Fallout Equestria - Chronicles of Chrysalis

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