Fallout: Harmony

by Foreverking0

The best laid plans of ponies and men

Trees were a strange thing to John. In the Wasteland, he had seen healthy trees once. In this world, he had seen two whole forests of them now. Swamps on the other hand were something he had both experience and a deep loathing for. Yet, John preferred the miserable swamp to the endless sky he had struggled to handle while travelling to the objective. The Fact that these ponies could fly was bad enough, but the fact that the creatures that had no right being in the sky could drag chariots behind them without instantly falling like a rock scared the crap out of him. Even as the Chariot dipped below the treeline in a clearing, he held on for dear life. It took John everything not to flop out of the transport and hug the ground.

This was in complete opposition to the courier, who hollered as he jumped off his chariot in excitement.
"WOO, Boomers had it right! I gotta do that again!"

"You can when we've finished the mission." Battle Bowler said as he departed his chariot. He headed directly to a stockpile of unloaded cargo and began to coordinate with ponies unloading chariots.

"Are those guards, why are they not in uniform?" Twilight asked aloud.

"What, the gold and purple plates?? That's for the Princesses' personal guard, The Royal guard. The rest of the guards don't have all that fancy stuff. Could you imagine trying to give every single pony in the Guard enchanted armour?" Rapid Fire Explained.

"Enchanted Armour, what does enchanted mean?" John asked as he found his bearings.

"You know, Enchanted Armour, Juiced up with magic, causes it to have an effect o the wearer. The Royal Guards get enchantments that make them all look the same per their role." Rapid Fire responded.

"...What?" The Courier added meaningfully.

Rapidfire rolled her eyes before waving over one of the Pegasus guards who had pulled one of the chariots. The Guard, who was recuperating from the flight, Promptly made his way over and saluted the Sergeant.

"Private, Lose the armour" Rapid Fire Ordered.

To his credit, The Pegasus only hesitated for a second before stripping off his gear. The moment the chest piece was undone, The illusion began to fade. The Snow-white fur shifted to a crimson red while the mane went to a charcoal black.

John knelt to obverse the transformation with keen interest and a hint of excitement.

"That's... something" John heard Nate exclaim behind him, his footsteps announcing his approach.

The courier was making wheezes and waving his hands, showing what his hidden face did not.
"That's so awesome!" He exclaimed.

"And it's all from this?" John asked as he reached out to the chest piece on the ground, Ignoring the guard that was probably looking towards his superiors for answers.

As he glided his hand over the lightweight metal, he imagined all the possibilities this kind of power could bring. Water's of life indeed. He paused as he hear the subtle clop of hooves slowly coming up beside him.

"You, don't have magic, do you?" Twilight asked.

John thought about it. He had seen many things, even the unexplained occult. But this, this was something else. They could fly without aircraft, move things with their mind, and had the ability to 'Enchant' Objects. The fact that this seemed normal to these creatures, even common was almost scary.

"No, no we don't," John answered flatly.

"wait, no magic at all? This must have been a shock then" Twilight emphasised.

"In some ways" John replied.

"Well, as much as I'd like to hear about this, We have a job to do." Rapid Fire said before flying off to some nearby pegasi and harking an order while gesturing to the sky.
In a snap, the pegasi and Rapidfire were off in some direction. John guessed they might be scouting ahead.

"Well guess we should find whoever's in charge. There's always someone to tell you where to point and shoot." Nate suggested.

The Others wordlessly agreed by following his lead. In the small amount of time they had been talking, a camp was already being established around them. It didn't take long for them to find a large tent being erected in the centre of the camp. It was tall and square, big enough to host meetings inside. The cloth was a deep blue and the detailing was silver. It seemed more at home as a carnival tent than a military HQ. The flap to the inside was guarded by two strange ponies, Unlike all the other strange ponies John had seen. They had bat wings and cat eyes, Obviously another trick of their armour, which was different from the other guards they had seen. The batlike ponies stood vigilant as the group entered the tent.

