Fallout Equestria: The Fallen

Tell Me, If Dreams Are Windows To The Soul; What Are Nightmares Then?

The road back home was going to take a while, and as usual I went to sleep and end up back here at this… white void filled with all kinds of stores. Both from my home and from weird Alien places. "I thought ghouls didn't need sleep?" Shopkeeper asked me.

“We technically don’t, I just like sleep cause it gives me both a great excuse to relax without people bothering me, and I think it helps me keep my sanity so I don’t lose it because…well I’m a ghoul.”

"Fair enough." The strange alien said with a shrug. "So, how will you kill time today? Or is it tonight for you?"

“Eh.” I shrugged. “But how to kill time? Well, probably just walk around, look at all the thing’s this place has to offer, and maybe just talk to either you or whatever employees I might magically find along the way.”

"No employees. Just me, myself and you." Shopkeeper said. "I might as well ask, anything in particular you'd like to see while here? There's no shortage of stores and they all sell different items."

“Hmm…well, because I’ve been heard some old rumors, is SugerCube Corner in this place?” I inquired. “Heard from some sane ghoul’s that it had some of the best pastries in Equestria.”

"If you wish." He said. He snapped his appendages… Fingers, that's it, snapped his fingers and suddenly we were in the middle of seemingly endless variations of Sugar Cube Corner.

“Huh…” I blinked. “I’m a ghoul, but seeing all this makes me feel like I’m gonna get diabetes.”

"There are medical centers here if you feel the need." He said.

I walked into the nearest one and it was a wave of nostalgia, for a brief moment it felt like I wasn't a ghoul, the world wasn't shit, and I wasn't in some white void with some possible god.

The smell… Oh how I missed the smell of freshly baked sweets. Anything sweet in the wasteland is 200 years old and stale. This must be what heaven smells like.

“Oh sweet Celestia…” I shuddered in pure bliss at the smell. “Oh how I’ve missed this.”

I rapidly rushed over to the counter, opened the display and took out a cupcake. Now, I'm a stallion. I have my pride, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that first bite had me in tears.

I kept eating cupcake after cupcake, the tears kept coming… I never realized just… how much I missed the old world…

Eventually, I did stop eating the sweets and just kept crying. I felt like a foal, lost in the store looking for mom… I never really had it click before just… how much I lost… and all of it… Angel, Autumn. They'll never experience such simple pleasures…

“This…this hurts so much…” I muttered, not believing how much pain I felt at everything I lost and how everyone else won’t be able to enjoy these simple pleasures ever again.

"You need therapy." Shopkeeper said. He was suddenly behind the counter, next to me and, for some reason, pouring bits into the register. "Course so do I but that's not gonna happen."

“I’m a Ghoul in an irradiated post apocalyptic world…I doubt therapy can help me.” I commented, rubbing some of the tear’s out of my eyes.

"Eh, maybe." He shrugged as he closed the register. "So, anything else you wanna do?"

“Hmm…” I hummed, thinking about where to go to next. “So many places to chose from honestly…”

"True. Basically Infinite options. Hmm… Say, what were you doing before you got here anyway?"

“Well…the last thing I did before getting here was…finding a MOM building that was…a pizzeria with sentient animatronics and…” I gulped. “You know…animatronic ghouls.”

"Oh shit you're a FNAF crossover. That is hilarious." Shopkeeper chuckled. "Well, regardless I'm assuming that encounter left you with way more questions than answers."

“Yes, like what necromantic nonsense they were doing, and also if the five I saved actually have their ‘voice actors’ inside them or not.” I said nervously.

"Well, one way to find out." Shopkeeper said. Another snap of his fingers and suddenly I was back in the MOM facility. It looked… better. This must be the place before the bombs. "Now let's see…" Shopkeeper added, moving his hand along in a twisting motion as suddenly items began appearing all around and silhouettes of ponies appeared in glows of white. When he stopped the Silhouettes all gained the shapes and appearances of ponies, moving along objects and walking about ignoring us completely. "There. That should do it."

“Uh…” I blinked. “How in the stalest of hay styled shit’s did you do that?” I asked in honest shock at seeing the magic he just used.

"If I tried to explain it to you we'd be here for seven hundred and forty two years, eleven months, forteen days and twelve hours." Shopkeeper said as he walked through the crowd, and I mean through the crowd. As if they were illusions or something. "Come on then, let's go see some shit."

“Well…alright.” I nodded, following along. “I know I’m not going like this…” I muttered to myself worriedly.

I followed Shopkeeper through the fake or memory crowd into the backroom. Flashbacks of that…. thing came back to me, but walking through those doors I was just greeted with a large room filled with those Endoskeletons, tools, parts and ponies.

“This looks like Part’s and Services…” I frowned.

"And with luck we'll have these new robotics all across MOM Funtime locations across Equestria." One of the workers spoke to an older, but not elderly, looking unicorn stallion with a blonde messy mane, oil gray coat, dark blue eyes and a cutie mark of a book with a lock over it.

