Fallout Equestria: Darkstar

Fallout Equestria: Darkstar

By ValdimarGreen

Chapter 1: Birth

Life. Life never changes. Unless of course, should you cut the cocoon open.

Life was great within the cocoon, I should know, I had lived it for two centuries now. There had been no hunger, no pain and no thoughts to mark the passage of time, only a floating sensation within a green haze.

Then one day, something changed, suddenly there were ripples rolling over me, accompanied by a strange sensation of sinking. Cold air touched my carapace for the first time. Sensations filled me as my senses came fully alive, sound, sight, smell, taste and touch. And my world changed.

I could feel my heart, and with every beat, genetic information was interpreted and converted into an rough education regarding myself, the hive and the world. I was a changeling, a parasite, with one single purpose, to serve the Queen and the hive. How you serve, varies depending on what kind of changeling you were. A larvae can be grown into either a female, a builder, a harvester or a warrior, by filling its cocoon with the right gene altering goo.

My cocoon had been filled with slime that promoted enhanced physical capabilities and a stronger carapace in favor of other attributes, such as spellcrafting and intelligence. Not that I’m stupid mind you, say rather, that the other types tend to be very clever. Still, nothing wrong with being a warrior, the safety of the hive lay in my hooves after all.

The whole process of birth and schooling was done in less than five seconds after the air first touched me. Not a little overwhelmed, I twisted around in my cocoon to look out through the gap that had been sliced in it. My schooling told me that my Queen would be just outside, ready to grant me a name. Not wanting to keep her waiting, I ripped apart the cocoon in my haste to get outside. Rather ungracefully, I and a lot of green slime flopped out on the metal floor.

As I got to my feet, careful not to slip in the goo, I noticed a small zebra who sat frozen a few paces away. That was not my Queen... and this room… it didn’t look at all, like how a hatchling chamber should, it was cubic rather than ovoid. Where was the rock walls smoothed with adhesive green spittle? Where was the rich clammy air? Reality was fucking up everything!

Returning my attention to the filly zebra, I studied her. Was she the one who had cut open my cocoon? She shook slightly, her wide eyes fixed on me as I moved closer, Her shaking grew more frantic as the distance between us shrunk. I looked down at her, and she stared back up at me. She was breathing quickly, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

She opened her mouth and whispered one word, “Darkstar.” It came out in a mix of awe and horror. My genes had been expecting a name, and were determined not to let it slip away. I was ‘Darkstar’. Not too shabby, I thought, as I rolled it around in my mouth.

With my name came the outraged realization that zebras were not allowed in the hive, she was not supposed to be here. She was an invader! I growled at her, “Where is the Queen and what is this place?” My words seemed to trigger something in the zebra, because she lunged forward and to the side, scooping up her dropped dagger with her mouth. Her head swiveled around in a tight arc as she hurled the dagger towards me.

“Die starbeast!” she shrieked.

The dagger hit me point first in the base of my throat, and promptly glanced off my carapace, sending the dagger skidding across the floor, before finally stopping in a puddle of slime. Thoughts fled as I rushed forward and slammed into the zebra, carrying us both to the ground.

She squeal, “FATHER H--” her cry was cut short, as my jaws clamped down tight around her windpipe, fangs digging into her throat. I got you now, I thought, as I bit down hard.

With surprising ease, my maw split her hide and ripped through the flesh beneath. I tasted warm blood and filthy fur. And I could feel the gooey texture of her flesh. Uuuhhge, It was sickening. I jerked away from the filly and heaved out the big chunk of flesh and fur that I had ripped from her throat. I spat a few times, trying to get the coppery taste out of my mouth.

Feeling decidedly bad about how my life was going so far, I turned back to the small zebra. She lay in a spreading pool of her own blood, small ripples rolling over the surface as her legs moved in a feeble imitation of a gallop. Her eyes had unfocused and her mouth sagged open just a bit, as her movements slowed. There was something about the view that was deeply disturbing.

A gruff voice called from beyond the doorway, “Imhani? Are you down there? We have finished with the upper floors, it's time to move!”

