Fallout Equestria: Operation: Shattered Glass

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One: An Assignment
Chapter Two: The Wasteland
Chapter Three: New Places, New Faces
Introduction

Prologue

Prologue: The Great War

If I'm going to tell you about my adventure -- how I made a new family, and what I experienced on my journey -- I should probably start by explaining The Great War.

The Great War was a decades-long militarized conflict between two global superpowers, the pony nation of Equestria and an unnamed zebra nation with whom it shared a border. This war lasted multiple years and forced Equestria into a rushed industrial revolution as the two superpowers raced to outdo each other in the fields of arcane science, industry, and wartime technology.

One of these developments, the megaspell framework for amplifying the power of spells, was powerful enough that its use led to the destruction of much of Equestria.

I was born in a stable along with my sister Ace, I got a job as a guard, as well as a mechanic and Beth got a job as a medic. We lived in that place for years until it finally opened. We were both horrified at what Equestria had become.

Over the years our dad joined the groups the Overmare sent out to look for supplies. It was pretty exciting if I do say so myself. During those days he explored caves and tunnels, were he found old stuff from the war. Beth was always excited to see these, thinking they could give us info about the war which they did. It's getting time to go check on the generators, I better get going.

Oh, my names Gadget. Pleased to meet you. This is my story...

Chapter One: An Assignment

Chapter One: Into the Wasteland

Chapter One: Into the Wasteland

"Let's get searching."

It was the annoying beep from my alarm clock that woke me. I stuck my right foreleg out from under my covers, felt around for my nightstand, found it, and slammed my pipbuck down onto the tabletop until I hit the right button making it stop. I groaned and stretched, earning a series of pops from my back. "Morning sleepyhead." A soft voice said. Looking up, I saw a red unicorn mare with a periwinkle mane and violet eyes peering down at me from the top half of my bunk.

"Hey, sis." I mumbled as I half-crawled, half-tumbled out of bed.

This is my sister Ace, though everypony referred to her as Vet. She's well known for causing trouble every now and then, such as, picking locks, sneaking out of the stable (or at least tried), and most recently drawing a mustache on the Overmare when she was asleep. The only reason the Overmare doesn't get rid of her is because of our father, who was a friend of her family, but that didn't mean she couldn't punish Ace.

"Rough, night?" she asked, giggling as I got up.

"You have no idea," I answered, trotting toward the mirror on the far side of our room.

"I would think so, you worked non-stop on the generators last night." She replied hopping off the top of the bunk.

"Don't remind me." I huffed, looking at myself in the mirror. My mane and tail were VERY messy, but at least they sill had their brown color. My coat was dark blue but, covered with grime. Some of it covered my cutie mark, a screwdriver. Ace trotted over to the mirror giving me full view of her body. Her mane and tail were combed perfectly, her coat didn't have a single speck on it, her cutie mark, a pink heart with a red cross in the center was flawless. It was like a contest to see who's cleaner.

"You look like you could use a shower." she said, looking at my reflection, and trying really hard not to laugh.

"No, shit." I replied.

"Why don't you head on down to the showers, I'll meet you there." she said, her laughter dying down, trotting to the closet to get her uniform.

"Good, idea." I mumbled, leaving the room.

Trotting down to the showers, I passed the library where I saw Sunflower the librarian, who I have to say is one of the hottest mares here, reading a story to a group of foals, waving as I passed by, to which I waved back blushing. Seeing them reminded me of when me and Beth were foals. Open Book, the librarian back then, read storybooks to us about the Princesses and the Element's of Harmony, we used to pretend we were element's, and go on crazy adventures throughout the stable. One time, Beth pretended the Overmare was a "dark lord" and decided to "end her reign of terror", or in other words "drop a bucket of mud of her head." Boy, was she angry, mom grounded Ace for a year! I'm glad I wasn't her.