Inside the tent was a scene more familiar to John, It was a command centre, complete with a map. However, two glaring things stood out. The first was the small differences he could see that gave away its pony culture. The wooden table and chairs, the scrolls, swords and candles. The second was Princess Luna in deep pondering behind a map on the table covered with wooden figures. Beside her, was Levee, carefully setting up figures on the map and making modifications with a pencil.

Luna snapped out of her deep thought with a flick of her ear. Then her head rose to see the newcomers.
"Excellent, you have arrived. While We wait for Sergeant Rapid Fire to return from reconnaissance, a Local has come forth with information" Luna announced, extending one of her wings to gesture to a pony wearing a straw hat and overalls.

"With your information and our allies here, We may understand our foe better. Please repeat to them what you told us." Luna requested of the stallion. The pony stood forth, tapping his chin in remembrance.

"Well, I didn't see much on the account of attempting to get out of there as quickly as a fox caught in a hen house... But they were tall, stood on two legs... No unlike yourselves." The Pony noted pointing towards John and the other two.

"They looked all skinny, ragged, didn't smell great either" The pony added while tapping his chin.

So far none of this helped narrow it down for John, what had been described was the average wastelander. It could have been any number of caravans, raiders or just some poor fools who had landed here by mistake.

"There was also something strange about how they acted. They shuffled around, went after any creature that went near them. It was like nothing was going on upstairs, like they were..." The Pony stumbled to find the word.

Nate however, picked it up just as John realised what the pony had seen.
"Feral."

Every pony in the tent looked to Nate, The Courier seemed to relax at the revelation.

" That's good, I can work with that, a few stray Feral Ghouls are easy enough. How many were there?" The Courier asked.

"About... thirty or so? One of them was glowing too" The pony answered.

---

The mood of the three humans instantly changed at the mention of a horde. Nate could only respond by running his hands back through his hair as he internally moaned in frustration. After letting out a breath to clear his stress.

"Ok, we have surprise and decent numbers. As long as we're careful, everyone gets through this" Nate said to the group.

"Pray tell, what is a... Ghoul?" Luna asked calmly.

"A ghoul is a human that has been exposed to lethal amounts of radiation, but instead of dying, they change. They lose their hair and their skin rots. The body decomposes while the radiation keeps them alive, they're also immune to diseases and aging. Most communities ostracise them, some because they are different and some because they might go feral" Nate Explained.

"Ferals are ghouls whose brains have turned to mush. They have no higher brain function and attack any none ghouls on sight. Glowing ones are worse, they're soaked in radiation. Radiation heals ghouls but also worsens their condition, Glowing ones are so radioactive that they can revive dead ferals" John added.

"So, we cannot negotiate with these...' Ghouls'?" Luna asked.

"Not once they are feral, no" Nate answered.

"A pity, But we knew the chances were slim. Sargent, bring in the other leader" Luna commanded.

"I'm sorry my princess, but Sargent Rapidfire left for a reconnaissance flight. I believe Sargent Battle Bowler is helping set up the camp, do you wish for me to bring him?" Levee asked.

"Nay, We shall wait for Sargent Rapid Fire's return. In the meantime, however, there is much to be done. Twilight, could you please assist Sergeant Battle Bowler to hasten his effort" Luna requested.

John noticed Twilight break out of a daze at Luna's request.

"Oh yes, of course! it's just, is there no other way to deal with the problem? Maybe we can simply move them somewhere out of the way?" Twilight offered her theoreticals, It was clear to John that she was having second thoughts. It was in her eyes and ears, Ponies seemed so much more expressfull than humans. Those same attributes gave away Luna's thought patterns. John watched as, in response to the question, the Princess of the Night verbally stumbled while trying to find the right way of telling Twilight the truth. There was going to be blood in this war, here or elsewhere. Luna then changed tactics, taking a moment to compose herself.

"We will consider your suggestion once we have heard the other options. Between our officers and our new advisers, they may find a solution." Luna told Twilight, who nodded at the response and left to find Battle Bowler.

As John watched Twilight leave, He heard Luna breathe a sigh of frustration.

"Twilight means well, but we fear how she will fare in the coming storm. She, along with most ponies, never had to face conflict on such a severe scale. As a ruler concerned with her subject's future, we feel she needs to learn this lesson, no matter how painful it may be. Yet, as her friend, we fear the consequence it will have on her heart..." Luna somberly told the three humans.