I jerked away from the grim view and looked at the doorway. The zebra had not been alone, and what did he mean with ‘finished with the upper floors’? I looked around frantically, my eyes finally returning to the now dead zebra, Imhani. I knew the theory behind spellcasting, but knowing and doing are two different things. I crouched, tensing all of my muscles, focusing on my horn and my memory of the small zebra. A ring of green fire engulfed me, rippling over my body, changing it.

The room grew both larger and darker. In fact, it was hard to distinguish much of anything in the light from the single lantern that was resting by the doorway next to a satchel. My body felt weird, especially my ears and eyes. No longer fixed in place, I could now move them around freely.

I had not time to adjust however, as the voice called again sounding angry now, “Imhani, you get your flank up here, this instance! Everyzebra is waiting for us!”

With no time to think I rushed to the doorway scooping up lantern and satchel. Whoever these invaders were, I did not want them coming down here and discover the corpse. I dashed out the door as fast as my new short legs could carry me, up along a corridor towards a dimly lit staircase. I noted vaguely that this place also didn't resemble a hive in any way. The walls and floor were made from white slick material and the ceiling were a mesh weirdly bending cylinders. Where was the tubelike rock tunnels lit by luminescent fungi?

I pushed my rising fear and uncertainty to the back of my mind.

A bit short of breath, I emerged at the top of the staircase, and was greeted by a large gray room filled with trash. A row of broken windows was letting in a refreshing cold breeze. As I turned taking it all in, my gaze landed on a huge zebra, towering almost three times my current height. He was standing to the side, looking decidedly unhappy.

Before I could react, I had two massive forelegs wrapped around me, squeezing me. I stiffened in terror, he was gonna crush me. Somehow he had seen through my disguise and at any moment, he would snap me like a twig.

A moment later the zebras death squeeze softened. “Imhani, my dear daughter, what have I told you about running off by yourself,” the zebra said as he held me. He reached up and stroked my mane with one of his hooves. “I swear, one of these days, one of your little adventures will get you killed. And what would your mother and I do then?”

Shivering slightly, I whispered the only thing I could think of, “Sorry.”

Satisfied with my response, the zebra released me. “So did you find anything down there?” he asked.

I shook my head, dumbly “Nope, nothing.”

He smiled, “At least you are safe. Come on. Lets go. The others are waiting for us.” He turned and trotted towards a doorway. I followed a few paces behind, with a rising feeling that something had gone terribly wrong.

Changelings are not killers, we are parasites and as such we need the equines to flourish so we can thrive ourselves. Since a dead pony is a pony who won't be feeding a changeling, killing tended to leave a bad taste in ones mouth. The warrior cocoon however, is designed to dampen such traits especially should the hive be in danger. So it wasn't really my fault. I was just a product of my cocoon and I had believed my hive to be in danger… it had been an unfortunate accident.

But from the looks of it, my hive was not even here and never had been. I hung my head, a mounting sense of loneliness sweeping over me. The cool breeze that a moment ago had felt invigorating was now unpleasantly cold against my coat. The zebra filly was dead, and she was not coming back, so I might as well make the best of it.

“Rotspawn” I swore under my breath. Shaking my head I tried to force the gloom to the back of my mind. Come on Darkstar! Just hang around for a bit, feed on the love of her parents, grow strong, then head out and find the hive! How hard could it be?

Imhanis father lead the way down a wide corridor towards a pair of double doors. They stood flung open to the outside, another zebra standing between them. The new zebra wore a brown leather barding, leaving only her face visible. Her stripes were a rich black color and tightly packed over her face.

As we approached, the zebra called out to Imhanis father, “ Did you find her, Xingahar?”

Xingahar stepped to the side revealing me, “I did. And you were right, Zevah. She was in the basement.”

Zevah smirked at me, “Find any monsters to vanquish?”

I did the safe thing and shrugged. They both gaped at me, stunned.

Zevah stared hard at me, “Who are and what have you done with the real Imhani?” she asked. I froze, had I just given myself away? Before I could think of a reply, Zevah was on me, a foreleg wrapped around my head. I was so dead.

But Zevah was laughing and ruffling my mane with her other hoof. She turned to Xingahar, “When did she grow up and how did I miss it?” She released me and took a few steps back.“Whatever happened to...” She rose up on two hooves and struck a pose, one hoof pointing at me. Making her voice squeaky, she proclaimed “Miss Zevah! Your mockery this day, shalt not be forgotten! One day soon we shall strike thee down in honorable combat.” Zevah came down again, laughing hard. Xingahar was smiling.