As I reached the showers, giggling attracted my attention. Looking into one of the stalls, two mares were "playing" in the kind of way that got any stallion aroused. If behavior like that was caught in public, it was punished by non-stop twenty four hour work. Seriously! The worst part is one of my jobs is to stop that kind of behavior. I guess you can say that sucks. Pretty soon they looked up at me with shocked expressions before turning them to seductive ones. Oh boy, I know where this is going.

"Don't mind me ladies, I'm just here to get a shower." I say attempting to get to the next stall.

"I don't know about that," the white mare, Silver, said turning to her partner. "he peeked in at us as we were enjoying ourselves, I think he needs to be punished. What do you think?"

"I agree," the violet mare, Orchid, replied as they slowly trotted towards me, tails swishing from side to side. "besides, he's filthy, he'll need some help cleaning those "tough to reach spots."

Oh, crap! Well, I had to have seen this coming. Most of the mares in the stable had a crush on me, so usually they would try to drag me away to someplace private, asking for some "help". I didn't mind, in fact I liked it, but only with a few mares. Sometimes when I was cornered by the ones I don't prefer, or by one of my favorites who got carried away, Ace would usually come to my rescue, either tossing her homemade smoke bombs, using stun spells, or casting a blinding light spell, I owed her lot. Silver and Orchid were the among the few mares I prefer, but since I was really tired, and Ace would be waiting for me, I decided to decline.

"Sorry ladies," I said as they were circling me, "I'm afraid I don't have time right now."

Their expression turned to disappointment, but then turned mischievous, apparently they came up with a new way to seduce me.

"Are you sure?" Orchid asked, giving me puppy dog eyes, "Can't you stay for a "little" fun?" trotting past me, brushing her tail under my chin.

They got me! They new I couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes, I guess Beth's gonna have to a few minutes.

"Well, a "little" fun's never hurt anypony now has it?"

Instantly, their frowns turned upside down, grabbing my hooves they began to drag me to their stall. "You're gonna enjoy this, I guarantee it." Silver said, as we reached the stall.

"But first," Orchid said, licking her lips, "let's get you cleaned up."

Goddess, I'm the luckiest stallion alive!

By the time the "fun" was over, and I got cleaned, Ace was waiting outside dressed up in her uniform, she was holding a towel and my uniform. She had and unimpressed look on her face. scratching the back of my neck chuckling I said goodbye to Silver and Orchid, then trotted over to Ace smiling sheepishly. "Hi?"

"Seriously?" she asked, levitating me the towel. "This is the third time this week."

"I know," I replied, drying myself off, "they got me with the puppy dog eyes, it's hard to resist them. Sorry."

Ace rolled her eyes, "You know, sometimes I think you just make up excuses to see mares."

"Why?" I replied, throwing the towel into a nearby washer, putting my uniform on, and slyly grinning, "You jealous?"

Ace stepped back shocked, her cheeks flushed a shade of pink, "No! It's just, you have a bunch of mares chasing after you, and I have nothing! Not since..." she burst into tears.

My grin disappeared, and in one swift motion I wrapped her into an embrace, which she returned crying. This attracted the attention of a couple of workers trotting down the hall, I gave them a death glare and they were gone. I continued to embrace Ace as she cried into my shoulder, dampening it and my uniform, I didn't mind, all I cared about right now was staying with her. You see two years ago, Ace had a colt friend named Steel Girder, he was a engineer, and a good friend of the family, he was like a brother to me. He was good at making jokes, and always had knack for stealing my lunch. One day there was a problem with one of the generators, while repairing it he was electrocuted. Ace wasn't the same for 6 months! It's hard to believe it's still bothering her now.

"Look at me Ace," I said lifting her head up to look at me, "I miss him too, he always was there you when you were feeling lonely, and haven't I done the same ever since his death?" Wiping away her tears, she nodded, "Exactly, so the reason your angry is because I have a lot of mares chasing after, and me it's keeping me from spending time with you. Is that it?" She nodded again, "Okay, if that's the case, then I'll stop hanging out with the mares, and only spend time with you, okay?"

Smiling, she nodded one last, "Okay." She then snuggled into my shoulder, and tightened her embrace, "Thanks big bro, your the best!"

