The doctor robot confirmed.

“Where am I?” Break asked.

“A-a trading post a f-few miles away from Forks.” Scavenger explained. “Y-you’ve been out for t-three days.’

“I see.” Break wasn’t sure what to say.

“C-c-c-ould you leave u-u-us alone p-please?” Scavenger asked the medical robot.

“Sure thing, sir.” The robot replied and soon left the tent.

“B-Break, I’m s-s-sorry.” Scavenger folded his ears back in shame. “I-I-ran after I s-shot Robin and h-hid. I-I was s-so scared. It took f-forever for me t-to get my wits b-back to come and h-help you.”

“I don’t blame you.” Break said with complete honesty. “It was a scary situation.”

“R-really?” Scavenger asked hopeful.

Break nodded and gave a weak smile. “It isn’t like I’m that brave myself and you saved me, so that has to count for something.”

“I-I just wish I c-could have come s-sooner.” Scavenger said.

“You saved me, and that is what counts.” Break said hoping that her friend won’t beat himself too much over what happened. Scavenger nodded after a few moments of consideration.

Break changed the subject. “Did you find Green Mile?”

Scavenger nodded. “I-I did.”

Break stood up straighter. “Did you see her?”

Scavenger frowned. “N-no, she d-d-disappeared.”

“What do you mean?” Break asked.

“S-s-she was seen in F-F-orks proper, but t-then just vanished.” Scavenger said. “N-nopony has seen her leave, s-so she still might be there.”

Break put out a breath. “I see.”

“S-sorry, I-I haven’t been a-able to come up with more than t-that.” Scavenger drooped his head.

“Hey, it’s better than nothing.” Break gave a weak smile. Was Green Mile even alive? No, she couldn’t think like that. Green Mile was alive. She just knew it. She would find her. The Cosas were still on her trail. That hunter could find her wherever she went, but how was that possible? Some kind of tracking magic? Did they use something of hers to find her? She was thankful they still hadn’t made a move on her yet, but they would. They might even call in reinforcements. She wasn’t in much condition to go very far right now. But the same could be said for them. Two of them were seriously hurt, one lost an eye, and one was dead. It would take time to get reinforcements and heal up, but how much?

Where would she go that they couldn't follow? Could the hunter follow her forever? Or maybe his power spell whatever had a time limit? So many questions and problems. She didn’t know where to start. Maybe she should just focus on getting better first.

“So, do you know where I might…” Break gulped. She didn’t like this idea very much, but it might be vital for her survival. “Get a mechanical leg?”

Scavenger nodded. “I-I know somepony in F-Forks that could get you one no p-problem.”

Break sighed. Of course, it would be there of all places. “Is there any place else?”

Scavenger shook his head. “Not anywhere close.”

Break hung her head. She needed that leg right now. It would give her an edge she needed. “I guess we could go.”

Scavenger looked concerned. “Y-you s-s-sure? T-they hate y-you there.”

Break nodded. “I have to.” It would also give her time to look for Green Mile. She hoped that the Cosas won’t cause too much a fuss in the Stone’s stronghold.

“O-okay.” Scavenger looked determined. “I-I find you a w-way in.”

The next few days were uneventful as Break healed up. It was nice to be back on her hooves again. She didn't have her saddlebags unfortunately. They were forgotten after the fight and they had no time to get them. Scavenger promised to get as soon as Break got her new leg. They did have some food and supplies, so that won't be a problem for the moment. Being only able to use three hooves was awkward, but she did her best to adapt. Though, there were these strange times she felt something from her lost leg. Thankfully there were no signs of the Cosas or the hunter. Break told Scavenger about her theory about the hunter’s power. He was skeptical saying he had never heard of such magic before and didn’t believe in anything like special powers, but said he would keep a watch out just in case.

They traveled to Forks without incident and Break soon found herself back in the outskirts of the town. She was wearing a brown traveling cloak with hood and it seemed to disguise her well enough. Nopony seemed to give her much notice. She eyed the front guards of the town proper with trepidation. They seemed to know Scavenger, and they let him and her through without any trouble. She was thankful that they weren’t any ponies she recognized. They barely even glanced at her. She guessed as long they paid the toll, they didn’t care at all who they were.