I thought fast, apparently Imhani had been an extremely dramatic filly. If I were to play her part, I would have to learn to act like her, enough to keep them satisfied at least. I rose too my own hindlegs, wobbling slightly, and pointed a hoof at Zevah “Thee exploits our weariness to taunt us! Begone!”

Zevah smiled broadly. “Consider me, vanquished!” she said as she turned and trotted out.

Xingahar was smiling warmly. “I swear that sometimes, watching the two of you, I could forget the wasteland and all our problems.” I gave him a forced smile in return, and added a yawn to further establish my lie about being tired. He stepped over and pulled my up on his back. “Lets get you to the wagon.” he said as he trotted towards the doorway.

Resting upon his back, I was anything but tired. Love was pouring into me through every inch of my body, making my muscles tingle slightly, as they were filling with power. I was more than ready to take on the outside world.

The outside was not ready to receive me however, as it looked completely wrong. It should have been be vivid and alive… not gray and dead. Dilapidated buildings were tightly packed along the streets, some only seeming to hold together by the stale vines that snaked around them. Anything metal had rusted long ago, causing brown smudges to be visible through the coating of gray dust that covered everything.

“What the fuck happened?” I whispered to myself. This looks even worse than the badlands...

I frowned, Where was I anyway? My schooling had not been specific enough to provide me with a map. Now that I thought about it, my education had really been lacking in many ways. I needed to find out just what was wrong with it, and then fill in the gaps. To do that however, meant, asking questions. A dangerous pastime while masquerading as a zebra, who should already know the answers.

As Xingahar trotted down the steps to the building, I hazarded a question; “Why did we pick this building again?”

Xingahar slowed a bit as he answered, “Remember that map you found? This building was marked ‘Bright Shoe medical research center’, sounded like the perfect place to resupply on medical supplies.”

“And was it?” I asked.

Xingahar slumped a little bit, “Its been a long time since the war, and there have been lots of scavengers before us… It was stupid of me to assume that it would have supplies still lying around. However, we did find a few things in a locked office on the third floor, including a PipBuck.”

“Thats good,” I said, as my mind raced through what I had learned. War? Scavengers? Pipbuck? I have a bad feeling about all this, especially this ‘Bright Shoe’ character, why had he kept my cocoon in his house?

As we came around the corner of the building, I could see two wagons surrounded by zebras. I counted sixteen of them. They were all covered in dust, just like everything else. They were all dressed in dusty bardings of some kind or another. I noted that five zebras were not carrying any bags, rather they were shouldering metal pipe-things in different shapes and sizes. I noticed that Zevah had one too.

Zevah waved, as we closed with the group. A zebra wearing a black barding with lots of metal plates, stepped forward. “About fucking time!” he said angrily. The effect was somewhat ruined as he began sneezing hard from the dust a moment later. I dubbed him ‘Sir Sneeze’ in my mind. Zevah snickered softly, as if she had read my thoughts.

Xingahar ignored Sneeze as he trotted up to one of the mares and nuzzled her. “We found her, she was in the basement.”

“Good,” the mare said, as if she didn’t really care. She turned to me, and by the scruff of my neck, hoisted me up onto a wagon . Two other fillies and a colt were already sitting on it. The mare turned to one of them. “Keep an eye on her, Majina,” she said again in that same monotone voice.

The little filly named Majina wrapped a foreleg around my neck, “No worries, If your daughter gains another stripe, I will be there to see it.” she said with a wide grin. She leaned over and with the corner of her mouth she whispered in my ear, “You better take me with you next time!”

This mare was supposed to be my ‘mother’? Strange, there was not a drop of love coming from her. I thought that ponies were supposed to love their offspring. On the other hoof, maybe zebras where different? I settled back as the wagon jerked into motion. Everything was proceeding smoothly, unless you counted the dead filly back in the basement.

The band of zebras pulled the wagons down the side of the road, the wheels were grinding furrows in the dust, that stretched out behind us. The zebras with the metal pipe-things had spread out in a loose semicircle ahead of us. As I was scanning the streets, Majina was telling me some stupid story her mother had told her.

