Fallout: Equestria - War Does Change

by tom117z

48 - War Does Change

Chapter Forty-Eight: War Does Change

“And so it was…”

---

We walked through the recesses of Site B, feeling the air of tension as we started our approach to the centre of this facility. The vats filled with the incomplete potion, Kronos, Insidiis… It was all directly ahead of us. I had no idea what was going on with the rest of the facility, how the changelings were faring, whether Cobalt was still safely locked up in that security room…

I was trying to put it from my mind. Kronos had to be our focus, all of this led back to him…

Easier said than done. I’d already lost one friend; another death might just mean my own…

There were several more labs dotted around us behind closed doors, each one labelled for their specific role in the experiments that went on here. I could only imagine this place in its prime, just how many scientists would have worked here all at once? It must have felt like a stable down here, so many ponies all working towards the same goal.

Too bad their that goal led to all of this. Even before the end of the world, Twilight had seen that the Changeling Queen potion could lead to all sorts of trouble.

I doubt she could have guessed, though, just how right her instincts were.

We stopped as we reached a junction. Or at least, a point that should have been a junction. The corridors to the left and right of us were blocked behind some of those massive security doors. Unless Cobalt was about to hop in, I doubted they were opening any time soon.

“Anything we’re missing?” Moon Blossom asked, lightly kicking one of the security doors. It decidedly didn’t budge.

I checked my PipBuck’s map. The chamber where we’d fought the Goddess was now far behind us, and I followed the base’s diagram along to our current location.

“Looks like it just leads to more labs and some storage for the other potion ingredients maybe?” I suggested. “Left and right both loop around the central chamber. I think there’s also a couple of observation rooms I saw in the memory orb around there.”

“So, nothing of use,” Xena mused, looking at the open corridor directly ahead of us.

I joined her, our eyes settling on a metal staircase at its end. There were no other doors along the way, just a single solitary opening in the floor that beckoned us to descends further downwards.

“I assume the chamber is ahead of us?” she asked.

“Directly. Down those stairs and through the next door.”

“Well? We waiting for Hearth’s Warming?” Moon Blossom remarked. “We have a bird to kill!”

“I wish we could go around, those observation posts would be good for a sniping position,” Xena mused regretfully. “Going through the front doors seems unwise.”

“We have much of a choice?” Moon asked.

No, we did not.

I started moving forward, heading straight for the staircase as I kept an eye on my E.F.S. for any nasty surprises. Maybe Kronos thought the Goddess actually dealt with us?

Yeah, I doubt it too.

We reached the staircase, heading directly down them and emerging into another straight metal tunnel leading to a familiar industrial door at the very end. The back of my mind buzzed as I thought back on Chrysalis’ own walk down here, this exact same corridor from her memory. If there was any doubt that this was the right place, they were now extinct.

The red bars were also a dead giveaway!

Two barricades had been erected at the end of the corridor, each with a griffon standing guard alongside a third in power armour! They opened up the moment they saw us, and I winced back as several bolts of energy singed my barding before we all scrambled back into a space behind the staircase, using it for some semblance of cover!

“I guess he held some of his goons back,” Moon Blossom shouted, taking shot to her shoulder before she ducked in behind me. “Fuck! Ah, they’re all firing laser shit!”

“Are you both alright?” Xena asked, having deftly avoided the incoming fire.

“Fine, this jacket is a literal lifesaver,” the pegasus answered, patting out a small burning hole in her leather jacket. “Not sure it’ll take many hits, though. That stuff is hot!”

“Maybe you should reinforce it. Works for me,” I said, getting a thoughtful hum back from her. “But luckily for us, I have this!”

This being, of course, the power armour-melting Venomous.

I went to peak around, though pulled back as a red beam struck right where my head was about to be. As good as leather was at protecting against the heat of energy projectiles, I didn’t fancy testing it under constant barrage. My chest was still smouldering from those first few shots.

“Xena, see if you can take out one of that asshole’s guns,” I said to my marefriend. “When that happens, Moon, you go for those guys at the back. I’ll finish the big fucker off.”

I got a nod from both, Moon exclaiming: “Aye, Captain!”

We’re not getting stopped by these bastards now.

Xena was the first to pop her head out during a lull in the gunfire, the crack of her sniper eliciting a surprised grunt from the power armoured griffon.

Perfect.

I turned around, entering into S.A.T.S. and preparing my shot. The griffon in question was actually a lot closer than I’d thought, apparently having been on a steady approach towards us. Feeling glad that we got this chance before he rounded the corner and mowed us down, I lined up one shot on his second still functioning rifle and the other two on his torso.

I pulled the trigger as Moon Blossom shot forwards, three balls of green energy striking the griffon and causing him to shriek in pain. They did their job, immediately starting to eat away at his armour as his buddies in the back panicked at the streaking ball of Moon Blossom aiming for their throats.