"Anything for you little sis," I reply, returning the embrace, "anything for you." Our embrace continued for a few more minutes before we pulled apart. "So, wanna get some breakfast?"

She beamed at that, "Yes please!"

"Alright, let's get going before they're all out." As soon as my back was turned Ace bolted past down the hall. "Last one their is a rotten egg!" she called back.

"Oh, you!" I shouted back, chasing after her, the both of us laughing the whole way.

It was tie.

We were both pretty exhausted once we made. So we heading straight for the kitchen, grabbing our trays. I got french toast, eggs, and a cartoon of milk. Ace got pancakes, a bowl a fruit, and a juice carton.

"Mech, Vet, over here!" a voice called.

Turning, we both saw a earth pony stallion sitting at a table, waving at us. He had a dark gray coat, brown eyes, his mane was black and was a mohawk with yellow zigzags, his tail was short, black, and had yellow zigzags as well. His cutie mark was a flashlight. It was Shine.

Oh, you're probably wondering why he called us Mech and Vet. The reason for that is because of our jobs. My job is being a Mechanic, hence the name Mech, Ace's job was being a nurse, but that wasn't why she was nicknamed Vet, the reason for that is because she was also a veterinarian due to her love of animals.

We trotted over to the table Shine was at to see 2 unicorns over there as well, one was a mare, she had a brown coat,a red mane and tail,green eyes,her cutie mark was 4 green gems, it was Gem Stone, an expert jewel finder. The other unicorn was a stallion, his coat was white, his eye, mane and tail were bright green, his cutie mark was a green apple, coincidentally his name was Green Apple.

"Hey, guys!" I said as we reached the table.

"Hey, Mech, Vet," Gem Stone greeted.

"Hello," Green Apple said as well.

"How are things with you guys?" Ace, asked.

"I've been stuck, helping out in dark places," Shine replied. "The workers have been having trouble using magic to see in the dark, since it requires a lot of concentration, keeping them from working. So they need me to 'shine' the light for them."

I cracked as smile as Ace, Gem, and Green giggled at the last part.

"Well," Gem Stone said when she stopped giggling. "I've been helping the excavators with digging up some recently discovered amethysts."

"Cool," Ace replied. "Those are the purple ones right?"

"Correct."

The excavation teams job was to dig up as many gems they could to be harvested for power. I know what you're thinking, 'How the heck are crystals used for power sources?'

Well, about 50 years after the war the generators for the stable started malfunctioning, so the engineers needed to come up with a way to make it work, so the scientists while inspecting the blueprints discovered that gems had special abilities depending on the color.

So the brown ones could be used as fuel, funny huh?

"We've also dug up some rubies and emeralds." Gem said.

"The rubies are green, and the emeralds are red right?" Ace asked.

"Complete opposite actually."

I chuckled, "What's the matter Ace? Going colorblind?"

"That's not funny!" Ace cried, as everypony busted out laughing.

When everybody calmed down, Green spoke up.

"I've been busy with the gardens, worms have been eating the apples."

"Eww." Ace commented. I rolled my yes and smirked, Ace was always creeped out by bugs.

"So, Shine, what am I going to be working on today?" I asked, as I began to eat my french toast. Shine's usual job was giving the workers here their jobs, whether fixing a broken pipe, cleaning the air vent, or dusting the ceiling, so I would usually ask him what I would be doing.

"You're not doing anything today, Mech."

I paused mid-bite, "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, neither are you Vet, all it's says it that you both need to check in with Blossom." Shine responded, holding up a clipboard.

"We need to check in with mom?" Mom was in charge of security her at the stable, after dad died she taught me to use a gun. She has always been protective of us, mostly to Ace since she was always getting into trouble. Why would we need to check in with her?

"Does it say why?"

"No, all it just says for you two to check in with her." Shine replied, looking at a clipboard.

This is strange. "Well Ace, lets finish up, and go see her. Hopefully she'll tell us whats happening."

After breakfast we trotted down to mom's office wondering why she would want to see us.