Two hours later, we approached a large town square with tall buildings on either side. By this point, I was bored out of my mind and itching to move. Xingahar and Zevah were channeling love into me constantly, and ignoring Majina took almost no energy at all. Lying on my back, with my head outside the wagon, I counted the junk that littered the streets as we rolled by. Then suddenly there was a pony skull lying in the dust. I jumped up, “Whuuaaa! How did that get there?” I exclaimed.

Majina glanced at it, and then gave me a strange look. “Because somepony died there,” she said slowly, as if talking to a complete nincompoop.

“But how did it happen?” I clarified.

Majina swept a hoof in a wide arc, “The same way as all the others, I would think.” I followed the arc with my gaze and saw them... hundreds, no thousands of bones scattered all about in the dust. Majina continued, “The whole town was probably gathered here when the bombs struck. I guess that explains why there have been so few bones up until now, compared to that previous town.”

My brain blinked a few times trying to sort it out. It sounded like towns filled with bones were commonplace to the zebra filly. Also, what manner of creature had these ‘Bombs’ been for them to be able to slaughter a whole town like this? Wait... was this the war Xingahar had mentioned?

Bones began to crunch and snap under the weight of the wagons as we entered the city square. Rolling down the edge of the plaza with a brick building with a row of broken windows to our left, I chanced another question, “How many years has it been now?”

Majina looked at me for a moment, then she turned away and shouted to one of the zebras, “Mom how long since the bombs fell?!”

The zebra responded calmly, “Two hundred years or so, it has been.”

I was saved the effort of having to hide my shock, because right at that moment a huge snake like thing wiped out through a broken window of the brick building, and closed its teeth around the torso of a zebra who was walking just ahead of the wagons. The zebra screamed as the snake thing pulled itself back through the window even faster than it had coming out. The zebras slammed into the window frame, halting the creature. It gave a vicious tug and the zebras body snapped before being jerked through, into the darkness within.

“RADEELS!” somepony called out, just as another of the creatures sprung forth from a different window. Its maw closed around the zebra that were pulling our wagon. The entire wagon was jerked to the side and began sliding towards the building.

Close up now, I could see it clearly. It had dark red scales, a massive lower jaw and two huge darting yellow eyes. It was a Quarray-eele! Memories not my own flooded me, showing the creatures invading hives, killing and consuming builders, females, larvae and cocoons alike. They were monsters without compare and the main reason for the existence of warrior cocoons.

All thoughts fled and I let out a battle roar as berserker rage filled me. I wanted to use my horn and fangs to rip into the monstrosity. However, a faint thread of logic prevented me from changing back on the spot. Instead I pulled out Imhanis dagger, and leapt on top of its head.

Screaming around the dagger in my mouth, I plunged it into one of its disgusting eyes. The beasts eyelids snapped shut around the dagger, pinning it in place. The beast screeched and released the zebra in its maw, and yanked itself back through the window. Still with a death grip on the dagger, I was yanked along through the air, towards the window. Xingahar was shouting something as I disappeared inside.

Well inside, the beast went into a frenzy, flinging itself over the floors and against the walls. In the onslaught, I lost my grip on the dagger and tumbled to the floor. The eeles remaining eye focused on me. It paused in its rampage to let out a roar that reverberated throughout the house.

I gathered myself, and with a burst of green fire, changed myself back into my true form. And it felt good, so very good. Now I could use all my built up energy without restriction. I leapt forward and to the left, putting me on the eeles blind side. The massive head turned as it tried to keep me in sight. I shifted four carapace plates on my back, releasing and unfolding two pairs of wings. A deep buzzing filled the air as i launched myself up towards the eele.

My flying power might have been weak compared to a pegasus, but my horn was sharp. So it was no big surprise when the force I did manage to build up, proved enough to drive my horn deep into the monsters throat. Cackling in glee, I wrapped my legs around its body and twisted my head violently, jerked back and forth, my bladelike horn slicing through its flesh, tearing and twisting. Blood splattered down over my head and poured into eyes, tinting my vision red. Screaming in pain, the thing writhe violently trying to fling me off. Useless! Useless! Useless! It’s useless you fucking overgrown worm. You are going to DIE! I thought as I laughed.