CRACK.

One of the slavers went down after a .308 round travelled through his skull, the other’s shots at Moon Blossom going wide as the pegasus landed on top of him and made quick work of the griffon.

The remaining griffon’s claws latched on to his melting chest armour, ripping it from his suit and letting it clatter to the ground. A few drops had reached his chest, but his quick actions meant that most of the acid hadn’t!

He charged forward with an enraged shouting, propelling himself towards me with an enraged caw. His weapons destroyed, he was now falling back on his claws!

I ducked back behind the staircase as he came careening past! I attempted to raise Venomous, but he rounded on me and knocked the weapon aside before I could! I kept moving backwards, the griffon taking a swipe and barely missing. With him strengthened by that armour, I did not want to get hit!

Another crack from Xena’s sniper sounded, a bullet pinging off the armour on the griffon’s wing. He turned to look, finding Moon Blossom also charging right at him. But unlike the other slavers, he kept his cool and simply sidestepped while raising his wing. Moon Blossom was instantly clotheslined, a spurt of blood coming from her muzzle as she hit the ground in a pained heap.

Moon’s knife came clattering from her maw as she landed, right at my hooves.

I reach out and picked it up, running after the griffon as he went for Xena! He used his wing to block another of her shots as he approached, but I lit my horn to grab onto his tail and slow him down.

He saw me, kicking out with a hind leg. My breath left me as his armoured paw met my chest, blowing all of the air from my lungs and sending me back to the ground. The knife again clattered away, my horn barely remaining lit without an active spell as he turned back to finish me off.

That’s right, just give me a shot you bastard.

I redirected my magic towards the knife, lunging it forwards over my shoulder and directly at the griffon! As planned, the knife brushed past me and embedded itself right into the slaver’s exposed skin, taking advantage of the hole Venomous had made. The griffon gave a muffled gasp of pain, stumbling back as my magic yanked the knife back and out of what I hoped had been his heart.

And, since the griffon keeled over by a moment after, I think I hit my mark.

“Ugh, ow…” Moon Blossom moaned as she trotted up beside me, holding her nose with a wing. “You know that, since it was my knife, it’s ‘technically’ my kill, right?”

I rolled my eyes, hoofing hack her weapon. Xena trotted around the body and glared at it in disgust while I made sure to double back and retrieve Venomous. I definitely didn’t want to go up against whatever Kronos had in store without the changeling rifle. Without it, any ass in power armour could be the end of us.

“So… think that was all?” Moon then asked, glancing at the next door. “He’s in there, right?”

“He will have something in store. I cannot say what, those we just faced were likely the first of his defence,” Xena said worriedly. “And with one way in…”

“Just stick together, we’ll make it,” I encouraged my friends. “We toast the guy and get out. If we free Insidiis, then that’s a Changeling Queen in our field.”

“Yeah, we should do that, like, first,” Moon Blossom agreed. “Then we can go home and you two can go have all the foals.”

“I wasn’t aware you were invested in such things,” Xena deadpanned, looking a bit annoyed. I just blushed… again. Goddesses, Moon was too good at teasing.

“Come on, I’ll be great as an aunt!” Uh… Never thought of it that way. Never thought of kids that much, it’s a little… Why were we talking about this again? “You know they’ll be some kickass zonies!”

“You intend to stick around that long?” Xena asked, eyebrow raised.

Moon took on a more serious expression. “Well… I don’t know. I guess it depends on what you all do after this… I still wanna do some things, show ponies that I’m not that dumb as rocks raider anymore. But… I like you guys, wouldn’t want to be away for long.”

“Maybe we should save the future talk until after the fight?” I suggested. “If we want to stick around in the hive, we have to rescue the changelings to ask first.”

“Scrapper has a point,” she conceded. “We can talk about this after we nab the bastard.”

“We shall see…” Xena muttered before her expression then softened. “But should that day come, I think you would make a good aunt as well.”

Moon Blossom blinked in surprise as the declaration, and then she turned away as her cheeks burned with a blush of her own. “T-thanks…”

I looked between the two, deciding the best course of action was to just smirk and shake my head.

“Come on you two,” I said to them, stepping past them towards the door. “You girls ready for this?”

“I am forever at your side, love,” Xena assured me.

“What she said, sans the romantic bit,” Moon agreed, regaining her composure. “Let’s get him!”

A warm rush flowed through me, almost like I was sharing in their strength. The strength of Cobalt. The strength of Altrix…

If Celestia and Luna truly had become goddesses as many ponies believed, then I knew she was with them and watching us. Even if they hadn’t, and it was all superstition…

Altrix was here. And she always would be.

