An Enclave soldier finds herself stuck on a mysterious island off the Equestrian coast. Can she survive the terrors of the Island?
Lost Cove, an old fishing village off the coast of Northern Equestria. Long ago, when the megaspells fell, it became a safe haven for Ponies that couldn't enter the nearby Stable 109.
But not everything on the Island is secure. There is a fog that will cover the island at times, and a mad cult that calls the island home. The most terrifying monsters in Equestria call the island home, making survival hard for Ponies.
This is what the Enclave soldier Bright Feather finds herself in the middle of. What will happen to her now?
Cover made by IAmArtsDesire, all credit goes to her.
The war with the Zebras had been brutal, both sides had built up their technology and forces to fight the other. The Ponies built up their military strength, creating Megaspells that gave them a perceived edge in the war, only to lose it when traitors gave the secret to Megaspells to the Zebras, making the war even more dire for both sides.
But as things in Equestria as a whole continued to deteriorate, life on a small island off the northern coast continued as it had for years. The fishing community had little interest in the war, except for when Stable-tec came to construct Stable 109 on the island. The concern that the war with the Zebras would get to the point of a Megaspell exchange grew, but the island was far enough away from the mainland that they believed they would have nothing to worry about.
But come the Megaspells did, Equestria was burned in a wave of Balefire and necromancy, and it spread across the land, turning the vibrant world into a wasteland. That small island avoided that fate, at first at least.
After years, the fallout from the Megaspells blew onto the island, and a new and deadly threat was created from it. A radioactive fog formed on the island, and the survivors had to either fight it back, or perish in the deadly fog. But it wasn't over yet, the radiation created true monsters that cane to plague the inhabitants of the island.
Even now, the fog is looming on the last place that is inhabitable, the town of Lost Cove. For 180 years, they have had no contact with the outside world of the Wasteland.
That is about to change.
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It had been so long since anypony had dared to fly this far away from the mainland of Equestria and the central authority of the Grand Pegasus Enclave. My unit had been sent to investigate the old pre-war community on Mount Pleasant Island, which nopony has tried to make contact with since the Megaspells fell so many years ago.
"Lieutenant Bright Feather, are you ready?" My CO, Captain Hawk asked.
"Yes sir, I'm ready," I said, trying not to look nervous, this was my first mission for the Enclave, I had only recently been promoted and assigned to this unit.
Admittedly this was hardly more than a glorified recon mission to get Intel for command and the Senate, I just had to follow orders and do it.
I don't really know if anypony will ever read this, but I want Ponies to know what happened in Lost Cove, there are a lot of stories to be told. I'm hoping that my story will give a perspective on what has been happening in the world.
"Good," Hawk said with a nod, our Vertibuck was coming up on the island now, we were to find a spot to land and try and find out what had happened to the island. If it was abandoned, it was going to be considered for a new base for the Enclave. "I know everypony is dissapointed that our first mission as a unit is recon, but this is important for our mission to reclaim the surface. The Enclave will prevail here, glory to the Enclave."
"Glory to the Enclave," we said in unison.
As the Vertibuck starts to descend towards the ground far beneath us, it suddenly starts to shake. We held on tight, what in Tartarus was going on out there? There was a sudden drop as the Vertibuck started to spiral towards the ground.
"Crash positions, crash positions!" Hawk yelled out as we all braced ourselves for the coming crash.
There was a jolt as we impacted, and I blacked out.
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"Lieutenant, get up," the sound of one of the Privates said as I was shaken to consciousness.
"I'm awake, I'm awake!" I said, looking up, I was still in the Vertibuck strapped in, I noticed that the other seats were empty. "Where's everypony else?"
"Captain Hawk went out to secure the perimeter," the private said. "Breeze and Strike went with him, but... there's no sign of anypony else."
