Fallout: Equestria – Icarus

by MuseoSansPony

Chapter 5: The Rains of Change

“The Enclave double crossing their own? I’m shocked!” The bartender nickered in feigned shock, once more interrupting my story.

“It is different down here. You mud dwe – you ponies – know to expect it.” I shouted before downing my current glass of wild pegasus. “ When you grow up in the Enclave, they instill a sense of loyalty. If you trust The Enclave, you succeed. If you don’t, you are branded a dashite.”

There was a pregnant pause in the bar where only the raging storm outside could be heard. The Bartender noticed my empty glass, but instead of filling it again, he just opted to float over the bottle. I didn’t care if was on the house or not, I was gonna need it if I was going to get through this story. It felt like what I’d had already barely affected me so far. I just figured my tolerance had increased since falling to the surface. After a long pull off the bottle, I settled back in my chair before getting back into the story.

*** *** ***

I came to on the heavily cracked, but still yet unshattered front window of the bridge. The projector that had once projected BONK’s hologram lay sparking, way to close for comfort next to my head. Any closer and it would have crushed my head like a tomato.

I rolled over to get a look at the bridge and immediately regretted it. Something inside me shifted painfully, and I tasted blood in my mouth.

Yep, I most likely broke a rib...or two. OUCH!

Taking a decidedly painful breath in, I glanced around what was once the Sugar Sprinkle’s bridge.

The front half of the ceiling had collapsed. The row of monitors that had once housed the screen bound BONK, had slammed into the captain's chair, crushing it. The impact of the crash had cleaved the projector off the ceiling, and sent it onto the window next to me. The workstation terminals were all shattered by either various debits, or from the impact itself. In fact, one had actually caught on fire and was sending distorted shadows around the room. Some of the other readout monitors flicked and buzzed, somehow rebooting after the lightning shorted them out. I only hoped it meant that BONK had too rebooted.

“BONK?” I rasped, splattering spit and blood on the window, “You there?”

I waited and heard nothing. If it was just the lightning, she may have been able to reboot. But with the explosions and the crash, I wasn't sure if her mainframe was even still functional. Without her, I couldn’t find the others.

Fuck! I thought and mentally facehoofed, The others are probably dead or dying, and it was all my fault. They are gonna die hating me. My dad is going die thinking his only son was gonna turn him in.

I couldn’t dwell on the maybes. I had to find them, and if they were alive, save them from the wreckage. That would at least make up for some of my screwups. I should have listened to Cap when he said Dashites were the true heroes. Instead, I’d gone and crashed a ship that didn’t even technically belong to me, despite me being appointed its captain.

Grunting, I pushed myself to my hooves. Another mistake as my back two hooves jolted me with more pain. Add in two broken legs along with the ribs. I slumped back against the projector that had now thankfully stopped sparking. In doing so, I made a 3rd mistake: Looking down. Apparently, my assumption that we’d hit the ground was incorrect. The pinkie pie balloon was lodged at least 10 stories above the ground in an apartment building.

Between painful gasps, I managed to find non-live wires and some strips of metal to fashion up a pair of makeshift splints. My battlefield medic training had at least finally become useful I suppose. Grunting in pain, I once again tried to get to my hooves. It was painful, but I could walk. It was incredibly slow walking, but walking none the less.

After shimmying under the collapsed half of the bridge, and readjusting my makeshift splints, I headed for the captain’s quarters. Without BONK, my EFS was the best bet to find my friends.

Wait. Do I really consider these ponies friends? I thought as I hobbled along the sloped hallways, I suppose I’d just leave them here if they weren’t? Though, that was exactly what I was gonna do once I turned in my father. Fuck! I can never face them after all this.

Braking from my thoughts, I pushed open the door to my quarters from the previous night. Literally actually, as the door fell out of the frame and slammed to the floor. Looking inside the room, half of it was missing. The whole outer wall had been ripped from the ship in the crash, and was now matched with the remains of a kitchen. The mattress, pillow, and sheets had likely been sucked out the new window by the change in pressure. But the bedframe was still there, having been bolted down onto the wall and floor. The same could be said for the desk and terminal, though the terminal was dark.

Carefully, I made my way to the closet door that had remained closed in spite of the crash. I pushed them open with a hoof and had to duck out of the way as a black hunk of metal and a bunch of hangers fell from the closet and across the sloped room, denting the wall above the bed frame. Bracing myself, I jumped for the same wall and landed in a pain filled heap. The ship lurched threateningly around me, but thankfully stayed lodged in the old apartment building.

Not wanting to dawdle anylonger, I pushed myself to my hooves and slipped into the armor. I felt more relaxed as the HUD powered up and flicked into view.