"Good, good." The stallion spoke. "Make sure to ship them to my R&D labs in Manehattan, Baltimare, and Las Pegasus as well." I know his voice… from.the audio recordings… Teddy Dunwich.

“Teddy Dunwich?” I questioned. “Huh…didn’t expect him to look that old…I suppose that makes sense why he sounded ill.”

"Anything else Mr. Dunwich?" The employee asked.

"No, that will be all for now. I need to return to my office." I followed Dunwich to his office. It didn't look all that different from when I first saw it. Just less dust and better light. He sat at his desk and levitated out a briefcase. Inside was a strange book, looking at it felt… wrong. As well as an odd looking memory orb. "Let's see. That was five down. One all too willing and four unaware of the task until it was already too late." He said, rolling the orb between his hooves. "Success rate was better than I expected. The AI replaced the personalities of the original… owners, meaning souls hold perhaps more of an imprint of memories rather than actual memories. I'll have to test this later, after all their souls were pulled while leaving the memories behind. Best check all the measures."

“So I was right, that bastard did do some bullshit and stuffed them inside those animatronics.” I frowned.

"Disposal was easy enough. The Zebra's foal was cremated by the hospital. The others, well, perhaps I should pick up some incineration spells?" At that moment the book glowed, Dunwich looking over at it as if he understood the whatever language it might be speaking it. All I could hear were faint whispers and crying as it glowed. "Hm, well if I knew you could eat their corpses it would have saved me a lot of trouble… Oh please, my family has been serving you and your associates since before the Mayflower. This little… hiccup of a detour ended up being a boon. The ambient magic here is far greater than it was back home and the locals, so easily trusting and manipulated."

“Uh…” I blinked. “That’s…absolutely terrible, what the fuck?”

I backed away a bit, now more scared of that book than Dunwich as he continued talking to it. "Well what do you recommend? … Hm, perhaps that would be easier. Recalibrate the microphones to drain the soul and memories into a temporary holding. Would give me better test subjects. I will have to rig up a few Memory Orb Recorders, or maybe… Yes, yes that can work nicely. Much simpler as well. And how is that other version of yourself you've been chatting with? … Well, different cultures, same endgame I see. Hard to imagine there being two of you but, oh well, these books are more like telephones. More than one makes sense in the end."

The book stopped glowing and he put the orb back into the case next to it and closed the brief case. He then sighed as he opened a desk drawer. "Looks like I best make a stop back to Fog Harbor. Will be nice to visit the 'house' for a while."

“Uh…the fuck did I just witness?” I asked worriedly.

"Something else that's a bit broken." I nearly pissed myself when Shopkeeper reappeared. He was standing next to me and I doubt he has been there the whole time. "But a bit more common too. Looks like he's a bit like you, but more stuck."

“And…what do you mean by any of that?” I asked nervously. “Cause it looked like he was literally talking to a soul stealing book about how to shove people’s souls into robots.”

"That's the jist of it but you know how you can pop up here when you sleep but can still go back when your body there wakes up? Well he woke up in your world and got stuck there." Shopkeeper said. "I'll have to look into how he got there but it looks like I know the world he came from and it ain't all that different from yours. Both pre and post war."

“Wait, he’s also from a world like mine?” I asked in surprise.

"Well, yes, but given that book and some of his choice of words I'm gonna guess Pony was not his species before arriving." Shopkeeper said. With another snap of his fingers we were back in The Mall, and I spotted some crazy looking hospitals and such around me.

“Whoa, I’ve never seen hospital’s like these before.” I said in amazement.

"Yeah well these ones are closer to what I have back home." Shopkeeper said as he lead me Inside. "Now, as you know the rules say if you take too many items from here it will trigger some stuff and stuff but it looks like you have an entity, two in fact that do not belong in your world to begin with and therefore they need to be removed."

“And how am I going to do that?” I inquired.

"Simple. I am going to be your Sponsor-"

The whole white void shook as suddenly a… similar creature to Shopkeeper, female… I guess, given her chest swollen teats and long mane. Her mane was a thick, oily wet pitch black, skin as pale as death and eyes to match. She was slamming Shopkeeper's head into the ground.

"No! No sponsors! You forget what happened LAST time?!" She asked him.

"No, and relax, I won't and you can stop now." Shopkeeper said, using his arms to stop himself getting slammed into the ground. "Yeesh, it wasn't that bad."

"You turned them into both an Elder and Eldritch God, gave them free reign of that dimension and now they spend their days doing nothing but creating various breeds of dogs."

"In my defense I did not think they would find that loophole for becoming both an Eldritch and Elder God but I will not even be giving this guy Godhood as an option." Shopkeeper said as he pushed her off of him and stood back up, looking completely unharmed from the harsh attack.

I looked between the two of them. “Wut?”

