Fallout Equestria: Days Of Forgotten Pastby Night_Shade4435ChaptersProlouge (WIP)Before You're TimeOut Of The Darkness, And Into The LightZebra's RevengeThe Heart Of EquestriaValley Of The AlicornsFAQ (WIP)New HorizonsProlouge (WIP)Warning Contains Spoilers Of Fallout Equestria In The Days before the War, all was peaceful, city's prospered and ponykind thrived. Alas it was not to be, despite this wealth and prosperity some ponies, ponies with corrupted hearts and minds craved more even at the cost of others. The revolution had begun, mass production started to take priority along with profit margins, slowly manual labour was mechanized causing workers to lose their jobs, this created unrest and migrations from rural to urban for the lust for wealthy jobs. Urbanisation had begun at last. Leading up to the fall, newly established corporations started to do the unthinkable, done in secret slave labour was on the rise even though this was banned throughout Equestria. A single pony could be prosecuted however a entire organisation could hide this within the shelter of its own propriety. Even if this was discovered by the authority the slave trade still boomed on the black market, this led to tensions growing between all races within Equestria and many threats and disputed arising. Finally 40 years after the revolution began Equestria was plunged into war, it started off from rationing of exotic material that was unique in certain parts of Equestria such as coal a valuable fuel source for many civilised cultures. The war began with ponies against zebra's, then slowly dragons and buffalo joined the zebras while griffins joined the ponies. To start with many claimed the war was just, however as the years passed the feud and fighting intensified and the original trigger was forgotten in the hatred it brew, with the development of new weapons and technology's that could give the other side the upper hand. Celestia granted each of the mane 6 their own ministry where they could fuel the war effort in their own unique way. Twilight's ministry focused on magic and technological advances. Rarity's was similar however she made armour and in secret necromancy with the black book stolen from the ancient zebra race. Fluttershy's ministry tried to make peace with the zebras and she invented the heal-spell which brought things back to life which she hoped would end the war, to her horror they were changed into mega-spells which caused only destruction. Rainbow's ministry made several occasional contributions however it was closed after failing to produce anything for over a number of years. Apple jack's ministry made ammunitions along with help with other ministry's created the Steel Ranger's a elite force of earth ponies. Pinkie's ministry was to raise moral among the troops along with arranging parties to lift every pony's spirits. The fall came when both sides launched their full arsenal of mega spells against each other, many millions were killed in the initial blast and countless others died from the radiation however several survived but were cursed with eternal life from the magic and radiation from the mega spells. Celestia and Luna died protecting Canterlot with their shield since they were poisoned by a zebra invention called taint. Among this many strange mutated creatures evolved causing havoc among the survivors, one of these was a blue Mare called Rhythm, she was a lucky survivor who was not killed, unluckily she never got to the stable she was heading to the cloud overtook her, however she was lucky enough to have been picked for Princess Celestia's Gifted Schools For Unicorns and had learned how to place wards and a shield spell which delayed the Radiation from getting to her even though it didn't stop it completely. Before You're TimeLocation: Park Gardens, Ministry Row, Canterlot Stable Number: 1 A Hour Before The Fall Rhythm the blue unicorn sat on the park bench looking at Canterlot castle nearby, she sighed flicking her tail "choices choices" she mumbled to herself, she was now officially a Mare only yesterday she was a Filly however now she had a choice to make for the rest of her life. She had been schooled at Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns and before that well she didn't really remember before that. Rhythm flicked her blue mane nibbling on the end of the pencil, she was fond of nibbling things and was often scolded by her mother for it. In-front of her was a list of career options. She glanced around the park slightly annoyed by the war propaganda that was pined on every tree, bin and wherever it could go. It didn't help that she had lost her father in the war when his own magic backfired causing his own demise instead of the Zebra he had tried to kill. Rhythm glanced at the page again, either join the army or help with the war effort, she looked at the moral officer thinking that could be rather fun however she was still undecided and she did have until her next lesson to decide.She tucked the several folds of paper into her blue saddlebag and started to walk back towards the University which was a good kilometre away however she always liked a good walk. Rhythm spent most of her breaks visiting this park, her normal group of friends had already gone and joined the army as soon as they got their graduation list the previous week. Suddenly from a nearby street a voice called out "hey little me with flank of the blank". Rhythm turned her head and saw her cousin Noteworthy giving him a scowl, her coat and mane was the same colour as his however her amber eyes were slightly different and he was a good foot larger but that was not the reason for the scowl. She was the only mare at her school not to have her cutiemark, she normally covered her flank with darker colours to hide her blank flank. "what?" she asked frowning at him. Noteworthy tilted his head "now now, i'm only teasing little blank" he answered using one of his many nicknames for her, "I've got a message, after you finish whatever you special Unicorn's do at your school your going to have to come back to Ministry Row" he informed her. Rhythm twitched her ear "special event?, Ministry Row?" she asked curious. Noteworthy smiled "oh no, little flank you can't trick me into telling you, anyway you've been to Ministry Row before when they opened up that stable down the end" he summarised flicking his blue tail "you know where it is right?" he asked when he was told where it was in the monotone evacuation plan that Rhythm had heard earlier that day he sniggered "i forgot you get that every day, well see you later little flank some of us have actual work we have to do" he finished before turning around and trotting away down a high-street towards the centre of Canterlot. The Fall Rhythm continued down the track, it was convenient that her University was on Ministry Row but then again most important things were. It was that big. Canterlot castle was in the distance and Rhythm continued looking at it while walking, she wondered what it would be like to live in it, the golden roof with the big glass windows then she tripped on a discarded bottle and hit the ground sending starts dance over her vision as her sensitive horn struck the ground. Rhythm stood up awkwardly before glancing at her dress, luckily she had not torn its white fabric but it had grey spots on where she had rubbed it against the diry road. Rhythm's horn glowed and the spots were gone, she levitated the bottle she had tripped over and threw it across the road shattering it into thousands of pieces making her feel better. Then it came Boom, Boom Boom. Rhythm glanced at the location of the noise, and was horrified at what she saw, a minute ago the sky was a clear blue but now it was black slowly covering the land in darkness. Canterlot castle shields were up a pure golden orb of light around the palace protecting it from attack however the courtyard was in flames along with a cloud of pink slowly rising from within, some of the missiles must have hit before the shield was erected . Rhythm glanced up seeing that the shield around Canterlot was holding, the main reason why the town had not been destroyed yet. Many other ponies suddenly fled from houses, establishments and several cried out in fear, however one of the palace guards called out clearly "To The Stable, Quick Before It Shuts Or The Shield Fails" then he fled towards the distant outline of Stable 1. Rhythm followed this stallions advice and ran after him trying to keep up with his brisk pace. However the crowd behind her slowly followed suit and started pushing each other, Rhythm watched as several ponies tripped in their haste and were soon trampled by the stampede, she realised that unless she wanted to be trampled like the ponies she had left she shouldn't be at the front where eventually she would tire or trip and then be crushed under hooves. Rhythm ducked into a side street leaving the mass of running ponies behind. she decided to take the side streets towards the stable until the main road cleared, she moved slowly passing streets and encountering only a few ponies who quickly rushed onto the main road without stopping to talk. Rhythm turned and walked into a dark alley, she didn't like it one bit and was about to turn around but heard noises from behind she decided she didn't want to meet anypony down this alley due to the madness she had encountered on the main road, she crept into a dark comer and waited for the ponies to pass. She was lucky she hid as several large stallions walked by carrying all sorts of dangerous items, however the leader had a gun which was not that uncommon since the start of the war. The small band each broke into a separate house before taking supply's, medicine and what else they could carry, one of them had found a stash of knives