Fallout Equestria: Crystal Reborn

Who you callin' a gecko?

I slowly opened my eyes. I felt sore. With a yawn and a stretch of my wings, I stood up. I walked up to the window, we were still flying high above the ground. Small patches of ruined and blasted-out buildings littered the skyline. Nature was overtaking old Equestria, one day the buildings that I once knew would be nothing more than a page in history. Equestria is starting to heal from the brutality of war... Equestria may heal but my scars feel fresh hundreds of years later. I rolled my eyes and walked into the bathroom. I found a brush in the cabinet and carefully straightened out my mane. I put my crown and royal slippers on and stood in front of the mirror. I smiled at myself, I haven't looked this proper since the last day.

"Well aren't you a sexy vixen," I purred. I chuckled then made the bed. I had slept peacefully and in comfort for the first time in ages. I checked the time on my PipMare, it was 9:00 am. It is time for me to greet the day. I opened the front door to find Lightning Dust standing guard.

"Good morning Princess Cadance," she greeted me with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning Lightning Dust, yes I did. I don’t think I’ve slept that good since before the war."

"Are you hungry? I can take you to the mess hall if you are," I heard my stomach growl audibly. I blushed in embarrassment.

"How indecent of me. Yes, I would very much like that," Lightning Dust smiled at me and began to walk to down the hallway. "Were you standing guard all night?"

"No, Captain Sunset wanted me to take over around 4:00am in order to be there when you awoke. I got about three hours of sleep and took over. "

"Well it does make me feel better to be greeted by a familiar face," we turned down a hallway and walked through an open door into the mess hall. The mess hall was full of Pegasi eating and chatting about their day.

“Room! Attention!” Lightning Dust’s voice boomed through the mess hall. Every Pegasi stood up, stiff as statues.

“What do I do?” I whispered to Lightning.

“Tell them as you were,” she whispered back

“As you were,” I said hesitantly. I heard Pegasi take their seats and continue their conversations. Lightning Dust lead me to the line and I grabbed a tray.

“Was all that really necessary?”

“Well yes, you outrank everyone including the elder.”

I was given a plate with four pancakes on it. "Oh my..."

"Is there something wrong Princess?"

"No, nothing... Just I haven't had pancakes since my last meeting with Twilight Sparkle," the room fell silent. I felt the gaze of several eyes on me.

"Did she say Twilight Sparkle?" a pony murmured.

"Like the ministry mare?" whispered another. Scattered voices continued to fill the room.

"Common Princess, let's sit down..." Lightning Dust pulled out my chair and I sat my tray down and took a seat. She sat across from me, setting her tray in front of her with a cup of juice. I poured some syrup on top and took a bite. My mouth danced in euphoria. Never in my days of in wasteland had I needed something so much and not known till I received it.

"This is so good," I said. A wide smile grew across my face as took another bite. This ship felt like heaven. What was a normal day for the ponies on bored was a field trip for me. A soft bed, clean sheets, a hot bath, pancakes. It's as if I never left Old Equestria.

"Are they really that good?" Lightning Dust chuckled. I swallowed and took another bite making sure to savor the flavor. I nodded to her. "Since the Garden's of Equestria was activated, life is pretty normal around Equestria."

"Garden's of Equestria?" I asked. I continued to eat my food, I think Twilight mentioned it to me before. It was a fail-safe in case Equestria was devastated.

Lightning Dust looked at me. "You don't know? They are actually at Spike's Cave. At Sky Harbor," she pointed to a window. A large mountain came into view with a small wooden town sprouting up around it.

The speakers in the room groaned with a sharp screech."This is you're Captain speaking. We will be arriving at Sky Harbor in about 20 minutes, all ground crew prepare for decent and ground procedures."

I saw half of the room begin to clear out and scatter through the doorway.

"Well I guess that's our cue," Lightning Dust took her tray and stacked it on top of a large pile of trays. I followed suit and trailed after her. Several ponies were crisscrossing through the narrow hallways doing various tasks.

We soon entered the hangar, several pegasi wearing power armor were there waiting. They stood in a line formation at attention. They saluted me as I walked by. Sunset Daze was standing in the hanger talking to a group of ponies.