"Right. Soft Spot, this here is Pain. She's an associate of mine." Shopkeeper said.

"Sup?" Pain said with a small nod at me.

“Uh…hi there.” I nodded. “So…about any of what I just heard?”

"Don't worry about it." Shopkeeper said. "Anywho, Pain, as you know this guy has an ability that really shouldn't be working, let alone have it, and there's already a person from a different world in his world. You can not tell me this isn't something we'd get involved with normally."

"While true, we both know you aren't well trusted to Sponsor people because they somehow end up-"

"No powers. No abilities. No handouts. And if he wants stuff he can buy it just like the others."

Pain eyed Shopkeeper for a while before sighing. "This better not end up like last time. I swear if it does we're sending you back home."

"Psst, like you could keep me there, but, fair."

"And! I get to play around too."

"I figured you were gonna say that…" Shopkeeper sighed. "Fine, but nothing not native. Not yet anyway. His world is a shit show already."

Before I could ask further, Pain turned, spinning on a heel and vanished as if she wasn't there to begin with.

“What the fuck just happened?” I asked nervously.

"Nothing as bad as you're thinking but anyway this means I can sorta help you with that Dunwich pony."

"If they're still alive." I pointed out. "But…if they're any of those creepy ghoul animatronics…that's a problem."

"Well, at the end of the day there's more or less zombie cyborgs. EMP or AP ammo should help deal with them pretty easily."

"Yeah, that should help." I nodded.

"Well, before that, let's get you situated." Shopkeeper said, pushing me into the large futuristic alien hospital.

"What is half of this stuff?" I asked in shock at all the alien tech.

"Medical equipment." Shopkeeper said flatly as he pushed me into a large glass cylinder that once he was in, closed behind me.

A light above at the very top of the tube glowed a bright green. "Patient Detected. Beginning basic health and physical scan." The light said, turning yellow and seeming to scan across my body.

"Uh…i don't know if this will work considering I'm a ghoul…" I pointed out.

"It will. This thing has a database on all types of life forms across the multiverse. And yes, despite you being classified as an undead you still qualify as a Life Form." Shopkeeper said.

The yellow light went back to green. "Patient is a Equis Feral Body Equine Ghoul. Type 3. No Major cell mutations or Magical mutations." The light above me announced.

"Huh. Type three ghoul. Not too common on your world to be a Type 3." Shopkeeper muttered.

"What's special about a type three?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know there are many kinds of ghouls on your world. What most people, or ponies in your case, never realize is that two ghouls are not always the same. For example, the easy Diffrences between yourself, feral ghouls, glowing ghouls, reaver ghouls and Canterlot Ghouls is obvious from a proper look, but each of those ghouls have some sub classifications. A basic ghoul with intelligence like yourself, has many subclasses that differentiate you from other intelligent ghouls. In this case, Type 3 means you're cells, while some to most are dead, the remaining are mutated or technically also undead, but continue to act as if they are alive. The mutated cells in a Type three effect the brain, meaning that despite the dead cells of your body, your brain cells can work with them to keep your higher cognitive functions going as they did before ghoulification."

Huh, well that explains how I've kept my noggin this long.

"Well, that makes sense and explains why I'm still me."

"Basically, this does not mean you're immune to going feral. Your mutated brain cells run off of radiation much like your undead cells do. Much like with a natural death the brain will try and take the radiation and such it needs to remain alive longer. Meaning if your body begins feeling weak it's best to soak in some radioactive water or area for a while. Your undead cells will naturally store it away."

"Good to know." I nodded. "Good thing there's still plenty of rads around where I am."

"Aside from that you appear to be in peak health for a ghoul of your type." Shopkeeper said, the glass cylinder opened back up, allowing me to walked out. "That aside all I can do for you now is sell you stuff and probably give you quests."

"What kinda quests?" I inquired.

"Eh, it varies." Shopkeeper shrugged. "Can't give you things like powers or special magic and such. I can have you do quests for stuff and, of course, buy stuff from me."

"Neat." I nodded. "Anything that can…help things be better back home."

"As long as you can afford it." Shopkeeper shrugged.

“And what currency do you use?” I inquired the Shopkeep.

"Any. I even barter so if you want to bring crap here to trade for stuff or sell, that works too."

“Works for me.” I nodded.

"So, good luck with all on your to-do list."

“Which got a whole lot bigger with all this stuff…” I sighed.

The next day the animatronics and I were almost back to my cave. Yeesh, explaining these guys to Autumn is gonna be fun…

I doubt if I tell them who they were before they'll believe me… but if somehow Dunwich, either in one of his other offices, or on her person, has the orb with their memories… I might be able to help them remember…

But… would that be better? They were flesh and blood once. Hopes and dreams, stripped away slowly as they talked. And from the recording I heard of Acorn… he wanted it… tsk. Even if I did find it, I ain't a unicorn. I have no way to get them to view it either, not without one of those recording tiara things. And those were hard to find back then as is. Doubt anyone with one these days is gonna be willing to give…

Unless…. I can buy one from Shopkeeper…

I pocketed that idea for now as the rocky hill and billboard that signaled my cave home was in view. I smiled, sighing as I wondered what I was gonna do next.