My eyes went wide at that, we had been a unit of 10, and half of us were missing? My eyesight started to come back to me as I saw that something had ripped a hole in the side of the Vertibuck. At first I thought it was caused by the crash, then I realized that there were marks, as if some great beast had torn into the side of the Vertibuck.
"What in Tartarus..." I started to say when we heard screams from outside, I unstrapped myself and got to my hooves, rushing out to find Hawk and one of the other ponies firing at, something. The fog partially obscured it, but it didn't look like a Pony, it looked... unnatural and terrifying.
I tried to shoot at it, but my shots just bounced off of the monster's armored back.
"Both of you, fly!" Hawk shouted to us, we didn't need any further prompting, we flapped our wings and took off, trying to escape the battle. I hated having to leave the Captain behind, but we didn't have a choice at this point.
We kept flying into the fog, staying close, but we had to weave in and out of trees, and suddenly I realized that the Private wasn't beside me anymore. I couldn't think on it, I'd mourn them later as I kept flying.
That's when something reached out of the fog and pulled me down, and my world went black again.
00000
Mount Pleasant Island, a name that doesn't exactly inspire fear, but in over 180 years it had become a haven for the most terrifying creatures that Equestria had ever seen.
This isn't where our story ends, no indeed this is just the beginning. The mysteries of the Island are vast and numerous, and Bright Feather was just beginning her journey into this unknown world.
Life on this island is more than just a walk in the park, there are mysteries that need to be uncovered, and shadows from the old world that still linger. After all, to survive in Equestria after the Megaspells fell is to wage war.
"Before turning to those moral and mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems."
I opened my eyes and groaned as I rubbed my head, it felt like the whole Enclave military band was playing a concert in my skull after, whatever had grabbed me was done. I was lying in a bed now, with a blanket pulled over me, I looked down at myself, realizing somepony had removed my armor, leaving my white coated body naked.
What had happened? What exactly was it that had grabbed me in the Fog? Come to think of it, what was up with that fog? There hadn't been anything like it recorded in Equestria, not even in the south which had some of the strangest weather anywhere in Equestria with the Firerain. It was like this island was, something entirely different, something unnatural even.
"You're finally awake," a mare's voice said and I looked up to see a golden colored Earth Pony mare, dressed in a tattered outfit with the cutie mark of, some sort of metal hook like thing. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Feathers."
"Feathers?" I asked with a groan, then realize that she was referring to me being a Pegasus. "What in Tartarus happened to me?"
"You got jumped," the mare said simply. "By one of the creatures in the fog, you got lucky, Horizon was nearby and happened to pick you up, I'd be more careful if you're going out into the fog again."
"Did, Horizon find anypony else?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"Sorry, you were the only one he said he found," the gold colored mare answered with a shake of her head. "I can't say I've ever seen any armor like what we pulled you out of. Are you some kind of soldier?"
"Lieutenant Bright Feather, Recon Unit 4 from the Grand Pegasus Enclave," I said truthfully, adding as much pride as I could to that statement. I didn't come from a great military family, my parents were farmers, an important job sure, but they had always wanted something more for me, so I had signed up for military service.
Oh dear Goddesses, would I ever see my parents again? They had been so proud when I had made it through training, I couldn't imagine what they would think if I died on some, Celestia forsaken island. I had to figure out how exactly I was going to get out of here and back to the Enclave, but something told me that it wasn't going to be as easy as just flying out.
"Well, its nice to meet you Bright Feather, I'm Captain Amber, I help run things around here in Lost Cove," Amber said. "I can't say I've ever met a pony from this, Enclave before. You must be from off the island."
"Yeah, that's right," I said with a nod. "I'm from the mainland, we came here to scout the island, to see what things were like over here since nopony has made it this far before."
"There haven't been any mainlanders on the island, at least not in my lifetime," Amber said. "Most ponies avoid Mount Pleasant Island, and I don't rightly blame them. With the Fog and Celestia only knows what monsters are hidden in it, not to mention the problem we've been having with the Society and the Sharktooth Gang."