"Good morning ma'am," Lightning Dust saluted. Sunset returned the salute and lowered it.

"Good morning, Lightning Dust," Sunset turned and saluted me. "Good morning Princess Cadance."

I saluted back, "Good morning Sunset, you don't have to salute me. My title isn't valid anymore. Equestria isn't a nation anymore.

"Oh, nonsense princess. The Pegasi are still very old-minded. A 100 years after the War, we sent search parties to find each of the princess’s but they never returned. We assume the Griffons, were active around the Crystal Empire."

"Wait, why did they put me on trial?"

"Well, the Enclave has lost a lot of power since Operation Cauterize. They couldn't hold proper authority. Maybe they thought if they killed you or at least held you hostage they could solidify under royal authority."

I thought about it for a minute. "Well, I'm glad I'm not in that mess. Who knows what could have happened."

The large hangar doors slowly opened and the ramp descended onto the mountain platform. Several ponies ran out with ropes in their mouths.

"Cadance, before you leave take this," Sunset Daze gave me a plasma pistol and a holster. "You'll never know when you might need it." I strapped it to my side and saw two ponies in pegasi power armor approach me. "I'm also assigning you two more guards along with Lightning Dust while you're ashore."

"I am staff sergeant Rime Ice," a white pony with a two-tone gray mane saluted.

"I am senior airpony Sheer Cold," she saluted me and stood next to Rime Ice. They both removed their helmets. Rime Ice has a white coat and light blue almost lucid mane. Sheer Cold was a frost blue but has golden eyes and tufted ears. Almost similar to that of a bat pony.

"Attention!" Lightning Dust yelled. "Secure your gear and be ready to move out in 5 minutes."

"Yes ma'am!" they both shouted in unison. They put their helmets back on and began to adjust their gear.

I looked over at Lightning Dust who wore a purple and black bodysuit. Her power armor wrapped around her covering her wings with a large protruding scorpion tail curled above the armor.

"Are you ready to go Princess?" Lightning Dust's face was completely covered by her helmet. If it wasn't for her distinct raspy voice she'd be no different than the rest of the armor-clad pegasi.

"Yes, please take me to Spike."

"Sheer you take the rear, Rime you're on point. Your job is to keep her majesty safe. Is that understood?"

Rime Ice and Sheer Cold both snapped back to attention shouting: "Yes ma'am!"

"Here Princess takes this, a few of the troops made this for you,” Lightning gave me a brown bomber jacket with soft fleece on the inside. On the front, a small patch adorned the front with my cutie mark on it.

I smiled, “Thank you so much, Lightning Dust, please give the ponies who made this my thanks as well,” I put the jacket on and I felt the jacket wrap around me like a warm blanket. I took a deep breath and we pushed off.

I began to walk towards the large open hangar door, my detail of armored pegasi surrounded me. Two pegasi were standing near the ramp and saluted me as we passed. We walked down the large metal ramp onto the rocky cliffs side. I felt the fast wind begin to blow against my face, small metal shacks lined the cliffs. They were adorned with the logo of Applejack’s Ranger. Three ponies stood guard in front of the entrance. One was adorned with full power armor while the other two wore small bits of armor with gray helmets.

“Good morning Princess Cadance,” the ponies said in unison. I salute them and walked past. Sky Harbor was a thriving town. Ponies were hard at work mending structures or working the foundries. The ponies stared as our convoy passed through the center of town. A bright blue ball rolled towards me. I stopped it with my hoof and saw a lavender unicorn fully waving her hoof at me. I smiled and kick it towards her. She returned the smile and returned to her friends.

“It’s wonderful isn’t it,” Lightning stated.

“Indeed,” I responded.

“This is the first settlement since the Great War to include the three pony races.”

“I remember when the Pegasi declared secession from Equestria. There were three Pegasi cities near the Crystal Empire, Frost Fallen, Cirrostratus, and Snow Drift. During the war, they provided a thick cloud layer over the Crystal Empire. Shortly after our entry into the war several Zebra zeppelins flew over the cloud city of Frost Fallen and obliterated it in magical fire. Our aircraft were too late. By the time we sent emergency forces, the zebras were fleeing the area. We couldn’t find any survivors. The Pegasi blamed me for not protecting the city. But it wants until the events of Cloudsdale did they turn their back on us.”