"What do you think she wants?" Ace asked, as we reached her office.

"I don't know, but were about to find out" I replied pushing the door open. Inside was a unicorn mare with a cream colored coat, a brown mane and tail, and green eyes sitting behind a desk, and reading a book. On the desk was a picture of her along with Me, Ace, and a pegasus stallion with a dark blue coat similar to mine, blue eyes, and a black mane and tail. It was dad. She looked up and smiled at us as we came in and sat down.

"You wanted to see us mom?" I asked, looking at her.

"Yes." she replied in a kind and gentle voice, getting up from her desk. "The Overmare has a very important task to be done, and I think you two have the skill to complete it."

"What is it?" Ace asked, curiosity in her voice. She probably thinks it will involve an adventure.

"The Overmare needs something to be delivered,"

"A delivery? Inside of a Stable? Where would we take-"

"outside of the stable."

"Well that's- wait, what?! "

"Awesome!" Ace cried, jumping from her seat, "Finally, I'll be able to see the outside for the first time!"

"Wait a minute!" I cried, causing Ace to look at me in surprise, " Mom, you're not serious are you? Do you have any idea what might be out there?! There could monsters for all we know!"

"Oh, lighten up Gadget!" Ace replied, "You should be excited, were finally gonna see the outside, I can't wait!"

"Mom, you really can't be serious, I mean dad never came back and he-"

At the mention of my mention the atmosphere dropped significantly, with none of saying a word. Ace looked like she was on the verge of tears while mom just stared at her desk with a blank expression, never looking up. After what felt like hours, she looked up.

"I am aware of the dangers outside of the stable, but you two are perfect for this job. Ace, you have the medical skills of an expert, and you can talk to animals, which will be a great advantage. Gadget, you know enough survival skill to survive 3 months outside, and don't forget you're a mechanic, which means you can fix or make anything that will help out with this delivery."

Well, she does have a point, but we still need to know what were delivering, who knows, maybe somepony or something with try to get it. But if the Overmare chose us for the job, we may as well do it.

"Alright, but still, what is is that has to be deliver?"

'I'm glad you asked!" She replied using her magic to levitate a key, unlocking one of the drawers to her desk, and taking an envelope out. "This is it," she replied putting it into a saddlebag, and levitating it over to use, "take good care of it."

That's it! An envelope! This will be easy.

"So," mom said, drawing my attention, "will you accept the job.?"

I pondered about it, we don't know what's out there, somepony could try to take it, but then again it just an envelope. "Yes."

"Alright!" Ace shouted, jumping into the air, falling onto the desk, knocking everything on it off, and causing all 3 of us to laugh.

We stood there, in front the stable door, waiting for it to open. We were given saddlebags full of supples for the trip. Mom was with us waiting for the Overmare to give us directions.

"I am freaking out!" Ace cried, shaking with excitement.

"Calm down, it's only a delivery." I said, rolling my eyes.

"I know, but still!" Just then, the Overmare, a mare with a pink coat, blue eyes, a purple mane and tail, and a gold key for a cutie mark came in, glaring at Beth, which she returned, and I think you know why.

"I believe, you two know what your task is?"

"Yes ma'am." we replied, though Ace tried her hardest not to.

"Good, you must find a town known as New Appleloosa, give the envelope to a unicorn stallion doctor named Stethoscope, then return to the Stable. The coordinates are in your pipbucks. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am." We replied.

"Very good, Lookout, open the gate!"

Lookout, a brown earth pony stallion with a blonde mane, and a telescope for a cutie mark replied "Yes ma'am!", and typed in the code.

Immediately the gate open up to reveal a tunnel that looked like it was underground, leading to the surface.

I looked towards Ace, "You ready?"

She looked at me with a smile, "I was born ready."

"Good luck." Mom said.

With that, I took one last look at my home, and at Mom who smiled and waved, with us waving back, and trotted into tunnel with Ace beside me, the gate closing behind us.

Chapter Two: The Wasteland

Chapter Two: New Faces

Chapter Two: New Faces

"Make some friends!"

