Fallout Equestria: Crystal Reborn

The sounds of arguing woke me from slumber. I opened my eyes to find myself tied to the bed. My head was pounding, I felt like I was about to vomit. I noticed two ponies arguing.

"Should we bring her to the council?" The stallion asked.

"No bringing her to the council won't get our cutie marks back," the mare's raspy voice sounded coarse, like she had just got out of a screaming contest over who's best pony.

"Well its worth a shot the worst they can do is tell us no."

"Or they will just kill us, keep the money and we will be dead and wasted our effort. I don't trust them."

"Ahem," I cleared my throat. They both looked at me.

"Oh fuck..." They both said in unison.

"Shit, she is conscious, we are so going to die," The stallion said. I rolled my eyes. I tried to use my magic but it fizzled out. My head began to pound bad, it was as if I had taken a sledge hammer to the head.

"Look, I know that this conversation is real important do you mind freeing me..." I said lethargically, feeling my head pound. Oh Celestia it feels just like the time Twilight discovered a migraine spell. Who ever created such a thing should be sent to Tartarus.

"You know what maybe its for the best, we should just let her go you know. She has no bounty, she is just a random Alicorn. And she is pink which isn't a normal color."

"I'll have you know this pink Alicorn has a name," I snickered. They ignored me and continued to argue. I felt my energy start to return slowly. I took a deep breath. It was different, it was fresh...1 it felt clear. I haven't taken a breath like this since before the war. "Where am I?"

"That's none of your concern," a pegasus pony entered the room. He wore a black suit with a purple lightning bolt down the middle. He wore a mask that concealed his face but exposed his mane. "The Enclave has a warrant for your arrest, Princess Cadance. You will be tried for treason against Equestria and dereliction of duty."

"What? I didn't abandon Equestria? I was thrown into a Stable against my will and my husband was kidnapped by the Griffons!" I shouted.

"Oh we know, we've been trying to hunt him down for years now. The Griffons keep their pet on a tight leash. Now you can come willingly or we can drag you there, your choice," he said, undoing my restraints.

"You must have a lot of trust in me to let me go like this," I retorted.

"I'm not letting you go, I'm just the escort, and if you think about escaping I will kill you," he replied. I rolled my eyes at him. He put me on my hooves and pushed me to the door.

"You and what army," I said sarcastically. He laughed and the door swing open. We were up in the clouds, I could see the blue sky and the sun. This is the first time I've seen sky since I was frozen. I looked around, there were hundreds of ponies lined up in rows wearing black bug like armor like the two guards in the room. I was escorted to a large building made of clouds, it was circular, like castle rotunda. Upon entry there were rows for audience members to watch from above and on the ground floor, rows of tables, occupied by pegasi wearing black robes. A flag of Equestria with a giant letter E in the middle was present above the center podium. I was seated on the right side of the room, there was only one table there.

"This trial is now in session," a judge pony standing at the podium announced, his mane was sparse but he had a really thick beard for a older stallion. "Let us not delay this further. We, the ponies of the Grand Pegasus Enclave, the last bastion of Equestria, who valiantly fought by Equestria's side during the Great War, only to be betrayed as the princesses let Cloudsdayle be completely and utterly destroyed as they guarded themselves in Canterlot. We the Council of Clouds, have brought you to the sky city of Far Harbor, the new Pegasi capital, to charge you with treason against Equestria and abandonment of the ponies in their time of need," the pony said. "Princess Cadance please step up to the podium and tell us where you where when the bombs fell," I was dragged out of my chair to the podium.

I regained my composure and took a deep breath. I could see hundreds of pegasi looking at me with scowls across their faces.

"I, Princess Cadance, sovereign ruler of the Crystal Empire have done nothing wrong. On the day the bombs fell I was in my castle. Shining Armor and myself had a shield across the city in the same manner of when the changelings attacked. We were barraged for hours by zebra megaspells and an invasion from the Griffon Empire, by 7th hour that day, our shield fell, I was exhausted, I couldn't hold it up by myself, I tried to warn Equestria but by then it was too late. Equestria had been hit and we were alone. I sent out a warning to evacuate to the stables, military and civilian ponies alike. However my army did not waver and continued to repel the attackers as the city was hit by the megaspells. I was evacuated into Stable 13 just outside the city. I was forced to leave Shining Armor behind.." I wiped the tears from my eyes. "He was brought in later with severe wounds and trauma. I was then frozen in cryogenic stasis for the next two hundred years. Unaware of what happened around me. Until the Griffons broke into Stable 13..." I looked around, I could see a few ponies expressions had changed, they no longer had the scowls and face of betrayal they wore earlier. Maybe I would have a chance to unite the Pegasi on my side. "They came into the Stable and stole Shining Armor from me, taunting me as I could do nothing from my stasis pod. I was then refrozen to awaken sometime later, I have only been out of the stable about 2 weeks. The only survivors were the Overmare Starlight Glimmer and myself. Although I haven't seen her since the Griffon assault on the Castle," ponies in the gallery were murmuring amongst themselves.

"Princess just because your story is sad doesn't mean you didn't abandon the ponies," the judge pony called out. "Sure you put up a shield but did you not fly to the front lines to help?" the judge pony asked.

"Well, I..." I was cut off.

"Do you know how many lives were lost because of your cowardice? Where were you when Cloudsdayle was destroyed? Safe in your stable! While we all suffered" he screamed at me. "I see no further reason to prolong this trial. I find you guilty of treason," the crowds were murmurs became louder. I could here the sounds of quite arguments and shock among the pegasi.

"Traitor, I hope you rot in hell," a young pegasi threw can at me, it struck me in my right hind leg. I looked up to see several other pegasi pick things up to throw at me. I tried to bring up a shield with my magic but my magic fizzled and I couldn't cast any spells.

"Stop!" the doors behind me flung open, several pegasi wearing the bug-like armor stormed in the room. "Judge Gavel Wing! By the order of the Council of Wings you are being charge with sedition, treason and insubordination against Equestria," the pegasus walked forward, she had several guns attached to her armor, a soft purple glow radiated off the armor. I took a closer look, their armor was different, it wasn't black. They were shaded a sky blue with a cloud and lightning bolt over the cutie mark.

"Guards kill them and the princess!" the judge yelled ducking behind the podium. Enclave pegasi began to open fire. Bolts of magical energy filled the room. I looked up to see the pegasi in the gallery scrambling for safety. I watched as Enclave pegasi flew up to the gallery. A few stray shots missed him and melted a pony down to ash. I shuttered at the sight.

"Psst! Princess!" a blue armored pegasus tried to whisper loudly to me. She was crawling to me. "Follow me, I'll get you out," she turned around and began to crawl away.

I followed her, inching along the ground, the bodies of dead ponies both of politicians, soldiers, and the innocent littered the floor. A stray bolt then hit me on my left hind leg. I screamed in pain. It was excruciating, my leg felt like it was melting. I began to pant, I couldn't focus and my vision went blurry. I continued to crawl my leg hurting with every movement. After what felt like an eternity we made it to the door.

"Quick run through the door!" the mare jumped up and bolted through. "Can you fly?" the mare spoke with a sense of urgency. I shook my head, I could barely conjure up my magic much less fly. "Shit alright then, Slipstream! Help me carry the princess!" then I was lifted up between the two pegasi, they began to flap their wings as hard as they could, we started to slowly ascend, one by one I saw the blue armored pegasi retreat towards a giant airship, it was partially made of cloud and metal. It was a strange amalgamation of weather control and technological progress. A large metal gate opened on the ship and the pegasi flew me inside. They collapsed on the floor and I along with them. Several more ponies came out, lifting me up onto a medical bed with wheels, and rushed me off somewhere in the ship. I looked down at my PipMare to see what I am suffering from. It was labeled as a concussion, dehydration, exhaustion, starvation, and broken ribs.