from a nearby bakers which they each equipped before moving out of sight. Rhythm waited another five minutes the distant thud of missiles against the shield along with the occasional scream was all she heard, she got up and walked over to what plunder the convoy had left behind, their was several knives which were either broken or chipped however she found one that was only slightly damaged and decided to keep it just in case she got attacked by anyone during this time of madness. She also found several loafs of bread that had been thrown out of the nearby bakery, they were dirty however still edible which she packed into her own saddlebag after emptying it off the useless stuff she had been carnying, however she left several stuff including a book on magical spells which she had been learning about. Rhythm glanced up at the shield and saw it was slowly losing it brilliant golden colour and was becoming yellow, meaning it was beginning to fail. Rhythm quickly finished her salvage hunt and exited the side street and ran down another towards the main road. The main road was mostly empty however the occasional pony fled towards the stable however crushed ponies were visible on the road their mangled bodes littering the road. Rhythm tried to ignore this as she ran past them however she couldn't forget seeing a dead mare by a filly who had been crushed by the crowd in their madness. Rhythm finally got to the end of the street and saw the mile long tunnel underground that would lead to the stable, she was not one of the chosen ponies since this stable was designed for the elites and royalty however they could hardly turn her away she thought as she fled down the tunnel. Then she stopped confused as their was another tunnel a much larger one then the one she had been following, the signs had been knocked over causing the direction to the stable to be lost. "BUCK" she swore before deciding bigger was better and left her original tunnel in favour of the bigger tunnel. Rhythm followed the tunnel which slowly grew darker and darker however when she had given out hope of finding the stable she saw a light in the distance, she racked towards the light which she hoped was the front of the stable, she knew she didn't have much time since the shield outside was already failing before she had even entered the first tunnel. When she reached the light a rumbled along with a loud pop sounded high above shaking the earth, Rhythm fell over onto her side and knew the shield had failed at last, she waited for the tunnel to collapse and crush her however everything fell silent. Rhythm waited in the darkness shaking and scared for the first time in a very long time she wanted to hide under another pony more-so her own mother's. Finally with one large shake the tunnel stopped moving which led Rhythm to stand shaking on her small blue legs, she checked over-herself apart from several scratches and bruises she was unharmed. Rhythm got up and continued towards the light that was only one hundred meters in-front of her, as she neared she wondered why it hadn't broke in the earthquake, as she finally came to it she realised it was a orb light, a round glass like object that had been hardened and could be powered by a crystal which was filled with magical energy. She lifted the thing off the floor with her telekinesis and used it to look around trying to find the door. She searched the full tunnel end however finally when she had nearly given up she found a sign with a shiny metal door next to it, "yes" she squealed as she galloped over to the door and read the sign expecting the stable name, constructor and a big welcome mat. .Stable Tec- Maintenance Hatch Currently Under Construction Sorry For The Inconvenience "BUCK". Out Of The Darkness, And Into The LightBUCK" Rhythm swore for the thousand time, before kicking the door again with her back hooves causing a dull Thudsound that echoed around the tunnel. Rhythm kept kicking the door as it was her only means of a way out, she had tried leaving by the way she had come but the entrance was sealed by boulders and debris which she had found out was alot heavier then it looked, after lifting one of these boulders and moving it aside, the magic had drained her energy raising her fatigue levels. She had resolved herself to kicking the door open however so far she had only left a small dent in the steel frame, after kicking it several more times her hooves began to bleed but she was to pissed to care, finally though she was forced to stop when the pain became unbearable. She glanced down at her back hooves and started to lick them clean with some difficulty, after the bleeding had stopped she backed away slowly trying not to put too much pressure on her hind legs. Rhythm looked at the door and then remembered her spell book, she rummaged though her saddlebag and picked up her spell book, she flicked though the pages until she found the page on unlocking locked objects. She read the lines needed before focusing her energy though her horn and moved her willpower towards unlocking the doors mechanical gears that operated the lock, as she continued to use her magic nothing happened, finally she was forced to end her spell or else faint. The door was protected against unauthorised tampering it seemed and after Rhythm realised this she said her new favourite word. "BUCK" A Few Hours Later Rhythm was sitting near to the door still wondering how to open it however a rumble of her tummy reminded her that she hadn't eaten all day, she rummaged into her bag before pulling out one of the loafs of break she had salvaged earlier, Rhythm then looked back at the door before back at the orb light and wondered if she could increase the light it produced, as a filly she was scared of the dark and her mother had put a similar coloured orb light so she wouldn't be scared. At the thought of her mother Rhythm started to cry wondering if she had made it to safety before the shield fell, "Celestia Keep Her safe" she prayed before getting back to the point at hoof, Rhythm gently levitated the orb light towards her and looked at it, she saw a small wheel which she turned causing the orb light to be come brighter, at its maximum brightness it illuminated the cave banishing the shadows lurking in the corner, for several seconds Rhythm's mood lifted for the first time in several hours, she put it back on its stand. Turning back to the door she had got a idea how to open it, maybe their was a spare key somewhere nearby. Rhythm looked around the cage before seeing a toolbox that had previously escaped her notice since it was in the corner of the room where the orb light previous setting had not revealed it. Rhythm levitated the toolbox towards her still finding it hard to move much as her back hooves still hurt from her physical attack on the door, finding the toolbox unlocked she thanked Celestia for her mercy before rummaging inside. Several tools which Rhythm didn't know and a dull coloured gem were inside, she happily found the door key which was buried after a half eaten sandwich and this caused another praise to be sent to Celestia. Rhythm put the dull gem into her saddlebag but left the tools and sandwich inside, she then levitated the toolbox away and carried the key towards the door, after making sure it fitted she turned and with several creaks she pulled the door open as the door opened she came into a small room with dark earth walls, however on one side a electrical hatch was their causing Rhythm to cry out with joy. She stepped into the room before propping open the door so she wouldn't be accidentally shut in. Rhythm saw a small computer next to the hatch which she presumed would allow it to open. Rhythm tapped on the computer switching it from a blank screen to its hatch control which it was already on. The maintenance pony who was last here must have left the computer on sleep, "silly pony" she muttered as she pressed the button to allow the Hatch to open and to her freedom, however a red alert came up on the screen. Outside Contaminant Detected Do You Wish To Scan Content Y/N Rhythm Pressed Yes which prompted another warning alert Outside Contaminant Unidentified Connection To Hub Lost Retrying Connection Signal Lost Do You Wish To Try Again? Y/N Rhythm started to become pissed by these messages and pressed the No button, "come on you piece of techno-crap, I just want to open the hatch, is it really that hard?" she growled at it as it displayed another warning message. Sable-Tec takes no responsibility for any damages caused to equipment or personal beyond this point Do You Take All Responsibility? Y/N If No Then Program Will Terminate Rhythm pressed Yes after worrying about trying to start to computer if it turned itself off, if it needed a password to log in then she would be screwed. Her thoughts were interrupted by a alarm and another message as the First hatch opened, she glanced at the message. Inner Hatch Open Secondary Hatch Opening in 30 seconds Surface Hatch Opening in 90 seconds Rhythm sighed "finally" she grumbled before looking as the Hatch opened, she moved towards it and looked upwards, she saw the Secondary hatch which was made of glass, however as the hatch opened another warning alarm went off from the computer. Outside Contaminant Detected Scanning Scanning Scanning Scanning Complete Rhythm tapped her hoof as she waited for the surface hatch to open which should be in another minute, she snorted at the device as it started scanning the air again. [ i]Contaminant Identified 100% Air Rhythm rolled her eyes "wow that's deadly, air, i hope i don't get to much, then the computer started a material scan of the air Contaminant Risk 2% safe 98% unsafe 98% toxic 98% unknown Structure similar to taint however radioactive properties have also been identified