“Alright, so we’re going to be meeting two people very important to me, so please don’t go overboard alright?”

"Oh, are they your siblings? Parents? Pets? Second cousins twice removed?" Goldie asked with her typical hyperness that is probably as close to Pinkie Pie as I will ever experience.

“No.” I shook my head. “A friend and…her filly that I wish I could see as my adoptive daughter…”

"Oh! Does that mean we can throw the little foal a party? Please? Please with sprinkles and cherries on top?"

“We’ll see.” I said carefully. “I don’t want to scare them with all this new stuff.”

"Got it. We'll wait for the signal." Goldie said.

With a sigh I walked into the cave. Once in I spotted Autumn changing Lucky's diaper. "Oh good you're back." She said, looking at me with a smile as she tossed the stink bomb diaper into a trash bin. "Find anything of use?"

“Uh…” I tried to figure out the proper words. “Yes but…I’m gonna need you to not freak out about it.”

"Why would I freak out about it?"

“Because it’s…weird…” I said sheepishly. “Goldie?” I called out to the robogriff.

She walked in, her metallic body sounded quite heavy against the stone floor. Once she entered the main chamber of the cave, Autumn rapidly rushed over to Goldie. “Holy stars I’ve never seen a robot with this level of sophistication!” She said, looking Goldie over.

“I’m an animatronic!” Goldie declared happily.

“Who built you?”

“The Ministry of Moral. I am a Funtime Robotics division prototype Entertainment Animatronic Goldie Beta Zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one.” She answered.

“Incredible. Your movements, the way you talk, your AI and hardware. I had no idea the MOM was even capable of such advanced robotics.”

“Well, they did have help from the Ministry of Image and…well there’s a lot of horror to this situation that I learned.” I shuddered at that bad memory.

“Yeah. It looks like a lot of ghouls were mixed into the spare parts and it’s all nasty.” Goldie said. “So Soft Spot here got my friends and I out of there.”

“Wait, there’s more of you?” Autun asked.

“Oh yeah! Come on in everyone!”

A lot more heavy metal on stone thumps later, and soon all of her fellow animatronics were in the cave.

Autumn was losing her shit. I guess given she spent her whole life learning about electronics and machinery, these guys would be like finding the holy grail.

“Oh, this is your foal?” Acorn asked as he looked up at Lucky, who was still on the changing table.

“Oh, yes, right!” Autumn said, rushing over and picking Lucky up. “This is Lucky Angel. Or Lucky for short. She’s a bit young for the kinds of parties you probably throw, but I’m sure when her birthday comes along you all will go all out anyway.”

“Yeah, so I found these five in a MOM facility, and uh…I also learned that there was…weird amalgamations of ghouls and animatronics there.” I said nervously.

“Creepy. Don’t you go melting and mixing into stuff now alright? Last thing I want is for you to come home and have a tree growing out of your head.”

"Don't worry, I won't magically gain super powers through radiation." I chuckled. "Though I did learn through…special means, that I need to have a dose of radiation to keep myself sane."

“Really? Huh, well I guess it makes sense. Back above the clouds some of the guards used to say ghouls needed radiation to stay alive. Explains why when I first moved in you had nothing but irradiated water here.”

The rest of the following week was getting settled with the new additions. Goldie, Acorn and Magnolia took turns watching over Lucky while Autumn worked. Turns out Goldie has a form of infant care programming and shared it with the two. Plus, Acorn being a child… robot thing will probably be good for Lucky as she ages.

Cook-Cook was, of course, now our personal cook. Turns out pastries weren’t all he could make. He had this cooking program and thousands of recipes in his database. Still can’t talk but at this point we’re all used to that.

Gemrock, more or less acted as a guard with the Mr. Gutsy bot. While she has no weapons or combat programming she does come built with an alarm system in the event she detects foals leaving with adults they did not come with. So she was more or less our alert system.

The cave was getting quite cramped. Only way to expand a cave is to dig… Add mining supplies to checklist…

Now that I was rested and good I had a new destination in mind. Train Station DL42. According to what Ditzy was able to tell me, it was a major trade hub filled with residential and business travel. With luck there’s still something good in those carts. Even if not… might be able to tear them up for scrap and build… something extra for the bots outside.

"Alright, I'm about to head out." I said to Autumn as I got all my stuff ready for the trip.

“Where are you going this time?” She asked as she was taking apart a toaster. It amazed me how well toasters sold at Ditzy’s shop.

“Heading to DL42, I heard it was a major trade hub and it could hold any number of goodies for me to either give to you, trade or sell.” I explained.