"Dear sweet Celestia."

I regretted leaving the stable, as soon a we reached the surface, and I think Ace did too. All her excitement disappeared as soon as she saw Equestria. Everything was gone, the trees, the grass, the lakes, everything. There was no sun, only an overcast that stretched as far as thee eye could see.

"I can't believe it." Ace said, looking at the wasteland in shock. "Everything's gone."

I wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back, but if we go back now, they'll we weren't cut out for the job.

Might as well give it a try. Right?

I put my hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look at me, "Let's focus on the task at hand, then worry about this, alright?"

She nodded.

"Good, let's go."

We traveled for a while, looking in awe at the wasteland, wondering what it was like before this. I knew this was making Ace very uneasy. I had to keep my eye on her, if this is what happened to Equestria, who knows what we're bound to encounter.

"Hey, Gadget?" Ace asked, gaining my attention.

"Yeah?" I replied, looking at her.

"What do you think Equestria was like, before, you know, all this?" She asked, looking around at the wasteland.

"Maybe it was like the storybook, full of life and joy. Ponies living in harmony, under the sun and moon. With the Princesses watching over them."

"What do you think happened to the Elements of Harmony?"

Now that was a question. What did happen to them? Did they survive or perish from the war?

"I don't know sis." She nodded and looked away. I was afraid I said something wrong, when she looked back.

"Do you think, it will ever go back to being like that?"

That question got to me, could Equestria go back to the way it was? "I don't know, maybe someday."

"Well, I hope-" she froze, her ears perking up.

"What?" I asked, stopping.

"Listen."

I perked my ears up and listened, but didn't hear anything, "I don't-, wait a minute."

"Shhhhhrrrrriiiiiiieeeekkkkk!"

"What the hell was that?!" I cried, thinking it was some kind of creature.

"I don't know," Ace responded, "but I think it's in trouble." She sped off in the direction the shriek came from.

"Ace, wait!" I cried, chasing after her.

By the time I had caught to her, she had already stopped. She was standing over something that appeared to be struggling, closer look showed it to be a baby alligator. There was something strange about it though, it's scales looked different, and it was bigger than a normal sized baby alligator, but I shrugged it off.

"It's hurt." Ace said, and she was right. It's tail was stuck under a huge rock, struggling only made it worse for the poor thing. "Should we help it?"

"Of course not!" I snapped, causing her to flinch. "We don't know what it is, and as far as we know it's probably tricking us."

"But we can't just leave it here!"

"Ace I-"

"No!" I stepped back.

"I don't care what this thing is! This is our first time out of the stable, and you're think about leaving something to die?"

"Squeak!"

Turned our heads we saw the creature was staring at us. It looked up at me, I saw a pleading look in it's eyes, turning to Ace, I saw her give the same look. This made my heart ache. Despite everything we've seen, I knew Ace wouldn't leave this thing to die. No matter what.

Sigh. What am I getting my self into? "Go ahead."

Ace brought out a med kit from her saddlebag, and took out a bottle of medicine and some bandages. She then carefully, lifted the rock off it's tail. After that she opened up the medicine and rubbed it on it's tail, causing it to cringe. "Shh, shh, it's okay." she calmly spoke to the baby as she bandaged it's tail. She was really good with animals.

A few moments later, it's tail was bandaged, and healed. "There we go," Ace said, "all better."

The alligator gave it's tail a couple of swings, and happily squeaked. It then proceeded to lick Ace's cheek, then took off into the wasteland.

"Well," I said, "that was interesting."

An hour later it started to get dark so we made camp beneath a tree, or whatever was left of it. Ace got a fire going while I opened up a can of soup we had a few apples for dessert, then relaxed near the fire for a bit. I gazed up at the sky for Celestia knows how long, wondering why there were no stars, and just an overcast.

"Hey, Gadget?" Ace asked, bringing me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I responded, "What is it?"

"Do you think there was a reason we were given this task?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just curious as to why "we" were chosen. I mean the Overmare pretty much hates me."