Thank You For Using Stable-Tec Safe Scan For A Safer Risk Free Environment Then The Screen went blank as the computer turned itself off. Rhythm saw the final hatch open causing a pink cloud to slowly move downwards blocking off Rhythms only Escape route. "Bucking Stable-Tec" Zebra's RevengeThe Pink cloud slowly worked it's way down the escape hatch, Rhythm kept checking its progress while trying to turn the computer back on, after she found the power button and pressing it several times did it finally start to load, The Pink cloud was now halfway down the escape hatch, however the computer to her surprise then suddenly shut down, "BUCK, come on" she growled as it started it's third reboot, the Pink Cloud was only a few meters away from entering the room finally it loaded and displayed the following message making Rhythm groan. This System Has Suffered A Fatal Error And Cannot Load Boot Files A Repair Pony Shall Be Informed And Sent Within The Week Thanks Stable-Tec Rhythm kicked the Computer smashing the glass with her front hoof, she then slowly moved the inside hatch trying to close it with magic, she soon realised she should have done this sooner rather then try and close it with the computer. Soon the pink gas poured out of the opening and started to fill the room. Rhythm's horn slowly ached then her magic failed completely as her horn's light blue glow extinguished as the Pink gas touched the top the hatch then snapped back open from its half closed state. Rhythm gasped as her horn or magic for that matter no longer functioned. Breathing in her head exploded as it felt like a drum was going off nearly incapacitating her, she stumbled backwards towards the steel door which she had propped open earlier, as she kicked the prop out of the way before heaving it close manually since her magic was still not working, with a slam she closed the door and plugged the keyhole with the key, then she backed away from the door hoping the Pink cloud wouldn't follow her. To her relief her head cleared and she could still use magic however she was weakened from the Pink Gas "Great, trapped both ways" she concluded as she watched the door however no pink cloud had yet came though. "Celestia if your going to help me, perhaps now is the time" she called out helplessly. When nothing seemed to have happened Rhythm's temper finally flowed freely "well Buck you then Celestia, You're a BITCH" she roared lashing her blue tail from side to side, apparently Celestia wasn't impressed by this latest remark as the Pink Cloud soon began to pour from underneath the door and from the gaps around it. It Slowly started to fill the air pushing Rhythm back to the pile of rocks that had trapped her in the first place. Rhythm frantically climbed the rocks higher and higher before glancing at the pink cloud, it was a good several feet away but showing no sign of stopping. Rhythm started to push a large bolder which finally toppled to the floor below her, however not before the pink cloud had reached the very tip of her back hooves, it was a funny tickling sensation to start with however it then started to itch before finally causing her hooves to feel like they were on fire, at that point Rhythm would have rather walked across a bed of lava then stand in the pink cloud. As the pink cloud climbed up another inch she screamed "noooo, not like this, anything but this", tears streaming to her face as her death drew nearer. In her desperation she jumped onto the boulder trying to climb the rock like a spider however she slide off the smooth stone and fell into the sea of pink awaiting her arrival, her screams echoing off the walls as she fell. As Rhythm passed though the cloud her skin began to burn, she felt like thousands of ants were crawling underneath her skin, it nearly drove her mad with pain. Her tears became liquid pink lava on her skin masking her cry and scream in pain, this was the most pain of her whole life which wasn't surprising since it was so short. Finally Rhythm gasped making the pain worse, her lungs filled with the toxic air and this felt like they were burning and drowning at the same time causing her to breathe in more deadly pink gas as her body tried to stop her drowning. Rhythm's body then became out of her control as full body spasms racked her small frame, her heart raced inside her chest while her head pounded and her horn was as itchy was if it were infested with ticks. Then her kidneys and bladder failed causing the mare to release all her body's waste in one go which under normal circumstances would have been embarrassing and led to much name calling and ridicule however Rhythm was oblivious to this as her whole body rebelled against her. Finally she vomited the contents off her earlier meal and after her stomach was empty she vomited her own blood which turned into rainbow colours as it reacted with the pink gas, then the pain in her head became unbearable and Rhythm's vision faded finishing in pure darkness. The Heart Of EquestriaA royal guard stepped out from the room and blinked in surprise as he saw Rhythm. He was about to ask if the cost was clear before he noticed her Pink glow around her frame, it was rather hard to miss since she had originally been a blue colour however the Pink glow caused her original colour hard to make out, then suddenly he slammed the door shut before growling to another guard inside "damn theirs another one right outside the door, We're trapped here, how we meant to escape with the filly's and dragons now?" he asked his comrade. three small filly's were hiding in the corner of the old guardroom each clutching a small dragon egg they had been given to guard. The other guard picked up the spear he was carrying "can always stab her if she try's getting in here" he mumbled knowing several other mutated Alicorns had been wondering around the castle ever since the taint bomb had detonated. Meanwhile Rhythm snorted as the guard slammed the door in her face however she was just about to open the door when the gentle sound of clip clop clip clop came from the direction of the hallway which ended in a corner. The sound appeared louder until another Alicorn with pink eyes turned the Corner, at the sight of Rhythm her horn glowed before fading, she padded up to Rhythm before giving her a sniff. "Sister, the Goddess commands we return, why do you hesitate?" she asked before tipping her head on one side, and communicating the information back to the great one, then she understood. "ah you're a wild one, who's lost yes?, Follow me i help you be found again" she answered before pushing open the Guard door, the next thing the controlled Alicorn knew was a spear going in-between her eyes. Then the other Royal guard jumped out and thrusted his spear at Rhythm's unprotected flank. Rhythm cried out with alarm and jumped back avoiding another thrust to her chest. Instinctively her horn glowed and a shield sprung up around her, as the spear moved towards the shield it shattered as it touched the edge of the shield, the guard backed away as the blue alicorn cornered him against the wall. Rhythm winched as she felt the blood running down her flank turned on him fury showing in her amber eyes "the buck you doing?, attacking a defenceless mare you should be ashamed, explain yourself before I introduce you to my shield" she growled. The royal guard blinked "but, but you're one of those" he grunted pointing towards the other dead Alicorn, "you're the ones hunting us, not the other way around" he explained. Rhythm snorted, "If i was one of those then I would be trying to kill you, since i'm not why you think i'm one?" she asked. The guard flicked his tail "well apart from the fact your glowing like a pink orb light, have wings and a horn and you're not royalty and you were happily chatting with the other one, then sure you're not one of them" he finished. Rhythm frowned and looked at herself, "what glow, I'm blue just blue nothing else" she snorted, then she turned back to the guard, " and that thing said i was her sister, or some nonsense since I don't have a sister and I'm not glowing maybe i touched some pink stuff and grew wings and...." she stopped herself trying not to think of her other body from the shaft. The guard raised his eyebrow "touch some pink stuff?, you've been exposed to taint?, get away from me i don't want to be exposed to that stuff, at best you'll die or at worse i get to become on of you. A walking talking alicorn who looks like a pink tea light" he growled Rhythm backed away, "I can't see the glow but you got no reason to lie i suppose, "anyway you can't go down the shaft its full of the pink stuff and since you don't want to die any time soon, i suggest you take another route" she informed him. The guard frowned "Buck, that's the only escape route we though wasn't blocked by taint unless, theirs a small room which is clear of any taint however their was loads of Alicorns around it, if you could perhaps move them then you can help us escape?" he asked, Rhythm nodded before removing the shield. "fine but then you've got to explain about this taint stuff and how to cure it" she told him. The guard nodded and smiled slyly "sure thing, I'm going to help you get that cure and you be back to your old self in no time" he finished, he went back over to the guard house and opened it, "we got a escape route this lovely blue alicorn going to distract the alicorns around the room towards the waste pipe and we get to slide down, its not going to be fun but it means we get to escape ." he told the three fillys and other guard. Then he turned back to Rhythm "off you go then". he said before giving her directions on where to go. Rhythm nodded and trotted off to where the waste disposal room was, wondering if she was being set up. The five other ponies following