Fallout Equestria - Chronicles of Chrysalis

Chapters

Wakening
Town
Tail blazer

Wakening

The Badlands

To most it was a place of danger and death. Of defiance and despair, But during the war between Equestria and the zebras it wasn't important. That was until the princess realised how valuable the changelings were. Their ability to disguise themselves as their prey made them the perfect infiltrators, and when the zebras found out how kingly rich the soils of the Badlands were, filled with precious gems and crystals, A new story unfolded. I made a deal with Celestia. My children would work for Equestra and in exchange, they would no longer be hunted provided that there were no attacks on the population at large.

I learned a lot about Equestria after that, about the ministries, the new technology. But to me one of the most important things that I learnt, was about Sparkle and her friends. From Applejack to Pinkie to even That little pet Twilight had.

But as time went on and threat of total devastation loomed, the demands on both sides grew. From being able to experiment and study the changeling race to a stable built to support both species. But when the mega spells flew by I and the rest of the present hive hunkered down and went into hibernation. Waiting for the radiation to subside.

I am Queen Chrysalis, and this is how my new story began.

I Felt my mind wake up, I could not remember anything. At least, not until I got a grip of myself. Over time, it all came flooding back. The war, the bombs, the death. Part of me wanted to stay asleep, as if I didn't want to accept the reality I was in. My brain was still waking up though so it had taken it's time. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was in a cocoon, my cocoon.

I felt the warm liquid around me, it was odd to say the least. I never really get used to the idea of a non-aquatic creature (especially myself) breathing liquid and that's the word that suits it best, odd. I felt the liquid passing in and out of my lungs, yes, my lungs. Slowly, I regained control over my body. I moved around a little and soon enough. I could move myself closer to the edge of the cocoon. Once I moved close enough I applied pressure to the walls of this green prison with my horn. Just a little more, I thought to myself. Soon enough my horn cut through the underside of the cocoon. I continued to slice a nice line from the bottom of the cocoon to the top.

It sounded like the breaking of an eggshell combined with the tearing of tissue paper. I was thrown out with the water like liquid and I found myself on the floor coughing up liquid and gasping for air. After around a minute or two I was breathing normally, aside from a few coughs every now and then. I got up on all fours and found myself quite wobbly. At first I was barely able to stand but in time my brain woke up and so did I. I stretched every now and then to help wake me up. Soon I was standing tall and determent, I took a deep breath in and let it all out.

"It's good to be back", I said to myself.

I took a look around the chamber and tried to light it up a little. A green glow covered my horn but the light died down shortly after, my magic reserve was low. I made note to use magic sparingly. The walls of my main chamber had some kind of green glowing fungi growing off them here and there along with a noticeable amount decay in the form of missing chunks of wall, cracks and holes present in the chamber.

I recognised the fungus on the walls. It was the same sweet chewy fungi my children harvested for who knows how long. From what I recall the fungi is not only highly poisonous to ponies (and maybe some other animals) but it released spores that or though grew very slowly and died very fast unless the conditions were perfect, were poisonous themselves. How it had spread from the fungus farms four stories below all the way up here told me that a very long time has passed. Good thing the Badlands is too hot for the fungi to spread otherwise...oh boy, still. It made for some great toxins during the war, it was easy to contain, very deadly and to changelings, a great meal.

Which reminded me, I need more food if I'm going to start waking up my children. they will be very hungry after sleeping for so long. My stomach grumbled at the thought of food. So while I'm at it I might as well get something to eat myself. I walked up to the wall and (using my horn) cut off some of the fungi from the wall. I scrapped off any fungi on my horn and did the same to the fungi itself (only I was actually scrapping off any bits of stone on my meal). Once I was done I ate it, it was as sweet as I remembered it. Too bad it would kill anything else that did this.

Once I was done I exited my chamber and looked around. Cocoons with changelings were everywhere, on the walls, the sealing and the floor. The pods had a green lamp like glow to them which almost lit up the otherwise pitch-black hallways of the hive. I knelled down and stroked one of the pods with that of a mother's care.

"Sleep tight, momma is going to get food." It was then I noticed that some of the pods were black, both in and out. The pod's liquid must have not been rich enough. How long has it really been? The liquid in these pods is meant to be rich enough to last more then a century! Now that I think of it, how many are left? I'm clearly not the only survivor but just how many of my children survived?

Focus, I need to focus. I can't dwell on this, I need to rebuild my hive and prosper. I know the surface is habitable because my pod had a spell that read the radiation levels. That's how I woke up, but then why are my children still asleep? I'll look into this later. For now I need to stockpile food and energy, get a grip of the situation I'm in and survive.

I got up and started trotting through the obsidian black cave to the exit but I couldn't shake the feeling I had forgotten something, it was something big but I just couldn't put my hoof on it. It felt so different to see the hive devoid of life. I decided not to wake up any of my children, there's more then enough food for a few of them but it's magic that I need to be concerned about. Me and my children have a limited amount of magic we can use. Unlike unicorns who can generate their own magic, my children (and I) need to refill ours by absorbing emotional energy. We can't even disguise or use the most basic magic attacks without it because it takes up magical energy. In other words without magic we can't defend ourselves very well.

After walking around for some time I found the exit to the hive. It was a like a vertical stable door or rather, a gear shaped elevator. I walked over to the control panel and activated the elevator, the gear shaped platform descended from above and landed. I stood on the platform and looked up, the upper door was still closed. I turned my attention to the control panel on my right and activated it. The platform started ascending as soon as the door started opening. It was surprisingly quiet for a stable door which was (from my experience) normally quite noisy.

I'd rather have my personal guards around but until I find more food or magic I was going to have to play solo. After getting out I took a look around and instantly noticed it was night time, around late-night or close to dawn.

I saw a nearby camp site with ponies around a fire that looked like they where having a conservation. Three tents surrounding a camp fire. However, the ponies looked different from what I'd seen before hibernation. They had makeshift armour and clothing that looked as if it was torn apart and then sown back together, and then torn apart again. There were three of them, one red, one blue and one black.

Not only that but they had guns with them, assault rifles to be exact. And I knew what a gun was from the pre-war. I decided not to directly confront them with a disguise on because it may mean the end of me. I decided to sneak close enough to listen in on the conversation and find out a thing or two, after getting close enough I could make out what they where saying.

"Red, put more wood on the fire", ordered the black pony.

"My name is Wild, Dusk!"

"Shut up, I give the orders. Blue, check on the prisoner."

"For Celestia sake, my name is Star Dusk."

Wild proceeded to chuck some more wood on the fire while Star trotted into one of the tents. I made note of which tent he went into. A moment later Star trotted out the tent and sat down around the fire, Wild sat down next to him.

"So Wild, what are you going to do with the-"

"Caps we get? I'm going to see if I can-"

"Get a drink?"

"You know me too well."

"You really should stop-"

"Thinking about myself, you need to stop-"

"Collecting shovels?"

"Yes, you know it's-"

"An odd habit-"

"Shut up! shut up! shut up! shut up!"

"Sorry Boss"

"I can't stand you two! now do I have to remind you two lump heads again?"

"I know I know, get the slave back to Mr Chains and then get paid.

We've done this a hundred times", said Wild.

"It's not Chains this time, the pony we got is apparently wanted by the Desert Raiders."

"The what?"

The black pony sighed. "I'll explain in the morning and by the way Red, the answer I was looking for was that I'm the one in charge!"

Well, that was...interesting. I need to get rid of them somehow because of how close to the hive they are but that might be a bit difficult considering the fact that they have weapons, armour and that they're grouped up together. Then again the entrance to the hive is well hidden (thanks to the sand coloured door, not the elevator, and that's it's partially covered) so they shouldn't find it unless they looked.

Now if I could rescue the slave then I'll get enough love to fuel me for days! That is if I put on a disguise. But then how do I take care of these peasants? I can't simply go up to them in disguise because they may enslave me, I can't dive bomb them because that will take up to much energy and I can't stun them for a good enough amount of time without more energy.

Maybe I can throw a rock? I don't have much else at the moment anyway. I picked up a small rock with my hoof and threw it.

"Huh, what was that Wild?"

"Probably just a rad roach Star"

Dam, let's try something else.

I considered my options but I didn't have much to go on. Then an idea pops in my head. It's a costly one but it may work. I casted a weak explosives spell and armed it not to far off. A distant blast shattered the midnight silence and echoed throughout the area.

"What the- oh crumbs move it!"

The three ponies rushed toward the source of the blast and when they left. I got up and rushed towards the tents. I checked the tent Star went into and found a dark brown tied up pony with a scared look his face. The stallion looked as if it had been beaten to a pulp but I didn't have time to inspect the pony. I lifted him up with my magic and ran away with the stallion back to the hive.

I rushed back to the hive with the dark brown pony. Once inside I walked around, looking for a good spot to stick him. The pony's face went white with fear, probably because this was all alien to him. The stallion struggled like mad but it was useless while he was In the air, yet he tried to worm his way out. The way he struggled frustrated me. "Stop struggling worm!" I cried, but he still struggled. I started to walk a lot quicker through the frustration. I didn't have the patience for this.

I decided to only go down one floor into the hive otherwise the spores from the fungi growing of the walls would kill him. I put the pony up against the wall and activated the pheromones that make the sticky green resin come out the holes in my hooves. I stuck the terrified stallion to the wall covering almost everything but the head and lower body hooves, now that I wasn't in such a hurry I could took a good look at the unicorn.

The stallion had leather belts that had bound the upper body and lower body. The unicorn also had a belt fastened around it's muzzle that stopped him from talking, he had blue eyes and bruises across the right cheek, jaw line and freckles on his face. His main body colour was a chocolate brown while his tail, mane and hooves were a pitch black.

The right ear of the pony had a small hole on the left edge of said ear. like it had been hit by something or other a long time ago. It had healed now but a small chunk of the ear was still missing and the skin around that area was badly scared, I could tell they were burn scars but what I wanted to know was why is it so burned up? Of course you can say a dragon did it bit if that were the case then there should be more burn scars, the hole is small enough to be considered a bullet hole but the hole was also big enough that no calibre round (that I know of) would have made it. It...had me puzzled to say the least.

Back on the subject at hoof, there was a ring on his horn that stopped the use of magic and a circular burn scar that resembled a chain was on the left side of his neck, I'd say that this indicates he was a slave. His cutie mark was a crossed over wrench and screwdriver. I didn't just sense the fear in the pony. I could almost taste it just from being around him.

He looked at me with those fear filled eyes as I examined him, I could only wonder what was going through his mind though. What am I? who am I? and what do I want? all questions I'd might answer before I devourer his emotions. But I needed to know more about Equestria and this peasant is my best source of information right now, I needed to calm him down first. I opened up with a simple "hello."

But the dark brown pony continued staring at me, in fact, did he just ignore me?

"Hay, get a grip! I'm not going to hurt you!" The stallion's eyes shifted from the left to right and back at me. His expression settled a little, indicating that he was calming down. Though not by much. "Look, I know this is all terrifying for you but I need to talk."

I sat down in front of him, waiting for him to calm down. I sat there and we exchanged looks, I tried to give him a reassuring look. And over the course of...I'd say an hour (sure feels like it) I felt the fear in him decrease by a good degree. It was when I started getting impatient he started making noises, it sounded like he was trying to say something. "Are you trying to say something?" I asked. He nodded, I got up and removed the belt around his muzzle.

The stallion moved his jaw around a bit afterwards. "Ok first off, what the buck r' ur?" I could tell he was still panicking a little by the tone in his voice. I identified the accent as appleloosen, hold on. How could somepony from Appleooser make it all the way out here? And further more, how rude.

"How dare you."

"Oh uh, sorry, were r' ma manners? Oh there they are. Thanks fer savin me, ah would have been ah goner without ur."

"That's better, now I have some questions for you and no doubt you have some for me , first off, who are you?"

"Ma names Tax, Tax Knight, I come from stable 4-b and ma skill is mechanicals, now tell me, what r' ur and how do yer work? Because quite frankly, yer look like a black ghoul bucked an alicorn."

A stable dweller? well that explains a few things, but then where's his pip-buck? And again, how rude.

"I I'm Queen Chrysalis, queen of this hive and of all changelings! We are a race that have to feed off emotions to gain more magic and can gain some form of nutrition from doing so, granted we still have to eat and drink.

I have woken from hibernation and I can't wake my children yet because they will be hungry. changelings can give energy to each other but it's like filling up a cup of water with another cup of water. I don't have the means to feed my kids so I must stockpile food for them for now," I still kept a few details from Tax encase I got into a situation and needed to catch Tax off guard. like us being shape shifters.

"So ur risked ye life to get me down here so I could feed ya'll and yer kids?"

"Yes, now tell me what's happened in Equestria."

"No wait, if ya'll have to eat emotions then does that mean ya'll gonna turn me into some kind of husk?" Tax was starting to panic, I need to defuse this.

"Tell me about Equestria and maybe I won't."

"In that case, I'm gonna be talking fer long time. Now were do ah start?"

Things seemed to blur after that, he told me about the wasteland, about bandits, slavers, mutated creatures with a thirst for blood, and much more. I was surprized more then shocked, I knew that a wasteland would be all that's left but I didn't expect it to be a brutal harsh...ok I expected this but not on this level!

How are my children going to get their energy back now that everypony fights each other to the death! One thing that did catch me off guard though was that over two hundred had passed! sure I knew a long time had passed but again, not that much! Bottle caps became the new currency (don't know why) and that small bastions of civilisation were still left. So maybe there was hope yet.

But the worst part has to be that these creatures known as "Black ghouls" sound a lot like my children mutated into some kind of zombie! Apparently, those who don't die from the initial blast suffered radiation poisoning and sometimes turned into a kind of zombie known as a "Ghoul" and or through some are still sentient most of the time they become a mindless zombie.

"And then there's the Desert raiders who are basically semi-trained bandits with access ta pre-war tech. At first it was ah small clan and now it's ah small army lead ba one Ace Combat."

"Oh yea the slavers were talking about that."

"Yea am wanted by em cus I've been messin with them for a long time and keeping them at bay...kinda."

"Then why did you get caught now by some low life slavers?"

"Well let's just say that in melee combat am hopeless, you can see the bruises they left."

"I see, now if you will excuses me it's time for breakfast," I stood up and got ready to feed off him, he wasn't going to be of any more use to me so I might as well make the most of it. My horn glowed and i was just about to serve up breakfast but then.

"WAIT, I know this wasteland you don't, ah have people who can help you, I have resources I could give yer just please don't turn me into a husk!" he pleaded.

"Speak."

"While am out there I'll try ta track down changelings that may have survived an bring em here. I'll also bring yr food and water if ah can spare any and you could move into a nearby town. Ah can teach ur the ropes of using a gun, how the wastes work, we can help each other out!" Tax forced a smile. I doubted what he said at the end is true but he was desperate.

I'd love to feed off him but he was right. He knows this land better then me and if there's supplies he can give me I'll take them. plus if there's town nearby I could use that as a safe haven for my hive when I start wakening them up. And of course if I'm going to survive then I'll need to know as many tricks and tips as possible, something he can provide. But then again there's the danger of him betraying me.

"Ok, you have me. But if you even think about backstabbing me!"

"Ah won't, am not like that. Ah don't make a promise ah can't keep, now can you please get me down from here!"

Town

Mourning, mourning had arrived. As the sun climbed over the mountains I felt, for the first time in the last two hundred years. The heated sunbeams coursing over my ebony black exoskeleton. It felt...nice, warming even.

Tax walked next to me, he wasn't as afraid of me as he was in the hive but I could still sense it. He gave me a reassuring smile which I found odd considering that I wasn't disguised. To him, I was an oversized bug but to me, he was a chess peace.

"It's at least an hour from here maim."

"You WILL address me as royalty out here, do you understand that?"

"All right then "ur highness" but bear in mind that not everypony will do so, also", Tax extended his hoof in the air. "Welcome t' the wasteland!" Tax retracted his hoof and smiled at me. I gave him an un-amused look.

"I assume you have a plan for when we get there?"

"I'll talk t' the mayor about yer lil' secret an' see t' it ur don' get shot for being yourself, I mean well, I've seen weird stuff in the wastes an' oversized bugs like radroaches ain't one of em, but one that's sentient? That's something."

"You call a bug one more time."

Tax's head shot in my direction and he looked at me with gritted teeth. "Sorry, sorry...back t' what ah said."

"It has it's advantages but I dislike the idea, anything else you want to tell me?"

Tax's expression turned back to normal. "Well I doubt that there's as many of em here as n' Equestria. But you'll find that Auto-wagons r' a thing here."

"Auto-wagons? what are those?"

I felt a jolt of joy speed through Tax as he suddenly smiled at me like a child ready to show their parents something. "Back then Auto-wagons were motorized versions of normal wagons. Instead of somepony havin t' pull the wagon the wagon would move by itself. It's a lil' complex but the basis was ah mechanical machine connected t' the wheels that could be controlled inside the wagon by a pony."

"Sounds useful."

"It is useful, in the blazin' heat out here you'd rather be in the shade, not pulling the wagon. Auto-wagons provided that option, what's more is that they needed spark cores t' power the spark engine t' get goin. Only now through, most Auto-wagons ain't used just fer transport."

I looked at Tax who had now returned to his default state only now, he wasn't wearing a smile. Depression started sinking into him, why? If these "Auto-wagons" weren't just used for transport then what else could they be used for? Judging by Tax's emotions it's probably not anything good.

"Instead, a great number of ponies out here build there wagons fer combat."

Ok what? As in, what? Wagons built for combat? That's absurd, what are you going to do? Plant a bunch of spikes on the front and push it? Shoot zebras while in it hoping there dumb enough to not realize bullets go through cloth? I snickered a little.

"Compered to the Auto-wagons back then, the ones of today r' far more mechanical. Thanks t' the Ministry of Wartime Technology or if you're short, the M.W.T, some Auto-wagons back then were built fer combat rather then transport. Replace the cloth n' wood with metal n' place a gun or two on it n' there ur go. They called those kind of Auto-wagons "Humvees", I guess callin it a combat Auto-wagon was too long a name."

That explains a lot. But if almost everyone out here owns one, that begs the question. "How come you don't own one then? You can drive them can't you?"

"Ah do but unless ma friends got t' it it's a good as scrap. Speaking of which once yer enter Sandsworth there should be a metal building with two red double doors on yer left, it's called the Garage. And it's were ponies, griffons, ghouls, take yer pick, go t' get their Auto-wagons done up with repairs, mods or just general management. Anyways we're getting close now."

"In that case."

Green flames erupted from my ebony black body and I was replaced by a white mare with light pink hair. Tax suddenly jumped backwards in surprize at my ability. "What the?" He paused for a moment in confusion. "How the buck did yer?"

"A special spell I learnt," I lied.

"You've gotta teach me how t' do that."

"Not a chance."

Sandsworth

From here it was just a large metal gate acting as an entrance to a walled off town, but according to Tax it was a lot more then that. Ponies and griffons alike walked along the fortified walls watching far and wide for signs of danger or attack. A guard tower sat at each corner of the town's walls, snipers at the ready and waiting.

I was a little nervous really, the place looked more like a fortress then a town. I thought Tax was walking me into a trap but even if he was I could easily turn into one of the guards and leave, but even then were would I go? I know I have the hive but all I could see were mountains, sand and this place. I needed energy and this is the best place to get it.

Tax and I walked up to the entrance, a guard in metal plate armour with (from what I recall from the M.W.T) a battle saddle trotted to the edge of the wall and yelled at us. "Hay down there!" The guard's head shifted from me to Tax and so on. "If your looking to get in than I need your names first!"

"I'm Tax Knight!"

"I'm..." I hesitated for a moment, I hadn't thought of a cover name. I said the first thing that came to mind. "Clean Kiss!" I yelled to the guard.

"Thanks, I'll open the gate for you!"

A moment later the sound of metal grinding against stone blasted my ears. The massive metal gate started lifting upwards, Tax ducked as he passed under the gate. Once on the other side he turned to me with a smile. "Come on, ur scared?"

I half wanted to whack him around the head for that. As I crouched and slid under the gate I half expected it to fall and chop me In half, but to my surprise it didn't.

Another gate later and we were in Sandsworth. Tax wasn't lying when he told me it was more then a settlement. On my left was the building Tax described. A large metal building with red double doors. On my right however was the building Tax was interested in, the Mayor's office. Which just so happened to have a guards barracks behind it, something I'd take note of.

A guard with a...double barrelled assault rifle? Huh, that's a new one. Stood in front of the door. Tax approached him and asked. "Can we see the Mayor?"

The guard stood silent for a second before registering what Tax said. "I'll check on him, stay right here." The guard pulled out a key and unlocked the door. He went inside and closed the door behind him. A few minutes later he came back out. "Follow me, no sudden movements, got it?" He was to the point, I'll give him that.

We trotted into a well lit yet windowless room, shelves with various polished items and well preserved books lay on the walls. A table with two chairs sat in the middle of the room. On the opposite side to us was an old yellow earth pony in posh yet quite worn down clothes. Tax sat down on the chair and tucked himself in. I stood behind him while the guard stood at the door, looking at us intensely.

"So Tax, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a while," said the Mayor.

"I've been better, listen, I've something t' tell yer."

After about an hour of talking and explaining later Tax convinced the Mayor to organise a meeting with all the guards to tell them not to shoot anything resembling a tall bug-pony or a Black ghoul alicorn, it wasn't easy but with some charisma and a bit of luck Tax convinced the Mayor. After that I decided to keep my disguise on until things settle down a bit. The two of us then headed to the Garage because Tax's friends were able to recover his Auto-wagon and his gear intact according to the Mayor.

I followed up behind Tax as he opened the red double doors, the Garage's inside is best described as multiple rooms with no walls. Tool kits and mechanical parts littered the floor while (mostly) ponies and griffons worked on their Auto-wagons. Replacing wheels and repairing hits to the hull using metal plates and pieces of scrap. I followed Tax to one of the spots were apparently his Auto-wagon was.

When we arrived I saw Tax's Auto-wagon. It was like you took a normal wagon. Made the support rings that held up the cloth square, replaced the cloth with metal and put a gun on top. The Auto-wagon had with five seats in total. Two in the front and three in the back complete with a hole in the top with a mounted machine gun on a one hundred and eighty degree railing in front of the middle back seat. The back of the vehicle had been turned into a storage compartment with a bullet-proof lock while an antenna was on the top of it. The car also had a good amount of desert camo with some grey here and there.

A griffon and a dragon stood next to each other beside the Auto-wagon.

"Well a'll be! Thanks a bunch fellers."

"Hope you like what we did Tax, wasn't easy," said the dragon.

"Thanks Scale, oh yea Chrysalis these r' ma friends, Emerald Scale n' Lavender Claw," I face-hoofed at Tax's mistake. "Uh, sorry 'bout that."

Emerald Scale was a brown and green dragon the same size as me without my disguise standing up. The dragon was bipedal so he could use a gun with ease. His wings were useable at his age but one was covered in bandages indicating that he had wing damage at one point so he is not capable of flight until it heals. He was also wearing some makeshift metal armour, with some padding here and there coupled along with some metal armour leggings, as well as some blue knee pads that were showing their age in the form of scratches and dust that had set in.

On his left side was a holster for what I could have sworn was a one hoofed, er, clawed grenade launcher.

On his back was a strapped combat shotgun with a drum magazine and his belt had three fragmentation grenades on it. The dragon was leaning against the wagon with his arms crossed.

Lavender Claw was a griffin with metal armour and knee pads on that looked as if it had been cleaned every day to keep that shiny look, she was also wearing a black bandana on her forehead. Her head and neck fur was grey while the rest was a charcoal black. She had a cat like tail except the end that looked like the tip of a paint brush that had been mangled with while her eyes looked a bit like Celestia's.

On her left side was a scabbed with a short-sword in it. She also had a holster on her right with a yellow and black stripped heavy duty revolver in it.

Emerald Scale was the first to break the silence and opened up with a "hi."

Lavender followed up. "Hello there, judging by the name and what just happened I'm going to say that your the Black Ghoul the Mayor was talking about. Don't worry I don't bite, much."

That idiot just blew it for me, I sighed. "Yes I am," I said. Know that I think of it, how did she know about me? She isn't one of the guards, is she?

"Well then ah think we'll be off once ah get my gear on, uh...where is it?"

"It's in the wagon," said Scale.

Later

In his gear Tax looked like a true Appleoosen, a brown dirty long coat with a lever action rifle holster on his back coupled up with a few revolver holsters that were not for show. Goggles hanging from his neck above a bandana for keeping sand out along with a classic cowpony hat for that appleloosen look, although the original white colour of the hat had been degraded to a light grey. But for some reason he looked a little fatter in the clothing. Weather it be him having a bit to much to eat or just perception he still looked good in it. His standard issue pip-buck strapped to his right hoof.

I turned my attention back to Tax's Auto-wagon. Looking back I really did spend most of the war in the hive, my agents told me of some of these things but I never got to see it with my own eyes, until now.

While inspecting his vehicle Tax caught my eye. "like it?" He said with a smirk on his face.

I turned around, surprised. "Uh I uh was just looking at it," I said, which in truth I was.

"Well I did say my skills were mechanicals, anyways ur might want this," Tax then showed me a small bag of bits.

"I thought you said that bottle caps were currency," I said with a threating tone in my voice.

"Ah did but since bits r' even more rare in the Badlands then in Equestria they cn' be used as money too. Worth at least ten caps a bit."

I forced a smile and grabbed the bag, I started walking away from Tax. "Uh hay a thank yer would be nice," he shouted in my direction as I simply trotted away from him. After all, he was a pawn in this little chess match. "Fine, have it ur way."

Closing the red double doors behind me. I was once again hit by the blazing heat of the sun, my thirst kicked in, and it kicked in hard. I badly needed a drink and I was in a town completely foreign to me, maybe I could ask one of the locals? I spotted a nearby blue mare and I trotted up to her. "Hello there, do you know a place where I can get a drink?"

"Of course, if you go left and straight ahead it'll be on your right, all right," the mare snickered a bit, "ah the puns, anyway have a good one," she said.

Huh, even in a wasteland ponies are nice to each other. After taking the directions given to me I ended up at of all places, the bar. I sighed, this had better be worth it. As I came closer to the door I noticed a dark grey stallion with a disc-like hat big enough to cover his face wearing a dark jacket leaning against the wall beside the door.

"Hold it," said the stallion.

"What?"

"fifty caps for entry"

Ok, apparently you needed to pay to even get in the bar. Nothing too bad, I levitated the bag in front of me and opened it. The stallion then snitched the bag straight form me.

"Hay, give. That. Back. Now!"

The stallion looked up at me and reviled a massive scar across his face from the top left to the bottom right, I froze in place trying to tear my eyes away from his scar but for once, I felt fear from a mere earth pony. I could only imagine what gave him that scar, and what he did to it. The stallion looked at the contents of the bag and took out ten bits instead of five, "Put those back!" I demanded, the stallion gave me that same cold soul piecing stare from before.

"Ur mess with me and ur mess with the bar boys, ur mess with the bar boys an' ur dig your own grave, now hoof it."

"No! I want my bits back right now!"

"Or what?"

"Or I'll be the face of reckoning that haunts your sleep!"

"Consider this your last warning," the stallion then punched me on the face with his right hoof, a very strong throbbing pain consumed my head and felt like I just go hit by a train. Not nice. I hit the ground like a rock and for a second I thought I saw stars.

"Little advice, learn when t' pick ur fights otherwise you won't last long around these parts."

When I get the chance I'm going to suck every last drop of love out of him until he's nothing but a worthless prune. I would take pleasure in turning him into a husk but I don't have much energy in me and that punch has given me a nasty head ach.

The stallion gave me back my bag and nudged his head toward the door. Once inside I was overwhelmed by what was going on, the music, noise of bottles clinking and the conversations lapping over each ether was a little much for me (especially with that headache still fresh in my mind).

The stench of beer and whiskey filled the air while the over crowded bar had it's fair share of ponies playing card games but the thing that stuck out the most were the ponies wearing the same black jacket that the stallion outside had. They must had been more "bar boys" then I had intended.

Looking now I saw at least ten or fifteen of the brutes. I now knew that not getting into a fight was a good idea because even if I did take down the pony outside these ponies would for sure kick my plot. At least on my power level since I've only gained a little bit of energy after waking up and in the state I was in I'd need a lot more love to get my energy back to the point of rivalling the princess. I got to the counter and sat down. "what al' it be?" the bartender mumbled.

I looked up and what I saw almost gave me a heart attack, the bartender wasn't a pony but a robot! The robot's body was almost like a metal ball, three mechanical arms and eyes stuck out the robot. On the bottom of the robot was a booster (probably what kept the robot hovering).

Two of his arms had claws while the last arm had a buzz saw (what?) on it. One of his claw arms held a duty glass he must have been cleaning.

"Water"

"Sorry, all out since the Desert Raiders took over the local war'er plant, but if yer' dispirit the sparkle cola machine is yer' best option, it only takes bits though s' good luck with that," said the bartender robot. His accent was like a chopped up brute version of the Canterlot accent I know of.

"Oh really," I snickered. Bits were the only currency I had so this was no brainer.

"Uh, yea." My smile disappeared. "Is everyone around here rude?" The robot's eyes shot in my direction as he slammed the glass on the bar, almost breaking it. "You what mate? I'll cut you!" I glanced towards the buzz saw arm only to find I couldn't look away, I could only imagine what that thing could do to me.

"Now listen here missy," my eyes shot across and met his. "I don' know if you were brought up as the mayor's child like that other feller but do really expect everyone to treat you with respect? No, you need to earn it. I learnt that the hard way throughout the last two hundred years...The world isn't what it used to be, and I'm damn sick of it."

I paused, considering what he said for a moment. Despite being really rude about it, he was right. "No, no it's not."

I walked to the vending machine on the other side of the bar and popped a bit out into the slot and pulled the leaver, a moment later a sparkle cola popped out, now that I had a drink I sat down and popped it open with my magic. "Well, let's see if it kills me," I mumbled. I said that because I've never had sparkle cola before, that and the contents of this are probably over two hundred years old. But I was too hot and thirsty to argue. I took a sip of the cola and it was actually not bad, good even. Carrots came to mind when I tried to decipher the taste. I took a gulp and started thinking.

It's been a little over two hundred years and Equestria is a wasteland now, so is the Badlands. My current goal right now is to revive my hive and get a steady flow of energy/love going. And eventually, take over the Badlands and then Equestria. I think I have enough food (fungus) in the hive to support around ten changelings, any more and the food will go faster then we can grow it.

Water is also a concern. The water pools in the hive have either dried up or the water has gone bad in the last two hundred years. So finding...what was it? A water talisman that's it. Finding a water talisman is a priority. I'll also stick with Tax for a while too. I doubt he's told me everything he knows, and learning how to drive an Auto-wagon would be a helpful skill.

I started listening to

"So your telling me that vault's full of treasure?" said a voice.

"I don't know, all I know is based off rumors," said another voice.

"You said it could be something to do with "the elements of harmony," said the first voice.

I concentrated on where the conversation was coming from and saw a brown stallion talking to a blue mare. The same mare I asked for directions.

"Yea I did but I'm not the pony to go to for that kind of stuff, you want Metal Screens for that."

"Where is he then?"

"Eastern bad lands that's all I know I swear."

"Thank you, I'll see to it Ace gets that info and your debt free."

"Thank Celestia."

The elements are still alive? Even after two hundred years? Well then that changes everything. If I could find them then I could get a little payback for what they did to me and get my energy back. But then again I have to rebuild my hive. It can wait for a while can't it? I mean if it hasn't been found in the last two hundred years then it won't be found now.

I started to hear a commotion outside too but I didn't pay much attention to it until the bar started to quieten down and then it was clear as day.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU BAR BOYS TAKEING OUR MONEY THINKING YOU OWN THE PLACE!" shouted a voice.

Sounds of fighting from outside became the only noise in the whole bar along with bashes and slams against walls. Suddenly a light blue Pegasus fly's through the door onto the ground. beaten, bruised and bloody all over the Pegasus is just about able to crawl when the same grey earth pony that took extra from me walks over to the deformed pony and smashes it's face against a support column multiply times until the stallion was satisfied.

When he left the pony's face was barely recognisable and the blood from the pony's face was all over column while the column itself was missing a good chunk of the wood it was made out of. The pony on the floor was ether dead or about to be from blood loss. "Ok everypony please leave the bar is now closed!" shouted the bartender.

And on that note I left with everypony else. I'm interested in what that pony i listened to was doing. Something to do with a special vault or stable linked to the elements of harmony, and the only pony that knew anything about it was this "Metal Screens" but who did he mean by "Ace", then it hit me, Ace Combat the leader of the desert raiders. But I needed more evidence before I could confirm it was Ace Combat, time for a bit of tailing

Tail blazer

I found the stallion I was looking for and began tailing him. Once I've done this I need to warn Tax about it. He has an Auto - wagon, food and protection. Or at least I hope he does. I can't control him because that would mean burning valuable energy to make him obedient. just like I did with Shining Armour but I don't have enough energy on hoof to keep him under my control for enough time. So as much as I hate it I'm going to have to ask him for help, and while I'm at it I might as well... I let out a deep sigh. Ask him for a place to stay tonight.

The pony I was tailing walked into an ally. I leaned against the wall and poked my head out a little and saw at least two other ponies standing around in the ally. A dark green unicorn mare and a dark blue unicorn stallion. I drew my head back and listened to what they were saying. "So what did you find Breeze?" said the blue stallion.

"There's a pony in the eastern Badlands named Metal Screens that knows more about the mystery vault," said the brown stallion now known as Breeze.

"Anything else?" the mare said.

"It might be connected to something called "the elements of harmony" but I don't have anything solid on it Spear"

"Very good, let's tell A.C the good news," said the stallion now known as Spear.

That was more then enough info for me to connect the dots. I turned around and a crimson red stallion with a smile was in my face. "Hello there pretty, what have you been hearing?" Uh oh, the stallion started advancing towards me, as he did I backed up little by little until I found myself in the ally with the other three ponies.

"HAY BOYS, WE GOT A SPY!"

"And a dam pretty one too. Let's have some fun with her, right guys?" Spear said, I know he can't read my thoughts but if your going to what I think you going to do...your dead.

"Ok really, can't you go for one day without trying to rape somepony Spear? you know what, I'm off. I can't watch this," yep, he's going to do it.

The three stallions started to converge on me while the mare walked straight past me and left the ally.

I needed to think fast here, my horn flared up and I squeezed just about enough magic to teleport. in an instant I teleported out of the ally and ran for it at top speed.

"STOP HER!"

I ran past the bar hoping to get to the workshop/garage, shoving anypony in my way to the side. Halfway there a crimson red barrier of magic suddenly rose in front of me, stopping me. I tried to break it but I didn't have enough magic left to cast a strong enough shield breaker spell. I turned around and before I knew it the ponies chasing me where in front of me although it looks like Breeze couldn't keep up.

This had suddenly turned from a chase into a fight. The crimson stallion was focusing on keeping the shield up and strong enough to not be broken by any incoming assaults from outside, he had turned it into a large dome while the blue stallion, Spear, started trotting to the left and then the right in a straight line and back again. I smiled.

From what he tried to do earlier I'm going to make him suffer. He stared at me with murderous intent, aggression and confidence flowed through him. I'd almost say he's done this before, not the raping mind you, the killing. He started walking in my direction with a face meant to intimidate, but I wasn't scared.

I gave him the same face of fear he was trying to cast upon me. A small jolt of fear sped through him, it was brief and small but there. He lunged at me, front hooves first. I've seen my children do this plenty of times, and as a result, I know how to counter.

I stood on my hind hooves and extended my body as he reached me, I landed a blow supported by my body on his face or to be more specific, his left eye. The stallion's body twisted and hit the ground. He got up quickly and covered his eye, grunting from pain and gritting his teeth. He charged me, I dodged, and as I dodged I swiped some of the sand off the ground into his face. The stallion stumbled and lost his balance, falling to the ground.

I saw my opportunity to finish him, but I think I'll let him get up. I want to beat him till he blacks out from pain for what he tried to do to me. He got up and looked at me. "Your dead, you hear me! Dead!"

"Then come kill me," I replied. As long as he didn't use his magic I wasn't in any real danger.

And with that the crimson stallion stopped what he was doing and made a dash for it. With the dome down the guards came rushing in with guns aimed at both of them. "You've got some explaining to do miss uh", said the guard.

"Clean Kiss", said Chrysalis.

"Wooden Shield go and get that pony over there, Clean Kiss your going to tell me what happened here", said the guard.

"That pony and his friend tried to rape me so I ran away", said "Clean Kiss".

"You don't have to tell me the rest, I saw what happened", said the guard.

"Hay Rock, it's the rapist, Icy Spear", said Wooden Shield.

"Really, you mean it?", said the guard know known as Rock.

"Yea, this pony just knocked out the rapist", said Wooden Shield.

"Nice one, Clean Kiss there may not be a reward for taking him down but dam I'm sure going to give you one", said Rock. Rock then reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a bag of one hundred caps and gave it to Chrysalis. "By the way I strongly suggest buying a saddle bag, the general store should be to the left if you go straight ahead past the diner", said Rock.

Rock then helps Wooden Shield carry Icy Spear to the sheriff's office. Chrysalis had taken Rock's advice and heads to the general store, besides if she was going to get more things she'd need a saddle bag anyway.

After walking to the general store she opened the door and walked in. The store was quite big for a corner store and had a lot of random and or useful thing's on the shelves like bags, wrenches, buckets and even a teddy bear with the name tag "Dolly". But most of it was just plan junk to Chrysalis. The walls were dim and grey like the life had been sucked out of them and the lights were a bit dim but otherwise you could see just fine with a little adjustment.

Chrysalis walked to the counter and sat down on one of the wooden stools similar to the ones at the bar. "I'm looking for saddlebags, got any?" said Chrysalis.

The mare at the counter walked over to Chrysalis and took out a pear of medium sized saddlebag from one of the metal boxes near the counter. "This big enough for you miss?" said the mare.

The saddlebags were dusty and had defiantly seen some action judging by the patched up bullet sized holes. They still had the equestrian look to them but it did look a bit old.

"It's ok I guess, how much?" said Chrysalis.

"Hold on, let me check the price", said the mare, "mediums are thirty caps."

Chrysalis opened her bag and took out the thirty caps with her magic. She put them on the counter and the mare swept them into a tray. Chrysalis took the saddlebag on the counter and put it on her back. After fastening it on she took a look around the shop to see if there's anything of interest to her but she didn't find anything of value to her.

She walked out the shop and shut the door behind her. Well I guess it's time, ask Tax for help, I absolutely hate having to do this but after the way I behaved at the workshop the chances of him helping me are going to be slim. This was so much easier before the war but I guess every world has it's end. I mean it can't be that difficult to just ask him for help, right? *sigh*.

Chrysalis walked to the workshop and opened the door, let's get this over with, as she walked in she saw Tax under the car doing a bit of tinkering. Tax heard the door open and slid out from under the car useing a bored with wheels on only to see Chrysalis standing there.

"Oh, it's you", said Tax.

"I need your help", said Chrysalis.

"After earlier, it had better be serious", said Tax.

"While in town I overheard a conversation about a mystery vault", said Chrysalis.

"A stable in the bad lands? no thank you", said Tax, Tax then slid under the car again with an uninterested look.

"No wait, the desert raiders are after it too and it might not even be a stable", said Chrysalis.

Tax quickly slid out from under the car with a surprised look on his face. "Well why didn't ur tell that me before? of course a'll

help", said Tax.

"Wait, why the change of heart so suddenly?" said Chrysalis.

"Me and the desert raiders have a bit of a personal history. Well kinda, now what else do ur know about it?" said Tax.

"A pony in the eastern bad lands knows more about and his name is Metal Screens. The raiders know about this too so we need to get to him before they do", said Chrysalis.

"Then let's get going, ah know about the place ur talking about and there's no time ta waste. But first i need ta finish installing the new suspension, go and get ma friends. They should be out back", said Tax. Tax then slid back under his car and continued working on it.

"Well, lovey town this has turned out to be", sarcastically pronounced Chrysalis.