"I don't know Ace, I'm just an ordinary mechanic, while your just a medic and vet who likes to pull childish pranks." I replied, smirking.

"Hey! Those were "top notch" pranks, not "childish" pranks!" She responded, pouting.

Laughing, I decided to keep this going, "Oh really? What about that time with the whoopee cushion." Ace's expression was hilarious, she tried to come up with several excuses, but she eventually gave up.

"Alright, fine. That one counts, but none of the others do."

"Oh, yeah? What about that time you put hot sauce in the Overmare's coffee?"

"Hey, she had it coming. Taking away my joy buzzer."

I laughed, "Ace, you shocked everypony there. You know that's against the rules."

Ace mumbled something that sounded like, "I know.", before yawning. "I'm gonna hit the sack, good night Gadget."

"Good night Ace." I said, as sleep overtook me.

We woke up a few hours later. We had some apples and cereal for breakfast, before continuing on our way. It wasn't long until it started raining. The winds picked up, thunder boomed, and lightning flashed. We struggled to move through it.

"Gadget!" Ace cried, her voice struggling to reach beyond the roar of the storm, "We need to find shelter!"

"I know!" I cried back, "But, I don't see anything here to shelter us. We're going to have to keep moving for now!"

Lightning flashed overhead, illuminating the wasteland around us. Sometimes we would see what looked like shelter, only for it to disappear in the blink of an eye, it was like the storm was playing tricks of us. Worse, whenever the lighted flashed, I would usually see the silhouette of a pegasus in the distance. What was really creepy is that it had two beady red eyes, and it was staring at us. Also, I saw another figure in the distance, it resembled a dragon, with beady red eyes staring at us as well, there was something about the way it looked but, it disappeared, not only that but I could've sworn when they disappeared, the two figures were glaring at each other. It wasn't until a while later that we found shelter.

"Gadget, look!" Ace cried, pointing towards something big and dark.

Lightning illuminated it, revealing it to be a cave, with determination we raced towards it.

We collapsed in exhaustion as soon as we reached the entrance, the inside was big, we struck a match and looked around, it had plenty space, 3 tied up ponies, a-

Wait, what?!

Sure enough, there were 3 ponies tied up, a closer looked revealed two of them to be donkeys, one gray, the other brown, with black manes and blue eyes. The third was a stallion, with a brown coat, black mane, blue eyes, and a shovel for a cutie mark. They looked in terror at us, and started struggling, they probably thought we were gonna hurt them.

"It's okay," Ace cried, "were not not going to hurt you."

They calmed down a bit, only to immediately start struggling again.

"Ooh, lookee what we got here! They walked right into it, didn't they?"

Turning around we both saw the exit was blocked by 3 ponies.

And they had weapons.

Chapter Three: New Places, New Faces

Chapter Three: Captured

Chapter Three: Captured

"She's gone!"

It all happened so fast. First we're given a mission, next we help some kind of alligator thing, finally we end up captured by slavers, this has been one crazy day.

"Keep moving'!" Sawed-Off yelled, yanking our chains. No pun intended.

We were currently being dragged through the terrain, in the middle of the rain.

"Will, I wanna go home." Ace said, looking at me in fear. Before I could answer, Cager hit me with his shovel.

"Shufp ufph!" He said, prodding us with his shovel.

"Do, you ever stop talking?" Sawed-Off asked, as Ace whimpered.

"Don't to her like that, y-" Before I could finish, a blow from behind knocked me down. Turning around I saw Cracker glare down at me.

"Hold, up!" Cracker shouted, causing us all to stop. He looked down at me. "I'd suggest you shut your mouth, before we decide to have some fun with your sister." he said, smiling evilly at her, causing her to shudder. "We won't be gentle."

I wanted wring his neck, believe me I did, but I need to protect her.

"Yes... sir." I replied.

He smiled, "Good. Now get moving!"

As we continued on, I found myself contemplating on whether or not to kill them. Maybe i sh-

"Hey, you alright?"