behind her out of her radioactive pink path she left behind. Finally she came to the last Corner and saw two green alicorns the same as the other alicorn she had previously encountered, flicking her tail which she hoped the five ponies behind her would recognise as stay their she walked over to the other two Alicorns. They Both looked up their horns glowing and then a shield appeared around Rhythm trapping her "another Native for teleporation" they called out both physically and mentally. She tried to move but was stuck, then suddenly five blue unicorns teleported around her before their horns glowed as well. Rhythm saw while all these alicorns were doing their magic they had their eyes closed, she glanced back to where she had came from and saw the three fillys and two guards walking past the stone like alicorns and entering the storage room the royal guard she had talked too earlier smirked "thanks, we owe you one, enjoy slavery" he remarked as he closed the door. Rhythm body started to tingle as her surroundings disappeared. Valley Of The AlicornsRhythm blinked as she woke up on the floor, she glanced up seeing lots of other alicorns nearby watching her with a wide range of coloured orbs. They then all blinked at the same time Freaky she thought as she stood up. Then she realised all these alicorns were green making her the odd one out, they were all standing like a wall of blue none of them moving like they were freaky but they didn't seem hostile far from it, they were all smiling at her like she ahd just won a prize or something. Am I Getting Cured?, Is This What The Guard Meant? she thought before another consciousness entered her mind. WELCOME TO THE HOME OF THE GODDESS CHILDREN STEP ASIDE AND LET YOU'RE NEW SISTER APPROACH At this the green alicorns in the middles stepped two paces to the right before turning around, the alicorns at the front continued to stare at Rhythm still smiling creepily, Rhythm stood still getting more freaked out by the minute. Then the Goddess grew impatient her mental connection with Rhythm started sharing her displeasure and impatience. Finally she gave a new order DAUGHTER'S HELP YOU'RE SISTER GET HERE, SHE IS RELUCTANT TO BECOME ONE OF US Rhythm started to protect as several of the alicorns moved from the front and started nudging and pushing her forward "hey, get off she growled before pushing one of them back, her protests was ignored and she was continued to be pushed, finally she reached the end where a large vat had been put a small puddle of the liquid had dribbled onto the floor nearby which she presumed was also from the vat, the colour of the liquid which also glowed making Rhythm presume was radioactive was the same colour as the green unicorns which had pushed her here, after she had reached this conclusion in her head the alicorns which had pushed her got back into the line blocking her exit before they began resuming their timed blinking display. Then the 'Goddess spoke again DRINK, AND BE CURED Rhythm raised a eyebrow before snorting "I think not" she said aloud and in her head. She stood their and didn't move, even when another green alicorn came up and tried pushing Rhythm towards the liquid wanting her to drink. Rhythm lashed out with her horn cutting deeply into the green alicorn's shoulder leaving red dibbling down onto the floor. The green alicorn didn't even react just blinked and walked over to the bubbling green radioactive liquid drank it all before looking at Rhythm her wound was cured. The Goddess mind entered her own mind again displaying many emotions but one of them was more profound, disappointment which was soon replaced by anger, anger in hurting one of her children. The Goddess then cried DAUGHTER'S CLEANSE THIS FILTH At once all the green alicorns rushed forwards, Rhythm stabbed one of them with her horn before being pinned to the ground, then she was dragged towards the Vat where she lay pinned under it. She lashed out with hoof, tail and horn before trying to fly away however the weight on-top of her was to heavy. When she hit or knocked away one of these creatures another one took its place. Then suddenly she heard a small *DRIP, DRIP DRIP* sound which she knew was one of the creatures opening the vat. Then she was drowned in the green liquid which had a similar burning affect as the Pink Gas however it soon faded along with the weight of the alicorns holding her down. FAQ (WIP)This is not part of the story however it is a guide explaining anything that might confuse you, as I make the story I will add anything confusing in here, however if you still don't get some stuff please ask before saying its crap i don't understand. Thanks Rhythm Magic Magic is the manipulation of energy, it can be used for a wide variety of things since it is mainly controlled by how good your imagination is. However using magic does have it's risks, if you cast a spell and it costs more energy then you can provide then it will kill you. Also distance affects the amount of energy needed since your trying to do something over a larger distance which costs more energy. A example of this, a magic user can physically carry a pail of water to a set location, however they could also teleport said bucket of pail but this will cost the same amount of energy as physically moving it by hand. If they moved the pail one meter it would not drain them that badly, however if they moved it a kilometre then this would require much more energy, 1000 times more to be exact. Since magic depended upon the caster's life energy, a spell beyond the caster's capability would either kill them, whilst a spell close to the limit would render them unconscious. Also, when the magical energy was released, it couldn't be undone. Thus, if a caster was to formulate a spell so that there could be only two options (success or death) and a stronger adversary could prevent the spell from succeeding, the caster would invariably die. This could be circumvented by formulating spells as processes which could be cancelled at will. Spells Spells or enchantments can be used to support magic users and either protect them or cause a counter attack if they are attacked by magical or physical means, however wards which is a type of protective spell that would protect against any type of attack still needed energy to work if this energy failed then so would this ward resulting in the magic user being at risk of whatever the ward tried to protect them from in the first place. e.g. you created a spell to cause bullets to stop hitting you, if the amount of energy you put into the spell fails and a bullet comes towards you then it will happily hit you since the ward is no longer active. Gems and other valuable stones are able to store energy which then can be used for either weaponry or spells, some magic users with the right knowledge could draw energy out from the stones thus replenishing their own stamina even if they were exhausted beforehand, however to do this you would have to understand how to transfer energy from these objects to their own form which was not common knowledge. Also these storage devices had to be topped up since they lost energy as time went on, larger more flawless crystals loosed energy at a much slower rate then everyday objects however a master of manipulating energy could store energy in anything however this energy was normally lost quickly in everyday objects which is why gems and other valuable stones were used, also these stones had a much higher capacity then say a random bit of rock. New HorizonsAlone, Darkness, Nothingness and above all Silence Rhythm didn't know how long she lay on the cold hard floor, however when she finally became concious she still felt weak, she opened her eyes and blinked, the room was still full of the Pink gas however she was no longer in pain. Am I Dead? she thought before dismissing the idea, she was alive, somehow however her body felt strange, different. Rhythm got up slowly before realising she was naked, she glanced down at her own body before checking on her hooves which no longer hurt, to her surprise they were healed, she flapped her wings happily before blinking. Wait what did i just do? she did it again making another flap noise, she glanced at her back which was normally bare however two small sets of blue wings each decorated with light feathers had sprouted. Rhythm felt slightly uneasy, after checking her horn and making sure she hadn't grown anything else unusual she concluded that whatever that stuff was it had changed her into a Alicorn and burned her dress and somehow cleaned her without damaging her which she found odd. Also her position was different since she was no where near the steel door but now she was right next to it, Wait this is all too strange, surely my saddlebag would have melted not burned up?.she wondered flicking her Blue tail still confused by the events. Rhythm looked around the room and realised that her saddle bag had melted into the floor a good several meters away, then she saw something which stopped her dead a cold shiver ran down her spine at the scene in-front of her. Just past the melted bag another two odd meters away in the corner of the room next to the pile of rocks that had blocked the exit where she last remembered being before becoming unconscious she saw a bundle of blue fur lying motionless. Herself Her body lay spread out, her dress had melted to parts of her body and vomit and urine formed a body around the corpse, her corpse. Rhythm backed away half hoping this was a dream, half expecting her corpse to wake up and start talking to her and saying it was time to get up or doing stuff better left unmentioned indicating a nightmare. However her corpse was just that a lifeless form. From the twisted look on her own face her knew she had died painfully.