The door opened, swinging wide and revealing to us the chamber I’d previously seen through Chrysalis’ eyes. It hadn’t changed much, beyond the usual rust and decay the rest of the facility suffered after two-hundred years. But the vats of green liquid continued to bubble away, the computer monitors around the roomed blinked and beeped with processes I couldn’t even begin to guess. I was no Cobalt, after all.

But there was one very big difference.

No Twilight Sparkle sat by the central column to greet us. Instead, chained to it, a shocked Insidiis watched us enter alongside her jailor. And he… he just stood there, in front of her, his expression completely neutral. I had already raised Venomous, my friends joining me as the griffon before us seemed completely unphased.

Kronos.

He had been waiting for us.

“You fools, take my hive and leave!” Insidiis commanded. “My life is unimportant!”

“Ah, but that is false,” Kronos declared, not even looking back at the Princess. “You are the hive’s centre and the changelings still require you. So, they come, and we meet face-to-face once more.”

I glanced around the room for any other slavers, neither my eyes nor my Eyes Forward Sparkle finding any. It was just him, adorned in his combat armour and with his cybernetic implants. He stood between us and the Princess. Smart, we couldn’t shoot while he stood there. We might hit Insidiis…

“A lot has happened since you kicked my ass the last time around,” I snarled at the slaver. “I got a melty gun!”

“Yes, I have heard reports come in about the capabilities of your weapon,” Kronos said. Should I be worried that he’s not worried? “Impressive design, one I’m sure we could make great use of.”

“If you insist on staying, just shoot him!” Insidiis urged. “Do it!”

“But they risk hitting you. All I have to do is step aside,” Kronos taunted the changeling. “They won’t do that.”

I glanced past him and at Insidiis. If I could hit those chains…

“But perhaps this needs not end with further violence,” Kronos said coolly. “I know somepony who is quite interested in making your acquaintance, Scavenger.”

I barely held in a scoff. Who might that be? Some more of his goons called in from another room? Another alicorn we didn’t know about? Something else he had in store? I had prepared myself for whatever he wanted to throw at me.

I wasn’t expecting all the screens in the chamber to crackle and shift, all starting to view the same stallion. His coat was red, his mane jet black. He had a blue cape slung over his shoulder with the faint numbers ‘101’ on his collar. A piercing red eye, not unlike Kronos’ stared down at us with divine judgement.

Red Eye.

“I expect you know who I am,” Red Eye spoke as I gaped like a fish, his voice containing a refined regality I hadn’t really expected. “But indeed, I am Lord Red Eye. Guardian of Fillydelphia, future ruler of Equestria itself.”

Red Eye. Kronos’ boss, sitting high and mighty in Fillydelphia while his slaves toiled and died beneath his hooves. This was the fucker Kronos did everything for, the one responsible for all the shit we’d been going through.

“And what do you want? To talk us to death?” Moon Blossom remarked dismissively.

“You will be silent when Lord Red Eye addresses you!” Kronos snapped, his natural eye narrowing dangerously.

“Please, Kronos, be silent,” Red Eye gently scolded as if to a child, Kronos immediately doing as told like fucking puppy. “Now, Scavenger… Or do you prefer Scrap Heap?”

“I really couldn’t care what you call me.”

“Indeed. I suppose being headstrong is natural for all would-be heroes,” he replied calmly. “I will be blunt. You have been making a mess of our work in the north, and it must come to an end.”

“You expect pity from us!?” Xena shouted, clearly insulted.

“No, I expect understanding,” he retorted. “My work, our work, has Equestria’s clear interests in mind. We are building factories, schools, homes. What I do will restore this country to its former glory. I am ending the apocalypse.”

“On the backs of slaves!”

“A necessary and unfortunate evil,” Red Eye claimed. “But it is truly for the greater good. Our servants work for something greater than themselves. All those who serve our cause do.”

“How does mind controlling an entire species and giving them to the Goddess do any great ‘good’!?” This guy was either delusional and believed what he was saying, or just buying for time. “All of this, for what!?”

“We understand that the Goddess cannot be allowed to have the changelings, she would cause unnecessary harm to all. Our alliance is all but at an end, beyond mere formalities. Under our guidance, the changelings would have been used to quell those who threaten Equestria’s stability. Peace would reign.”

“You mean you would destroy all who oppose you and enslave them too,” Xena mused. “I don’t see much difference between that abomination and you. You both seek to control, dominate and kill.”

“We shall not be your tools!” Insidiis shouted in anger. “Your filth is all but doomed to failure!”

“The Goddess seeks genocide, I do not,” Red Eye argued, ignoring the Princess’ rage. “Under me, Equestria will soon heal and such evils will become unneeded.”