The Society and the Sharktooth Gang? Those weren't factions that I was familiar with, it was more likely that they had emerged on the island, maybe something similar to the Raiders in the mainland. I took a mental note to ask more questions about them later, right now I had to try and figure out how I could get off the island.
"And the Fog, what exactly is different about it?" I asked curiously.
"To be honest I don't rightly know," Amber said. "Its been around since before I was born, but usually its a lot more manageable than it has been for the last few years. Its radioactive, that much we do know, imbued with the magical fallout from the megaspells that fell during the war, so prolonged exposure to it can be deadly. At least for Ponies, there are, creatures that thrive in the fog, and they've been attacking Lost Cove for years."
Wow, things had really gone downhill around here, it was a lot worse than even the Enclave could have known. And I certainly couldn't make it off the island in my current state, and something had made the Vertibuck crash, something that might still be out there somewhere.
"Well, if you're feeling up for it, I'd go talk to Horizon, he can usually be found at the Torn Sail Tavern down the dock," Amber continued. "I'm sure he'll be happy to know you're awake."
"Thank you, Captain," I said with a nod and got to my hooves, shaking for a moment before starting to walk out of the small house.
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Lost Cove was constructed on what looked like an old pier from before the war, there were buildings lining it where ponies were coming in and out of, most of them ignoring me as I went past. I got a few curious looks from ponies, the occasional whisper.
Actually what I found particularly interesting was that there weren't just Earth and Unicorn Ponies, there were several Pegasi among town too, and they weren't Dashites or Enclave soldiers. These Pegasi must have had ancestors that lived on the island and didn't go into the sky with the other Pegasi.
I reached the Torn Sail Tavern at the end of the dock and pushed the door open. There were a few more Ponies around the bar. I moved up to the bar where a Unicorn stallion is polishing a glass, he looks up at me with a smile.
"You must be the mainlander," he said and gave me a nod. "Can I get you something to drink? We've got a special tonight on Pon! Only 12 caps."
I frowned at that, great, I didn't even have any caps on me, I should've probably thought of that before walking into the local bar. I looked at him sheepishly, wishing there was something better I could say.
"Sorry, I, don't really have any caps," I admitted. "My armor was torn up by a... thing in the fog."
"Ah, yes, I remember Horizon telling me about that, here have a bottle on the house, a little welcome to the Island," the Bartender said and set a bottle that had a design with the word Pon! on the label. "Ever had Pon! before?"
"Can't say that I have," I said, popping off the cap and taking a drink, it tasted bitter, not like the sweet taste of other sodas I had drunk like Sparkle-Cola or the Opal brand products, but I swallowed, it wasn't too bad actually. "What's in that stuff?"
"its strong stuff, I know," the bartender said. "At least its not Princess' Blend, that stuff is even stronger and made with the guts of the creatures on the island."
Note to self, avoid Princess' Blend if at all possible.
"So can I help you out?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm looking for Horizon," I said, looking around the bar curiously, it was decorated strangely, with what looked like fish and other creatures mounted on the walls. "Is he around?"
"He should just be getting back now," the bartender said. "He's out on the island today, he usually comes in around this time for a drink."
What was he doing out on the island? If there were creatures out there, why would anypony in their right mind want to go out there? Maybe that meant there were other settlements and he was checking on them? Or could he be trying to stop the monsters?
I didn't have much time to think on it as the door to the tavern opened and a blue furred Pegasus wearing a battle saddle with two miniguns and a wool cap pulled over the top of his head opened the door and stepped inside. He looked over the room with dark green eyes and looked at me with a smile as he trotted over to the bar.
"Well hey there missy, glad to see you up and about," he said with a smile.
"You must be Horizon," I said, shifting my wings uncomfortably, he had a cutie mark of a long stick with a barbed tip, so he wasn't a Dashite, but it was weird talking to another Pegasus who wasn't with the Enclave.