Prolouge (WIP)Warning Contains Spoilers Of Fallout Equestria In The Days before the War, all was peaceful, city's prospered and ponykind thrived. Alas it was not to be, despite this wealth and prosperity some ponies, ponies with corrupted hearts and minds craved more even at the cost of others. The revolution had begun, mass production started to take priority along with profit margins, slowly manual labour was mechanized causing workers to lose their jobs, this created unrest and migrations from rural to urban for the lust for wealthy jobs. Urbanisation had begun at last. Leading up to the fall, newly established corporations started to do the unthinkable, done in secret slave labour was on the rise even though this was banned throughout Equestria. A single pony could be prosecuted however a entire organisation could hide this within the shelter of its own propriety. Even if this was discovered by the authority the slave trade still boomed on the black market, this led to tensions growing between all races within Equestria and many threats and disputed arising. Finally 40 years after the revolution began Equestria was plunged into war, it started off from rationing of exotic material that was unique in certain parts of Equestria such as coal a valuable fuel source for many civilised cultures. The war began with ponies against zebra's, then slowly dragons and buffalo joined the zebras while griffins joined the ponies. To start with many claimed the war was just, however as the years passed the feud and fighting intensified and the original trigger was forgotten in the hatred it brew, with the development of new weapons and technology's that could give the other side the upper hand. Celestia granted each of the mane 6 their own ministry where they could fuel the war effort in their own unique way. Twilight's ministry focused on magic and technological advances. Rarity's was similar however she made armour and in secret necromancy with the black book stolen from the ancient zebra race. Fluttershy's ministry tried to make peace with the zebras and she invented the heal-spell which brought things back to life which she hoped would end the war, to her horror they were changed into mega-spells which caused only destruction. Rainbow's ministry made several occasional contributions however it was closed after failing to produce anything for over a number of years. Apple jack's ministry made ammunitions along with help with other ministry's created the Steel Ranger's a elite force of earth ponies. Pinkie's ministry was to raise moral among the troops along with arranging parties to lift every pony's spirits. The fall came when both sides launched their full arsenal of mega spells against each other, many millions were killed in the initial blast and countless others died from the radiation however several survived but were cursed with eternal life from the magic and radiation from the mega spells. Celestia and Luna died protecting Canterlot with their shield since they were poisoned by a zebra invention called taint. Among this many strange mutated creatures evolved causing havoc among the survivors, one of these was a blue Mare called Rhythm, she was a lucky survivor who was not killed, unluckily she never got to the stable she was heading to the cloud overtook her, however she was lucky enough to have been picked for Princess Celestia's Gifted Schools For Unicorns and had learned how to place wards and a shield spell which delayed the Radiation from getting to her even though it didn't stop it completely.
Before You're TimeLocation: Park Gardens, Ministry Row, Canterlot Stable Number: 1 A Hour Before The Fall Rhythm the blue unicorn sat on the park bench looking at Canterlot castle nearby, she sighed flicking her tail "choices choices" she mumbled to herself, she was now officially a Mare only yesterday she was a Filly however now she had a choice to make for the rest of her life. She had been schooled at Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns and before that well she didn't really remember before that. Rhythm flicked her blue mane nibbling on the end of the pencil, she was fond of nibbling things and was often scolded by her mother for it. In-front of her was a list of career options. She glanced around the park slightly annoyed by the war propaganda that was pined on every tree, bin and wherever it could go. It didn't help that she had lost her father in the war when his own magic backfired causing his own demise instead of the Zebra he had tried to kill. Rhythm glanced at the page again, either join the army or help with the war effort, she looked at the moral officer thinking that could be rather fun however she was still undecided and she did have until her next lesson to decide.She tucked the several folds of paper into her blue saddlebag and started to walk back towards the University which was a good kilometre away however she always liked a good walk. Rhythm spent most of her breaks visiting this park, her normal group of friends had already gone and joined the army as soon as they got their graduation list the previous week. Suddenly from a nearby street a voice called out "hey little me with flank of the blank". Rhythm turned her head and saw her cousin Noteworthy giving him a scowl, her coat and mane was the same colour as his however her amber eyes were slightly different and he was a good foot larger but that was not the reason for the scowl. She was the only mare at her school not to have her cutiemark, she normally covered her flank with darker colours to hide her blank flank. "what?" she asked frowning at him. Noteworthy tilted his head "now now, i'm only teasing little blank" he answered using one of his many nicknames for her, "I've got a message, after you finish whatever you special Unicorn's do at your school your going to have to come back to Ministry Row" he informed her. Rhythm twitched her ear "special event?, Ministry Row?" she asked curious. Noteworthy smiled "oh no, little flank you can't trick me into telling you, anyway you've been to Ministry Row before when they opened up that stable down the end" he summarised flicking his blue tail "you know where it is right?" he asked when he was told where it was in the monotone evacuation plan that Rhythm had heard earlier that day he sniggered "i forgot you get that every day, well see you later little flank some of us have actual work we have to do" he finished before turning around and trotting away down a high-street towards the centre of Canterlot. The Fall Rhythm continued down the track, it was convenient that her University was on Ministry Row but then again most important things were. It was that big. Canterlot castle was in the distance and Rhythm continued looking at it while walking, she wondered what it would be like to live in it, the golden roof with the big glass windows then she tripped on a discarded bottle and hit the ground sending starts dance over her vision as her sensitive horn struck the ground. Rhythm stood up awkwardly before glancing at her dress, luckily she had not torn its white fabric but it had grey spots on where she had rubbed it against the diry road. Rhythm's horn glowed and the spots were gone, she levitated the bottle she had tripped over and threw it across the road shattering it into thousands of pieces making her feel better. Then it came Boom, Boom Boom. Rhythm glanced at the location of the noise, and was horrified at what she saw, a minute ago the sky was a clear blue but now it was black slowly covering the land in darkness. Canterlot castle shields were up a pure golden orb of light around the palace protecting it from attack however the courtyard was in flames along with a cloud of pink slowly rising from within, some of the missiles must have hit before the shield was erected . Rhythm glanced up seeing that the shield around Canterlot was holding, the main reason why the town had not been destroyed yet. Many other ponies suddenly fled from houses, establishments and several cried out in fear, however one of the palace guards called out clearly "To The Stable, Quick Before It Shuts Or The Shield Fails" then he fled towards the distant outline of Stable 1. Rhythm followed this stallions advice and ran after him trying to keep up with his brisk pace. However the crowd behind her slowly followed suit and started pushing each other, Rhythm watched as several ponies tripped in their haste and were soon trampled by the stampede, she realised that unless she wanted to be trampled like the ponies she had left she shouldn't be at the front where eventually she would tire or trip and then be crushed under hooves. Rhythm ducked into a side street leaving the mass of running ponies behind. she decided to take the side streets towards the stable until the main road cleared, she moved slowly passing streets and encountering only a few ponies who quickly rushed onto the main road without stopping to talk. Rhythm turned and walked into a dark alley, she didn't like it one bit and was about to turn around but heard noises from behind she decided she didn't want to meet anypony down this alley due to the madness she had encountered on the main road, she crept into a dark comer and waited for the ponies to pass. She was lucky she hid as several large stallions walked by carrying all sorts of dangerous items, however the leader had a gun which was not that uncommon since the start of the war. The small band each broke into a separate house before taking supply's, medicine and what else they could carry, one of them had found a stash of knives from a nearby bakers which they each equipped before moving out of sight. Rhythm waited another five minutes the distant thud of missiles against the shield along with the occasional scream was all she heard, she got up and walked over to what plunder the convoy had left behind, their was several knives which were either broken or chipped however she found one that was only slightly damaged and decided to keep it just in case she got attacked by anyone during this time of madness. She also