“Thank Luna you're alright!” BONK’s voice surprised me and I fell back to my haunches, wincing at it put pressure on my broken legs. I looked around the visor until I noticed a small green pony in the corner, wondering who or what it was. Of course, then I remembered BONK was blue, and it was the amber visor that made her show up green.

“Well mostly ok.” she spoke as she pulled up the biometrics monitoring screen, “Your back legs are broken in two places, and you have three fractured ribs. Oh and you have a minor concussion.”

“BONK?” I finally managed to say as she returned the screen to normal, “What are you doing in my armor?”

“I only had one one hundredth of a second before my mainframe short circuited from that lightning strike to find a viable host on the network. I hope it’s alright, but your armor was all I could find. It is almost as big as a pipbuck in here, which is to say, fairly spacious for a computer program. I’m just happy the closets are lined in plastic.” She began.

“So are the other’s safe?” I asked.

“Of course when I transferred, there was the matter of bringing only the essentials.” and a bunch of digital suitcases appeared. “This is the ship’s schematics, so you can get it repaired. Then there is my library of music. I hope you like polka, because there is a lot of it.”

“BONK, the others. Are they okay?” I asked again.

“Then there are the personal files, and my backup memories. Which of course, includes all of you.” The suitcases disappeared and were replaced by a book, “I’m actually making a scrapbook of our time together. Here is when we first met, and here is us sticking it to Steer-stink-o. This camera got a bit warped by the heat, but I did a digital reconstruction. Oh and here is the first night on the ship. You look so cute when you're sleeping!”

“NOT THE TIME, BONK!” I shouted, visibly scaring the little sprite in my vision. “Are the others okay?”

“Sorry, sorry. The crash had me panicked. I’ve never been in one before. Then to see you alive, I was just so happy.” She started again, but noticed my continued glare, “They’re fine. Before we were struck by lightning, I used the GET to teleport them as close to the ground as the range allowed. Though, they still likely fell a few feet.” I let out a sigh of relief, knowing they were ok, “I just didn't have time to get you or your father off the ship before the lightning struck.”

“Wait, my dad is still here? Where?” I asked in a panic.

“Hold on, I need to force a re-automap of the ship to include the wreck and building.” BONK said and my armor made a soft beep, “There in the brig, but–”

“No, buts! No time. This ship is not done crashing and I want us both off here before it falls the rest of the way to the ground!” I snapped. “Point the way.”

As if on cue, the ship lurched again and fell a few inches. Without another peep from BONK, a new compass marker appeared in my vision.

*** *** ***

To get to the brig, I had to temporarily leave the ship through another hole in the hull, and travel up a flight of stairs of the apartment complex the airship was currently lodged in. It felt like a maze to me because it ended up at a slanted angle, with the bridge at the bottom, and what was left of the rudder and engine closer to the top. Not to mention blocked section due to collapsed halls and the remaining apartments the ship had intruded on.

Getting there was no easy feat with my injuries, but when I put on my saddlebags I was shocked to see I had four doses of med-x and two healing potions. From what little knowledge I had of medicine, I knew my broken bones needed to be set before they could be healed. So I had used one dose of the med-x to dull the pain, but found I had to use a second before the pain went from searing while I walked, to a minor nuisance. The vague implications of addiction cropped up in the back of my mind, but there wasn’t a moment to lose.

On the way there, BONK was almost too quiet. I couldn't help the feeling she wanted to tell me something, but after I’d snapped at her, she was sulking in the corner of my visor.

Re-entering the ship through another hole, I found I had to lean against the wall to keep from falling down the slanted hallway. As I moved about, the ship creaked, but for the time being appeared to be staying lodged in the apartment complex. Nearby, I could have sworn I heard other hoofsteps, but figured it was just a stray brick or other dislodge piece of debris settling on one of the other decks.

Slowly, I turned the corner into the tiny brig. It consisted of one cell quartered off from the rest of the room by the stereotypical metal bars commonly depicted in pictures of prisons. And by the door was a set of 4 lockers to keep any of the cell’s occupant's belongings. Unlike the rest of the ship, this room was not painted. Or if it had been, it was painted in soul crushing grey.

Though in the crash, the ceiling had caved in and dislodged the top of the bars. The occupant – my father – had been thrown from the cell and impaled on the bars. The locker had fallen on top of his still form. Seeing him like that made me realize what BONK had been about to say when I silenced her.

“Dad!” I called out in shock.

Forgetting about the pain, partially due to the med-x, I rushed over and pushed the locker off of him. Thank the goddesses my armor had repaired enough to assist with strength again. He slowly opened his eyes and stared back at me in a daze before spitting up some blood.