“Huh, that is a good idea. I bet given how New Appaloosa looks from here. They'd also be interested in stuff there. Might wanna see if anypony there is willing to help.”

“Yeah, that would work.” I nodded. “I’m sure I can get someone out there…hopefully they won’t bring in Old Appleloosa…”

The trip to New Appaloosa was a simple one. I brought up the idea with Ditzy and once she talked to the sheriff/mayor of the town, he agreed that if we could clear the place out so he could sent some ponies to get the cargo crates and any goods we don’t take for ourselves, he’d give me a reward for the work. Mainly, in the form of two thousand caps.

Now, Two Thousand caps is a lot. Most I’ve ever had at one time was six hundred, and that was many years ago, so I was all for the idea of making some extra money.

He couldn’t offer any help, but thankfully Ditzy was more than willing to keep me company. Mare was an okay shot, and she used an old ten millimeter machine pistol in what was left of her teeth.

“So, how’s the little filly doing Soft Spot?” Ditzy asked me from her spot atop my wagon as I pulled.

“She’s thankfully doing pretty well.” I nodded. “A happy bundle of joy still…hopefully she keeps that happiness in this world…”

“World can surely use more happiness.” Ditzy sighed. “Reminds me of my foal, way back before…”

“I didn’t know you had a foal.’ I said in surprise. “But…well, you don’t need to talk about if you don’t want to…just surprised is all.”

“It was long before the war even began. Back before, well everything went bad. Young, barely an adult. Had her as a teenager. I hated that she had to grow up in those days, but she was my everything and worked hard.”

“Well…considering I now have Lucky, yeah I can understand fully.”

"Did you have any foals, from before the war?"

“I’m what some professional doctor's would consider ‘terminally single’.” I sighed.

That made her laugh. "That bad huh?"

“Oh you have no idea.” I sighed. “It’s also not for a lack of trying but…I was busy with a lot of other things.”

"Heh. Reminds me of my old friend Carrot Top. She was single all the time I knew her. Not for lack of trying either, but she was a terrible flirt and had zero confidence. Too bad you two never got to meet. Bet you two would have made a cute couple."

“Would have been nice.” I shrugged.

The rest of the trip was in silence. Past memories hurt to remember for too long.

We were halfway to the station and took shelter in an old diner.

… The ever stars loving Fuck?!

Before me I spotted a large tube with green liquid housing what looked like a dog right out of Tartarus itself. Four heads, each one sprouting a set of horns and teeth like needles replacing their lips.

Their body was deformed and muscular, with claws sharp as daggers and paws as heavy and platted like stones.

"Oh, so this is where you appeared." Shopkeeper said as he walked up to me.

"What the fuck is that!?!" I shouted in panic at the abomination.

"That? That would be Hetoriun Cerberus. Best guard dogs in like, seventy dimensions."

“Uh…huh…” I said. “So…why is it here?”

"You appeared in a Kennel." I looked around and… various other dogs, dog-like, and what I guess passes for a dog species were all around me in similar tubes of green liquid. "This one specializes in guard dogs and hunting dogs."

The Fuck would they be hunting?!

“Uh…firstly, why am I here? Secondly, what in Celestia’s holy ass would you be hunting with these kinds of canines?”

"Dunno why you appeared here honestly. I can assume it's because of a glitch since you aren't even supposed to have this ability. And as for what these things hunt vary from planet to planet and dimension to dimension."

“Right…” I said slowly. “So anyways…I’m probably here for a reason.”

"Doubtful. Plus I doubt you can afford any of these animals."

“Well…how much money do I need to have any basic canine to find who I need to?”

"The cheapest one here is about… sixteen thousand caps."

“Oh ho fuck that noise.”

"I figured you'd say that." Shopkeeper nodded. "Majority of these products are priced based on what my associates and their… sponsorships earn. If you want to catch up on their earnings and get the really good stuff you'll have to do quests I give you. Huh, actually that can be something you can do to earn extra money for the stuff I sell."

“That could help a lot.” I nodded. “What do you have in mind? Something like what Royally Rich has me doing or something else?”

"Depends. I usually don't make or give quests. Maybe I can call in an expert for this." He said, pulling out what looked like some really small radio that flipped open. "Hey, yeah it's me. Mind helping me with something? No it won't end like last time… No I'm not letting them have powers, just buy shit… That's why I'm calling you. Nobody, nor myself trusts me to be responsible with quests and rewards. Alright, see you soon." He closed the folding radio.

Suddenly there was… a tall, black cloaked wearing being next to us. Their cloak adorned in gold and silver threads, and a MASSIVE book was strapped to their back. The book was as big as my wagon… "Alright, I'm here."

"Right. Soft Spot, this is Oid. He works in Quests and Dungeon Lore."

“Hi there.” I said politely. “So…should I even ask why nobody trusts Shopkeep?”

"He has terrible power scaling." Oid replied.

