Fallout Equestria [Parody]: Legend of the Earthbound

By: Plot Twist of Neighpon

Chapter 10: Tokyoats

Earth. Year 1999...

Japan. A country which supports a population of over one hundred and twenty-six million people. A country at the apex of world technology which has an infrastructure that supports the fastest internet speeds, the quickest rail transportation, and the most compact parking garages. It has tall buildings and skyscrapers that could withstand the harshest earthquake or tsunami, and yet still be eco-friendly and cost efficient. The latest and best video games pours out by the hundreds every year it seems. Cleanliness itself is used as a tourist attraction as everything seemed to be clean; even the sewers. The crime rate is one of the lowest in the world boasting less murders in the entire country compared to just the state of New York. And leading this country to greater heights was the futuristic capital city of Tokyo. The city where all roads in Japan lead to.

But this wasn't Tokyo, nor even Japan.

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Equus. Year {Unknown}...

Neighpon. A country that has seen better days. It wasn't completely empty or vacant. But compared to Earth's Japan, there was a huge difference in population. Even during the busiest time of the day, you would barely see more than two hundred or so individuals on the city streets at one time rather than tens of thousands. Most of the taller buildings were gutted long ago. The streets themselves looked like they served as public restrooms. There was an outright feeling of both depression and oppression everywhere you turned. The same way Detroit feels these days. It looked as if time had stopped for the entire country. And in a way, it had.

Just over two hundred years ago, a trade agreement between Equestria and Zebrica fell apart. Equestria, a leading exporter of high quality gemstones, needed lots of coal to power their steam driven locomotives for travel and shipping. Coal that could only come from Zebrica. Meanwhile, Zebrica, the land of Zebras, needed gemstones due to the lack of having unicorn magic at their disposal in order to create new spells and technologies. The bureaucrats of Equestria wanted more money for the gems. The Zebras felt exploited and halted all export of coal. Over time, tensions grew. And after an alleged assassination attempt on the Equestrian ruler, mega spells were released. Innocent ponies and zebras alike were caught in the middle of a great war. Major cities in both Equestria and Zebrica practically became uninhabitable wastelands.

And then you have Neighpon. The large island country on the other side of Equus almost opposite of Equestria. As the main supplier of wheat, rice, electronic components, rare art, ninja movies, and compact sky carriages, Neighpon never took part or even saw the war. But the effects of the war were felt immediately. The lack of exports and imports through the capital city of Tokyoats caused an economic shutdown throughout the country. A three-way civil war broke out between the northern, central, and southern regions of the earth-pony dominated country. Innocent ponies were caught in the middle as the once great country of Neighpon gutted itself in order to survive. Riots against the government happened almost once a week. Pony violently turned on pony. Food supplies dwindled. The overall population dropped severely. Pachinko games broke down. Everypony's favorite drama was canceled. Crappy animation was produced. It was truly a sad time for everypony.

Okay, now that the stage has been set and you have an idea of how things are around here, let's join the human John Stone and the unicorn pony Moondancer as they arrive in the capital city.

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Southern District of Tokyoats...

The long trail of sheltered wagons slowly entered the dark and dimly lit city along the wide brick paved road. The streets were fairly quiet but still had a hoof full of ponies doing various activities. If you would call begging for bits, sleeping in cardboard boxes, or drinking alcohol while loitering ‘activities,’ that is. Though Neighpon was mostly spared radiation fallout from the war, there was still taint in the air from the light stench of urine and garbage. Moondancer peered out from the rear of the wagon she and John were riding in. She had never seen or heard of any pony settlement in such a state of disrepair. With the help of Tettei and Meiyo, John and Moonie were caught up to speed on what had happened over the last couple of centuries.