“What...” he coughed horsely, “what happened?”

I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I spoke, “I gave the Enclave your pipbuck, and they shot us down. I was so focused on capturing you, I never thought to ask why you left. I was so stupid. I’m sorry.”

“No, no,” he said slowly, before coughing violently, “You were just true to you convictions. You had no way of knowing what they were up to, and took them at their word.”

I dropped to my haunches and cradled his head, “What was on the pipbuck? What is Operation: Cauterize?”

“The pipbuck?” he sighed, “It had research into a new, smaller type of robot. The kind that could be injected into a pony.”

“And do what?” I asked through my tears.

He opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by a blast from a novasurge rifle. It strick the bars above his head and they melted into slag. I turned to the door and saw a more intact carapace armor covering a red coated pony.

“Sorry, I interrupt something?” the voice I recognized as Sergeant Windsweep spoke from beneath the armor, “guess it was a good idea to come down and see if the crash killed you two. Guess I owe the lieutenant a very special night afterall.”

“Why?” I asked, seething with anger. “I did what you asked! Why shoot us down?”

“You have been contaminated by the surface. It was a mercy.” Windsweep replied cooly, “The surface is a blithe on the world. Updraft has a plan to wipe it clean. Cauterize the wound and let the pegasi reclaim it to bring the Enclave back to its former glory.”

“What about the ponies fighting to survive on the surface? You’d just kill them?” I asked.

“The savages, the walking corpses, and hellish abominations?” Windsweep replied with audible distaste, “The world is better off without them.”

“That’s not true. They are ponies no different than you or I! They have families. They have settlements. They have lives.” I argued. “Sure some are bad, but not all of them, and I know that now. Up in our utopia above the clouds, we don’t see it. You are flying dangerously close to the sun.”

“Spoken like a true dashite.” She said as he novasurge rifles powered up again.

I would have moved to attack her, but I felt a sharp prick in my back leg and it shifted my focus to my dad who was entering a syringe of glowing silver liquid into my leg. In an instant Sergeant Windsweep fired her weapons, and this time they hit home in my father’s head. He glowed pink for a moment, and then crumbled into nothing but ash.

I saw red and bit down on my firing bit. The minigun mounted on my armor whirred to life and fired a barrage of bullets. They pinged harmlessly off her armor, but it did cause her to step back into the hallway. While she was distracted, I charged her.

I found myself entering SATS, even though I had not activated it. The world slowed to a standstill, and sections of Windsweep became highlighted in amber. The amber gave way to a blue set of highlighted sections, where unlike the amber outline, it highlighted more specific locations. Instead of the head as a whole, it highlighted the eyes, nose, jaw, cheek, and visor. Each had its own percentage next to it that actively changed as the world became unfrozen and moved in slow motion.

“I updated your targeting spell with something similar to the ship’s targeting system. I’m calling in BAATS. BONK Assisted Arcane Targeting Spell.” BONK beamed in the corner of the visor.

I didn’t tell – or more accurately couldn’t tell her while the spell was active – that acronyms usually didn’t include other acronyms in them. Instead, I cued in an uppercut to Windsweep’s jaw and a buck to her cheek. Apparently BAATS let me choose specific attacks, along with more defined locations.

Time returned to its regular pace and the spell resolved. Windsweep dodged my uppercut but was too slow to dodge the buck. The force of which sent her flying down the hallway. I was shocked at not only the strength of the buck, but the lack of pain I felt in what should have been broken legs. At the time, I figured it was thanks to the double dose of Med-x I had taken.

With a meaty thud, she hit the floor down the hall. In a few short moments, she’d gotten back to her hooves. The amber visor of her helmet had been completely shattered, and streaks of blood flowed down her face from dozens of lacerations from the broken plastic.

“You filthy, mud loving, Dashite!” She shrieked, “Die with dignity!”

Chomping forcefully on her firing bit, she fired wildly as she charged up the slanted hallway. With bits of her visor blinding her eyes, scattered shots landed all around me, but failed to strike me at all.

My own rage not yet abated, I fired back with my minigun. Like before, many of the shots pinged harmlessly off her armor, but with her now exposed face, some found a fatal home. She flopped lifelessly to the floor, the remaining momentum from her charge causing her to slide the rest of the way to my hooves.

It was then that I noticed the Lieutenant looking back in awe from one of the rooms down the hall. Shockingly, she was a unicorn. Her coat was light blue, and her short cut mane was striped black and white like a Zebra. She wore a set of reinforced green combat armor and just stared back at me with a look of fear.

