Fallout Equestria: The Kingdom

Clock sees Licorice being held by a ghoul mare. She's wearing a frilly orange dress and looks panicked.

"Wait, don't come in!" the mare screamed to Clockwork.

A ghoul stallion is also in the room. As soon as he hear's Clock's voice his head snaps to the door. At the sight of the mare peeking in, he howls and sprints across the room.

The feral ghoul snaps at Charcoal as the pony holds him down, drool foaming around his teeth.

"Uh...uh, yeah, in the room across the hall," the mare replied as she tried to hide Licorice's eye from the sight.

She wasn't quick enough and the colt offered a muffled question. "Mama, what's wrong with Papa?"

"He's...uh...Papa's sick baby," the mare tried to answer as she stroked the colt's thin mane.

When Charcoal turned around the mare in the dress was standing a few feet away, glaring at him. "What are you doing here? And why were you with my son?"

The mare frowned and looked down. "I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't know it was important, I just..." She looked back at the dress sadly. "I just wanted my husband back. And I thought that if I wore something nice... maybe he would remember the old days and come back to me."

"Really...you...you think they could keep us safe?" she asked with some hope.

"That...thank you," the mare replied and pulled Charcoal into a tight hug.

"I don't think so. At least not on this floor...maybe up higher, but it's not safe. There are a lot of robots and security systems that killed some of the others who tried."

The mare sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry."

The mare followed and knelt down to her son. "Hey sweetie, we're going to go to a nice little town with these four, okay?"

"What about Papa?" the colt asked with a frown.

"He's...he's going to stay here and make sure the bad guys don't find us," she lied with a grin. "Because he loves you and wants you to stay safe."

The colt hugged his mother with quiet sobs.

The mare turned to Charcoal and Clock. "Um...can we meet you outside? We need to say goodbye first."

As they trot down the hall, the mare sits down her son by the door to the closet where the feral ghoul was trapped. His raspy breathing can be heard still as they walk by.

"Okay sweetie. Say bye to Papa," the mare told her son sadly, barely able to stop herself from choking up.

"Bye Papa," the colt said and hugged the door, wishing it wasn't in the way of his father.

"Do you want to sing one last time with him?" she asked quietly, receiving a sad nod in response. "Okay."

As Charcoal, Scorch, Viktor and Clockwork walk outside they can faintly hear the singing voices behind them.

Hush little baby, don't say a word.
Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird.

And if that mocking bird don't sing.
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring...


A few minutes later, the colt trotted outside ahead of his mother. As she trotted out the doors, an electronic voice echoed out behind her. Security Lockdown activated. All security escalated to high alert.

The two reached the waiting team, and the mare leaned in to whisper to Charcoal.

whisper to charcoal:

Cast Iron wakes up and refastens his armor and helmet to himself, then proceeds to trot out the Inn and over to Boomsticks.

The mare nodded and took off the dress, draping it over her back for the walk back.

Licorice nodded and climbed onto Charcoal beside Scorch, still sadly staring down.

The colt snuggled into Scorch's embrace for the walk back, a sight which managed to put a small grin on the mare's face.

((Charcoal, Scorch, Viktor and Clock have now TS'd back to New Appleloosa))

"Great! Thank you soooo much!" Martini happily called down.

Red Lotus teleported down beside the group and grinned. "Thanks for finding it! Here's some caps for the trouble."

(([Quest Complete - What We Lose] +20XP +10 bonus for sparing Papa))
+50 caps each

XP gained: