Fallout Equestria: The Long Descent

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

By: ThunderWing

"Sometimes our only hope, Can lead to our inevitable demise... Or not, that always works too!"

I woke up feeling woozy. I still couldn't see out of my eye. I lifted a hoof and touched the bandages over my empty socket. But, It wasn't empty.. there was something hard behind it, loosely held by the bandage. I started pushing the bandage up. Jus' a little farther... The doctor walked in suddenly and I nearly had a heart attack, I fell back onto the bed with a creak of the wood support. "Oh, your awake! Wonderful!" The doc said as he walked towards the side of my bed, a small teen mare trailing him. She must be his apprentice. I don't know how they do it in other stables, but here, as soon as we are 10 years old we can get an apprenticeship. from there on we can hop through a number of jobs till we get our cutiemark, which usually appears within a year of searching. For those foals gifted enough to get their cutiemark before the age of 10, well they usually are treated as prodigies. Separated and given special treatment. As it was, I was one of those prodigies. I got my cutiemark when I tried to sweet-talk my way out of trouble with my mother. I mean COME ON it was only one drink of her cider! But nope, I got in trouble and I got the cutiemark of a microphone. Public Speaking.

I hated it. Just because I am good at talking everyone expected me to be elected next in line for Overmare, or in my case, Overstallion. I didn't like my cutiemark, I like science, I want to help ponies. Not just lead and let others work on it for me. It might be possible to do both.. While I was deep in thought I realized the Doctor and his assistant were looking at me funny. "Oh uh.. sorry" I scratched the back of my head and gave a small shrug, "I wasn't listening to well, can you repeat?" His apprentice giggled. I felt a little embarrassed, she was a cute mare to be honest, and I made myself look bad. "Well, I noticed that you were trying to remove your bandage. I would not recommend that, because the bandages are holding your new implants into your eye until the microbots can build the Blood Stream Roots. So, wait a week to take the bandages off, ok?" The doc said as the mare, who I now realized was a unicorn, was floating out paper and scribbling down notes.

"Yeah, I think I can wait a week. Seems a little long, but I'll deal with it" I said. "That's all then, you can head back to your room, if you want" He said. I nodded and got out of the bed, my legs slightly wobbled from the, now wearing off, anesthetic. I told the doc thanks then walked out into the medical wings' main hall. I headed for the Central lobby. The Lobby was one of the most visited parts of 101. It was a large circular room with halls going out in 8 directions. There was one lobby per level and there were 19 levels. Med wing happens to be on level 6. which is also the level I lived on. At least I wouldn't have to go up or down the main stairwell. I trotted over through the widely populated lobby, getting a few "Get well soon"'s and even a couple hugs. I almost missed Sugar Cream as I walked by, startled by her new mane style. She was talking to one of the side vendors. Side vendors were ponies who sold their of hoof-crafted decor, fee of any major business. I looked back towards Sugar; me and here are both prodigies, we went to the same school classes together and she is my best friend since we were foals. "Hello Sugar!" I said as I happily trotted up to her. She turned around, quite startled, "Hello Carbon! You scared me there. don't sneak up on me" She tried to remain serious except the look broke down and we both snickered. "Oh, yes I wanted to ask. How is your eye doing? It looks like they've got it all covered up" She said as she grabbed my face and inspected my bandages. She was rather obnoxious for her age. We were both 18. But i didn't mind, I just felt a little weird having her inspect me. She let go, " Can we take off the bandages? whats It look like under them?" I thought for a moment, the doctor had said I got an implant of sorts, but I was the only pony who had an eye implant in the whole stable, so I did not know what to compare to. "No, I can't take off the bandages for another week. But I do know that it is some kind of eye implant" I said. She looked at me and smiled, "well ok, I really must get going, I have a filly's cutecinera to plan! yay" And with a hug and a nod she bounced off, on a trip to collect party supplies. We all had jobs, Almost always based on out cutiemark. Sugar Creams' was a bunch of streamers and a confetti popper. She basically ran every party in the stable. I worked in the science labs down on level 8. There we discovered new innovations and such. Mostly for the cybernetics industry. I paused then I took a look around to find the right hallway, when I found it I started trotting down to my room.

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The week proved to be as antsy as I initially thought it would be. I was just itching to remove my bandage. I was trotting quite enthusiastically to the med bay. As I walked in i was greeted by the doctors' apprentice. " Hello, You must be looking for the doctor. He will be here shortly, just clearing up a few issues with another patient. Why not take a seat?" She said cheerfully. "I didn't quite catch your name," I said while walking towards the sitting area. "Oh, my name is Pink Heart. But you can call me Pink!" She giggled a bit. "Ok, Pink, nice to meet you. My name is Carbon Steel. But you can call me Carbon," I said with emphasis, "So, How did a pretty mare like you find a life in the med bay? I mean, I'm sure you could work at a store and get a few extra bits out of whoev-"

"PINK! Quick come help me!" The Doctor shouted. Pink rushed into one of the rooms. I could see through the door a bit. I looked through the crack to see one of the security ponies I'd scouted with. He was being held to the bed, frothing and shaking terribly. "I don't know what happened! I was checking out his body for any bites or anything. I know it is a week late but I was to busy with patients and I figured it wouldn't matter. Shows just what I know! He was bit my some tick-like parasite. When I removed it he started shaking and frothing!" The doctor looked very panicked. Then Pink tried to remain somewhat calm and said, "We need to get him to isolation, Fast. We cant risk the whole population of the stable getting infected with... with whatever this is!"

They Promptly rushed his bed into  the Isolation room where he was sealed in a glass chamber to be worked on by the med-bots. Then they came out and instructed me to follow them. I did so and was promptly sealed in another glass chamber directly across from the Security Bucks' cell. I was literally freaking out. I hated being trapped, unable to move. "Sorry, you will have to remain quarantined until we know what is killing him" The doc pointed at the twitching buck. "Wait! Don't leave me here!" I started to shout, scared of being in the same room as the sick pony, even if we were separated by glass. But the doctor just said, "we must, I'm sorry. The med bot will remove your bandages." And with that he walked out the door. Well shit.

I looked op and a hatch opened in the ceiling, the med-bot floated down, I could see its levitation Gem on the bottom. It began to snip the bandages off my face and I reached up to touch the cold rough metal covering where my eye used to be. I slowly walked up to the mirror and saw it, my new eye. The med bot promptly plugged it into a magic spark cord and it powered up. I could see everything almost as clearly as before. It was almost like having my Pipbucks' Eyes Forward Sparkle on all the time. The eye could gauge distance and functioned as a focused targeting system. I was pretty amazed. It looked... well, different. As much as I liked being able to see. It wasn't the same as a real eye. Nevertheless I took a look around the room trying to ignore my implant. There was abed in the corner, a sink and toilet. and a little desk. Cramped, but livable.

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Days passed and the bucks' condition got worse and worse. The med bot kept taking blood samples from both of us. I heard the disease was spreading. The doctors must not have gotten him quick enough. Ponies were dying. I don't know why they kept me in isolation though. It didn't make sense. I heard my mother had been among the dead. The buck across from me was dead a day later. His skin had completely melted off his body. It was horrifying. And! My own MOTHER had died that way. As I was thinking, the doctor walked in, dressed in a quarantine suit. "You are released Carbon. I am sorry we kept you in here while your mother died. You have to understand, we kept you in here because you seem to resist infection. We know you are immune, but we couldn't devise a cure. I'm sorrry..." I nodded quietly and understandingly as he opened the door. I turned to him. "When is the next scouting mission. I was thinking a lot in isolation and I decided it might be the only chance to save the rest of the stable." The doctor looked at me in confusion, "wait, haven't you listened to the stable broadcasts on your pipbuck? The Overmare announced that all scout missions to the surface will be canceled permanently."