Forks was just as Break remembered it full of hustle and bustle as before. She kept an eye out for trouble or anypony she recognized. They left the bright and garish casinos for the grayer duller part of the town that held most the town's other businesses. It seemed to Break that the building that businesses resided in rarely reflected the business they homed. She found one bar that used to be a dentist office of all things.

Scavenger led her into a dark alley and Break tried to hid her nervousness and kept an eye out for trouble. He knocked at a door and chatted with somepony behind a slit in the door. Break spotted something in the distance. She could see a unicorn with a cloak just like hers walking across town. She studied him. He was gaunt and looked dangerously thin. His coat was so white it looked like bleached bone. His mane was black, and it hung almost to his hooves. It was thin and greasy. Something about him was familiar then it clicked. Wasn’t this the same pony that Betty and Letty described a few days ago? Break got excited. This was the same pony that Green Mile had been seen with.

“Scavenger! I found a lead!” Break explained. “Follow me!” She made her way to the sickly unicorn at a left pass then another left. Scavenger called after her, but she was too focused on her target to notice.

Break made her way through a small crowd of ponies getting angry jeers her way. She followed him behind a building. The stallion turned towards her glaring.

“Why are you following me?” The unicorn demanded.

“I’m looking for Green Mile.” Break explained. She saw that he recognized the name in his eyes, but he did his best to remain neutral.

“Sorry, never heard of her.” The unicorn said in a flat voice and turned away thinking the conversation was finished.

"Wait please!" Break asked grabbing his cloak. "I've been looking all over for her."

“I haven’t seen her.” The unicorn said his voice hard now.

“Really.” Break said getting annoyed. “I never said Green Mile was a mare.”

The stallion seemed to curse under his breath. “Luck guess. Now leave me alone.” He turned away and started to leave.

“No! Please!” Break pleaded not letting go of his cloak. “She’s my cousin!”

The stallion ignored her and kept going and Break pulled harder on his cloak. It started to tear and before she realized it, it had been completely torn off.

Break gapped at the appearance of the strange gaunt pony. He had wings. He was an alicorn.

An alicorn? What? How? Break’s mind raced. Is he some descendant of the princesses? Wait, no. Something isn’t right. There was something wrong with his wings. It seemed like they didn't belong there. Their color didn't match his coat color. Sure they were white, but not the bone-like white of his coat. Looking closely, she could see the difference in color at the where his wings connected to his body. These wings weren’t his. Break was sure of it. Like he had them surgically attached somehow, but saw no sign of any surgery taking place.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” The stallion growled. “Oh well, I will just kill you and take your cloak.”

“What?” Break took a step back.

In a blink of an eye, the stallion struck. Break almost lost an eye as he pulled out a knife with his magic from his cloak. Break moved to get some distance from her attack. He struck again even faster, but Break was ready this time and it missed again. Her hood fell off her head as she avoided another strike. The stallion grinned, and it unnerved her to no end. Again, he attacked, slower this time putting Break on edge. He moved to her right and suddenly spit something pink at her neck. Break revulsed in horror as it scratched the edge of her neck. She watched the thing he spit out with wide horrified eyes. Whatever the thing was, it was moving. It looked like a putrid piece of flesh, but it was needles attached to it with a blade or claw at the head.

The stallion grunted in annoyance. “Stay still you little…”

Break ran for it. She wanted no part of whatever he was. He shot other of whatever that was at her but she ducked in time. The stallion yelled after her, but she just focused on escaping. She turned into an alleyway. She screamed as she crashed into a pony as she turned the corner.

“Hey!” The earth pony stallion cried in annoyance. He had a red coat with a light brown mane.

"Sorry, it was…" Break screamed as one of those things hit the stallion in the neck as he stood up. It entered his skin creating a disgusting growth that pulsed like a heartbeat. Break yelped as he grabbed her tight with his hooves.

“Nice.” The white stallion said grinning. Break struggled to get free. The red stallion’s eyes were dead, emotionless, and he stared at her with a blank expression.

“It’s dinner time. Eat up.” The white stallion said grinning even wider and the red stallion’s jaws came down at Break’s throat.