Fallout Equestria [Parody]: Legend of the Earthbound (Rebooted)

Fallout Equestria [Parody]: Legend of the Earthbound

By: Plot Twist of Neighpon

Chapter 09: Birth of a Legend

“< Defend the caravan! >”

John froze. He could easily tell the voice was male. But that wasn't what made his eyes pinpricks. The only thing going through his mind was, 'They're speaking Japanese!? I thought we were in Equestria!' John did his best to gather himself. Moondancer needed help. John saw that she had a glow around her, some sort of shield, he hoped. But who knows how long it would last. He began to jog towards her. "Moonie! Get behind me!"

Moonie, who was taking quick glances behind herself to see the weapon wielding ponies catching up to her slowly, mentally promised herself that if she got out of this alive she would get more exercise. "Run John! They have arrows and swords and... and..." Another arrow flew closely past her to land to her left side. "AHHHHHHHH!!" Somehow she found it in herself to get more speed out of her tired legs.

John rested his left hand on the hilt of the sword as he caught up to Moonie. She flew past him going in the other direction and had no intention of stopping. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and grasped the sword's handle in his right hand. He could hear the hoofsteps of the other ponies getting near. His Kendo training fresh in his head, he positioned himself into a defensive stance and opened his eyes.

"< What is that thing? >" John heard one of the attackers, a bowmen he guessed, yell out.

"< Don't underestimate it, >" said the unicorn leader. "< Try not to get too close. Archers, shoot in unison on my mark! Ready... Now! >"

John saw how battle worn and injured they all were. He didn't want to hurt any of them. But they did attack first even if they were just protecting others. Regardless, he almost laughed as he heard all of their battle plans from the leader. So quickly, they broke the first rule of war. 'Never let your enemy know how you're attacking.' Two launched arrows flew towards him. A scene from the anime Ninja Scroll came to mind as thought this would be a cool time to recreate it... If he could pull it off, that is. With what seemed to be practiced ease, John quickly drew Seiban right as the arrows reached him. There was the sound of wood being crushed and sliced as Seiban made little work of the arrows.

The attacking ponies stopped in their tracks as they saw this bi-pedal creature shrug off their attack with almost no effort. The creature simply stood there with it's sword lowered. It didn't seem interested in attacking them, but looked very ready for a fight. As the unicorn leader was about to command the others to surround the unusual creature, it spoke.

"< Good day to you. I mean you no harm and I don't want to fight you. And I'm sorry about my unicorn friend. The only thing we wanted is to know where we are and where the nearest town was. Can you help us? >" John, in good faith, sheathed his sword and waited for a reply. But then he remembered something he saw in the anime Ranma ½. "< Oh, I really should introduce myself first. My name is John Stone. My friend is Moondancer. >" John looked behind him to see Moonie hiding just over the hill.

The caravan guards didn't move. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do or say though the ones with swords kept their guard up. After a minute, the leader finally walked to the front of the pack of guards while keeping a good distance from this creature that somehow knew their language. "< What are you and why are you here? >" the stallion asked loudly.

John, happy to know that it really was actually Japanese they spoke, did his best to explain without giving out too much information. "< I am a human. I'm sure you have not seen or heard of my kind before. I am visiting from my home. I wasn't planning to come to Equestria until later but something happened and I was brought here early. >" John began to relax more. It's good that they were interested in talking instead of fighting. He wasn't sure if he could take on five ponies at one time.

The unicorn swordspony pondered what the 'human' said. He still wasn't sure if it should be trusted. But he came from a family that respects honor. And so far this human has shown quite a bit in just a short time. And it was time he should do the same. He used his magic to lower his sword but did not sheath it. "< Human John Stone, my name is Tettei, leader of the Tetsu-Fu. >" Tettei bowed before he looked to his companions and turning back to John. "< Please excuse us. We were doing our jobs by protecting our caravan. If you mean no harm to the caravan, we shall leave you in peace. >"

John bowed in return and smiled. "< We truly mean you no harm at all. All we want are directions to a town. >" He turned again to Moonie's hiding spot. "Come on down, Moondancer. We are safe for now.”

Moonie slowly rose up and walked to hide behind John's back. She had been scared out of her wits. "Who are they and why did they try to kill me? And how are you talking to them? I don't understand them at all."

"Somehow, the second language I learned on my planet is the same as the language here. Wherever 'here' is," John replied. "As for why they were shooting at you, they were protecting that caravan..." John was gesturing to the caravan that had gotten pretty far ahead on the road when he saw the chaos. The caravan was being attacked. "< Oh no! >" He made a quick decision and turned to Moondancer. "You must stay here. Don't leave this spot, you hear me? I'll be back." With that, John took off at a sprint to the caravan.

Tettei turned in the direction the human ran in and saw the attack. "< Tetsu-Fu! To arms! Save the caravan! Kunai and Ranchi, flank from the sides! Meiyo and Bijin, find cover that's in your range and attack as soon as you can! >"

"< What about that human creature? >" the archer Meiyo asked. "< It may only get in our way. How can you trust it so easily. >"

"< I don't trust it. But it began to take action before us. If it attacks us or the caravan, bring it down quickly. But only if it attacks us. >" The others acknowledged the order and went into action.

John had a small lead on the group. In his mind, he wondered exactly what he was getting himself into. But in a way, it was his and Moonie's fault that the caravan was left unguarded for too long. He had to make things right. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

The caravan ponies were doing their best to protect itself using what they had on hoof; rocks, wood, sticks, and spare supplies. John reached the last of the wagons as one of the fifteen or so attacking ponies, a brown sword wielding earth pony, also reached it. The pony turned to see some new bi-pedal creature right on top of it. It would have taken too much time to draw their sword, so they tried to dodge the creature's attack.