"That's right, best fisherpony and scout in Lost Cove," Horizon said with a charming smile. "What's your name, beautiful?"
Oh great, he was flirting with me, as if this didn't need to be any more awkward, well it didn't matter, if I could just get off this island it would be fine. I could contact the Enclave and leave if I could get to the Vertibuck's crash site, but to get there I needed somepony who needed the island.
"Bright Feathers," I said with a nod. "Thanks for saving my flank out there."
"No problem, can't have the first visitor to the Island in 181 years getting eaten by the monsters on her first day," Horizon said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, that would kill tourism," I said with a chuckle.
"Come to Mount Pleasant Island, see our fog, nearly get eaten by the local fauna, fun for all ages," Horizon said with a chuckle as if reading from a tourist brochure. "Bring the foals, have a blast."
I laughed at that, it felt good to laugh, it didn't feel forced at all. That's when I thought back to the other Ponies in my unit, what had happened to them? Was I the only survivor left? I sighed and took a deep breath.
"Horizon, I wanted to ask if..." I started to say when the low sound of a fog horn was heard, everypony looked up and got to their hooves, starting to move quickly. "What's going on? What was that horn about?"
"We're about to be attacked," Horizon said and made his way back out of the bar, I paused a moment and quickly followed behind him.
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I followed Horizon up the stairs that were built along the wall that was built along the northern edge of town. I looked around, the other Ponies were carrying weapons, and it just now occurred to me that I was unarmed.
"Bright Feathers, you can use the Harpoon Gun over there," Amber said, nodding to a strange looking weapon that was mounted on the wall, it looked more like a cannon than any other gun I had ever seen. "We'll keep you covered, get anything that gets too close with it, okay?"
"On it," I said nervously as I climbed up and took the grips of the harpoon gun into my forehooves, it took me a minute to figure out how it worked, but I got the hang of it quickly.
I gulped, I didn't know what was going to be coming out of the fog, I really wished that I had my armor right now if for nothing else but to have S.A.T.S., being able to see targets like that would be really useful right about now. I didn't know what was coming, I wasn't even sure I wanted to know, it wasn't like anything I had experienced in training.
This was the real thing, no more practice, this was real combat.
"Steady, steady, they're coming into view now," Captain Amber said, several figures started to emerge from the fog, the first ones were lizards, large, hideous looking lizards. "Gulpers, gunners take aim and fire!"
I raised the Harpoon Gun in the direction of the nearest creature, Gulper I guess and squeezed it. There was a kick as the Harpoon gun launched its projectile, sending me flying back, that wasn't like any gun I had ever fired before.
I looked up over the railing, the Gulper was impaled and hunched over, the others were still going after the other Ponies as I loaded a second harpoon into the gun. I didn't like the reload rate on this thing, it felt like it hadn't been built for practical combat, but I turned it around and aimed for another Gulper, squeezing the trigger and the harpoon flew into it too.
The rest of the Gulpers went down quickly, now that I had the hang of the weapon, I didn't have any problems with it other than the reload time. I took a breath, glad that the Gulpers were down, but my relief was short lived when there was another call from a Unicorn Pony that was on the other side of the wall.
"Look alive, we've got Sand Crabs and Lures coming!" She shouted, now that was something I had heard of Sand Crabs were creatures that lived on the waterfront around Equestria, but I hadn't ever heard of a Lure before, and I wasn't sure I liked it.
"Stay strong, you've got this," Horizon said with a reassuring nod.
"Thanks," I said, turning the Harpoon Gun around towards the entrance to the fog covered island, I couldn't see whatever was coming except for...
Lights? There were lights barely visible in the fog that were coming closer to us? I didn't have long to think on it, that's when I found out exactly what a Lure was. It was a hideous creature with a wide mouth that was charging at us, it had a long line stretching out of its head, ending with one of those lights.