“You believe that?” I asked him. “You believe that an Equestria built on the dead bodies of thousands will be anything else? That it can miraculously become some kind of utopia?”

“They won’t have a choice.”

“Like the changelings didn’t. Like the alicorns don’t. And that’s the problem, you’d rather take the easy way out and strip away our free will rather than working with other ponies and build friendship and restore Equestria to the one Twilight Sparkle and her friends knew before the war.”

“Friendship was a failed experiment. Twilight Sparkle could not save anypony in the end.”

“Equestria forgot friendship. All they knew was war by the end,” Xena noted sadly. “A mistake that killed many of our peoples.”

“We kicked your asses, didn’t we?” Moon Blossom bragged. “And we were just five people! Guess having friends who give a shit is better than faceless asshole number five, huh?”

I took a step forward, glaring at Red Eye with all the conviction I could muster. “The changelings have a chance to make peace with ponykind, to help us grow again. Your Equestria would just go right back to the old mistakes the old world made. The other way might just allow us to remember how things were when Princess Celestia ruled. It might just show ponies, in time, that we can all do so much if we just do better.”

Just like I did.

“Foolish nativity,” Red Eye dismissed without even hesitating. “Friendship is sadly a fantasy, it is our nature to fight and die by the sword. Only a god watching over all can ensure peace.”

I sighed. A life like the alicorns, no freedom to choose for yourself? What kind of a life was that? One without friends. Without someone to love.

I honestly felt sorry for Red Eye. He was a pony who would never know what it was like to have people you could trust with everything you are by your side. To find someone who just captured your heart in all the right ways, making every pain across every day seem worth it. I had been like that once, but not anymore. I had friends. I had love.

And I would die protecting them.

“I can see in your eyes that you will not be swayed,” Red Eye mused in disappointment. “There is still time to turn. All of you may yet hold ranks within my army.”

“We both know we can’t do that,” I responded to him.

“I see. Very well, if that is the case then I have more urgent matters to attend to,” Red Eye declared, looking directly at Kronos. “You know what you must do.”

“As you wish,” Kronos confirmed as the screens blinked out, the griffon keeping his eyes on us. “You should have taken his offer. His generosity has its limits.”

If that’s generosity, then it’s extremely corrupted generosity.

“But this is where it must end,” he announced, shifting in place. We all knew what was about to happen, and I prepared to make a very specific shot. "With these changelings, well... they shall change the landscape of war forever! War DOES change!"

"No," I denied, looking on at the deluded slave in disgust. "Whatever you do, it won't change shit. War never changes."

I fired.

As expected, Kronos dodged to the side as a single green bolt of changeling magic shot by. He flapped his wings, propelling himself through the air and only another catwalk.

“That was unwise,” he taunted. “You might have hit the Princess.”

“That was the idea.”

He baulked. “What?”

There was a loud shattering sound as the chains around Insidiis burst open, the acid from the magic bolt having eaten away at them as quickly as I’d hoped. The moment they did, Insidiis surged forward and violently pulled them away, likewise ripping the ring off of her horn and letting it light up a bright green.

“Ah…” Kronos muttered.

I smirked as Insidiis rounded on Kronos, her horn alight and ready to reign death upon the slaver.

“Fiend! You shall pay for your deeds!” the changeling declared.

An aura gathered around Kronos, picking him up and slamming him into a nearby wall. Insidiis snarled as the magic began to constrict, threatening to crush the helpless griffon.

And yet, he smiled.

There was another loud smash that startled me away from the sight, all our eyes shot upwards. Something came crashing out of one of the observation chamber above, falling down and onto the ground between Kronos and Insidiis.

Insidiis cut her magic as she saw the figure, and I think my head also came close to stopping. I had wondered. I had… thought that maybe something had happened. But what sat before us?

Fucking hell…

The figure was covered from head to hoof in black chitin, though it was cracked and bulging along numerous large growths throughout her body, making her seem far larger than she should have been. Her wings had been enlarged, now joined by a second set. Her maw was now filled with an increased number of fangs, her green dragon-like eyes bloodshot and devoid of any true intelligence or recognition.

Not even for Chrysalis’ own daughter.

“Mother…” Insidiis whimpered, taking a step back. “W-wha…?”

“Our initial subject helped gain valuable data, but the results were far from desirable,” Kronos explained, recomposing himself beside the mutated Queen Chrysalis. “You see why we needed a replacement Changeling Queen to continue our research in evolving your drones. The last one is no longer of any real use in that regard.”

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?”

“Our procedures to extract the appropriate samples and test certain elements had adverse effects. Unpredictable, barely controllable,” he explained. “Your mother’s mind was destroyed, though she did put up a valiant struggle when we first discovered her. Killed a lot of my Talons, and now that feral ferocity is all that remains. Ours to control, showing the effectiveness of the chips we wished for all your kind.”

