Test No.4 (Patreon)

Note. To the best of my knowledge this is not based on any existing Fallout Equestria storyline, nor does it follow any particular plot in Fallout 4. This is just the narrative that popped  into my head as I worked on this piece.

    The test stand shudders as the metal plate bolted to it took the full impact of the bluish-white bolt of energy. The bolt of energy hissed and crackled loudly. A fraction of the second later the armor plate failed and the bolt punched through and traveled to the backstop of the indoor firing range. Then the range went silent except for the hum of the HVAC and fume extraction system.

    50 meters away Sunset Shimmer lowered the energy carbine from her shoulder. Smoke curled up from the horn spike at the end of the weapon. Flipping the safety on and then disengaging the power pack the yellow-orange unicorn starting sauntering toward the test stand. As she did she removed the ear muffs and then lifted the polarized goggles from her eyes. Along with the almost standard issue Institute lab coat the mare wore a skin-tight catsuit of shimmering candy apple red/gold material. 

   Stopping in front of the test stand Sunset observed that the piece of salvaged, 25mm, hardened, prewar armor plate was still glowing orange in places where the bolt from the vat grown unicorn horn had burned its way through. A small puddle of now cooling molten metal was at the base of the stand. Sunset's calibration adjustments had paid off. Test No.4 had been the most successful to date. 

    Sunset smiled and started walking back to the firing line. There were some in the Institute that didn't approve of her research. She couldn't see what their problem was with it. She was just leveraging existing resource to give the Institute the upper hand in its quest to become the dominant force in what had once been the Kingdom of Equestria. 

    Returning to the firing line she took a moment to jot down some notes on a clipboard. She gave the somewhat blackened horn a visual inspection and a quick temperature reading. Satisfied with what she saw put her hearing and eye protection back and proceeded to send another energy bolt down range. The brilliant light from the carbine threw sharp highlights onto catsuit and the curves of her body. 

     A unicorn's horn was capable of discharging energy at levels much higher than a pony was normally willing to do. 

    Primarily this was due to the extreme physical discomfort the unicorn experienced and because doing this rapidly degraded their horn. So if done too often their horn would eventually fail and become useless and very painful for the pony in question. 

   However if the horn was a relatively easy to swap out part then that limitation went away. That was what Sunset was working towards. To use vat grown horns for a whole host of applications. Along with pre-programmed spells/wards and rechargeable power packs it would allow the Institute to wield unicorn magic on a mass/industrial level. This offered amazing potential.

   But some ponies in the Institute were rather vocal in their opposition to this idea. Twilight Sparkle being one of the loudest critics. 

   That's rich of her. Thought Sunset, as she melted away another piece of the armor plate. After all I'm just trying to mass produce body parts. She's the one trying to recreate almost god-like beings in her lab!  This has to work 

   Sunset stopped firing and glanced down at her body sheathed in the iridescent fabric. Besides if this latest round of experiments goes as well as her last attempt.  Followers  She'll be grateful if the security forces have some of these energy carbines and suits made of this mana-reflective material. 

    A patron reward for Skyline.    

Note. Many of the firearms I've done for this series of posts have been based on actual weapons developed before or during the late 1950s or early 60s. However in this case the weapon is entirely of my own creation. However its design is inspired by firearms of the period. Firearms like the Whitney Wolverine, the Remington 600, the Remington 66 Nylon, and the British EM2 rifle.