"That's a Lure?" I asked as the armored Sand Crabs came into view. "I've never even heard of anything like that before."
"They're only found here," Horizon said as he fired his miniguns into the fog and I fired the harpoon gun, loading another harpoon into it from the pile that had been placed next to it and launched it into the skull of one of the Lures. "You're doing fine, you'd make a great harpooner with that."
"Enclave training, they teach us all how to shoot," I said, just wishing that I knew more about the creatures I was facing as I loaded another harpoon and fired it at a Sand Crab. "Though, I didn't think I'd be using this kind of weapon for it."
Horizon chuckles as the last of the sea creatures falls dead, there is a pause as everypony waits for another warning, but it never comes. I breathe a sigh of relief, that had been a harrowing experience, and it was just my first real battle.
I just hoped that things weren't going to get worse from here on Mount Pleasant Island.
"Come on, lets go to my place," Horizon said as we headed back down and towards a building on the far side of Lost Cove.
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The house was actually an old fishing boat that was tied to the dock behind one of the buildings. Down below decks was a roughly put together home with what I assumed was fishing gear and trophies lining the walls along with a bed, couch, and kitchen area that had definitely seen better days.
"Welcome aboard the Sea Princess, I know it doesn't look like much, but she's home," Horizon said as he slipped out of his Battle Saddle.
"Its, lovely," I said through gritted teeth, trying to at least sound sincere. "I can honestly say that I've never been in a home like this before."
"Well, you're a mainlander, so that makes sense," Horizon said with a chuckle. "I know she doesn't really look like that much, but she's been in my family since before the war, call it, sentimental."
I could understand that, I had been raised on my family's cloud farm which had been in my family since after the cloud cover was formed. I nodded in understanding and gave him a smile.
"So, your family has always been on Mount Pleasant Island?" I asked curiously. "There aren't very many Pegasi outside of the Enclave who aren't Dashites."
"Yep, going back to its founding," Horizon said. "And can't say I've ever heard of the Enclave before, Lost Cove is always going to be my family's home."
"I, hate to ask this, but, did you find anypony else out in the Island?" I asked, I was afraid of the answer, but it would at least give me some closure about what had happened.
"I'm sorry, I didn't," Horizon said regretfully. "You're the only one I found out there, and you were in bad shape so I got you back to Lost Cove as fast as I could. I didn't exactly want to run into one of that creature's big brothers."
"I need to go back to where you found me," I said. "I owe it to my Unit to at least give them a proper burial if there's anything left to bury."
Horizon looked at me sadly then took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, but not until tomorrow, and we'll need to get you a proper weapon while we're at it, that Harpoon Gun won't do anything out on the Island unless you're hiding a horn under your mane."
"Okay, that works," I said. "I guess I'll sleep on the couch tonight..."
"Oh no, my momma didn't raise me to not be a gentlepony, I'll take the couch, you get the bed," Horizon said.
He went about getting the couch ready to sleep, I sighed and went over to the bed and laid down on it. I looked up at the ceiling of the Sea Princess and took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I started to drift off to sleep.
I just hoped that everything would be okay tomorrow, and that I could find answers to what is going on.
00000
"Are there any other Ponies living on the island?" I asked Horizon as we started making our way along the beat up old road that went up the mountain that dominated the center of the island.
"Well, there's the Sharktooth Gang, they used to be Fisherponies like the inhabitants of Lost Cove, but the fog drove them insane," Horizon answered, I muttered a quiet thank you to whoever had made the Rad-X potions that we were using to deal with the radioactive fog. "Then there's the Society."
"The Society?" I asked, my ears perking up curiously.
"The Nightmare Society, they're a cult of crazies from Stable 109 on the northern end of the island," Horizon said. "They worship Nightmare Moon like some kind of Goddess."
