Fallout Equestria: Fading Echoes

by Winter Storm

All FoE credit goes to Kkat and Somber

MLP is the product of Hasbro and their associates

Chapter 2-Wasteland Wonders

"Sit on my horn and spin."

Pip-Bucks are the pinnacle of Stable-Tec inventions, second only to the Stables themselves. They moniter your health, keep track of your possessions, capture radio signals, and map your surroundings. That's just the basics. Magic makes a Pip-Buck complete. Stable-Tec Assisted Targeting Spells that seem to stop time itself. The ever-important Eyes-Forward Sparkle, with a compass on the top and a thing that tells time. Truly a marvel of modern pony engineering.

Now if I could just turn the damn thing on.

"Come on, you..." I growled, "turn on already. Activate. Power up." The Pip-Buck remained blank. The earlier messages had faded out long ago, replaced with a green screen. I had figured that it was still programming itself, so I let it be. In the meantime, I had set out towards the distant remains of the city I had spotted earlier. The problem was, I had no idea where I was going, nor what might lay ahead of me. Hence the need for the Pip-Buck's mapping feature. For all I knew, there could be a radioactive crater filled with cybernetic hellhounds riding tanks over the next hill.

At least I had the buildings as a landmark. I had caught sight of them about an hour earlier, and had gravitated towards the settlement. Luckily for me, the ground was pretty much barren, and offered plenty of visibility. Still, this Pip-Buck needed to start pulling its own weight if I was going to survive the rapidly descending night.

Maybe there's a button or switch on the side..."Ah ha!" I crowed. "Found you."

A small switch, protruding ever so slightly away from the side of the device, seemed to be the solution. All I have to do is flick th... Fuck. I forgot. No fingers. Retreating into my mind, I searched for the memories that were not my own. I had barely begun to focus on them before the process of telekinesis revealed itself.

One smug telekinetic flick later...

/System/Operations/System Initialization/Programming Locational_Tracker_1101

"Now that's more like it!" I grinned. Within moments, the screen of the Pip-Buck became coated with varying shades of green and black. I instantly found my current position, and took note of any locations on the screen. The town I had been traveling toward for the last few hours was entitled Cherryvale. Behind my indicator, back from where I had came, was an unusual icon. Something like an hourglass, and labelled "Arrival Site Alpha". Anyway, the town itself wasn't what caught my attention. Just below the town's name, there was a small marker, with the description Statue.

Well, that's descriptive.

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In front of me was a statue, worn with age, but still definable. A unicorn stallion, rearing on his hind legs. An ornate piece of armor, coupled with a hooded cloak, covered most of his body, with only his leg and neck exposed. A stylized helmet completed the statue's features. Despite being over two hundred years old, the statue was in relatively good condition. A faded placard identified the pony as Resonare. Given the condition of the statue, this guard must have been somepony of importance in Pre-War Equestria. I wonder what-

"NOW! KILL THAT FUCKER!"

Raiders. Again. Sorry, Resonare. You'll have to wait. At least I could perform clean kills this time. Nothing like the... No. Forget it. This shouldn't be too much of a pro-

BOOOM!

I went tembling head over tail as an explosion upheaved the ground before me. A storm of dirt and rock blew past me, rendering my aggressors invisible, and me coughing and vulnerable.

Yet again, I found myself making an acquaintance with the ground. A quick note: Wasteland dirt is VERY hard. Slamming into it at high speeds can be bad for your health.

As I lay helpless on the ravaged soil, clouds of dust danced through the afternoon air, rendering everything a swirling shade of brown. Only one thought was in motion, reverberating like the aftershock of the blast.

Can I go home now?

I attempted to pull my magnum out from its shoulder holster, but the shock of nearly being atomized must've caused my magic to conk out. Being smarter than the average bear, I followed the age-old pony method of grabbing things with my mouth. I had my new gun primed, ready to use. One good bite makes the bad ponies go away, as the bullet torn billboards had proclaimed.

