Tales by Balefirelight (a Fallout: Equestria Group Collab)

Oh No, Not Again

by MoistGooDragon

Oh no, not again...

A repeat of the mistakes 200 years ago. The hail of balefire, raining down from the heavens to sear the landscape. You would think ponykind would learn, but you'd be wrong. In the time it's taken for society to get back on it's hooves from the fallout of the war, they might have learnt to be peaceful.

They never did.

Ponies, zebra, they grew more aggressive. No chance to survive if you didn't make your time count for something. Theft was everywhere, from the dead, the living, and the was-living-five-seconds-ago. Distrust, nopony to turn to when you need it most. Of course, there are a few kind souls that would help you when you were down but, they're a rarity.

Of course, they'd be even less common after this.

The sound of a balefire detonation rang out across the land, and the explosion was visible for an even greater distance. The location of the bomb? A small town that was just beginning to make a name for itself. The poor citizens had the unfortunate fate of building the town around a live balefire bomb. Of course, it was stable...

...until I got to it.

It wasn't my original plan, not in the slightest. In fact, the sheriff of the town actually asked me to deactivate the device for good. He offered a pretty sum - a good 500 caps for my efforts - but a shady pony in the town's saloon gave me a greater offer. 2'500 caps to set it to blow, and a luxury suite in one of the most organised places in the Wasteland. I jumped at the offer, I didn't even think about anything else. Death is common in the Wasteland, right? Nopony would care if a couple ponies died horribly.

Except the one pony everypony should know - DJ Pon-3.

The suffering I might have caused never crossed my mind at first, until I flicked on the radio while relaxing in one of the cleanest beds the effects of war could offer.

"...The town of Rustbucket has been wiped off the face of Equestria, ponies. Now now, I know it was only new compared to some of the other places around, but they're ponies for Celestia's sake - ponies who aren't involved in mindless killing! And to top it off, the culprit for this tragedy is alive and well, living it up in Tenpony Tower. An outrage! I've been informed that the name of this villain is Aqua Regia, a young buck with a blue coat and..."

I froze. Suddenly I found no comfort in the warm blanket and soft pillows that I wrapped myself up in. How did he know? How could he know? I couldn't go back outside, out to fight my way through the wastes. Not with every decent pony hunting me down. I survived once, but I had no intentions to go back to the way I was.

Not again...

Oh no.