Great, this Island was sounding like a really fun place already, monsters, crazed Ponies, and a cult that worshiped Nightmare Moon, and the Fog on top of all of that. It felt like all the craziness I had heard about from the Equestrian Wasteland had been concentrated into one Island off the coast of Equestria.
"Why would they worship Nightmare Moon?" I asked, that was confusing, worshiping one of the most vile forces in Equestria history was, bizarre.
"Celestia only knows," Horizon admitted sheepishly. "Its crazy if you ask me, Luna I could see, but Nightmare Moon? Well, they usually leave Lost Cove alone, as long as we don't have something they want. Sometimes they trade with us, sometimes they just take what they want."
"Sounds like a fun group of ponies," I said sarcastically. "Are they going to bother us?"
"They shouldn't, the mountain isn't exactly prime real estate for anypony," Horizon said. "We only come here when its absolutely necessary. The fog isn't as prevalent up here, but, its too far away from the coast to be good for fishing, and there are way too many potential threats around here."
"Fog Creatures, like the ones that attacked me and my unit..." I said taking a deep breath.
I checked the gun at my side, it was an old 10mm, but at least it was in good shape. I just had to hope that it was going to be enough, maybe if I could get to the Vertibuck I'd find something that would be a lot better in combat.
"Come on Feather, it's not too far from here," Horizon said as we continued up the mountain.
00000
I frowned as we entered the clearing where the Vertibuck had crashed. There were a few bodies scattered, or at least, parts of them, whatever had gotten to them had torn their bodies apart.
I couldn't look at them for too long, they were good Ponies, they didn't deserve to be killed like this, by some creatures on an island that the rest of Equestria had practically forgotten about.
An island I was now trapped on, maybe for the rest of my life if I couldn't figure out how to get off this island.
"Are you okay?" Horizon asked, looking at me concerned.
"I'm fine, I just..." I said with a sigh. "These ponies, they were my unit, and now they're all dead..."
I felt a familiar tickling sensation as Horizon wrapped a wing around me reassuringly. That at least helped me, I took a deep breath, it hadn't helped a whole lot, but I at least was starting to feel a little better.
"Come on, lets see what we can salvage, then I'll help you bury them," Horizon said as we started to pick apart the wreckage of the Vertibuck.
There wasn't much to find, some ammunition for rifles here and there, some loose pieces of armor, but nothing that would be very helpful. What was weird was that there weren't any guns, just ammunition for the weapons, which wasn't entirely helpful. I sighed and checked the cockpit where the radio transmitter was, if that could be found, it could get me off the Island.
"Its gone!" I said in shock as I found that the spot for the radio was empty, it had been ripped out of the socket. "Somepony tore out the radio transmitter!"
"You're kidding," Horizon said as he checked it out and shook his head. "Who in their right mind would do something like that?"
I didn't have a good answer to that question, now it was just a matter of figuring out who took it. But there was something more important that I had to do first.
I had to bury my Unit.
00000
It took us the better part of an hour to get all of the graves dug for the ponies that we could find enough of to bury. We made rough grave markers and set them up, 9 markers for 9 Ponies who had died to this island.
Hawk, Breeze, Swift Strike, Silver Lining, Wild Wind, Nimbus, Snowflurry, Zephyr, and Azure...
9 soldiers who would never make it back home. Azure was barely out of training, and she had probably died somewhere in the forest when we were separated. I just hoped that someday I could get back home and tell their families what had happened to their loved ones.
And that I could give them more answers than I had right now.
"I'm sorry this happened to all of you," I said somberly, looking at the graves. "You were the best Ponies I had ever met, you were all here to do your duty to the Enclave. I'm sorry that I can't take your bodies back to the clouds, but I know that wherever you are now, you're at peace. I will make sure that you will be remembered by your families and by the Enclave. I will take your stories back to the clouds, you'll live on, through my memories."
I just wished that I could say more, I didn't even know what had killed them, probably more monsters that lived on this island like what had attacked Lost Cove. Then there was the matter of what I had seen before I was knocked out in the forest, that had to have been one of the fog creatures, but did that mean that it was what had attacked my unit?
"Do you want to say any words?" I said, turning to look at Horizon, he didn't know them, but maybe he could at least say something since he was here.
"I couldn't, I don't know what to say," Horizon said, holding his wool cap to his side. "They were your Unit, and what you said was beautiful, I promise we'll get you back home, somehow."
"Thank you, Horizon," I said as he slid his hat back on. "So, where should we look first?"
"Well, somepony definitely stripped this place bare," Horizon said as he examined the area around the Vertibuck. "Its pretty chaotic here, I'd say probably not the Society. The Society is usually more organized than this, I'd say were dealing with Sharktooth Gang members here. We can go check out their nearest stronghold."
"And where's that?" I asked.
"Are you thirsty?" Horizon asked with a smirk.
I wasn't even sure what that was supposed to mean.
00000
"Oh, so that's what you meant," I said as I found myself looking at an old pre-war factory that was on the southern coast of the island, it had the image of a Pegasus in flight with the words "You've Got Pon!" over the door.
"The old Pon! factory, they've been holed up here for awhile," Horizon explained. "They probably took the weapons, maybe the radio, but I wouldn't hold your breath. Its not their style to take things like that."
"Its a start at least, I don't know why anypony would take the radio anyway," I said. "You need special encryption to transmit to the Enclave, and there's not really much other use for it."
"Sorry I can't give you any sort of an answer on why," Horizon said with a shrug. "Maybe we can get some information from the ponies here."
"Its worth a try," I said as I took the pistol into my mouth, I was missing my armor and my battle saddle, but I'd make do with what I had. We started moving towards the factory when the crack of a gunshot rang out, hitting the ground near us.
"Sniper," I said, groaning as we ducked into cover. "Do you have any ideas?"
"One of us needs to get up there, are your wings working?" Horizon asked me.
"Yeah," I said, flapping my wings to test them. "Can you cover me?"
"No problem," Horizon said as I flapped my wings and took off into the sky as Horizon fired his Battle Saddle towards the Sharktooth Gang ponies that were in front of the Factory.
I had to go high so that the Gang members didn't see me, at least from the front. I swear I saw a few on the other side, but they were rushing towards the entrance. I glided over the roof and that's where I spotted him, there was a stallion laying on the roof with his hooves wrapped around a sniper rifle.
It figured really, even Raiders used military tactics, this guy was smart enough to keep us pinned. I just had to take him out and fast. I landed as quietly as I could on the rooftop and leveled my pistol at his head and pulled the trigger. I didn't stop to think about how I was shooting him in the back, I just pulled the trigger and took him down.
I galloped forward and searched the body quickly, finding two grenades, I checked to make sure Horizon wasn't too close and I pulled the pins and threw them down to where the ponies were guarding the entrance. I dropped back into cover and the explosions went off, there was another burst of gunfire and then it all went silent.
"Are you okay up there, Bright Feather?" Horizon called up to me.
"Yeah, I've got the sniper taken out, I'll meet you inside," I said, grabbing some ammo and the sniper rifle and the remaining ammunition and sliding the rifle across my back and put the ammo and a health potion in the bags I was wearing.
"See you inside," Horizon said and I made my way through the door on the roof.
00000
I wasn't quite sure what I was expecting inside the Pon! Factory, I made my way down the stairs and into the main factory floor. There were two large vats of what I assumed was Pon! that were surrounded by ponies dressed in the same rough armor that I had seen outside. I leveled my sniper rifle at one of the ponies and pulled the trigger just as the sound of Minigun fire from Horizon's battle saddle.
The Gang Ponies didn't stand much of a chance, I had the high ground and a rifle that could pick them off one by one and the Minigun just tore into them one by one. While I looked around I saw a bottle on a shelf with the label Pon Rejuvenate, which I slid into my bags, I started down the stairs where I met up with Horizon.