I looked at Chrysalis with barely restrained horror. Just what kind of things had they done to her to turn her into this… beast? THIS is what they were going to do to Insidiis? All to figure out how to finish the potion?

“Mother… Please…” Insdiis begged the other changeling, looking almost like a lost filly.

“Princess…” Xena warned sympathetically as Insidiis had taken a step towards Chrysalis.

Insidiis looked lost, staring in both untold terror and longingly at her mother.

“Fight,” Kronos ordered.

Chrysalis struck.

A beam of green magic hit Insidiis head on, knocking her back into the central column and then to the ground! I instantly entered into S.A.T.S. with two shots aimed at Chrysalis while the third was sent hurtling at Kronos! Both shots hit the former, and yet, somehow, the acid barely seemed to phase her as she somehow took to the air and glared right at us!

As we all stepped backwards, I saw Kronos avoid the shot meant for him and start to fire back at us!

“Scatter!” I shouted.

We all moved very fast! And it was just as well, a beam of green magic erupting behind us as we started to move throughout the chamber! I heard Xena’s rifle go off as I rounded on Queen Chrysalis, raising my rifle to fire again. I pulled the trigger two time, both looking to hit the Queen dead on before a shield formed around her and tanked both shots!

Then she came for me.

I jumped aside as Chrysalis landed right where I had been, probably having been seeking to shatter my bones. And with how bulked up and mutated her legs were, she probably would have flattened me!

Her animalistic eyes met mine, a snarl escaping her lips as she charged me again.

Only for another green beam of magic to hit Chrysalis in the side, sending her off of her hooves. She crashed against a far wall, crushing a computer console as she quickly started to recover from the hit. Insidiis landed nearby, her rage actually somehow surpassing the look on Moon Blossom’s face after Altrix was killed.

“Assist your friends,” Insidiis told me as her mother rose up and turned to face her. “I shall grant her the peace she deserves.”

I also got back up, giving her sad smile. “I’m sorry.”

“We all are,” she replied, before striking forwards to meet her mother in combat.

I turned as green flashes and the sound of clashing magic sounded behind me, I just ran as I rounded the chamber back to where my friends were locked against Kronos. Xena was ducking behind a console to avoid a red bolt of magic as Moon Blossom jumped onto Kronos’ back, slashing at the griffon with her combat knife. Moon Blossom had apparently lost her saddlebags, while Xena’s were smouldering from where they’d saved her from a bolt previously.

I could only watch as the two tussled, unable to get a clear shot while Moon Blossom did her thing.

Kronos took to the air, flying backwards and straight into a wall! Moon Blossom was winded from the impact, falling from Kronos’ back with her knife stained with his blood. And yet Kronos seemed almost unhurt, probably at least partially protected by whatever augments Red Eye had given him.

He then shot forwards, spotting me and flaring his blade-tipped wings! My shot went wide, and I tried to move aside as he came down at me stupidly fast! I wasn’t fast enough, a streak of pain crossing my chest as the blades sliced right through my barding like it was nothing! A gash opened up along my barrel, blood instantly beginning to pour as I collapsed onto the hard metal floor.

Everything blurred from the excruciating pain. I don’t know what those blades were made of, but fuck!

I reached out with my magic, grabbing my saddlebag and looking for a healing potion.

BZZT.

I found nothing, Kronos having shot the bag from my grip and away from me. The bag started to disintegrate, liquid from shattered healing potions beginning to leak as my statuette came free and rolled away.

CRACK.

A bullet hit Kronos in the side, managing to hit a weak spot and drawing blood!

It didn’t even slow him down.

Kronos darted towards Xena as she fired another shot, this one absorbed by his armour as he closed the distance!

A grey blur barged into him, both he and Moon Blossom sprawling away as I slowly tried to stand. My legs almost gave way, and without a healing potion…

Ah, no! I’m not letting a cut stop me. My friends needed me now more than ever, and I wasn’t going to just lie down and die!

I joined up with Xena, our eyes wordlessly meeting before we turned towards a recovering Kronos and both opened up. Moon Blossom kept her distance as several sniper rounds struck the griffon; he avoided another of my shots but was unable to scramble away from the second. The green bolt struck his wing, Kronos giving a shout of rage as the metal and flesh instantly started to melt away.

I didn’t get to fire a third, a large crash announcing Chrysalis as she landed in a heap between us and the griffon. The mutated changeling was bruised and bloodied, but no more so than the Changeling Queen who followed us down.

“I do this for you, Mother!” Insidiis shouted, a huge attack gathering in her horn as being fired down at Chrysalis as she equally prepared and fired another one back.