"You're going to be alright, don't worry Dr. Cloud Berry will have you fixed right up," I was rushed through a pair of doors into the medical wing. There were ponies in lab coats attending to other patients. The lights were bright, much brighter than they had been back in the castle.

"Get the medical equipment we need to make sure she is alright, I need an IV and several screens for concussions and broken bones," a doctor pony in a lab coat grabbed a clipboard and looked at me. "Don't worry you are going to be alright," she said to me. I blackout...

******************************************************

I woke up several hours later, I check my PipMare, and everything was fixed. My head still felt groggy and my magic hadn't fully recovered yet but my head didn't hurt and I could move easier. An orange pegasus wearing a grey uniform approached me. Her uniform was stylish yet militaristic.

"Welcome to the Cryonimbus," the mare said. "My name is Sunset Daze, and I am the captain of this ol' piece of junk."

"It's I pleasure," I said wearily.

"I'm sure you got a ton of questions so, I'll do my best to answer them as best as possible," she looked at me inquisitively.

"Ok..." I responded slowly. "What happened to my friends and everypony after the Griffons attack the Crystal City?" I asked. I rubbed my head as I tried to remember, all I could remember was Shining Armor. Or should I say Cyber Armor, Shining Cyber? I'll come up with a new name later...

"Well, from our end, the cloud city of Cirrostratus was over the Crystal Empire and it's in a constant struggle between us and the other factions. And well..."

"What do you mean our faction, who exactly are you?" I interjected.

"Oh, how silly of me, I never explained who we were. We are the Knights of Awesome," she said proudly. I gave her a blank stare. "Wow you never heard of us?" I shook my head. "Well weren't always this way. About ten years ago the Grand Pegasus Enclave, invaded the surface bellow after 200 years of isolation. Our initial invasion plan was simple, capture the Dashites, secure a base of operation and help the ponies on the surface. However... that wasn't how it went down. We were supposed to set up shop in Canterlot only to find it riddled with Pink Cloud. At the time I was only a lieutenant fresh out of the academy, I didn't question my orders given to me until that day. I was the artillery officer and the orders had come down to blow the city off the mountain. And so we destroyed Canterlot... blew it right off the mountain," regret could be heard in her voice.

"The city I was born and grew up in, is gone completly? Did the Enclave even try to get rid of it?" I questioned. I felt anger and sadness well within me. I could never go back home. I had no home to return to.

"No we couldn't the Pink Cloud fuses anything that the pony is wearing to them, they also can't breathe it or they will die, the cloud never went away. After that we were tasked to go to Manehatten, we had gotten word that somepony was willing to turn in a Dashite for a reward. By the time we got their things went sour, a firefight broke out, and the city was heavily defended. Large guns on the island known as Friendship City, built in the old pony statue, had taken out one Raptor and crippled mine. I was on the Altostratus. After the bridge was hit I took command and we finished off the last of the shore guns. We were constantly being ordered by our sister ship Pyronimbus to continue to fire on the city and destroy it. I disobeyed, our guns remained silent. I was not going to slaughter innocent ponies. After that, the Pyronimbus opened fire and the Altostratus went down. We crashed on the far side of Manehatten. After heading to the rally point but the crew was the only survivors. We flew back up to the clouds and all of a sudden, a massive hole in our cloud cover was cleared by a pony who performed a sonic rainboom."

"Wait, you mean as in Rainbow Dash's technique?" I recalled her performing one at my wedding. It was a true spectacle to see, a sea of colors illuminated the night sky only to be followed by the sky to be dyed once again in fireworks. As much of a disaster as it was, it was still an amazing wedding.

"After that, the Enclave retreated back to the sky. The Enclave was brutally crippled from the invasion, the politicians fractured and civil war erupted as many pegasi abandoned the Enclave for the surface. Right now, there are only three remaining factions. The Knights of Awesome; which is us, you can tell by our blue armor and by Rainbow Dash's cutie mark on all of our stuff. Then there is the Remnant. You already met them, they are traditionalists. They are what's left of the Enclave and the ponies still loyal to them. They wear black armor. Finally, there are the Steel Rangers..." she paused. I knew about them before the war, Applejack and her coltfriend Applesnack came to visit on one occasion, I remember his bulky, heavy, magical armor.