"Yup. Everything I touch breaks… the leveling and skill system…" Shopkeeper chuckled dryly. "Hence why I do this…"

"Regardless, I work doing this kind of stuff for a living." Oid shrugged. "So, what kind of quest should this one be sent on?"

"Something fairly simple but pays lots."

“I’m a trader in a radioactive wasteland, so please be something simple.”

"Hmmm. Let's see…" Oid hummed, slinging the massive book off their back. It hit the ground with a massive thud and they began flipping it open. "Hmm, something with a large payout for simple work… Perhaps a recovery quest? Or maybe assassination? Or would exploration be more suited for you?"

“Well, I do recover a lot of goods, and exploring is part of it but…why assassination?” I questioned.

"It's always an option." Oid stated. "So, preference for Exploration… scavenger too… hmm, I have a good one here. Simple and will net you some good money." Oid said, waving a hand over the page as suddenly, rising from it was a scroll that rolled itself up and was tied by a magically appearing red ribbon. He then gave it to me.

“Thank you.” I said, taking the scroll and opening it up to see what quest I was gonna have.

Explore the Great Undead Forest and collect Echo Flowers.

“Uh…I don’t remember there being a Great Undead Forest…and Echo Flowers? I thought those were only rumors?” I asked, not knowing about this forest, and remembering someone a while ago talk about the ‘echoing flowers of the forgotten’ but wasn’t sure if it was real or the poor ghoul was finally losing it.

"This forest, nor those flowers exist in your world. For this quest we'll be sending you to another world." Shopkeeper said. "Specifically this world is called Zibrixa. This whole planet exists in a state of half alive, half undead. Given you yourself are an undead, you won't be bothered much by the natives."

“Alright, sounds good to me.” I nodded. “I suppose that ghoul was just losing his marbles finally.” I shook my head at that.

"For each Echo Flower you collect you'll be paid 200 caps a flower. So the limit is mostly a mix between time and your own willingness to collect as many as you want."

“Fair enough…” I nodded. “Huh, depending on how many I grab, I might be able to buy a hunting dog to find your ‘missing person’ there Shopkeep.”

"I wouldn't if I were you. For one, even on your world there will be things hard to explain. And second, Pain might think you want her to send non native beasts after your rotting butt."

“I’d rather not please.” I said quickly. “Sorry, just want to make dealing with that sick bastard would go smoother.”

"It's alright. Besides, this will likely take time. Anyway, here." Shopkeeper said, snapping their fingers as a strange ring appeared next to us. On the other side was… woah…

The forest was… like a swamp, for one. Thick and muggy from the scent of the air that hit me and seemed rather odd.

“Huh…” I muttered. “This is…weird…”

Slowly I put a hoof out through the portal and onto the alien world's ground. It was kinda muddy, but still pretty solid. A thin layer of moss was growing over the muddy ground and taking a look around I felt… alright.

"Huh…this is kinda nice." I muttered in surprise.

Once I was fully through the portal I looked around, and once I did I began setting up my battle saddle and guns. I am hoping not to use them but given they said not many things would bother me, given I'm also an undead, it meant something was going to.

I quickly began looking for these Echo Flowers. I was willing to guess they stood out, and after a few moments I think I spotted one. It was a flower, and frankly seeing a real one after 200 years was… sombering.

It was shaped almost like a sunflower, but was a lapis blue and glowed faintly and hung from a long many vines where several others all hung.

"Hello?" I questioned towards the flower, hoping to see if it lived up to it's name.

It did not do anything. Frowning, I raised a hoof and touched it-

"How far to the base?" The flower said, making me jump back a little. The voice was older, gruff and tired sounding.

"Not too far. Just a half a mile north of here." Another voice from the flower spoke. This one was younger and full of youth.

"Good. Let's hope the natives haven't found it yet. So few places left to feel safe in."

The flower then popped off the vine and onto the floor before me… huh. Alright… maybe it works different than what I am thinking… also, maybe this base place they talked about could be useful.

"Well…looks like I'll be visiting some new people…" I muttered, taking the flower carefully and putting in my bag.

The other ones were too high up. Hm, north… that's… this way. Thank you Pipbuck compass.

I walked for a while and found more Echo Flowers. Most seemed to replay nothing but random animal noises or background noise. Eventually I came across my first native… they were some giant spider, exoskeleton replaced by moist leathery flesh, nine eyes looking around it's slimy web as it waited patiently for something to land in them.

It thankfully seemed completely uninterested in me and I was able to pass by that thing… and start breathing again once I did.

"I hate everything right now…" I muttered in horror.

A few more flowers later and I spotted a small stone and wood shack. Inside after pushing the door open I was greeted by two creatures. One taller, older than the other. Both had large chunks of their limbs and torsos missing. Their heads, were kinda smooth like a frogs but shaped like some lizards. Both were just huffing, somehow still breathing but their eyes… there was nothing behind them. Feral undeads.

Between them was an echo flower.

I touched it.