I shakily stood up, tossing my head side to side in an attempt to find my attackers. My situation was pretty bad.. Clouds of dust still swirled through the air, obscuring everything from sight. When the ringing and shaking stopped, I was able to finally form a coherent idea. Maybe they think that the blast killed me. I could use all of this dust for cover.

A glance at my Pip-Buck confirmed that Cherryvale was straight ahead. Rather than sticking around to see if I could fight an unknown amount of attackers with no cover, I took off galloping as fast as I could towards the distant ruined town.

The dirt and debris thinned out as I got farther from the blast zone until the air was finally clear. After a few minutes, I stopped to catch my breath and to check for any pursuers. Apparently, the raiders had started running in the opposite direction. Figuring that it wasn't not good to question such things, I let it go.

Next stop: Cherryvale.

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For two centuries years of neglect, Cherryvale was in good condition. That is, there were still free-standing structures. Several buildings were still whole, only missing windows and a door or two. Lucky for me that this place didn't get hit by a balefire bomb. I thought. If it had, there would be nothing but a radioactive crater left. While that might suit a ghoul or alicorn just fine, it wasn't my idea of prime real estate.

The main entrance to the town was a different story.

The main path was clogged with bones. The ancient bones of ponies, all shapes and sizes. Right in front of me was the skeleton of a little filly, with two skeletal adults wrapped around it protectively. Shreds of clothing fluttered in a faint breeze. Sights like this continued, a road of remains trailing into the town's center.

I had never seen anything like this. But who had?

Even though they were a different species, I still felt immense sadness at the sight. Numbness, shock, dismay, they all elbowed their way into my mind. knowing that this kind of suffering happened and not being able to prevent it is as painful as a bullet to me.

Frankly, I wanted nothing more than to go back in time, somehow, and save these ponies from the terrible fate that had befallen them. Closing my eyes, I slowly waded my way through the graveyard, trying to block out the brittle sounds of snapping bones.

Just something on -snap- the ground...

It didn't work. This wasn't a single pony, one who suffered through my actions. Thoughts swarmed me, questions that would never be answered. Who am I stepping on? What was their life like? Did they have family? Did they help to end Equestria?

Or are they just more victims of a senseless war?

A minute later, the dreadful sounds came to an end, signifying that I had passed the ordeal. I needed a break. I needed to get away from all this, to just find a corner and let my emotions out. I opened my eyes, finding myself in the center of town.

I also found that I was not alone.

Alicorns. Fluent in flight, magic, and movement, one would be real tough to beat in a fight. The Equestrian Wasteland's equivalent of super mutants, but with a unifying mentality and frightful intelligence. I certainly had no desire to become one with Unity.

Yet I had four staring at me across the square with their demonic eyes. Purple, green, blue, and...black?

I quickly reviewed what I knew about the monsters. Purples were known for their teleportation abilities, blues had exceptional invisibility powers, and greens, masters of telepathy and shielding, could also supplement the spells of other alicorns.

I remember there being only one black alicorn in the Wastelands, even though she was truly a green. She who wore the skeletal remains of Princess Luna as decoration. The pony who needed to die.

This alicorn, although the same unique color, wasn't wearing anything but her horn, wings, and a angry expression. Nevertheless, she was giving off some sort of dark glow that closely resembled heat waves. Even from this distance, my Pip-Buck began to click. Concentrated radiation. Her mere proximity could kill me.

I was totally screwed.

I had taken on three raiders with a single spell. However, my newfound magic couldn't possibly defeat four of the Wasteland's toughest creatures. Having clearly caught sight of me, the purple alicorn seized the initiative and teleported adjacent to me. She reared up on her hind legs, ready to crush my head in like a watermelon. I stumbled away from her, struggling to pull my gun, to enter S.A.T.S., knowing I would never be able to take a shot before getting brained.

Even as the revolver slid out, I waited for the inevitable.

It never came.

A split second before her hoof crushed my skull, a high-velocity whizzed by my face and tore through her head in a spray of blood and gore. A second later, the loud crack of a rifle echoed through the square. As the partially-decapitated alicorn collapsed, I scrambled away. This mystery sniper might have meant that shot for me.