John sat near the center of the wagon where he was half surrounded by the members of the caravan. He took a deep breath and sighed. He was not only a long way from home, but a long time from home as well. And then there's the fact that he had just killed a pony earlier that day which didn't settle well with him. It didn't matter if it was in self defense or not. John sighed again and looked to Meiyo who seemed to have been staring at him quite a bit throughout the trip. "< Okay. I think I get what's going on. If that's the case, then trying to contact Equestria for help would be a moot point. What Moonie and I need is a way back to my time and world. Or at least a way to travel back through time two hundred years. >" Even as he said it, John felt a bit of hopelessness but he shook it off. "< What we need is information to develop a plan. Is there anyone or any place that you know of that would be able to help? >"

Meiyo was caught off guard by the question. "< I don't understand. You want to go back to when the war was at it's worse? Doing that would only get you killed for sure. >"

John noticed she looked nervous as if she wasn't telling him something. Or maybe she wanted to tell him something but was too shy? It kinda made her cute in a... way... 'Oh crap,' John thought. 'It's that word 'cute' again. Could it be telling me something?' John shook his head again to clear it. "< No, no. I want to go back to before the war. Maybe to the day Lyra made the portal to my world. Then all I would have to do is use her portal to get back to my own home. >"

Meiyo and the others got to hear a short version of how Lyra Heartstrings from Canterlot created a portal to John's world. Though John didn't explain the type of relationship he had with the mint green unicorn, Meiyo felt the connection was deep. Almost as if he was marked by her. It made her a little jealous and envious. This human was a good fighter. He had saved her life. But he was determined to get back to this Lyra. Was he really smitten with her? Was this human able to satisfy a pony? It didn't seem possible. And yet he spoke about her as if they were lovers. Thoughts of romantic interludes filled Meiyo's mind. That, or she was just thinking of her favorite Neighponese drama.

Meanwhile, Danmari and Tsun were thinking along the same lines as Meiyo. Tsun may not openly admit it, but this alien intrigued her. Danmari kept stealing glances at John's broad shoulders when he wasn't looking her way. When he did, she would quickly turn away blushing.

Moondancer, on the other hand, was unusually quiet. Though John was still speaking another language, she kept hearing Lyra’s name and knew what he was talking about. She pondered the mental images John’s sword showed her and tried to figure out why she saw them. No. She knew exactly why. And the guilt was beginning to weigh down on her. Even though she still wanted to experience having sex with John, she was afraid when he would find out the truth. Considering he had killed one pony already, what would he do to her for what she did to Lyra?

The caravan suddenly came to a stop. "< We're here, >" said Tettei as he rose from his place in the corner of the wagon. Moondancer was the first to exit. She jumped down onto the sidewalk near a rather large building, and came face to face with a huge pink smiling face staring at her at point blank range. Scared to death, she backed away until her back was against the wagon. "< Ahahahaha! She got you, didn't she? >" Tettei laughed as he landed beside Moondancer.

Moonie looked from the five foot wide pink face that happened to be on a poster to Tettei and then back to the poster. "What? What is this? I don't get it!" She turned around to see John coming out of the wagon. "John! Look at this! What does it say?" Moonie asked while pointing a hoof at the poster.

John stretched out his arms to loosen them up before looking up at the poster. It depicted a young and very pink mare with an even pinker mane looking towards anyone who happen to pass by. In fact, the mare's huge eyes seemed to follow you as you'd walk pass. "Hmm. Translated, it says, 'Pinkie is watching you... FOREVER!' And at the bottom there it says it's a message from the Ministry of Morale." John looked at the smiling mare again. For some reason, he couldn't help but to grin. "It's a crazy picture. But if Neighpon is like the place I know back home, this would be considered tame."