She then shook her head as if to clear the thoughts before starting up again.

"Regardless, now is not the time. General Nathan, according to the profile composed during your time here, you had formal military training before your world's Armageddon. You will be working with Sergeant Levee who is our foremost tactician protege. Mr Johnathan, you will be working with Sargent Battle Bowler, our assault team leader. You both seem to have a history of frontal assault experience. Mr six, you will be paired with Sargent Rapid Fire, maybe you will be able to keep up with her, mentally if not physically." Luna laid out verbally.

Hearing that 'Nate' was pre-war was a twist John had not expected, but it was what the princess had said about him that caught him. it didn't sit right with John, he had told no one of his past. Where did she get such an idea from, was it just his attitude, could she tell something about a person just by looking at them? or was something darker at work... he didn't trust her, more accurately, he didn't trust anyone. That was a lesson well learnt.

"Now, while we wait for the others to return, why don't you tell me more about these ghouls?" Luna said with keen interest.

---

Now that she was here in the camp, waiting for Luna to order the assault, Twilight was unsure of her path. In all her adventures, she had always found another way. Even Celestia had found alternatives to killing, there were plenty of places in the royal gardens for more statues if it came down to it. No, there had to be a better way! But look what they had done to Fluttershy, what if John hadn't been there, or if something else went wrong? How could she be expected to protect her friends from this new threat, let alone Equestria? But could she really kill another creature? It felt like every fibre of her being was being fought against. She needed an outside perspective, And the pony with the metal bowl on his head was there to ask. Ordering around ponies left and right was the sergeant, in front of a tent being erected while wooden stakes were placed behind it on the Perimeter.

"To the left, The LEFT!... Haven't you ponies ever put up a bloody tent before!?" He yelled in frustration.

Twilight walked up behind him and thought about how to ask her question, or remember his name.

"Sergeant... battle bowl?" he asked hesitantly.

His response was to let out a moan of frustration while face-hoofing himself.
"It's Battle Bowler, BA-Tel.... oh." The Sargent had cut himself off as he had turned to see who he was shouting at. His pupil's shank and his ears dropped as recognition hit him instantly.

"Princess, Beg your forgiveness... the lads have bricks for brains some days. Can I help you with something?" Battle Bowler stammered out embarrassed.

"Princess Luna asked me to see if I could speed things up out here, is there anything I can do to help?" Twilight asked

"Unless you know how to pitch a tent, then I'm afraid it's just a matter of making sure this lot is doing it right." Battle Bowler answered flatly.

"Do you have a manual for the tents?" Twilight asked, eager to get started.

"uh, sure, here." Battle bowler answered as he went over to a nearby barrel with a small diagram of the tent and how to set it up.

Twilight levitated the diagram in front of her, memorising how each part connected to another. after visually running it through her head multiple times, she placed the diagram back down. She then took a stance and pointed her horn towards the unassembled tent. Her horn glowed as she focused on projecting the actions in her head onto the tent. Once she had finished, she looked up to see her handy work. Seeing the other nearby tents, she repeated the process in rapid succession.

"Well, that's useful, I should have guessed the element of magic would be good at magic." Battle Bowler noted while impressed.

"Is there anything else I can help with?" Twilight asked again.

"No, No, that'll about do it, Princess, the lads can handle the rest." Battle Bowler responded.

"Please, Just call me Twilight Sparkle" Twilight asked of Battle Bowler, not feeling comfortable with the title.

"All right, Miss Sparkle, but the answers are still the same." Battle bowler said.

"Then do you mind me asking you something?" Twilight asked.

"Of course Pri-aagh- Miss Sparkle, What can I do for you?" Battle Bowler asked in kind.

"Well, have you ever actually, you know... killed something before?" Twilight asked hesitantly

"Of course" Battle Bowler Answered decisively.

Twilight's mind had to catch up with itself at not only the answer but how casually it was said.

"You, You have?!" Twilight asked with shock.