With a final heave, the thing suddenly went limp and tumbled to the floor, slamming me into the ground with it on top. Pain erupted up through my body and my head felt like it was about to split apart. It was the first time I felt real pain, and it was rapidly ruining my good mood. It got even worse as I wriggled painfully out from underneath its bulk. Forcing myself to my feet, I stumbled achingly over to my dagger and picked it up with mouth.

“IN HERE!” a muffled voice shouted, from the next room.

I froze, “Shit!” I needed to change back, and quick! Even in my current state, with pain twisting my insides, the magic came easily. I felt the green flames rippling over my body, transforming me into Imhani once more.

A moment later, the door was bucked off it hinges and Xingahar, Zevah and Sneeze burst into the room. “Imhani!” Xingahar shouted, sounding panicked. Then his eyes landed on me. All three of them stopped and just stared.

I didn’t blame them considering how it must look. A filly zebra drenched in blood, clutching a small dagger in her mouth, standing with her back to the carved up corpse of a monster whose teeth were thicker than her legs.

I felt pride surge through me, I almost felt no need to act as I spat out the dagger and rose onto two legs, posing dramatically. “Behold the fate of those who-” I was interrupted as Xingahar swept me up in a painful hug, ignoring all the blood.

Then he sat me down and roared in my face, “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!” I temporarily forgot that I was a fully grown changeling warrior, as I cowered before his fury.

The lecture took quite some time, Xingahar was pacing back and forth growling and throwing the occasional angry question my way. Questions that could only be answered correctly with a ‘sorry’ while looking at the floor. Zevah had signaled through a window that everything was fine, and then had settled down to enjoy the show. Sneezes gaze was constantly shifting between me and the monster, as if he still couldn't believe it.

When we finally left the building, darkness had settled in. The zebras had set up camp around a small fire. Two zebras were cooking pieces of a radeele over the flames. I stared at them, as they worked.They were going to eat it? That was disgusting! Though, I would admit that the thought of the radeeles being turned into poo, was rather pleasing.

The three radeeles had managed to killed four zebras before perishing. Still, a very good trade in my opinion, especially since these radeeles seemed to be a larger breed of the traditional Quarray-eele.

As we came into the firelight, the three fillies from before rushed up to me, Majina at their head.”That was amazing!” she said as she came to a halt in front of me. The other two closed up on each side of her and started talking over each other in their haste to express how amazing I was. I felt my face split in a huge grin, Xingahars lecture forgotten.

With pride burning in my chest, I told them the tale, or at least an altered version of the tale, starring Imhani rather than Darkstar. There were a lot of posing and speeches involved, some of the adults had wandered close to hear. They all gasped when I told them how the radeele had swallowed me, and how I had cut my way out, using my dagger. Everypony that is, except the zebra wearing the metal plate barding, Sneeze was frowning.

Later, when camp was all set up, the zebras had all given a toast to their dead comrades. After drinking my own cup of bitter water for appearances sake, Xingahar approached me carrying a strigil in his mouth. I stared at the small curved cleaning tool, how come I know what that is called... but not the pipe-thingies?

Xingahar saw me narrowing my eyes at the strigil, “I know you don't like being cleaned, but if we don’t do it soon, all that blood is going to dry and you will be itching all over.” he said sounding tired.

I had in fact, already begun to itch. Having skin rather than carapace was really inconvenient. Had I been in my original form I could simply have closed my eyes and jumped into the fire, letting the flames burn away the dirt and blood. As it was however, I had little choice but to submit to Xingahars painful administrations.

Afterwards, my skin felt both bruised and raw, enough so that I was actually looked forward to sleeping. As I lay down next to Xingahar to do just that, I was surprised to see all the other children had gathered around him. Xingahar pulled out a book from one of his saddlebag and put it in front of him. “So what story would you like to hear tonight?” he asked in his gruff voice.

Majina and the colt spoke in unison. “The first Caesar and his battle with Darkstar!” The other filly who had been saying something else, quickly changed her mind and piped in her support. My ears had perked up on the mention of my name.

Sleep would have to wait.

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Dragonslayer - You gain +50% Damage when attacking any Reptile or Amphibian.