"Wait, Steel Rangers are prominently earth and unicorn ponies, how are they able to stand on clouds?" I asked, from what I know Twilight Sparkle found an ancient spell that allowed a pony to walk on clouds, but it only lasted four hours.

"They have what's called an air talisman. Like griffons, they can walk on clouds but not move them. But they are limited to only 6 hours on clouds at a time, so they don't stray much from the mountains. Anyways the Knights of Awesome are a part of Applejack's Rangers. Applejack's Rangers formed after a split in leadership before the Pegasi attacked. The Steel Rangers were after technology while the founder Steel Hooves wanted to protect ponies of the wasteland like Applejack always wanted. After our massive failure, the Wonderbolts joined Applejack's Rangers, since the Pegasi are the only ones who can walk on the clouds we changed our names to the Knights of Awesome. But on the ground, that's nothing more than our contingent name. "

"And where are we going?" I asked, I was first abducted from who knows where going to who knows what. Well, it seems Twilight's cloud walking spell didn't improve much since the last time she used it.

"Oh, right, we are heading to the Thunderhead Shimmering Night, well at least what's left of it, it still flies but um... most of its cannons don't function and it was left abandoned after the invasion so we took over. It used to protect the Enclave High Council but was sabotaged by defectors and the ship was sent adrift. We found it floating near the ruins of Van Hoover and moored it to the clouds and it's been our base ever since.

"Wait so we are near Van Hoover?" Van Hoover was in eastern Equestria and about two weeks trot from the Crystal Empire.

"No, Shimmering Night is hidden near the Dragon Cave, now it's called Sky Harbor. We fought there too, we really pissed off the dragon living there. He, alongside Applejack's Rangers, attacked us and wiped out the forces assaulting his cave. Rumor has it, that dragon was actually Spike, who was Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle's personal assistant during the war. And that he watched the wasteland waiting for the chosen one. Anyways we are now in Equestria, not the Crystal Empire.

"Spike? Can we make a little detour, I want to see the cave. Spike is a friend of mine, I knew him since the days if Old Equestria."

"Well Sky Harbor is a bit complicated. It's more or less a safe haven for anypony who comes but most living there hate the Enclave, the Steel Rangers, and the Knights of Awesome."

"Please you must take me there. It's very important I see Spike, he'll known what to do. "

"Can you stand princess?" she asked. her expression grew solemn as I began to stand.

"Yeah, my body feels a bit tender but I can still walk," Sunset helped me out of bed and I stood up.

"Please, follow me," Sunset said as she opened a door and began to walk down a narrow hallway. A mixture of Earth, Unicorn and Pegasi ponies wandered the halls. We continued to walk straight down the hallway and turned right. We approached a door and the sign above read 'bridge'. Sunset opened the door to see several ponies turn towards her and salute her; bringing their hooves too their forehead one of the ponies shouted.

"Captain on deck! All hands to your stations!" the pony approached Sunset and I. "Good to see your guest is alive Lancer Captain Sunset. We have quarters ready for her as request," A pony in a leather flight jacket saluted.

"As you were," Sunset said, the ponies all turned back around and resumed their daily activities.

"Ma'am, our current bearing is 191.2 on route to dock with Shimmering Night," the pony said, she had a propeller cutie mark and was a light green with a light white and green mane.

"Change of plans, adjust bearings to 045 north east toward Sky Harbor."

"Are you sure ma'am, the Steel Rangers and Applejacks Rangers have been fighting over ground.

"Yes, turn this ship around and approach at Flank Speed. We need to get there ASAP. I'll assume control of the helm. Lightning Dust! Front and center!" she yelled. A green pony with blond mane moved with great haste and stood in front of Sunset. "Ensign Lightning Dust will show you to her room."

"Yes, Ma'am!" she shouted. "Please follow me Princess."