Moonie and John walked up to the lead wagon and met up with Dere. They were followed by Danmari and Tsun while Tettei and Meiyo helped the other ponies offload supplies to a building across the street. Dere had just given some orders to one of the wagon drivers when she noticed John walking up. "< Ah! John Stone. Welcome again. I hope the trip wasn't too much of a burden. >"

John bowed his head in a quick greeting. "< Good evening to you. We were well taken care of. Thank you. >"

Dere smiled. "< It was the least we could do after you helped us. >” She glanced up into the cloudy night sky which reminded her of what time it was. “< Oh my, but it's rather late. May I suggest a place for you to rest? Then you shall be refreshed for tomorrow's tasks. >"

John could use the rest. He had been up for at least twenty hours or so. He looked down to Moonie. Right away he saw that she had bags under her eyes from all the stress. He looked back to Dere. "< Yes. If you know of a safe hotel or inn that would take us. Um, although, I'm not too sure how we could pay for the room. >"

Dere laughed. "< Nonsense. You will be guests of mine. Danmari will help you get settled in. >"

"< Eh? Ah! Y-yes, Oka-san! >" Danmari replied nervously as she bowed to her mother and then did the same to John. Danmari had a voice that reminded John of a kid sister type character from an anime he knew. "< Um, r-right this way, please, >" she said while still bowing repeatedly to John but not moving. John and Moonie simply stood still in amusement until finally Dere cleared her throat loudly to get Danmari's attention. Danmari panicked as she realized what she was doing. "< Oh! I'm sorry I'm sorry! Yes! This way! Follow me! >" she said as she finally started across the street.

John chuckled and looked to Dere one final time. "< Is she always like that? >"

Dere's eyes went half lidded as she held a slight grin. "< She only gets that nervous around suitors she likes. >"

"< That's adorable, >" said John before he stopped himself cold. "< Wait, what!? Around suitors? As in people, I mean, ponies she’s interested in courting? >"

"< Have a good night's rest, John Stone. >" Dere turned away with a toothy grin, avoiding John's question.

John felt dread come over him. 'I'm gonna be in so much trouble,' he thought as he caught up to Moonie and Danmari. But the thought was soon cut off as he looked in awe to where Danmari was leading them. It was neither a hotel or an inn.

"< W-welcome to our home! >" Danmari announced and bowed nervously.

Coincidentally, it was the same building John and Moonie noticed earlier. This wasn't a place of business or even a home. This was a palace! An actual authentic Japanese, or rather, Neighponese palace. While all of the surrounding area and other buildings looked condemned, this place looked as if it had never been touched by the hands of time. The gold, white, red, and royal blue colors along the walls and rooftops shone like a beacon. Even the air smelled cleaner upon entering the grounds. John then noticed a group of ponies coming from the main entrance. He was stunned at the sight. Along the wide cobblestone path to the entrance flanked eight powder-blue colored mares dressed in colorful kimonos. Their faces were painted in a white paste or thick powder, John couldn't tell, and all of their manes were jet black and styled in buns held with two large chopsticks. One word came to John's mind. Geisha.

All of the geisha mares bowed and spoke in unison. "< Welcome to House Akasaka. >" They all raised their heads and suddenly noticed the non-pony entity in front of them. One of the mares to John's left gave a hidden signal and all of the finely dressed geisha suddenly resembled the Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles times two. Swords, shuriken, daggers, staffs, and the like were pulled out from... somewhere on their bodies and were held in a battle ready stance that reminded John of a Power Rangers pose. They all spoke in unison once again, their voices bold. "< Halt, creature of Tartarus! Or be felled by The Orochimare Sisters! >"

John didn't move but he was thinking how cool this looked. Moondancer panicked again and half fainted against John's right side. While holding Moonie up in a standing position, he took another good look at the geisha guards. Other than the different kimono colors, every earth-pony geisha mare looked identical to each other until you got to the cutie marks. The marks coincided with the weapon wielded by each mare, and was in the form of an eight-point pinwheel for each.

"< Wait! Wait! >" Danmari ran up and placed herself between the guards and John. She waved her hooves over her head to get their attention, which wouldn't be too hard since she was the only one moving at all. "< P-please stand down! These are our guests. Please don't hurt him! Ah! Um, I mean, them! Don't hurt them, please! >" Danmari blushed at her verbal slip.

The mare carrying the sword who seemed to be the leader of the group (Of course the one with the sword would be the leader!) stepped up to Danmari and bowed deeply. "< Danmari-dono. We welcome you back from your travels. >" The swordsmare shifted her eyes to stare daggers at John. "< When you say this creature is a ‘guest,’ do you mean it is a prisoner? >"

Danmari's dark orange mane fell in front of her face as she shook her head. "< No no no, Arai-san. I mean that they will be staying here for the night under our protection. Please prepare food and drinks for them in one of the spare rooms.

"< A guest? >" Arai looked at the unknown creature to size it up. "< Hmm. It does not seem to be much of a threat. Surely you would want me to interrogate it to discover its true intent? >"

Danmari's face quickly turned from embarrassed to anger as she stared down the leader of the geisha guards. "< Arai-san. He is not an 'it.' Nor is he a toy or a pet for you to play with. His name is John Stone. He helped us greatly by taking up arms in our name and defended the caravan. He even saved Meiyo's life by defeating the mighty Kirifuda! >"

Arai's eyes went wide at the news. "< Th-that’s impossible! Kirifuda has been a bane on Neighpon's central region for years. It gives me a migraine just hearing that scum's name. I can not believe that this... creature... defeated such a menace! >"

"< Regardless of what you may think, Arai, you have your orders. Please carry them out. >" Danmari's voice was as stern as ever. Even the other guards seemed a bit unnerved at her change of persona. Danmari then sighed as her features relaxed. "< Arai-san. I'm sorry for my tone. But you must save your questions about our guests until later. We are all very tired and on edge from the attack. >" She looked over all of the guards in front of her. "< If any of you have any problems with our guests being here, voice them now and I will see to it that you won't have to deal with him during his stay. If not, then I expect nothing but respect towards him… uh, them. Is that understood? >"

All of the guards went to a rigid attention and bowed as one. "< Yes, Danmari-dono! >" All of the guards save for Arai went back to their posts and other duties.

By this time, Moonie had finally composed herself. She looked at Danmari's face filled with determination in her eyes. She didn't expect the quiet young mare to suddenly become bold in her and John's defense. But then Moonie looked down and noticed Danmari's hind legs trembling nervously and looked as if she was trying her best not to pee herself.

Swallowing any fear or contempt she may have, Arai approached the alien creature with caution. "< HELLO! MY NAME IS ARAI! AH... RA... EE! I WILL TAKE YOU INSIDE! FOLLOW ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? FOLLOW ME, >" she yelled out loud.

John rolled his eyes in both annoyance and disbelief. He couldn't believe the mare even added some kind of hoof and body language as she tried to communicate with him. He turned to Danmari who was sweating with embarrassment again. "< Um, is she always like that? >"

Danmari's entire body turned a rose red at hearing John speaking to her. Arai almost drew her sword in a quick-draw attack when John not only spoke but used their own language.

"< What's going on here!? >" Everypony (and John) turned to see Tsun slowly walking towards them. She did not look happy. Not happy at all. "< Danmari. Why haven't our guests been admitted inside? >"

John noticed Danmari going into another swirly-eyed panic attack while Arai went to banging her head on the ground as she bowed in respect as the more revered of the two sisters approached. So he took it upon himself to answer the question. "< Sorry. It seems the guards were just doing their job and wanted to make sure I wasn't dangerous to anyone. It's not anyone's fault, really. I would have done the same in their position. >"

Tsun narrowed her eyes at John, then turned to look down at Arai who was still bowing on the ground. "< Finish your task at once, Arai. I will decide later if you should be disciplined. >" With that, Tsun continued her graceful walk through the palace doors.

Moondancer smirked. "Well, I’m not sure what the hay is going on but somepony looks pissed." She let out a huge yawn as she stretched. "Okay. I'm officially toast. Can we get some sleep now, John?"