"It hurts… it's hurts-" CRACK! The younger voice started before the sickening familiar crack of a neck breaking cut them off.

"I'm sorry kid… thought this place… was safe…" The older voice said his breathing ragged and slow until it stopped, and soon two sets of mindless snarling and breathing started.

I put that flower away and looked at the two. Both uninterested in me and both…

I took pity on the both of them and, with a trained shot, put the two feral undead to their final rest. "That's that…hopefully…"

With that done I headed back out, looking for more Echo Flowers.

Some hours later I was back at the portal with seventeen echo flowers. At two hundred caps a flower that three thousand and four hundred caps. More caps than I have ever made at a single time.

“A successful day if I do say so myself.” I said with a smile.

I walked back through the portal and gave all the Echo Flowers I collected to Shopkeeper, who gave me a large sack filled with bottle caps.

"Well, that was successful. Wanna try something else?" They asked me.

“What do you got for me?” I inquired.

Oid flipped through their huge book. "Same as the last one or something different?" They asked.

“Eh, surprise me.” I shrugged.

They gave me another scroll and I opened it up.

Retrieve an apple from the World Tree.

“Alright…so how the fuck am I supposed to do that?” I asked. “Cause at this point, I’m pretty sure you’re either talking about a giant fuck off magical tree, or a literal World Tree.”

"It varies dimension to dimension. In your case it's more of a literal tree, just at the center of your universe where it's less literal more cosmic roots, trunk and branches/leaves spread out in infinite growth creating the phenomenon you'd recognize as the continuous growth of the universe." Shopkeeper said.

“Right then…” I said. “So…I just have to scale a universe sized tree…sounds simple enough.”

"Oh relax, in case you forget I am offering you transportation there. Just make sure you do not eat the apple. I can not stress enough how bad that would be if you eat it."

“Why? Would I die in an instant because I’m a ghoul literally eating cosmic energy or become a superhero?” I asked, only to see a weird and extremely fluffy tiny canine creature plopped on Shopkeeps head with a sign.

Just don’t.

“...First, adorable…and second, fine.” I shook my head, not sure who or what the fluff ball was but thinking I shouldn’t if they had to appear out of thin air to tell me that.

"But, yeah, all you need to do is bring us the apple and you get a lot more caps." Shopkeeper said, picking the small wolf up by the scruff. "Plain and fairly simple."

"Plain and fairly simple." I nodded, as the tiny canine patted Shopkeep's head.

With another snap of his fingers Shopkeeper opened another portal. What I was beyond it… was incredible.

As far as the eye could see. Dark, empty blackness, broken by seemingly endless branches that seemed to be made of space and the universe- universes, stars and solar systems only peered through telescopes before the war all below me bound in this World Tree's body.

“Whoa…” I said breathlessly at the sheer size and beauty of this place.

"Your apple is over there." Shopkeeper said, suddenly next to me and pointed at a far off branch that was barely sprouting. I could barely make out the apples it was growing. Each one was crystalized, red and white and looked almost like… fire, trying to escape.

"Uh…should I be concerned about it looking like it's about to explode?"

"Well it is essentially a… hmm, think of it as the foundation for what makes a solar system. Once it falls off and rotts, it blows, the heat and raw energy within creates a universe. But relax, it ain't fragile." He informed.

"Alrighty then." I said, still nervous about the fact I'm about to grab a universe maker still. "Well…it should be simple apple picking."

"Basically." He shrugged. To my surprise he did accompany me on this walk.

A million questions were racing through my head. The reality of this absurdity seeming to finally hit me. I know this is all real, the proof literally appeared with me when I woke up and yet… still.

“Am I…the only one?” I asked, knowing it’s a bit vague but thinking Shopkeep would understand what I mean.

"The only what? The only one we've talked to? No, there's way more. You are the only one to get our attention because of this unexpected… ability, you gained accidentally."

“Well…I guess am I the only one like this?” I asked. “This…weird Dreamer I suppose?”

"... Yes and no." He answered. "You aren't like the ones that came before. More like, your ability is a cheap copy we tried making of the real ones from long ago. Haven't seen a genuine Dreamer in… heh, too long. But, yeah, currently you're the only one of your type of Dreamer."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Just making sure on that…but why me? Is it just some extremely lucky happenstance or did someone or…something choose me?”

"Frankly you shouldn't even have that ability. It was… removed. I can guess maybe that Echo had something to do with it but this is different from his usual means of screwing with us."

“Right then.” I nodded. “So…how long have you been a shopkeep? Cause with those other two it sounds like you were…busy with other things.”

"Oh, maybe… eighty seven octillion years. At first I just watched and observed but I eventually wanted to get involved cause I was a bit bored. It ended, well, not badly but not ideal so I was put here. Kinda ironic given how I started out but eh."

“Am I allowed to know how you started out or is that something I’m not allowed to know?”

"I could tell you, but it's no fun for me."