" Yeah, Plenty, Had wildlife on the farm I grew up on. Foxes were a nightmare on the chicken coop. Sometimes after working in the mines, I would find one trying to find a way into the coop. Had to stomp on more than one of their pretty little heads to keep them from coming back, at least for a few months. An that doesn't even cover the larger beasts that could wander in." Battle Bowler elaborated.

Twilight was trying to hold her breakfast down at the thought of stomping a fox's head in. Fluttershy had always found a way to convince the foxes near her cottage to leave her chickens alone. Fluttershy would probably be scarred for life if she had to put a fox down. The look Battle Bowler was giving her told her her face had given her away. Concern marred his face.

"Look, Miss Sparkle, Here in Equestria, in the cities, ponies don't have to worry about such things. You have your perfect weather and comfortable lives. But on the frontier, things are different. Sure, we don't have to fight any ponies or griffons or anything like that. But sometimes you have to protect what's yours, it's just a part of life. I don't enjoy it, but it has to be done" Battle bowler explained matter-of-factly.

The lecture had not helped Twilight as much as she had hoped. Before she could say anything in response, a whistle went off. Every pony watched as a flock of pegasi landed back in the camp, back from reconnaissance. Rapid Fire landed and made straight for the HQ, concern written on her face. On the way, she passed Twilight and Battle Bowler.

"Princess, Sergeant, with me, NOW." she sternly commanded them.

Twilight watched as Battle Bowler was about to say something, but decided against it and followed Rapid Fire. Twilight followed suit.

---

The Courier ate some of the nuts that were sitting in a bowl on a table on the side of the tent. After the three humans had given small accounts of their dealings with Ghouls and the prejudice that swamped the wastes, the conversation steered back towards how to deal with ferals. He watched as Nate and John argued over the most effective means of shooting a ghoul.

"You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head!" John announced adamantly.

"No, the legs, you go for the legs!" Nate re-affirmed.

"Shoot the head, destroy the brain, they're done!" John argued.

"If you cripple the legs, they can't move and you can finish them off after. The head is harder to hit!" Nate countered.

"If you're a good enough shot, then it's not a problem!" John hit back.

"Could you not just shoot both?" Levee asked cautiously.

"Ammunition is hard enough to find in the wasteland, you have to make every shot count. It will be even harder to find here." Nate explained.

"Which is why, You've Gotta, Shoot them, in, the Head!" John re-stated firmly.

Before either Nate could argue further or Luna could stop the argument, the tent flaps flew open with Rapid Fire at the helm.

"They're on the move!" She Announced.

Luna, who had found a chair during the conversation beforehand, shot up.

"Towards the town?" She asked with alarm.

"Affirmative" Rapid Fire Confirmed.

Battle Bowler and Princess Twilight both entered the tent beside Rapid Fire at this point.

"At what haste do they travel?" Luna demanded.

"They're not charging towards it but they're not meandering either. We can cut them off but we need to move, now." Rapid Fire stated, emphasising the last word.

"Then time is of the essence, a plan will need to be conceived on the way. We must cut them off before they reach Stableton!" Luna insisted, stomping one of her forehooves.

" If you want to slow them down, why not just keep them preoccupied? you have soldiers that can fly!" The courier suggested, It seemed obvious to him.

"If even one of them has the mutation to throw radiated chunks at them then there will be many casualties." John retorted.

"Explosives?" The courier suggested. Raining hell down on the bad guys had always worked in the past.

" We have nothing compact enough for our pegasi to carry nor the means of detonating them safely" Bowler interjected.

"We might not need to. If we roughly know their trajectory, we can set off explosives nearby. The sound should cause them to change course" Nate cut in.

"A distraction! We can use flares and small bags of blasting powder to create a target too big to ignore. If they are as mindless as you say, they will rush to confront it. Then we just pegasi to set off the distraction and retreat to a safe distance." Levee added.

The talk brought back the Courier's experience with the NCR, it felt good and inspired him.
"If you can find an open location with some nearby height, I can take up a position for sharpshooting. Take them out from a distance" The Courier added.

" We are to end the threat to Stableton first, then decide how best to deal with these ghouls after" Luna affirmed.