And ensuing clash was unlike anything I had ever seen. The entire room was illuminated in a blinding green glow, sparks and fire-spitting everywhere as both beams of magic fought for dominance between the two changelings. It was like watching the goddesses themselves fight, the clash quickly becoming a stalemate between mother and daughter.

I raised Venomous and fired at Chrysalis, striking her in the side before I had to break off to load in another cell. Xena also fired, and yet our strikes again didn’t do as much as they should have. Her wounds did widen, but with the amount of resistance her mutations had given her, Insidiis really had to be giving it her all to harm her!

But our attack did have the effect of knocking the mutant’s concentration, her magic failing and allowing Insidiis’ to close in and sending Chrysalis hurtling into the wall behind her. And yet, as Insidiis immediately tried to close in and finish the job, a sword of magic swept out from the kicked-up dust and rubble!

Insidiis swerved to avoid the blade, but nevertheless received a cut along her cheek. This was instantly followed up by a bolt of magic that knocked the Princess backwards.

Chrysalis took off after her, not slowing down despite her mounting injuries.

With the way clear of the two changelings, we were greeted by the sight of Kronos firing his weapons after a swerving and dodging Moon Blossom, the pegasus continuing to hound the griffon in any way she could.

“How do you like that!?” she shouted as she dived down and bucked at Kronos.

As she moved away, my breath caught in my throat as a red beam hit her in her unarmoured side.

“Moon!” I rushed forwards, despite the fact that I was still losing blood, and raised my rifle to fire at Kronos as Moon crashed to the ground.

My shots missed, Kronos ducking beneath them as he charged me. I tried to dodge, but a torrent of pain from my barrel stopped my effort. A balled-up fist hit my face, knocking me to the ground. Everything became muted as I suffered the impact, though I faintly heard the sound of Xena’s rifle firing before my marefriend gave a shout of pain.

That got my attention.

I looked back up, seeing Xena collide with a console after being smacked aside by Kronos’ remaining wing. He stood over her prone form, his weapons charging.

FUCK. NO.

I grabbed Venomous, firing a shot at Kronos and relishing in his shout as he was knocked aside with both of his shots going wide.

He skidded around, facing me with rage in both his normal and metal eye as one of his guns melted from its mounting. But I kept shooting. I had to. With both my friends seemingly out, it was just me and him.

I would not go down!

I wouldn’t!

He fired back, my barding thankfully absorbing the impact. I fired three, the first going wide while he failed to dodge the other two of my shots, too busy rushing towards me. The first hit his second weapon, also rendering it useless. Better yet, the second just about skimmed his robotic eye as he tried to duck beneath it! It was just enough that the acid instantly started to eat into the prosthetic!

But he didn’t stop.

I fired another bolt, but it went wide as Kronos reached me and grabbed me by the throat. I couldn’t help it, but the force of his grip forced me to drop Venomous as he started to drag me across the nearest catwalk. Panic was rising throughout my stomach as I struggled and kicked out! I flailed with a hoof and smacked his face, but it didn’t loosen his tough-ass grip in the least.

Then, out of the blue, I lost focus on everything. Everything swam as something hit my back, my entire sense of direction knocked from me. I couldn’t make out much, but even when everything did return, I couldn’t do much but watch as Kronos stood over me. His red eye had melted and died, leaving him with only his natural one.

I think that pissed him off.

I couldn’t muster any kind of strength, sitting against the central column he’d smashed me against, as he grabbed onto the front of my barding with a metallic claw and ripped it effortlessly away.

“I have worked too hard to build all that surrounds us. You shall not succeed, pony!”

And then I screamed, the claw returning and embedding its talons into my chest. Goddess, I could feel the metal inside me! They scratched and clawed, my body and PipBuck both screaming along with me as he started digging for my heart!

“GET OFF OF MY FRIEND!” I just heard Moon Blossom shouted as she embedded her knife into Kronos’ back, getting him off of me as she again started to grapple.

They fought, Moon hitting out at the slaver with all she had while I could only sit. I tried so hard, gathering as much strength as I could. But even as I attempted to rise, the pain and gushing blood stopped me as I fell right back again. A glance at my PipBuck revealed just how bad my injuries were, the little Stable Colt’s eye each being a dead X.

But then something far worse than my own condition occurred.

Moon Blossom punched Kronos right across the face, the strike coinciding with another flash of green from across the room. Kronos just responded with a claw across her face, getting a shout from my friend as she stumbled backwards.

And then, in one unthinkable moment, he pulled the knife from his back and plunged it into her neck.

All time stopped. I couldn’t feel any pain, nothing else even mattered as I looked right into Moon Blossom’s wide eyes. Everything was just blank as we stared at each other, almost like it was all just one big nightmare.

It was not.

Kronos stepped back, leaving the knife in her neck as she stumbled. Her eyes kept staring into mine with horror and regret. And, then, all of that faded away for sadness alone.