found several loafs of bread that had been thrown out of the nearby bakery, they were dirty however still edible which she packed into her own saddlebag after emptying it off the useless stuff she had been carnying, however she left several stuff including a book on magical spells which she had been learning about. Rhythm glanced up at the shield and saw it was slowly losing it brilliant golden colour and was becoming yellow, meaning it was beginning to fail. Rhythm quickly finished her salvage hunt and exited the side street and ran down another towards the main road. The main road was mostly empty however the occasional pony fled towards the stable however crushed ponies were visible on the road their mangled bodes littering the road. Rhythm tried to ignore this as she ran past them however she couldn't forget seeing a dead mare by a filly who had been crushed by the crowd in their madness. Rhythm finally got to the end of the street and saw the mile long tunnel underground that would lead to the stable, she was not one of the chosen ponies since this stable was designed for the elites and royalty however they could hardly turn her away she thought as she fled down the tunnel. Then she stopped confused as their was another tunnel a much larger one then the one she had been following, the signs had been knocked over causing the direction to the stable to be lost. "BUCK" she swore before deciding bigger was better and left her original tunnel in favour of the bigger tunnel. Rhythm followed the tunnel which slowly grew darker and darker however when she had given out hope of finding the stable she saw a light in the distance, she racked towards the light which she hoped was the front of the stable, she knew she didn't have much time since the shield outside was already failing before she had even entered the first tunnel. When she reached the light a rumbled along with a loud pop sounded high above shaking the earth, Rhythm fell over onto her side and knew the shield had failed at last, she waited for the tunnel to collapse and crush her however everything fell silent. Rhythm waited in the darkness shaking and scared for the first time in a very long time she wanted to hide under another pony more-so her own mother's. Finally with one large shake the tunnel stopped moving which led Rhythm to stand shaking on her small blue legs, she checked over-herself apart from several scratches and bruises she was unharmed. Rhythm got up and continued towards the light that was only one hundred meters in-front of her, as she neared she wondered why it hadn't broke in the earthquake, as she finally came to it she realised it was a orb light, a round glass like object that had been hardened and could be powered by a crystal which was filled with magical energy. She lifted the thing off the floor with her telekinesis and used it to look around trying to find the door. She searched the full tunnel end however finally when she had nearly given up she found a sign with a shiny metal door next to it, "yes" she squealed as she galloped over to the door and read the sign expecting the stable name, constructor and a big welcome mat. .Stable Tec- Maintenance Hatch Currently Under Construction Sorry For The Inconvenience "BUCK".
Out Of The Darkness, And Into The LightBUCK" Rhythm swore for the thousand time, before kicking the door again with her back hooves causing a dull Thudsound that echoed around the tunnel. Rhythm kept kicking the door as it was her only means of a way out, she had tried leaving by the way she had come but the entrance was sealed by boulders and debris which she had found out was alot heavier then it looked, after lifting one of these boulders and moving it aside, the magic had drained her energy raising her fatigue levels. She had resolved herself to kicking the door open however so far she had only left a small dent in the steel frame, after kicking it several more times her hooves began to bleed but she was to pissed to care, finally though she was forced to stop when the pain became unbearable. She glanced down at her back hooves and started to lick them clean with some difficulty, after the bleeding had stopped she backed away slowly trying not to put too much pressure on her hind legs. Rhythm looked at the door and then remembered her spell book, she rummaged though her saddlebag and picked up her spell book, she flicked though the pages until she found the page on unlocking locked objects. She read the lines needed before focusing her energy though her horn and moved her willpower towards unlocking the doors mechanical gears that operated the lock, as she continued to use her magic nothing happened, finally she was forced to end her spell or else faint. The door was protected against unauthorised tampering it seemed and after Rhythm realised this she said her new favourite word. "BUCK" A Few Hours Later Rhythm was sitting near to the door still wondering how to open it however a rumble of her tummy reminded her that she hadn't eaten all day, she rummaged into her bag before pulling out one of the loafs of break she had salvaged earlier, Rhythm then looked back at the door before back at the orb light and wondered if she could increase the light it produced, as a filly she was scared of the dark and her mother had put a similar coloured orb light so she wouldn't be scared. At the thought of her mother Rhythm started to cry wondering if she had made it to safety before the shield fell, "Celestia Keep Her safe" she prayed before getting back to the point at hoof, Rhythm gently levitated the orb light towards her and looked at it, she saw a small wheel which she turned causing the orb light to be come brighter, at its maximum brightness it illuminated the cave banishing the shadows lurking in the corner, for several seconds Rhythm's mood lifted for the first time in several hours, she put it back on its stand. Turning back to the door she had got a idea how to open it, maybe their was a spare key somewhere nearby. Rhythm looked around the cage before seeing a toolbox that had previously escaped her notice since it was in the corner of the room where the orb light previous setting had not revealed it. Rhythm levitated the toolbox towards her still finding it hard to move much as her back hooves still hurt from her physical attack on the door, finding the toolbox unlocked she thanked Celestia for her mercy before rummaging inside. Several tools which Rhythm didn't know and a dull coloured gem were inside, she happily found the door key which was buried after a half eaten sandwich and this caused another praise to be sent to Celestia. Rhythm put the dull gem into her saddlebag but left the tools and sandwich inside, she then levitated the toolbox away and carried the key towards the door, after making sure it fitted she turned and with several creaks she pulled the door open as the door opened she came into a small room with dark earth walls, however on one side a electrical hatch was their causing Rhythm to cry out with joy. She stepped into the room before propping open the door so she wouldn't be accidentally shut in. Rhythm saw a small computer next to the hatch which she presumed would allow it to open. Rhythm tapped on the computer switching it from a blank screen to its hatch control which it was already on. The maintenance pony who was last here must have left the computer on sleep, "silly pony" she muttered as she pressed the button to allow the Hatch to open and to her freedom, however a red alert came up on the screen. Outside Contaminant Detected Do You Wish To Scan Content Y/N Rhythm Pressed Yes which prompted another warning alert Outside Contaminant Unidentified Connection To Hub Lost Retrying Connection Signal Lost Do You Wish To Try Again? Y/N Rhythm started to become pissed by these messages and pressed the No button, "come on you piece of techno-crap, I just want to open the hatch, is it really that hard?" she growled at it as it displayed another warning message. Sable-Tec takes no responsibility for any damages caused to equipment or personal beyond this point Do You Take All Responsibility? Y/N If No Then Program Will Terminate Rhythm pressed Yes after worrying about trying to start to computer if it turned itself off, if it needed a password to log in then she would be screwed. Her thoughts were interrupted by a alarm and another message as the First hatch opened, she glanced at the message. Inner Hatch Open Secondary Hatch Opening in 30 seconds Surface Hatch Opening in 90 seconds Rhythm sighed "finally" she grumbled before looking as the Hatch opened, she moved towards it and looked upwards, she saw the Secondary hatch which was made of glass, however as the hatch opened another warning alarm went off from the computer. Outside Contaminant Detected Scanning Scanning Scanning Scanning Complete Rhythm tapped her hoof as she waited for the surface hatch to open which should be in another minute, she snorted at the device as it started scanning the air again. [ i]Contaminant Identified 100% Air Rhythm rolled her eyes "wow that's deadly, air, i hope i don't get to much, then the computer started a material scan of the air Contaminant Risk 2% safe 98% unsafe 98% toxic 98% unknown Structure similar to taint however radioactive properties have also been identified Thank You For Using Stable-Tec Safe Scan For A Safer Risk Free Environment Then The Screen went blank as the computer turned itself off. Rhythm saw the final hatch open causing a pink cloud to slowly move downwards blocking off Rhythms only Escape route. "Bucking Stable-Tec"