The Courier was confused by this sudden change of mind. Then he noticed the quick look Luna gave to Twilight.

"Sergeant Rapid Fire, Find a suitable location for our distraction, Take a rope hoist for Levee to join your entourage. Bring one for Mr Six here as well, so he may find a suitable position if possible. We will take the flares to mean you have found a location. " Luna ordered.

"Hope you don't mind flying." Rapid Fire told The Courier.

Remembering the view from the chariot, The Courier was giddy to head back into the sky. He quickly made tracks to follow the two ponies as they left the tent. He did wonder what a rope hoist was and what it was used for.

---

Once the flap was closed. Luna looked to the remaining two humans and two ponies.

As much as she doubted Twilight's idyllic end to this problem, Part of her still hoped there was a peaceful resolution possible. Perhaps there laid a path unseen by both parties.

"We need solutions, alternatives, and what risks they pose. First, let us hear what Princess Twilight thinks." Luna announced.

"Thank you, Princess," Twilight said with sincerity.

Celestia believed that Twilight didn't have enough of a say in decision-making, and Luna was inclined to agree. The nobles were unlikely to take her seriously without some showing of capacity. Regardless of the outcome, Luna was determined to give Twilight some say in the operation. With a smile and a nod to Twilight, the Princess of Friendship began to brainstorm.

" According to both of you, These Feral Ghouls are humans that have suffered extensive brain damage. This brings up two very important points. The first is that they no longer have higher reasoning skills and can be easily contained. If we can take them to a secure location, we can hold them without having to actually kill them." Twilight laid out to the others in the room.

There was scepticism all around, Even Luna was doubting the ability to securely contain that many prisoners.

"Which leads me to my second point. If we can securely hold them, it may be possible to reverse some of the damage done to their brain synapses. At the very least, we could make them passive."

This alternative was certainly appealing, if not more complicated than Luna would like. If it worked, however, it would go a long way to bolstering Twilight's confidence in leading. It would also save lives on both sides if no actual fighting was necessary. There were three others in the room to consult with, however.

"As Our military advisers, what do you three think of this strategy," Luna asked.

"It's a complete waste of time" John stated abrasively.

"I'm afraid I have to agree princesses. Even if we had somewhere to keep them, we have no means of keeping Feral Ghouls subdued for long periods of time. Even if we restrained each one of them individually, it would only risk people getting killed" Nate stated.

"Actually, there are spells that can knock out or freeze a subject without harming them. I could lay a spell matrix where ever the ghouls are and cast one spell to incapacitate them all at once" Twilight countered.

Luna was surprised by it, that could work. Now they would just need a place to hold them.

"Sergeant Battle Bowler, could the contingent here construct a stockade sturdy enough to hold that many prisoners?" Luna asked her subordinate.

"it's doable if we have the time. But I've seen Unicorns lay down a matrix, that takes time and you won't have enough to lay it before they arrive" He voiced his concern to Twilight.

"I could lay it down while they were there, An invisibility spell should do the trick," Twilight said back, confidence seeming to grow at her plan.

Luna saw one problem in the plan, and for her, it was a big one.

"Twilight, in order to activate the matrix, you would need to end your Invisibility charm" Luna pointed out.

"Yes, but the matrix can be activated in a second. that's the easiest part" Twilight countered.

"What if it doesn't work?" John flatly dropped.

"I don't see why it wouldn't, even if it did, I could teleport away," Twilight said.

"You might freeze" John pushed.

"I won't," Twilight firmly replied.

"Have you ever done this before?" John pushed harder.

"Stop it" Nate stood in between John and Twilight.

" It's a bad plan," John told Nate.

"That's not for you to decide," Nate said back.

" It's not up to you either," John shot back.

"They might be able to save them" Nate pointed out.

"They're ferals, they can't be saved." John threw back.

"You don't know that, There are whole possibilities here, magic could help them!" Nate argued back.

"People have died trying to pull it off before, if we try this the next one will be her!" John spat at Nate pointing to Twilight who was taking cover behind Nate from the growing yelling match.

"If They Want To Try It, That's Their Choice!" Nate shouted at John.

