"In another moment, down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she would get out again."

•••

There was a sort of poetic justice to the end of our world. The great powers which rose to war ultimately destroyed themselves. And when the megaspells finally rained down on the great cities of the planet, they collapsed. The flames of fiery conviction consumed what little was left, and the world was plunged into an abyss of balefire and magical radiation.

But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the cataclysm was simply the beginning of another bloody chapter in history. A testament to the never-ending depravity of sentient immorality, and greed.

For we had succeeded in destroying the world, but war never changes.

In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters known as stables.

When they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them. And when the realization of a hopeless future razed through the minds of desperate ponies, the world was once again submerged in a downpour of crimson.

Because war... war never changes.

"People tire themselves in pursuit of rest."

•••

And I had rested for a long time... It's said that when you enter a stasis pod, you fall into a deep sleep, and that the only part of your body still awake is the primitive side, the animal side. I wonder if that means we're all still awake.

I no longer remember exactly how long I've been here. You'd think that without alternative, there would come acceptance, but I cannot tolerate this prison. You'd suspect that with time I would even forget how I came to be where I am. But I still remember everything vividly.

It seems like yesterday that I was enjoying dinner with my brother, the first time in a long time we'd actually spent the afternoon together. And the last time we'd know any semblance of the word normal. I can still see the sickly green flames, which shone brightly on the horizon, mixing with the bright orange hues of the setting sun, which darkened with debris, ash, and fire. I see the screaming faces, but I can no longer hear them. It's like the balefire of the megaspells sucked up all the sound in the world and destroyed it along with everything else. The silhouette of the cloud stayed in my vision for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes, and I wove through the alleyways towards Vault 1. My vault, the vault of Van Hoover. I never felt so safe in my life.

That was the last day, the fateful day, and the beginning of a whole new hell to come.

Author's Note

Many themes in this fanfiction are borrowed from both Fallout 3 (Copyright Bethesda Softworks) and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Copyright Hasbro). There are also themes borrowed from Fallout: Equestria (Original work by Kkat), Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons (Original work by Somber) and Fallout: Equestria - New Roam (Original work by Delvius). And possibly others, I am sorry if you were left out. Includes famous quotes from various sources.