My anger had finally faded and gave way to a numbness, but if I was forced to act, then Lieutenant Daybreak would meet the same fate as her Sergeant. Though, her EFS marker read her as non-hostile, for now at least. That could easily change. I hadn't turned the EFS system back on, but like BAATS, I guessed BONK had activated it after Windsweep snuck up on us.

Instead of fighting, she simply spoke in a meek voice, “I um s-set charges on the r-reactor. Y-you need to get out of here.”

When she finished she fled down the hall, her parting words were more a warning. BONK’s old home was about to explode, and I needed to be long gone before it did. As fast as I could push myself to, I quickly gathered Windsweeps’s ammo and weapons. Her armor may have been more intact, but I felt attached to my armor, and opted to keep it over her model. Also, I wasn't sure BONK could transfer to it without the ship as a go-between.

*** *** ***

Thanks to BONK’s Navigation, I made it quickly out of the building the Sugar Sprinkle was lodged in. The ‘Fair Flat Apartments’ according to a plaque in the lobby. Booking it down the street as fast as my hooves could carry me, I needed to put as much distance between me and that balloon as possible. Again, I attributed the lack of pain and my rapid speed to the med-x and adrenaline flowing through me. I had not yet officially healed my broken legs or ribs, and I’m sure the meds would be wearing off sooner or later.

Just as I was about to run out of stamina I heard a resounding BWOOOOM from behind me. The resulting tremor knocking me to the ground and threw the wind out of my lungs. The near deafening boom was followed the sound of screeching metal as the remainder of the airship dislodged from the building and finally crashed onto the ground.

Of course, it was then that the storm that had been brewing in the skies above finally let loose a torrent of rain that began to douse the fires caused by the explosion. As I pushed myself back to my hooves to begin looking for some dry shelter. As I did, I heard BONK’s sad voice in my ears.

“We can fix her, right?” She whimpered.

“I’m sure we could find the parts out there.” I lied. I didn’t want to tell her it would take a few miracles, several thousand caps, and a pony engineer from the wartime or one from the wasteland familiar with her class of ship. It would only upset her, and without Cap, Looker, and Action to watch my back, I needed her focused on what was to come. Or at least as focused as BONK could be.

“I hope so too. That mainframe was my home.” She sighed, “It was all I’ve ever known. I don’t know what I’d do if I could never go back.”

I emphasized with the VP, as now, I can never return above the clouds. So I will to the best of my ability, restore The Sugar Sprinkle and reinstall her on it. I owed her that much for the help she’d given so far. For now however, I had to get out of the rain.

*** *** ***

After a half hour of sloshing through the streets of Salt Lick, I finally found a two story townhouse that looked somewhat dry. The concrete stoop was crumbling, but the rest of the building looked mostly intact. Well, aside from the missing third floor. I hoped the second floor didn't leak. It was painted tan and had green shutters on each window that barely clung to the wall. It would suffice as a shelter for the night, if nothing else.

I entered the front door and immediately stepped into a small den. There was a moldy couch that face a blank wall. From what I knew of Old Equestria, there likely used to be some kind of entertainment device on the wall, but it was likely looted long ago. Adjacent to the den was a kitchen with dirty checkered vinyl floor and time worn oak cabinets.

I honestly didn't expect to find any food in there, but as a permanent resident of the wasteland, I had to get in the habit of looting every shelter I found. To my surprise, there was a can of preserved carrots in the back of one of the cabinets. I removed my armor and used a still jagged edge to open the can, greedily eating its contents. The mush barely resembled carrots, but it had been a while since I’d eaten anything. After eating, I settled in on the sofa and fell into a dreamless sleep.

I don’t know how long I was out, but I awoke to the warmth of a crackling fire. I began to stretch and roll over to warm my other side when a thought came into my groggy mind: Wait, I didn’t make a fire before going to sleep!

My eyes shot open and I instinctively bit down, but as I was not wearing my armor nor a battle saddle, nothing happened. My actions only listed a gravelly chuckle from my uninvited guest: A glowing ghoul in a dirty labcoat. He was adding another piece of the oak cabinets to the fire, while there was an odd stand made from bent metal that held a teapot over the flame.

“Didn’t mean to startle you.” He said in a calming voice, “Wouldn't be the first time I was shot. Might want to try sleeping in your armor if you want to be battle ready in the future.”

The teapot began to scream as the water came to a boil and he produced four perfectly clean mugs. Before he poured the liquid into them he scooped two spoonfuls of some kind of brown powder into them. After he mixed them with a spoon and hoofed one over to me. He brought another one to his lips and chugged. I took a sip and instantly spat the liquid back into the cup. Not only was it scathing hot, but it tasted like the worst tea I’d ever drank.