A new voice snapped me out of my thought, looking to my thoughts I saw the gray donkey, looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes!" I replied, getting agitated.

"Ok geez." he replied, putting some space between us, "I was just asking a question."

I sighed. "Sorry, I'm just worried."

"Can't argue with ya there. This is the best situation."

"Who are these ponies?" I asked.

"Slavers, raiders, murderers, you name it."

"Since when have there been raiders, in Equestria?"

"Oh, a couple of decades."

"Dear Celestia."

"Tell me about it, names Chips by the way."

"Gadget."

"Hey, mind if I cut in?" The other donkey asked as he came between us.

"Uh, sure?"

"Gadget meet my brother Nails."

"Hi."

"Hello." He replied back.

We continue trotting for a few minute before I spoke up.

"How did you guys get captured?"

"We were out scouting." Chips replied, we were looking for supplies for our community.

"Only thing is, these ponies were waiting for us." Nails added. "Call themselves Cager, Cracker, and Sawed-Off."

"Wait, you two are part of a community?" I was stumped, how could there be a community when there's nothing to thrive on?

"Yep. The two of us and Lucky back there." He replied, gesturing to the brown earth pony.

"Hey." He said.

"How can there be a community in the middle of nowhere?"

"It was built around a Stable. Since those things are stockpiled with food, ammo, armor, and tools, there plenty of ways to starts a community." Nails replied.

"So you guys are part of it."

"Yep."

"If we get out, of this, can you help me and my sister?"

"We'd have t-"

Before we could finish, we came to an abrupt stop. Looking ahead, Cracker was standing completely still, and he looked scared.

"What is it?" Sawed-Off asked, clearly agitated.

Cracker didn't respond, he just kept staring at no pony in particular. His face looked pale for some reason.

"For Pete's sake, what's wro-" Sawed-Off started, before his face paled as well. Confused, I trotted forward to see what was wrong only to regret it. Standing on top of a hill directly in front on us where a dozen silhouettes of ponies. The only thing is, they all had the same beady red eyes as the pegasus and dragon from earlier. Their clothes were VERY creepy. They were wearing nothing but rags, they reminded me of scarecrows, only difference is they were alive, and they had guns.

One of them stepped forward and spoke, "You have somepony we need. Give him to us."

Cager was so scared he looked like he was gonna wet himself. "O-of c-c-course, wh-which o-one i-i-is i-it." He replied stuttering, motioning towards us. I glanced at Ace, getting her attention. I motioned toward her saddlebag and mouthed, "pick the locks." She nodded, her horn began to faintly glow, and I could see the same glow in her saddlebag. All of a sudden I was shoved to the ground.

"Here, he is!" Cager yelled, presenting me to the ponies on hill, "How much do you wan't for him?"

They laughed, all of them.

"Whats so funny?" Sawed-Off asked confused, I would be lying if I wasn't confused too.

"Whats so funny?!" The pony responded in between laughs. "Whats funny is, that you actually think were gonna pay for him!"

Out of the corner of my eye Ace had already picked the locks on her cuffs, and was moving on to the others, Just a little longer.

"Of course we expect you to pay for him!" Sawed-Off yelled, "We don't work for free!

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but we'll be taking him one way or another."

"Oh yeah! I'd like to see ya try!" Cracker shouted, but I could hear fear in his voice.

"Well then," the pony said, " I'm sure Scarecrow would love to try."

The colored drained from Cracker and Sawed-Off's faces, I could also feel the chains on my legs fall off. I was free.

Without thinking twice, I turned and bucked Cracker square in the face.

Then all hell broke loose.

Once again, it all happened so fast. First, I bucked Cracker square in the face, next, Sawed-Off tried to shoot me with his shot-gun only for Ace to hit him with a spell, finally, causing him to fire at the ponies on the hill, almost hitting one of them. To sum it all up, they're trying to kill us. Right now, we're just running for our lives, Saw-ed Off used his magic to teleport himself, Cager and Cracker to safety, leaving us to die.