"What??" I asked. "Why?!" The doctor nodded towards the buck, barely twitching anymore. "I am going to talk to her," I ran out and headed towards the Overmare's office. When I reached the office I took a quick look around. The overmares' office was a large room with a desk as the centerpeice. there were bookshelves lining the wall with books on the history of the world and the stable. All the leaders of Stable 101 were responsible for keeping a record of all the happenings of the stable. As it is well known, our government system is different then old equestria. We elect our leaders, and plenty o ponies like this idea. Each Overstallion or Overmare will run the office for a 10 year term and are given an executive ability to control the stable. There had been a grand total of 23 Overmare's and Overstallion's, though, with the way this disease is going, it looks like there will be no more terms. Then I looked at her, the Overmare was there at her desk filing papers in a gas mask of sorts. "Overmare, we need to send out another mission to the surface, it's our best chance to save the stable!" She looked at me calmly. Does she not understand how important this is?! "We cannot make it through this. All out ponies will die. It was a good run, but everything has to end."

"A GOOD RUN?! are you crazy?" I slammed my hooves on her desk. "We have to leave the stable, spread out. Make it hard for the disease to transmit. OR we could even go out to look for a cure!" I slammed my hoof down again hard. "We must do something!" She looked at me with a level head and pressed a the intercom button, "Security to Overmares' office." The security immediately trotted in and put their hooves on my shoulders. "Please escort Mr. Steel from my office. Detain him in his room until further notice." I shrugged them off me and growled at the Overmare, but i cant do anything about it with the guards on my flanks. I slowly and grudgingly turned around and walked to the door.

The guards flanked me towards my room, following closely. I looked at them out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the right one had a small bump on his ankle. It must've been an injury in the recent years. I wondered just how much force it would take to knock him down. I looked at the other guard, he was looking at a mare that just passed by. I made the decision and kicked the leg out from under the guard on my right. The other guard was alerted and I turned assuming a crouched stance. I engaged my Pipbucks' S.A.T.S and brought a hoof down on the back of his neck while the world moved in slow motion. He collapsed beneath me. I made sure they both were still alive before I ran off towards the lobby. I burst into the lobby and two of the guards patrolling the room saw me. I ran past at full speed, climbing the central stairwell as fast as my hooves could carry me. I reached the main entrance and tried to remember what the guard punched in and started pressing numbers on the keypad. To my surprise the machines whirred and the giant claw lowered from the roof. I turned to the open door to hear shouts of guards coming up the stairs. I ran and locked the door and pushed a crate in front of it. Steam poured from the door as the gear shape was pulled from place. I heard the slamming of hooves on the door as the guards tried to break in to stop me from leaving. I stood on the edge of freedom then took one last look at home. I thought about all the ponies dying, their bodies melting and I whispered, "I'll be back for you. I promise." Then I ran.

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I trotted through the darkening woods. My stomach growled with every step. I looked down at my body, "Can you be a little quieter. You will alert those wolf things." I trotted on and my stomach disobeyed. It kept getting louder and louder till I decided to eat some of the tree leaves. It didn't matter if they were irradiated(though I found out they were clean later. After an hour or two of pure worry) It spared me from a much worse death of being killed by whatever lurks in these woods.

I looked up at the grey cloud covered sky. Nearly dusk. How far did I go? Will the guards chase me? No. The Overmare wouldn't let them risk any more disease carriers. At least I wouldn't have to worry about that. Wait, where am I going again? I tried to remember the old maps from school, and started heading in the direction of Ponyville. Maybe there are survivors, who knows? I suppose I will find out soon enough. I noticed I was going up an incline. Hmm, Maybe I could see Ponyville from the top. I started trotting up, then I saw it, the most beautiful tree I'd ever seen. A faded yellow bark with willow leaves of pink. It gently swayed in the breeze, A great monument in the dark trees of the surrounding forest. I slowly took a few steps forward as the wind made a blood curdling moan. The sound was like a thousand mourning ponies. "What are you?" A squirrel scurried out in front of me into the blue ivy on the ground. It was instantly turned into a pile of flayed meat. I backed away as the moan pierced the air again. The dead meat slowly slipping under the layer of ivy.

I ran as far around it as I could. Trying to keep away from all things blue. I felt safer with knowledge. I always had. Working in the science wing did that to you. But I had no possible knowledge of what was soon to come next. I was not prepared in the slightest. As I ran, I finally broke through the tree cover and there it was, in the distance, a glimmer of hope for me in the dark world. Ponyville...

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk added: Weakness Targeting: Level 1: You can now look at your enemies and spot weakness from the outside of their body.