"Was I... a good... pony?"

Moon Blossom collapsed, giving one last gurgle as her bar blinked out.

“NO!”

CRACK.

The bullet struck Kronos in what was left of his cybernetic eye, tearing it out and leaving a hole in the side of his head. He instantly turned to face Xena, my friend standing at the other end of the catwalk with a look of sheer heartbreak in her eyes.

I lit my horn, reaching outwards. I couldn’t stand, but I could still use my magic.

Kronos charged, Xena firing another bullet that he just shrugged off. He moved towards her, intent on ending the life of a third friend.

No.

I refuse.

I entered into S.A.T.S. one last time, Venomous retrieved and aimed straight at the bastard. I lined up every possible shot, every percentage being extremely high to hit. And then, ready to end that son of a bitch for good, I engaged the spell.

Venomous fired, and I gave absolutely all I had at Kronos.

And, because of it, he never reached Xena.

Green bolts of changeling magic cascaded against the surprised Kronos, several in the back and one in the leg, causing him to fall as his back paw dislocated from the rest of his body. His flesh, armour and cybernetics all started to sizzle as the acid did its work. Kronos, before our eyes, started to melt.

And yet he rose once more, turning to face me with a look of sheer defeat as his own body collapsed around him.

“I… did my… duty…”

Xena approached the griffon, placed the barrel of her rifle to his head, and pulled the trigger.

There was a spray of blood and metal, the griffon jerking as his head was eviscerated from the rest of his body. And then, what was left of him quickly turning into a green goop, he fell. The red bar blinked out, a strange silence falling around us.

Kronos was no more.

It was finished.

“Scrap!” Xena shouted in pain as she rushed towards me. I tried to give her my best smile, but I wasn’t sure how good it was amidst the blood.

“Hey…” I said to her as she dropped by my side, immediately seeing to my wounds.

“You will be okay!” she promised me but, from the state of her saddlebag, I was guessing her healing potions were about as good as mine. She paused, her eyes turning towards our friend. “Oh, Moon Blossom is… she’s…”

“I know…”

Moon Blossom was dead. I had failed to save another friend.

“Why did this happen…?” Xena whimpered, resting her head against mine. I tried to nuzzle her comfortingly, fighting my own inner pits of despair. “She was going to be an aunt someday…”

I looked at her body. All she had hoped to do after today, everything she’d wanted to be… All gone. All because of him. All because I couldn’t do more. I had lost two friends, and there was nothing I could do to change that. It was the most soul-crushing experience imaginable, the dread filling my body… indescribable.

But she didn’t even need to ask me that question. She was a good pony. Forever.

I glanced to the side at a nearby thud, Chrysalis landing in a heap. The mutated Changeling Queen gasped, trying to stand before falling back down again. Insidiis landed atop of her, bloodied and bruised, but alive.

“Rest peacefully until our reunion, Mother. For all our differences, I love you.”

A magical sword formed above Chrysalis, plunging into her brain and silencing that last red bar. Insidiis, clearly pained, let the sword dissolve as she placed a tender hoof on her mother’s corpse. Another remnant of the old world was gone forever.

“Queen Insidiis,” Xena gently called out, the changeling looking a bit taken aback by the title, but then resigned. “Please…”

The Queen of the Changelings approached, crouching down beside me as her horn lit up. I felt her magic wash over me, almost like it was probing every part of it.

And then she sighed.

“I am sorry, I am not familiar with the level of healing magic required for this. Perhaps an oversight on my part,” she replied regretfully, and at that moment, I felt my own wave of resignation fall onto me. “Without a healing potion, he won’t make it out of here alive.”

“N-no! I refuse to accept that!” Xena shouted defiantly, and all I could do was give her a sad smile. “We will take him! He WILL live!”

“Xena…” I said softly.

“Shut up!” she snapped. “You will be fine! You- You will…”

And then she broke down, everything becoming too much for the mare I love. He buried her head into my neck, letting out her sorrows. I let my tears join her’s, even Insidiis not immune to the effect as she watched on.

I placed a hoof around Xena, holding her close. The mare who had brought out the best in me. The mare I had wanted to spend my life with.

The mare who had to live.

“Take her?” I asked of the Queen.

She nodded. “Of course.”

“N-no!” Xena protested, looking back up. “We go together!”

I kissed her.

Our lips met, hers trembling horribly. It was a beautiful moment, and one I wanted to hold close as I laid dying. My horn lit up, reaching out for two discarded objects.

When I pulled away, I presented her with Venomous and the Twilight Sparkle statuette.

“Take them,” I told her. “Not much use to me now.”

“Please… Scrap…”

I gently pushed them forwards, Xena taking hold of both.