"I Didn't Agree To Help Them, Just For YOU TO HELP GET THEM KILLED" John Roared at Nate, both men looking ready to brawl it out.

This had gone on long enough.

"ENOUGH" Luna Demanded in the Traditional Canterlot Voice. it's powerful enough to clean the table of all its belonging, the map and all its figures flying right out of the tent.

Luna watched as everyone responded to her. Battle Bowler had to catch his helmet, Twilight rubbed her ears and the two humans looked at her like she had just tried to cut their heads off.

"Mr Johnathan, do not forget you are here to advise us on the best course of action, not chose it for us." Luna scolded John who responded by backing off.

"And General, It is not your place to defend our honour. If we must argue our ideals, we will do so ourselves." She told Nate, who also backed down.

"These creatures may come from your world, but this world is ours. While you are both under our employment, our judgment will be final. Is that clear?" Luna Commanded.

Both Humans responded with a stifled '"Yes Princess" like fouls being scolded by a mother.

Internally rolling her eyes, Luna looked to Battle Bowler.

"Sargent, in case of unforeseen circumstances, We want an assault team ready to move once we have the coordinate," Luna Ordered. with a crisp salute, the stallion marched out of the tent.

"Twilight, We will go forward with your plan. However, prepare an escape route in case things go astray" Luna told Twilight.

"Understood Princess!" Twilight said, filled with determination.

Luna thought it best not to remind Twilight of her own position.

---

Rapid Fire loved the feeling of the wind in her mane. She may not have been the flyer her older sister was, but she enjoyed it just as much. Yet, it seemed to be the human that was in a rope hoist below that was enjoying it the most. The one she had been told was named six was hollering in joy as the for pegasi above him, including Rapid Fire herself, held the hoist as they flew in the general area of interception. Levee un mass, for her part, was scanning the world below for an advantageous position, and their foe.

"There they are, down there!" Levee shouted over the howling wind.

Rapid-fire looked down to see Levee pointing towards a clearing in the trees, where she saw the ghouls shambling towards stableton in the distance.

"Is there any clearing nearby?" Levee asked the pegasi above.

"Over there, by the hillside!" One pegasus pointed out.

Rapidfire gazed towards the hill in question. The clearing was a small field, at the base of a hill that was partially free of trees until it was near the top. The clearing was surrounded by dense forest on three sides, with only the hill exposed. The base of the hill had a small decline that went in a line around the hill, probably an old dry creek bed.

"I see it, let's go in for a closer look!" Rapid Fire shouted everyone.

The two squads slowly descended until they were in the clearing. Once the hoists touched the ground, the two occupants got out of their respective hoists and the Unicorn had a brisk walk around the area.

"This will do, the creek bed can provide cover while the hill can serve as a fallback position. if we set everything off in the centre of the field, we can use it as a kill zone" Levee analyzed.

"So, how are we going to get everyone here?" Six asked.

"With this!" Levee stated as she held up a piece of chalk.

"... chalk?" Six asked confused. But Rapid Fire knew exactly what that meant.

"Oh cool, I didn't know you had that kind of power Levee," Rapid Fire commented.

"I do not, but the princess does. She will act as a power source for the conduit, allowing the portal to stay open for the bulk of our forces. Then she will make her way there on her own" Levee explained.

"I guess that means we found our spot, are we set?" Rapid Fire asked Levee.

"yes, this will do" Levee confirmed.

Knowing her orders, Rapid Fire nodded to the rest of the pegasi who in turn pulled out flare guns from their holsters. Between the pouches of blasting powder on their combat saddles and their flare guns, they were ready. With a flash of flint, the flares went off. It was showtime.

Author's Note:

My Australian is showing... English spelling in a story based on two American brands messes with my head...

rushed this one out as an apology for taking forever last time. I promise the next one contains some actual action! Once again any and all input is appreciated.

Comments

[Yaj-652-WOD-956-FAN]

Nice story and chapter, looking forward to the next chapter.

[Clopian26]

The excitement, Feral ghouls I knew it

[RDDash]

Fluttershy is not so weak as you think Twilight. She can speak with the animals but she is not an idiot.