"Most of this stuff is your basic weapons you can find on the island," Horizon said and noticed my sniper rifle. "I see you found yourself a new toy."
"Yeah, its going to come in handy," I said with a nod as I checked for more ammo, only finding some for my 10mm. "Where's the big boss?"
"This way," Horizon said as we walked up another set of stairs and reached an office where three ponies are trying to set up a defense.
"You three, drop your weapons!" I said, they took one look at us and one of them ran forward, getting a bullet between the eyes for his trouble, I leveled my pistol at the obvious leader. "I said drop your weapons."
"What do you want?" The leader, a Unicorn stallion with a shark jaw for a cutie mark as he dropped his weapons.
"Your gang stripped a crashed Vertibuck, I'm here to reclaim what you took for the Enclave!" I said, trying to sound a lot more intimidating than I really was. "Now where is it?"
"Over there," the leader growled as he nodded to a trunk, I went over and opened it up.
There wasn't much inside, two rifles and a set of Enclave Power Armor that was covered in scratch marks and some ammo. "This is all you found?" I asked, turning to look at the leader again.
"Its all that was left," he growled. "Somepony got to it before we did."
"Horizon, help me out here," I said, trying to gather up the equipment.
"Hey, what are you doing, that stuff was abandoned, you don't..." The other pony, a mare said as I pressed the barrel of my gun against her head.
"This stuff is the property of the Grand Pegasus Enclave's military," I said. "I'd stop fighting, or I'll pull the trigger and you'll get to see what its like in Tartarus."
That shut both of them up, we didn't hear any further arguments from them as we gathered up the stolen equipment.
"We should just kill them here," Horizon said as he grabbed their guns, we'd sell them in town probably, it would be simple enough to get that all done.
"We're not killing them," I said. "As tempting as it is, we've got no reason to kill them."
Horizon growled, but headed for the door. I followed him, leaving the two Ponies alone in a factory filled with their dead compatriots.
I just hoped I wasn't making a big mistake by letting them live.
00000
We sold the weapons we had collected except for the two rifles and the sniper rifle that I had gotten from the sniper to a local Unicorn named Fishhook. I used the caps we earned to buy the stuff I needed to make the armor work again and some food and drink.
"Some first day on the island, huh?" Horizon asked as I was working on the armor.
"Tell me about it, my parents would probably think I was crazy for doing all of this," I said, I was working with my damaged armor and the armor we had recovered to make it all work. "They always wanted me to inherit the farm, I practically had to run away from home just to join the military."
"Well, I'm glad you're here," Horizon said with a smile. "I'm glad I got the opportunity to meet a Pony from off the island."
I gave him a smile, he was nice enough, not really what I had expected to meet while I was here, but I had to admit that he had a certain charm to him. Who knows, maybe if we had known each other back in the Enclave, we could've been friends, or even lovers.
For now I just wanted to be able to get back to the world above the clouds, and maybe even see my family again.
"I've got the radio on this thing working again, I can't transmit all the way to the Enclave, but its worth checking out," I said and turned the radio on, checking the channels.
There was DJ Pon3 Radio of course, I had heard of it at least, but I had never listened to it. The only other radio broadcast made me pause though, it read "Nightmare Radio." I selected it and a mare's voice started to play over the radio.
"Hello Ponies of Mount Pleasant Island, this is the High Priestess of the Goddess Nightmare Moon," the voice said, this made me and Horizon exchange glances. "You will all be given a chance to either convert or die, the Society of the Night will no longer stand for the heresy of Lost Cove. Soon, you will all be plunged into the darkness, and the world will change."
The radio went silent, and we both exchanged glances, not sure what to say to that.
LEVEL UP! Perk Received: Head in the Clouds Details: You're a Pegasus from above the cloud cover that has always served the Enclave. Add an extra point to the stat of your choice.