Zebra's RevengeThe Pink cloud slowly worked it's way down the escape hatch, Rhythm kept checking its progress while trying to turn the computer back on, after she found the power button and pressing it several times did it finally start to load, The Pink cloud was now halfway down the escape hatch, however the computer to her surprise then suddenly shut down, "BUCK, come on" she growled as it started it's third reboot, the Pink Cloud was only a few meters away from entering the room finally it loaded and displayed the following message making Rhythm groan. This System Has Suffered A Fatal Error And Cannot Load Boot Files A Repair Pony Shall Be Informed And Sent Within The Week Thanks Stable-Tec Rhythm kicked the Computer smashing the glass with her front hoof, she then slowly moved the inside hatch trying to close it with magic, she soon realised she should have done this sooner rather then try and close it with the computer. Soon the pink gas poured out of the opening and started to fill the room. Rhythm's horn slowly ached then her magic failed completely as her horn's light blue glow extinguished as the Pink gas touched the top the hatch then snapped back open from its half closed state. Rhythm gasped as her horn or magic for that matter no longer functioned. Breathing in her head exploded as it felt like a drum was going off nearly incapacitating her, she stumbled backwards towards the steel door which she had propped open earlier, as she kicked the prop out of the way before heaving it close manually since her magic was still not working, with a slam she closed the door and plugged the keyhole with the key, then she backed away from the door hoping the Pink cloud wouldn't follow her. To her relief her head cleared and she could still use magic however she was weakened from the Pink Gas "Great, trapped both ways" she concluded as she watched the door however no pink cloud had yet came though. "Celestia if your going to help me, perhaps now is the time" she called out helplessly. When nothing seemed to have happened Rhythm's temper finally flowed freely "well Buck you then Celestia, You're a BITCH" she roared lashing her blue tail from side to side, apparently Celestia wasn't impressed by this latest remark as the Pink Cloud soon began to pour from underneath the door and from the gaps around it. It Slowly started to fill the air pushing Rhythm back to the pile of rocks that had trapped her in the first place. Rhythm frantically climbed the rocks higher and higher before glancing at the pink cloud, it was a good several feet away but showing no sign of stopping. Rhythm started to push a large bolder which finally toppled to the floor below her, however not before the pink cloud had reached the very tip of her back hooves, it was a funny tickling sensation to start with however it then started to itch before finally causing her hooves to feel like they were on fire, at that point Rhythm would have rather walked across a bed of lava then stand in the pink cloud. As the pink cloud climbed up another inch she screamed "noooo, not like this, anything but this", tears streaming to her face as her death drew nearer. In her desperation she jumped onto the boulder trying to climb the rock like a spider however she slide off the smooth stone and fell into the sea of pink awaiting her arrival, her screams echoing off the walls as she fell. As Rhythm passed though the cloud her skin began to burn, she felt like thousands of ants were crawling underneath her skin, it nearly drove her mad with pain. Her tears became liquid pink lava on her skin masking her cry and scream in pain, this was the most pain of her whole life which wasn't surprising since it was so short. Finally Rhythm gasped making the pain worse, her lungs filled with the toxic air and this felt like they were burning and drowning at the same time causing her to breathe in more deadly pink gas as her body tried to stop her drowning. Rhythm's body then became out of her control as full body spasms racked her small frame, her heart raced inside her chest while her head pounded and her horn was as itchy was if it were infested with ticks. Then her kidneys and bladder failed causing the mare to release all her body's waste in one go which under normal circumstances would have been embarrassing and led to much name calling and ridicule however Rhythm was oblivious to this as her whole body rebelled against her. Finally she vomited the contents off her earlier meal and after her stomach was empty she vomited her own blood which turned into rainbow colours as it reacted with the pink gas, then the pain in her head became unbearable and Rhythm's vision faded finishing in pure darkness.
The Heart Of EquestriaA royal guard stepped out from the room and blinked in surprise as he saw Rhythm. He was about to ask if the cost was clear before he noticed her Pink glow around her frame, it was rather hard to miss since she had originally been a blue colour however the Pink glow caused her original colour hard to make out, then suddenly he slammed the door shut before growling to another guard inside "damn theirs another one right outside the door, We're trapped here, how we meant to escape with the filly's and dragons now?" he asked his comrade. three small filly's were hiding in the corner of the old guardroom each clutching a small dragon egg they had been given to guard. The other guard picked up the spear he was carrying "can always stab her if she try's getting in here" he mumbled knowing several other mutated Alicorns had been wondering around the castle ever since the taint bomb had detonated. Meanwhile Rhythm snorted as the guard slammed the door in her face however she was just about to open the door when the gentle sound of clip clop clip clop came from the direction of the hallway which ended in a corner. The sound appeared louder until another Alicorn with pink eyes turned the Corner, at the sight of Rhythm her horn glowed before fading, she padded up to Rhythm before giving her a sniff. "Sister, the Goddess commands we return, why do you hesitate?" she asked before tipping her head on one side, and communicating the information back to the great one, then she understood. "ah you're a wild one, who's lost yes?, Follow me i help you be found again" she answered before pushing open the Guard door, the next thing the controlled Alicorn knew was a spear going in-between her eyes. Then the other Royal guard jumped out and thrusted his spear at Rhythm's unprotected flank. Rhythm cried out with alarm and jumped back avoiding another thrust to her chest. Instinctively her horn glowed and a shield sprung up around her, as the spear moved towards the shield it shattered as it touched the edge of the shield, the guard backed away as the blue alicorn cornered him against the wall. Rhythm winched as she felt the blood running down her flank turned on him fury showing in her amber eyes "the buck you doing?, attacking a defenceless mare you should be ashamed, explain yourself before I introduce you to my shield" she growled. The royal guard blinked "but, but you're one of those" he grunted pointing towards the other dead Alicorn, "you're the ones hunting us, not the other way around" he explained. Rhythm snorted, "If i was one of those then I would be trying to kill you, since i'm not why you think i'm one?" she asked. The guard flicked his tail "well apart from the fact your glowing like a pink orb light, have wings and a horn and you're not royalty and you were happily chatting with the other one, then sure you're not one of them" he finished. Rhythm frowned and looked at herself, "what glow, I'm blue just blue nothing else" she snorted, then she turned back to the guard, " and that thing said i was her sister, or some nonsense since I don't have a sister and I'm not glowing maybe i touched some pink stuff and grew wings and...." she stopped herself trying not to think of her other body from the shaft. The guard raised his eyebrow "touch some pink stuff?, you've been exposed to taint?, get away from me i don't want to be exposed to that stuff, at best you'll die or at worse i get to become on of you. A walking talking alicorn who looks like a pink tea light" he growled Rhythm backed away, "I can't see the glow but you got no reason to lie i suppose, "anyway you can't go down the shaft its full of the pink stuff and since you don't want to die any time soon, i suggest you take another route" she informed him. The guard frowned "Buck, that's the only escape route we though wasn't blocked by taint unless, theirs a small room which is clear of any taint however their was loads of Alicorns around it, if you could perhaps move them then you can help us escape?" he asked, Rhythm nodded before removing the shield. "fine but then you've got to explain about this taint stuff and how to cure it" she told him. The guard nodded and smiled slyly "sure thing, I'm going to help you get that cure and you be back to your old self in no time" he finished, he went back over to the guard house and opened it, "we got a escape route this lovely blue alicorn going to distract the alicorns around the room towards the waste pipe and we get to slide down, its not going to be fun but it means we get to escape ." he told the three fillys and other guard. Then he turned back to Rhythm "off you go then". he said before giving her directions on where to go. Rhythm nodded and trotted off to where the waste disposal room was, wondering if she was being set up. The five other ponies following behind her out of her radioactive pink path she left behind. Finally she came to the last Corner and saw two green alicorns the same as the other alicorn she had previously encountered, flicking her tail which she hoped the five ponies behind her would recognise as stay their she walked over to the other two Alicorns. They Both looked up their horns glowing and then a shield appeared around Rhythm trapping her "another Native for teleporation" they called out both physically and mentally. She tried to move but was stuck, then suddenly five blue unicorns teleported around her before their horns glowed as well. Rhythm saw while all these alicorns were doing their magic they had their eyes closed, she glanced back to where she had came from and saw the three fillys and two guards walking past the stone like alicorns and entering the storage room the royal guard she had talked too earlier smirked "thanks, we owe you one, enjoy slavery" he remarked as he closed the door. Rhythm body started to tingle as her surroundings disappeared.