“I’ve heard that the Zebra’s were cruel and they would even target civilians.”

“I met a Zebra long before the war, Twilight Sparkle introduce me to her. She spoke in crazy rhymes.”

“We’re here,” we approached the mouth of a large cave in the middle of the village. A massive steel door lay within with a smaller pony-sized door at the bottom. “We will be waiting outside princess. Not that I don't believe he's your friend but I'd rather not be eaten like others I knew..."

My entourage took a step back and turned around. I approached the small metal door at the bottom of the larger door. I pushed the door with my hoof. With a loud groan, the door creaked open. I walked inside and turned on my PipMare's light. I couldn't see past a few feet and proceed forward.

"You dare to enter my lair uninvited?" a loud deep voice echoed throughout the cave. The door behind me slammed shut. I started to smell smoke, I continued to walk deeper into the cave. "You had your chance to leave trespasser. But now you leave me with no choice. I must protect what my friends left behind," The room illuminated in green fire. In my panic, I instinctively put up a shield around myself. The fire swirled around the shield. I felt the strain on my horn as the fire grew stronger.

"Spike wait!" I yelled, the fire dissipated and darkness flooded the room.

"How do you know my name?" a massive purple and green dragon head broke through the darkness, my PipMare's light barely illuminated his features. He stared at me blinking a few times. "Princess Cadance? Is that really you?" The dragon asked. His head withdrew back into the darkness. I heard a loud clang and the lights slowly flickered to life. What was what I thought was a cramped cave was turned to be a massive cavern. I saw a massive purple dragon with a soft green underbelly. His scales glimmered like gems. He may be much bigger than he was back then but he is still the same Spike that saved the Crystal Empire.

"Hi Spike, it's good to see you," I approached the big dragon, he put his head down to the floor and I put a hoof on his nose. A tear rolled down his face.

"First we found Fluttershy and now you!" he bawled. "How did you even survive the past 200 years?"

"I was cryogenically frozen in Stable 13."

"That explains why I could never find you. I sent my eyebots to the frozen north in hopes of finding you but they either were destroyed or they came back with nothing."

"That's actually why I wanted to talk about it. Spike, Shining Armor is still alive. He was kidnapped by the Griffon Empire."

"That would explain a lot. I don't have too many eyebots left to roam the wasteland but I have heard reports of griffon activities in the north. I'm sorry Cadance, I wish I could help you but I just don't have the resources to go up north."

"That's ok Spike, things really aren't what they used to be," I sat down in front of the towering dragon.

"Yeah, everypony we knew and loved died. I spend the first 50 years crying for Twilight to come save me..."

"What? The almighty Spike, the savior of the Crystal Empire, crying like a foal," I chuckled.

"Oh before I forget I do have something for you," Spike turned around, his tail swung towards me. I flew above it just in time watching it slam into the cave wall. "Oh sorry, I kinda forget how big I am these days. Here, it's a book from Twilight."

My horn ignited and I levitated the book towards me. I picked it up and read the cover, "The Centurion."

"It's one of Twilights' favorite books. She left it just in case you survived and found your way to the cave. I don't think she expected you to be here over 200 years later."

I opened the cover and found a long note written inside:

Dear Cadance,

The world as we know it may soon come to an end. Equestria is slowly buckling under the weight of war. The ponies of the land have lost the idea of friendship. I'm afraid that I have as well. I had a massive argument with Pinkie Pie the other day. This war has taken a massive toll on all of us and I feel like something bad is approaching. Fluttershy told me that it's possible her megaspell research has been compromised and she is moving her research facility to Maripony. I'm about to head there myself to oversee some new projects there as well. Hopefully, this war will close soon, I'm not sure how much more I can take of this. I can't remember when I last saw us all together in the same room. I hope you and my brother are well and that the Crystal Empire is fairing better than Equestria. I apologize for not writing a long note I only have 10 minutes to write this before I have to leave.

Your sister,
-Twilight Sparkle

Tears began to well up in my eyes. The coldness of the cave made it all the more apparent that I was crying. I couldn't control my emotions. Spike laid his head down to the floor, eye level with me.