“I so wanted that family, I think,” I told her. “To spend my life with you. To see if we made a difference. But… Goddesses, Xena, I’m so sorry.”

She shook, letting out a tired breath. “I love you, Scrap.”

“I love you too…” I returned, looking down at my PipBuck. One last thing…

I unclasped the device, and for the first time since all this started my vision became clear of any kind of HUD. No map markers. No vital signs. No Eyes Forward Sparkle. No S.A.T.S. of any kind.

And then I took her hoof and placed it on, Xena only staring in shock as I locked it into place.

“It’s really quite useful,” I told her with a pained laugh. “And, uh… A memento, I guess.”

“I do not need this to remember you…” she replied, staring at her new PipBuck. “But… thank you. I… I don’t…”

“Live, Xena.” Please live… “For all we never got to do. Find Cobalt and get out of here. Both of you need to live. For all of us who didn’t make it.”

Her trembling increased, but she nodded nevertheless.

Good…

“Are you seeking a way to destroy this place?” Insidiis then asked, and I glanced to see her on the terminal attached to the central column. “It’s unlocked. Fools have the self-destruct just sitting there.”

Right, overloading the balefire reactors. Just like Cobalt said.

I grunted as I started to drag myself along to the terminal, Xena reluctantly helping me along. She helped sit me down right by the terminal, ready to use it.

I hadn’t imagined THIS is how I’d die. But… Damn, it was certainly in a blaze of glory.

Fuck, though. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to get up and leave with them. Live a full life, see what that kickass zony could have been. So much to do and see, a story left unfinished. And yet… I was oddly okay with it too. Xena lives. Cobalt lives.

The changelings would live.

Xena sniffed, holding my hoof in her own. “I will tell your story… Like a Zencori should. I will tell it to all who will hear it.”

“And to those who don’t?”

She gave a small laugh. “They shall be forced to hear it anyway.”

That got a smile out of me. And then I just started looking up into the face of my love… Just one last time.

“We should leave…” Insidiis said softly. “There is much to be done.”

“But…”

“Xena,” I said softly. “Go.”

She stood still, looking down at me. Then, she leant in and kissed me on the cheek. She stood back up without breaking eye contact, clearly trying very hard not to break down again.

“Goodbye, Scrap Heap.”

Xena then looked up at Insidiis, giving her a nod before turning away. Both of them started to walk, retreating back out through the entrance and out of sight.

“…Goodbye.”

Well, this is me. Here in this place. Some random scavenger, about to go up in a balefire blast of my own making. It was almost a weird joke, one I half wanted to laugh and half wanted to cry at. And I gotta say…

I’m scared.

And yet I found myself turning towards the terminal anyway. I activated the console, bringing up the menu and scrolling through it until I found the option. Taking in a breath, fighting off the incoming darkness, I opened it up and set the countdown.

All around me, the moment I confirmed the action, alarms started to blare as a voice started warning of the incoming destruction. Haven would be wiped off the map, I just hoped they were all far away when it happened. They’ll probably use the subway tunnels. But they’d get out, I knew they would.

I turned back around, slumping up against the pillar once again. You know, I felt oddly naked without my PipBuck. It was just me in my battered barding, slowly bleeding out. I didn’t even know how much time was passing, how close Site B was to destruction. Even the regular voice warnings had blurred incoherently. Very quickly I stopped making sense of… everything. That really gives a pony time to think.

Do you know how your life is meant to flash before your eyes when you die? Well, it's true. But it started not from my birth, but from the day my life had truly begun...

Brown.

---

Footnote: Game Over

Comments

[Alden MacManx]

Why am I thinking of the Bee Gees right now?

How can you mend a broken heart?
How can a loser ever win?
Please, help me mend my broken heart...
And let me live, again.

I don't remember the song title, but it fits my feelings precisely.
Good life, Scrap Heap. May the next one be better. Say hello to Altrix and Moon Blossom for me.

Excellent tale.

[LionelCorp315]

I forgot who Coffin was. But this was an emotional ending.

[tom117z]

9550688
That was meant to say Cobalt, accidentally wrote a character name from my other FoE fic. Good spot.

[Earthpatriot117]

........goodbye scrap heap, everyone.

[Alchemik]

Well... Damn. Nothing like a well-written Fo:E to hit me in the feels.

[ThePonyWriterThing]

9550618
Yeah, I don't know how I got past 50ish chapters before finally ditching it but when *Spoilers* Blackjack has sex with a stallion she meet not even a day ago? I just slammed my head against the wall.

[Hades Shadow 92]

TOM! YOU BASTARD! ITS SO GOOD BUT HURTS SO BAD!

[tom117z]

9554047
I'M SORRY!

[ThePonyWriterThing]

9558852
Oh alright thanks!