"Eh, fair." I shrugged. "Sounds like a lot of baggage attached to it."

"That about sums up most of us on the backstory department."

“Yeah, so who was the adorable fluff ball?” I inquired. “Another friend of yours?”

"Oh, they go by Princess these days and… yeah. Well, it's a complicated relationship but we're all in the same family."

“Married, relative?” I inquired.

"Married. The family is largely split into two groups, the Parents and the Children. I'd go into more details but there's not that much to explain. Parents get together, have and raise kids, kids go off and explore or make a life for themselves, and repeat."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “How…hard is it to raise a kid?”

"Considering I've had more than I can count and more years of practice that number of kids, I'd say it gets easier, but the first ones will always be the hardest. Course then again my kids are all powerful enough that a temper tantrum causes singularities to form followed by explosions strong enough to make new stars and solar systems so, maybe my advice isn't the best."

“Know anyone that can?” I asked. “Even if its just basic stuff…i just want to see Lucky raised right.”

"Heh, no offense but on your world Raised Right basically sets the bar at doesn't become a raider or slaver if they reach adulthood."

“I mean…while that’s all true…” I admitted. “I just…want to see her happy ya know?”

"You're already doing well on that end. Plus with my help food and diapers won't be an issue so long as you keep up these quests for caps."

"Yep." I nodded. "But…at least I'm doing something right for Lucky."

We soon arrived at the sprouting branch. Standing on hind legs I grabbed one of the 'apples' and pulled it off. I then gave it to Shopkeeper, who gave me another large bag of caps and then I watched as he tossed the apple over the edge.

"Uh…why'd you do that?" I asked nervously.

“Three. Two. One…” There was a sudden explosion. Peering over the edge I saw a violent, massive explosion so bright and so massive that despite the distance it was at, it was like being next to it. Heat hit me as whatever air I was breathing became hot and muggy as soon from the explosion formed an ever expanding explosion that seemed to mold and reshape into… a branch. It connected to the main tree and soon and quickly grew onwards.

Soon, inside the new branch began forming lights, many small dots and swirling colorful masses…

I just witnessed the birth of a universe…

“Wow…” I muttered in awe. “It’s…beautiful…”

“And that is just tuesday.” Shopkeeper shrugged. “Come on, I imagine now that you have shy of six thousand caps you’d wanna buy something cool.”

“Yes please.” I nodded.

I followed Shopkeeper back through the portal. Once through he lead me into a building that was packed with all kinda of guns and ammo I remember reading about in magazines from before the war. “Since I don’t want you getting too strong I’m sticking with weapons native to your planet. Armor too.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded, starting to browse his selection of guns and ammo. “Hmm…there’s a lot more guns than I thought there was…” I muttered, not remembering seeing almost half of the weapon’s here.

“I did say guns from your world. Not all of the ones you saw in magazines and such were all of them. Ponies, griffons, zebras, and many other groups made their own.”

“Yeah…” I nodded, looking around again to see if anything really catches my eye. I decided to look for a rifle since I already had a shotgun and a pistol

The rifles varies from early flintlocks to modern sniper and anti-material rifles. Hmm… What here looks good… Hello.

Before me rested on a metal frame was a fairly standard issue army assault rifle back in the war. This one was modified though. Rather than the basic 5.56, this one looked chambered in .308, holding six bullets and seemed to have a custom scope. Huh. Never seen this before.

“What model is this gun?” I asked.

“This is a modified variant of the Equestrian Army K7 Assault Rifle. This is the K7-Y Semi Auto Sniper Rifle. It doesn’t have the range of the basic Sniper Rifle but can go pretty far and fires twice as fast. With a mod and extended ammo magazine you can switch between semi and full auto with a thirty round magazine.”

“Yeah I’m gonna buy this.” I said readily.

“With the mod and extended mag?”

“How much would it cost with those added?” I inquired.

“About four thousand caps.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “I’ll buy it.”

He gave me the rifle and installed the mod and two thirty round magazines. I then bought a few hundred bullets and with that, had a thousand and two hundred caps left.

“Anything else?” Shopkeeper asked.

“Hmm, let’s see if there’s anything for my armor.”

I looked through the armors, and to my surprise found the same Elite MOM Riot gear I’m wearing. Looks brand new… No way I can afford it with what I have left… I wonder… What about the software?

“How much would new Software cost?”

“For this stuff. Well, lets see…” Shopkeeper tapped my armor with a hand. “Hmm… You’ll need the base OS first before anything else can be installed. I can sell that OS for five hundred caps.”

“Sure, it would at least let me use more of the armor without it being nerfed behind MOM user agreements.”

“Fair.” He said, taking my caps and handing me a holotape. “This will hold the base OS for the armor. I’m sure your friend Autumn can get that installed for you.”

“Yep.” I nodded. “She’s gonna have a field day with this…and for the rest of my money, let’s get something special for her and Lucky.”