“Sorry, being what I am, I forget sometimes that things get hot over a fire.” He apologized when he saw me spit the brown liquid.

“Yeah, it is hot, but what kind of tea is this?” I asked.

“Not tea, coffee. An often overlooked item in the wastes. 10 times better than tea. It gives you energy and tastes great. Though it is supposed to have cream and sugar, but I’m fresh out.” He explained. I took another small sip, the liquid had cooled slightly and the taste was growing on me. “Though this instant stuff pales in comparison to the real stuff. Maybe they still have some in the Hoof, or maybe Caldonia? Anyways, what is a pony like you doing out here all by yourself?”

I sighed and took a sip of the bitter, black coffee, “I screwed up and can’t face the ponies I consider friends anymore. They probably want nothing to do with me.”

“Did they say that?” He pried.

“Well no.” I admitted, “I just had a huge fight with them over turning my father into the Enclave. Only to have the Enclave shoot our airship down and try to kill me and my father.” I felt a tear come to my eye, “I can’t face them now. I should have listened to them.”

“Well, I’m sure they will forgive you.” The ghoul comforted, “I’ve encountered a few ponies in my time dealing with the same or similar issues.”

“And what did you tell them?” I asked, taking another sip of the coffee.

“Friendship is magic.” He beamed with a toothy smile, and I mentally facehoofed. “If these ponies are truly your friends, then they are bound to forgive you. You don't even know they are actually mad, you just think they are.”

I sighed again because he was right. They’d forgive me, right? Even if they didn’t, I could do everything in my power to make it up to them. Like how I’m going to rebuild BONK’s home for her. I couldn’t just avoid them for the rest of my life, right?

“I guess, it wouldn’t hurt to talk to them about it.” I agreed.

“Good, good. Friendship prevails!” He exclaimed.

Then I noticed the third and fourth cup of coffee.

“Expecting company?” I asked confused.

“Well, I was just going and I figured you could share some coffee with the nice mare and zebra outside.”

“The what?” I asked in alarm, spilling the rest of my coffee onto the couch.

The ghoul didn’t answer, he just bolted to the open front door and ran out, leaping over the crumbling stoop and into the city beyond. As he ran he shouted, “Remember: Friendship is magic!”

“The fuck?” A mare shouted in alarm after he passed, “I think I know that ghoul.”

I ran to the door to see what was going on and was met with the muzzle of a lever action rifle, not all that dissimilar from the one Looker favored.

“Not another step asshole, or I’ll redecorate these walls with your brains.” The mare holding the rifle ordered.

I mentally facefoofed at the fact that my armor and Windsweep’s novasurges were still over by the fire and not on my body. The ghoul was right, I should sleep in my armor.

*** *** ***

Footnotes:

Cumulonimbus: no status changes

Quest Perk added:

Dashite – You not only care for the ponies of the surface, you fight for them. You’ve been stripped of your rank, and are now a wanted fugitive of the Enclave. Speech checks for Allied settlements are lowered by 20% and speech checks for Enclave members are increased by 20%. There is 10% chance that random ponies will come to your aid in a fight and a 5% chance of an random encounter with an Enclave scouting party. This perk is incompatible with any Enclave based perks.

Trait lost:

Enclave Private

Companion Perk added:

This is BONKers! – As long as BONK is installed in your armor, you gain the effects of any BONKers Perks she gets.

Looker: No Status Changes

Cap Stash: No Status Changes

BONK – Level 1

S - X
P - 10
E - 0
C - 10
I - 10
A - 10
L - 0

Traits:

Virtual Pony – You are not a pony in the regular sense of the word. Instead of flesh and blood, you are made of 1’s and 0’s. As such, you have no physical body. Your HP and strength stat is based on the strength of the machine you are downloaded onto.

Self Awareness – You know you are a computer program, yet you have somehow developed beyond your programing to have emotion and even think for yourself...for the most part. This is the only reason you are treated like a pony character and not equipment. This trait allows you to receive your own perks based on self made programs called ‘BONKers Perks’, though you may only gain one per level like any other normal perk.

Quest Perk Added:

lvling is mandatory – now you can gain lvls! Yay!

BONKers Perk Added:

BAATS – The result of tinkering with the standard SATS spell and adding the functionality of an airship’s targeting program. While in SATS, hit boxes are more defined than simple general regions at the cost of the spell no longer bringing time to a complete standstill. Melee attacks and certain weapons have specialty attacks that can also be cued in at the cost of extra Action Points.

Quests Stated:

A Real Fixer Upper – Find a capable engineer to fix the Sugar Sprinkle