"Thank you," I replied. She guided me outside the door into a narrow hallway.

"You know when we caught wind of the Enclave putting an Alicorn on trial, we weren't expecting it to be you," she said, as we walked.

"Yes, in this world I can understand that, I met an Alicorn at Emerald Field. She was purple," I wondered what had happened to her after Shining Armor knocked me out.

"Wow a purple one. Those are a rare sight. Highly valuable soldiers because they specialize in shields and teleportation," we made it to the elevator. She pressed the button to call the elevator. We stepped inside.

"So Lightning Dust, your name sounds very familiar... I can't quite put my hoof on it," I rubbed my chin trying to think.

"I can answer that for you. My great, great, great, great, great grandmother, was the First Lightning Dust. She became a Shadowbolt and Rainbow Dash herself selected her personally for her squadron. I'm the 7th pony to carry her name. My mom also shares my name. In my family if you are born with a mare with a green coat and a yellowish mane, your name is Lightning Dust. All Lightning Dust are trained to be military, each one of us lived up to something special. Except for me... I served in a Shadowbolt unit was on a recon mission to recover 'assets' in Manehatten, turns out it was a crashed Raptor and we were told to take what we can and blow it up. However civilian ponies set up a small community in the hangar and I couldn't bring myself to kill them. I pleaded with my commander but he called them unclean savages. So I killed him and deserted my squad. After I got far enough away the Enclave dropped a huge bomb on it blowing it to pieces with both the remainder of my squad and the civilians inside."

"Why haven't you gone home?" I asked. "Why join the rebels?"

"Well its because if I had returned they would have had me killed for surviving that. I would had been branded a Dashite and my cutie mark branded off and then publicly executed. The pegasi up there don't know whats really happening down here. I said its probably best that I remain dead. I do miss my mom however, I wonder how she is doing. How my sisters and my friends are. Guess I'll never know, if I show my face in an Enclave city they'll probably be my enemy."

"That's awful..." I said solemnly. "One day I hope to reunite Equestria and find my husband. Restore harmony to the land like my sister Twilight," the elevator doors opened and I walked out with Lightning Dust quickly moving in front of me.

"Twilight? Like as in Twilight Sparkle, the Ministry Mare?"

"Yeah that's her. I used to be her foal sitter when she was younger. That's how I met Shining Armor, her older brother. So technically I'm her sister-in-law but that's just technicalities. We were as close as two mares could get," I cleared my throat. "Ahem, well... uh... not like in a romantic sort of way but like sisterhood way."

I know, I got that," she chuckled. I rolled my eyes. "Here we are princess," she stopped and opened a door revealing a luxurious room with a large bed, nice furniture and a painting of Sunset Daze, I walked in and saw the bathroom had a bath tub. After what I've been through I could use a bath. "We should be at Sky Harbor by tomorrow afternoon. If you need something don't hesitate to ask. I'll be standing guard outside your door," I nodded to her and walked in. Lightning Dust shut the door behind me.

"Alone at last," I sighed. I walked to the window. We were above the clouds. I turned around and walked towards the bath. I turned on the water to find it hot. I hadn't used running water since before Stable. I filled up the tub and got in. The water turned instantly black from the dirt, grime and blood in my coat. I quickly drained the water and refilled it to find the water nice and clear. I sunk lower into the tub relaxing. I felt like I was in paradise. After relieving myself of, other more primal needs, I stepped out of the bath. I dried myself off and wrapped my mane in a towel. I sighed. I felt like I just left the Crystal Spa before meeting Mrs. Harshwhinny. To bad the games were cancelled by the war. I laid down on the bed and felt my body sink into it. I was so used to sleeping on the floor this felt so foreign. The pillows were soft and the mattress was clean. It was almost like I was still in my bed in Canterlot. I felt myself drift off to sleep peacefully for the first time since before the war.

Footnote: Level Up.
Perk added: Charming Pony- You're a natural born beauty in mind and body, admired by all. You're Speech and Barter skill is increased by 15