Valley Of The AlicornsRhythm blinked as she woke up on the floor, she glanced up seeing lots of other alicorns nearby watching her with a wide range of coloured orbs. They then all blinked at the same time Freaky she thought as she stood up. Then she realised all these alicorns were green making her the odd one out, they were all standing like a wall of blue none of them moving like they were freaky but they didn't seem hostile far from it, they were all smiling at her like she ahd just won a prize or something. Am I Getting Cured?, Is This What The Guard Meant? she thought before another consciousness entered her mind. WELCOME TO THE HOME OF THE GODDESS CHILDREN STEP ASIDE AND LET YOU'RE NEW SISTER APPROACH At this the green alicorns in the middles stepped two paces to the right before turning around, the alicorns at the front continued to stare at Rhythm still smiling creepily, Rhythm stood still getting more freaked out by the minute. Then the Goddess grew impatient her mental connection with Rhythm started sharing her displeasure and impatience. Finally she gave a new order DAUGHTER'S HELP YOU'RE SISTER GET HERE, SHE IS RELUCTANT TO BECOME ONE OF US Rhythm started to protect as several of the alicorns moved from the front and started nudging and pushing her forward "hey, get off she growled before pushing one of them back, her protests was ignored and she was continued to be pushed, finally she reached the end where a large vat had been put a small puddle of the liquid had dribbled onto the floor nearby which she presumed was also from the vat, the colour of the liquid which also glowed making Rhythm presume was radioactive was the same colour as the green unicorns which had pushed her here, after she had reached this conclusion in her head the alicorns which had pushed her got back into the line blocking her exit before they began resuming their timed blinking display. Then the 'Goddess spoke again DRINK, AND BE CURED Rhythm raised a eyebrow before snorting "I think not" she said aloud and in her head. She stood their and didn't move, even when another green alicorn came up and tried pushing Rhythm towards the liquid wanting her to drink. Rhythm lashed out with her horn cutting deeply into the green alicorn's shoulder leaving red dibbling down onto the floor. The green alicorn didn't even react just blinked and walked over to the bubbling green radioactive liquid drank it all before looking at Rhythm her wound was cured. The Goddess mind entered her own mind again displaying many emotions but one of them was more profound, disappointment which was soon replaced by anger, anger in hurting one of her children. The Goddess then cried DAUGHTER'S CLEANSE THIS FILTH At once all the green alicorns rushed forwards, Rhythm stabbed one of them with her horn before being pinned to the ground, then she was dragged towards the Vat where she lay pinned under it. She lashed out with hoof, tail and horn before trying to fly away however the weight on-top of her was to heavy. When she hit or knocked away one of these creatures another one took its place. Then suddenly she heard a small *DRIP, DRIP DRIP* sound which she knew was one of the creatures opening the vat. Then she was drowned in the green liquid which had a similar burning affect as the Pink Gas however it soon faded along with the weight of the alicorns holding her down.
FAQ (WIP)This is not part of the story however it is a guide explaining anything that might confuse you, as I make the story I will add anything confusing in here, however if you still don't get some stuff please ask before saying its crap i don't understand. Thanks Rhythm Magic Magic is the manipulation of energy, it can be used for a wide variety of things since it is mainly controlled by how good your imagination is. However using magic does have it's risks, if you cast a spell and it costs more energy then you can provide then it will kill you. Also distance affects the amount of energy needed since your trying to do something over a larger distance which costs more energy. A example of this, a magic user can physically carry a pail of water to a set location, however they could also teleport said bucket of pail but this will cost the same amount of energy as physically moving it by hand. If they moved the pail one meter it would not drain them that badly, however if they moved it a kilometre then this would require much more energy, 1000 times more to be exact. Since magic depended upon the caster's life energy, a spell beyond the caster's capability would either kill them, whilst a spell close to the limit would render them unconscious. Also, when the magical energy was released, it couldn't be undone. Thus, if a caster was to formulate a spell so that there could be only two options (success or death) and a stronger adversary could prevent the spell from succeeding, the caster would invariably die. This could be circumvented by formulating spells as processes which could be cancelled at will. Spells Spells or enchantments can be used to support magic users and either protect them or cause a counter attack if they are attacked by magical or physical means, however wards which is a type of protective spell that would protect against any type of attack still needed energy to work if this energy failed then so would this ward resulting in the magic user being at risk of whatever the ward tried to protect them from in the first place. e.g. you created a spell to cause bullets to stop hitting you, if the amount of energy you put into the spell fails and a bullet comes towards you then it will happily hit you since the ward is no longer active. Gems and other valuable stones are able to store energy which then can be used for either weaponry or spells, some magic users with the right knowledge could draw energy out from the stones thus replenishing their own stamina even if they were exhausted beforehand, however to do this you would have to understand how to transfer energy from these objects to their own form which was not common knowledge. Also these storage devices had to be topped up since they lost energy as time went on, larger more flawless crystals loosed energy at a much slower rate then everyday objects however a master of manipulating energy could store energy in anything however this energy was normally lost quickly in everyday objects which is why gems and other valuable stones were used, also these stones had a much higher capacity then say a random bit of rock.
New HorizonsAlone, Darkness, Nothingness and above all Silence Rhythm didn't know how long she lay on the cold hard floor, however when she finally became concious she still felt weak, she opened her eyes and blinked, the room was still full of the Pink gas however she was no longer in pain. Am I Dead? she thought before dismissing the idea, she was alive, somehow however her body felt strange, different. Rhythm got up slowly before realising she was naked, she glanced down at her own body before checking on her hooves which no longer hurt, to her surprise they were healed, she flapped her wings happily before blinking. Wait what did i just do? she did it again making another flap noise, she glanced at her back which was normally bare however two small sets of blue wings each decorated with light feathers had sprouted. Rhythm felt slightly uneasy, after checking her horn and making sure she hadn't grown anything else unusual she concluded that whatever that stuff was it had changed her into a Alicorn and burned her dress and somehow cleaned her without damaging her which she found odd. Also her position was different since she was no where near the steel door but now she was right next to it, Wait this is all too strange, surely my saddlebag would have melted not burned up?.she wondered flicking her Blue tail still confused by the events. Rhythm looked around the room and realised that her saddle bag had melted into the floor a good several meters away, then she saw something which stopped her dead a cold shiver ran down her spine at the scene in-front of her. Just past the melted bag another two odd meters away in the corner of the room next to the pile of rocks that had blocked the exit where she last remembered being before becoming unconscious she saw a bundle of blue fur lying motionless. Herself Her body lay spread out, her dress had melted to parts of her body and vomit and urine formed a body around the corpse, her corpse. Rhythm backed away half hoping this was a dream, half expecting her corpse to wake up and start talking to her and saying it was time to get up or doing stuff better left unmentioned indicating a nightmare. However her corpse was just that a lifeless form. From the twisted look on her own face her knew she had died painfully.