John looked down to Moonie and smiled. "I know what you mean. I was about to get some sleep on the plane before all this mess began." He turned to both Danmari and Arai. "< If everything is okay now, Moondancer and I really could use some rest. >"

Arai stood quickly and composed herself. "< Yes. Of course. Again, welcome to House Akasaka. Please walk this way. >" Danmari returned to the caravan as Arai turned and entered the palace with John and Moonie close behind. Before long, Arai had lead them both down a long hallway with huge oil paintings of what looked like Samurai ponies in battle on the walls, and beautifully crafted gold-laced pottery on tables. Arai didn't speak until they stood in front of a large solid oak door. "< This is our main guest room. >" She opened the door and revealed a room that was as big as an entire house. It had an indoor pool (or is that a bathtub?), a buffet table (or is that just a snack bar?), and a bed that could easily fit John's size four times over. "< I shall take my leave at this time. If you should need assistance, I shall have one of my sisters posted outside this door. Please enjoy your stay. >"

John barely noticed a slight edge of distrust still in her voice. But that was to be expected and he let it slide. Plus he was too tired to deal with it or anything. "< Thank you for your hospitality, Arai-san. We shall se- >"

"Dibbs!" Moonie yelled as she made a leap for the bed. She used her magic to quickly remove her glasses and saddlebags and set the former on the nightstand and the latter on the floor. She didn't waste any time digging herself under the warm blankets.

John just smiled before turning back to Arai. "< Um, yeah. See you in the morning. >" John closed the door and looked to the bed. He wanted to just jump in the bed, himself. But not after the day he's had. He needed to clean up at least a little. After placing his sword in the corner and a quick look around the presidential suite-sized room, he found a small bathroom with a shower and a closet which stored some pony-sized bathrobes. He quickly takes a hot shower with his clothes on. Might as well do laundry at the same time, right? Shutting the water off, he disrobes and wrings out any extra water from the shirt and pants. After hanging them both on a rail, John finds a bathrobe that's large enough for him. It barely came to just above his knees but it would have to do. He thought about letting Moonie keep the bed for herself while he took a couch. But that bed looked WAY too comfortable. And it was large enough to share without having to bother each other while sleeping. Finally, John dragged himself to the bed. Making sure he didn't land on Moondancer, he collapsed onto the bed, falling asleep before his head hit the pillow.

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Author's Note

For readers that use TTS or may be unfamiliar with Japanese grammar, here are the proper pronunciations for the names used in the story so far. The ALL CAP indicate the hard accent of the word.

Dere = 'DEH-ray'
Danmari = 'DAN-mar-ree'
Tsun = 'tsoon'
Akasaka = 'ah-KAH-sah-kah'
Arai = 'ah-RAI'
Orochimare = 'oh-ROW-chee-mare'
Kirifuda = 'KEE-ree-FOO-dah'

Any quotes marked or bordered with “<” and “>” means the speaker is using the Japanese/Neighponese language. In addition, any written Japanese/Neighponese characters (i.e.: words in books) will look the same on both Earth and Equus.

Introducing the caravan guards, the Tetsu-fu:

Tettei (Leader)- Weapon: Katana sword - Pony Type: Unicorn Stallion
Kunai - Weapon: Longsword - Pony Type: Earth Stallion
Ranchi - Weapon: Longsword - Pony Type: Earth Stallion
Bijin - Weapon: Longbow - Pony Type: Earth Stallion
Meiyo - Weapon: Longbow - Pony Type: Earth Mare

Introducing the guards of House Akasaka, the Orochimare Sisters:

Arai (Leader)- Weapon: Katana sword
Sakenomi - Weapon: Spiked Hoof Gauntlets
Dansa - Weapon: Bamboo Staff
Tanken - Weapon: Throwing Daggers
Kusari - Weapon: Morning Star
Hoshi - Weapon: Shuriken
Chohatsu - Weapon: Glaive
Jiku - Weapon: Double-sided Axe