"Get the blue one!" the stallion from earlier shouted, "The boss want's him alive!"

I didn't know what they were talking about, but I didn't really care. All I cared about was protecting Beth.

"Come on!" Chips shouted, as he ran ahead, "Our settlements close by, we can take refuge!"

"I hope you're right!" I shouted back, "We could really use some help!"

I looked back, flying overhead, several pegasus were opening fire with their battle saddles, trying to hit our legs. I saw Ace take something out of her saddlebag with her magic, it was small, round, and gray. One of her smoke bombs! She pulled the pin, and hurled it at the pegasus.

BOOM!

Smoke went everywhere, blinding them. They flew into each other, fell to the ground, I think I one accidentally got shot. Oh Ace, thank Celestia for your pranks. It bought us some time, but I still had a feeling we weren't going to make it, but then Lucky spoke up.

"How much longer until we get th-" he was never able to finish because at that moment, a bullet went straight through his head, spreading blood everywhere. Even on us.

We were so surprised we both tripped and fell to the ground. Getting up, we looked back and saw his broken body, I was so shocked I couldn't move. I stared at him, blood gushing from his head, a blow to the side of my face, and a cry from Chips got my attention.

"Hey! Come on, we gotta go! Now!" he shouted, Nails was panicking behind him. I shook off the confusion and nudged Ace.

"Come on Beth!" I cried, but she wouldn't budge, "Ace, let's go!" but she still wouldn't move, she just stood there staring wide-eyed at his corpse, mouth open. "Beth, we don't have much ti-"

"Look out!" Nails cried, turning to run, I was to slow to react. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something that looked like a tiny silver apple without the stem, land a few feet away.

BOOM!

I flew several feet back, my head crunching against something when I hit the ground. Trying to open my eyes, I saw Ace, Nails, and Chips unconscious, I could also see our pursuers getting closer, whooping, and cheering as if this was some sort of sick game.

"We got'em!" One cried.

I tried to get up but every ounce in my body hurt, so it was pretty much pointless. I could see them getting closer, knowing what was going to happen, I closed my eyes ready to accept my fate, if only I could see Ace one last-

RATTA TATTA TATTA TATTA TATTA TATTA!

Gunshots! I opened my eyes to see what looked like a pegasus n black armor, coming towards mt shooting at them with a battle saddle. I heard them shout things like "It's him!" and "Retreat!" Before long they had all fled, leaving me thinking of who that was.

I saw him land a few feet away, and trot towards me. I started to make him out he was wearing black armor that seemed to cover his entire body, except his wings. His was concealed by a black mask with a red visor. He stopped right in front and kneeled down. Then he spoke.

"What happened here? Wheres my support? Fucking Observers took you all out? Damn. Gadget, is that your name? Gadget. Destiny's a bitch huh?" He got that right. "Don't worry I'll get you and your friends to safety." As he spoke, I could feel him lift me onto his back.

"Heavier, then you look, a little cardio wouldn't hurt would it?" Okay, now that was offensive.

As sleep took hold of me, I heard shouting.

"Quick, he's over here! Send help!

I blacked out.

Introduction

Introduction

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...

...there can an era when the ideals of friendship gave way to greed, selfishness, paranoia and a jealous reaping of dwindling space and natural resources. Lands took up arms against there neighbors. The end of the world came occurred much as we had pedicted -- the world was plunged into an abyss of balefire and dark magic. The details are trivial and pointless. The reasons, as always, purely our own. The world was nearly wiped clean of life. A great cleansing; a magical spark struck by pony hooves quickly raged out of control. Megaspells rained from the skies. Entire lands were swallowed up in flames and fell beneath the boiling oceans. Ponykind was almost extinguished, their spirits becoming part of the ambient radiation that blanketed the lands. A quiet darkness fell across the world...

...But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalyspe was simply the prologue for another bloody chapter in pony history. In the early days, thousands were sparred the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters known as stables. One such stable, none as Stable 52 was the home of a normal stallion, who would embark on a journey that would change his life forever.

Fallout Equestria: Rebirth