"I miss her too. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about how she needed me and I wasn't there. I fell asleep for the last few weeks of the war," Spike's face grew sad. I hugged the book, it wasn't the same as if she was with me but I did feel closer. I wiped the tears from my eyes and stared at Spike.

"Do you know where Fluttershy is?" I asked Spike.

"Yeah, she was heading towards the Crystal Empire. I'm surprised you haven't run into each other."

"We did but, what's left of the Griffon Empire came and attacked us. Next thing I knew I woke up a prisoner of the Enclave."

"Enclave? They are still around? Probably a few holdouts but I'm amazed they went down to the surface just to find you. There is a terminal behind me, would you be able to contact Fluttershy with it? She calibrated it just in case I needed to but my claws are the size of a small wagon so..."

"Where is the terminal Spike?" I laughed. He turned around, I jumped up taking flight to avoid his tail. It slammed into the opposite wall.

"It's on the other side of the GECK, just before the stairs to the pre-war library."

I located the terminal booting it up. It took a few minutes to start. Its age showed. Even on the last day of Equestria, this was considered outdated. Once the Terminal was ready I logged in. I scrolled down to the contacts tab and Fluttershy was the only contact on the list. I clicked on the contact and a few dots showed up. No response. I tried again. Success!

"Hello? Spike? Is that you?" Fluttershy's garbled voice came out of the monitor.

"Fluttershy?" I said cautiously.

"Princess Cadance? Is that you?"

"Fluttershy it's me! I'm with Spike, what happened?"

"I'm so glad you are ok. How did you find Spike?"

"I was brought here after I was rescued from the Enclave."

"Oh dear, that's what I was afraid happened. Several days before the Griffons arrived we spotted an Enclave scouting party in the city. We assumed they were a bunch of rouge soldiers but they opened fire on our patrol and headed back to the clouds. That was dumb of me to think you couldn't have been their target."

"Who is this Enclave, who are these Knights of Awesome? I've met a ton of people and never got any answers."

"The Enclave are a bunch of rude individuals who shot up my cave and tried to kill me and my friends," Spike growled.

"Hello Spike, glad you are well."

"You to Flutters."

"But yes, they are pretty rude. Princess Cadance, when the Pegasi abandoned the Equestrian war effort after the destruction of Cloudsdale, they formed their own pseudo-Equestrian government that became the Enclave. Eventually, their population outgrew their cloud cities and about ten years ago tried to retake the surface. The ponies at the surface were already embroiled in conflict but were able to repel them. Their massive assault split their government with some in favor of peace and some who wanted to continue the war.”

“How did I end up being kidnapped by them?”

“They infiltrated our airship... it was my fault. I had allocated my soldiers to help establish airfield operation and the ponies guarding you were overpowered during the night. I’m so sorry princess.”

“I guess we are lucky no one was hurt. What about the Knights of Awesome?”

“They are the Pegasi equivalent of Applejacks Rangers. They call themselves that because of Rainbow Dash’s ministry."

"Fluttershy what is the state of the Empire?"

"So far Starlight has been acting in your stead and the NCR is sending reinforcements to stabilize the city. The Castle population has increased by 50, some coming from Emerald Field, others coming from smaller settlements throughout the Empire. Crystal ponies have been whispering about the Crystal Heart restoring the Empire. I'm contacting the elder to have the knights bring you back-" I heard a large explosion at the entrance of the cave. I turned around to hear a mix energy and conventional weapons.

"Not again!" Spike was grabbing a large handle and began to check the massive locks on the door.

"Oh my. I'll contact the elder right away, sounds like the Steel Rangers are at it again. I'll see you soon," the transmission cut off and the screen shut went dark. I turned around Spike opened the small door.

"I'm sorry Cadance but I have to kick you out, I can't let all of Twilight's work be destroyed!" The light from the door bled into the darkening room.

"It's alright Spike I understand, I'll see you next time," I ran out the door, I have to help the others, I can't let any more of my friends die.

Footnote: Perk Aquired.
Perk added: Command Presence: Your presence inspires all of your allies and puts fear in your enemies,
You gain a boost to speech while talking to military forces.