A decent-sized hole had been made through the right side of the alicorn's head, tearing chunks of flesh from her skull. However, blood failed to pour from the shattered bone and torn flesh. Rather, a pinkish gas was wafting out from the trench, melting and warping the surrounding flesh. Before my eyes, bone turned as soft as wax.

Pink Cloud. That bullet was filled with the most dangerous substance in the Wastes.

There was no chance in this world or the next that this creature had survived. I had the body of a purple alicorn laying in front of me, with half of its head melted and deformed. My thoughts invariably shifted back to the raider, yet again. Somehow, I didn't feel the same revulsion.

Across the town square, the black alicorn looked stunned. I could remember that Pink Cloud disrupted an alicorn's telepathic ability, but they must have sensed the pain and suddenness of the shot.

I had no doubt that Unity would not want to experience that pain again, as evidenced by the green alicorn forming its classic shield of energy. It draped over its body like goo, starting from the horn and creating a larger, invulnerable form of the pony. That was strange; shield spells formed domes or spheres. I could only guess that this shield allowed better mobility, at the cost of increased magical drain. Even still, as the glowing energy reached its legs, another shot rang out in the still air. The green pony flinched, pulling up its right foreleg like an injured animal. By then, the shield had fully surrounded it, shimmering with eldrich power.

It wasn't enough.

Moments before the shield finished, another bullet had hit the green one in the leg. Just like before, the high-caliber shot had inflicted considerable damage to the limb, almost tearing off the hoof. Now, as it quivered in its magical armor, pink gas began to flow from the wound.

The deadly agent crept up the leg of the now convulsing alicorn, before spreading out across its body. Flesh warped and melted, blisters popping as soon as they appeared. As her face became obscured by Pink Cloud, she let out a long, anguished scream, which was echoed by the two remaining alicorns. At last, the shield winked out, revealing the shriveled and tortured remains of the pony. With one foreleg still raised, a gruesome statue of melted flesh remained affixed to the blasted ground. fur and skin slowly removed themselves in the gentle breeze. Alicorn, sniper, and former human all stood silent, unmoving, until nothing but a warped skeleton remained.

Another marker to the Wasteland's horror.

The blue alicorn took a few steps backward before turning invisible. No doubt it was attempting to save its own life.

While I was distracted by the grim sight of the skeleton, the black one had shrouded itself with its own shield, one that pulsed and crackled with radioactive energy. The ticking on my Pip-Buck became more intense. Letting loose a wild cry, she charged at me, fury and pure anger in her blood-red eyes.

Quickly raising my magnum with telekinesis, I took aim at the creature and focused a thought on S.A.T.S.

In the alternate reality of S.A.T.S., I saw the frozen world with unmoving eyes. A mere thought allowed me to queue up all six shots on the alicorn, with a decent chance to hit. Fire! I cried in my thoughts.

Reality started up again. One after another, the six .32 rounds left the cylinder. Each splattered uselessly on the shield, flashes of light accompanying them.

Before I had a chance to reload, or even look for more ammo, Nightseer collided with me. She tossed me backward into the dessicated building a dozen feet away, cracking the wall in an almost comical fashion.
.

The sound of bones cracking wasn't quite so humorous.

I struggled to get up, near tears from the pain, but a glowing black hoof forced me back down. The contact sent burning sensations deep into my body, and drove the breath from my lungs. I looked around desperately, hoping that I could do something to save my life.

My vision was filled with the sight of a midnight black head dropping toward me, like the final curtain of an opera.

The screaming of my radiation counter going insane.

The cry of a nearby mare, full of anguish and regret.

The last sensation I felt was a horn piercing through my skull.

Footnote: Halfway to Level 3! Or death. Either one could happen.

Author's Note

I've gone and fixed this chapter up a good amount. I figured that Nightseer would make a good MacGuffin for this part of the story. It would also fit into the canon storyline, given what comes next.