But John had the advantage. His quickness got him close enough to lay a right-handed punch square to the pony's jaw, sending it flying across the road. They landed unconscious as John then drew his sword with the same hand. "< Stay down, >" John said as he looked for the next enemy. He found a second pony forty yards away with a single-shot musket. 'Oh, great,' John thought to himself as he made a beeline to the gunpony. They were still reloading as John approached and didn't see him coming in time. John let out a battle cry as Seiban came down upon the pony... and sliced completely through the musket. John then used a back swing towards the pony's head. With a twist of his hand, the flat of the sword slammed into the side of the pony's face. The pony slumped down in a heap. By now, John was getting a lot of attention from both the attacking ponies as well as the ponies from the caravan. John looked around for the next target. But the next target found him. A dull-white unicorn with a scimitar charged at him. John brought his sword up in defense. Both swords rang across the battlefield as they met.

"< Die you miserable mutant beast! >" the attacking pony yelled as it put more magic into the sword's downforce.

John's mind did some quick thinking again and noticed a possible weakness with these sword wielding unicorns. While using their magic to hold the attacking sword, they can't seem to do much else. John smiled at his opponent. "< I have a better idea. Call off your friends before someone really gets hurt. >"

The pony flew into rage as it yelled back at the creature. "< How dare you mock me, dog! I'll cut you into-- Urk! >" The pony's words were cut off suddenly as John slammed his free left fist into the gut of the pony. John followed up with a roundhouse kick to it's face, sending the pony flying five yards back.

Breathing fresh air again and trying not to puke from the pony's horrid breath, he looked to see one of the caravan guards having to deal with two enemies at once. John raced to assist but before he got there, an arrow pierced one of the foes through their neck, felling them. The other attacker, distracted by their comrade going down, didn't see the guardpony's sword as it sliced through his jugular. 'Whoa. These guys are playing for keeps. I wonder if just knocking them out is a good idea,' John pondered. Just then he heard a scream from somewhere behind him. Looking back, he saw another guard pony, the mare archer, being harassed by yet another sword wielding enemy. John leapt into action. Going back to the knocked out pony he kicked, he picked up the pony's sword with his left hand and threw it towards the attacker. Being right handed, John knew he wouldn't land a hit. But the throw was close enough to get the attacker's attention. That meant he earned the time he needed to get into position.

This new opponent was a larger grayish colored earth pony stallion. He may have the strength but he was slower than the others by far. But that didn't mean he wasn't formidable. He saw the strange new creature coming at him and smiled. "< Come at me, demon! Meet my sword and die with honor! YAHH!! >" There was a yelp from the archer mare as the grey pony notched his sword within his fetlock, reared up, and charged at full speed at the 'demon.'

The move almost took John by surprise as the pony came at him on it's hind legs. John looked frantically for a weakness but didn't see one at the moment. He switched to a defensive position as the pony's sword sliced through the air at his head. John blocked the blow, but the force knocked him back a few steps. And yet the pony advanced, his swings landing hard against John's Seiban.

"< Hahaha! You are no swordmaster! You will die and be returned to Tartarus, demon creature! >" the strong pony yelled out as his attacks got faster and stronger.

John blocked every blow. But even he was getting worn out. He needed to end this quickly. He thought of how the Martial Artist Bruce Lee would handle this situation. He remembered how Lee fought a larger opponent and was mad that it took him three minutes to win the fight. John needed to use his opponents attributes to his own advantage. That's when he noticed it. With every swing the pony made, the swing itself was used to counter-balance himself while on his hind legs. John didn't want to do what he was about to do, but went into action at the next swing. The pony's sword came down for an overhead strike. John dove to his own right side as the pony's sword missed him. The heavy pony lost his balance as expected and landed on all four hooves. Before they could react, John, who was still in motion from the dodge, went with an upswing with his sword which sliced from the pony's shoulder to the upper back like butter. Blood exploded from the pony as it went down. John covered his eyes to avoid the blood fountain.

The archer mare ran up to John to check on him. "< Are you alright? Are you hurt? >" She didn't want to get too close to him but was close to hear him reply.

"< I'm... okay. Are you okay? What happened? >" John asked as he caught his breath.

The mare looked away embarrassed. "< I ran out of arrows and lost my dagger. I had no weapons left to defend myself. >" She looked back to the human. "< You are a great fighter. Thank you for saving me. I am... in your debt, human. My name is Meiyo, >" she said with a high, chipmunk-like voice and a small bow towards John.

John looked at the blue and black colored mare for a moment. She looked a little worse for wear. She had been through a lot, if her previous wounds said anything. But she also had a determined never-give-up look on her face. And if she were cleaned up a bit, she would be kinda cute as well. Ack! There it was again! John shook his head to get the thoughts out. "< Well met, Maiyo. Well, if you have no weapons or arrows, do what you can for the caravan. Check for any wounded or help the medics if you have them here. I'll try to get rid of the other attackers. >" John got up and was about to head out when Meiyo cried out.

"< Why!? >"

John turned to look at Meiyo. "< What? >"

"< Why are you doing this? Why are you helping us? We've done nothing for you. We've gave nothing to you. And yet you risk your life to battle for... no... battle with us. >" Meiyo looked to the human whose name she couldn't remember. She was confused to say the least. In this land, no one did such things for free.

John went to one knee and gave her a tired smile. "< Ask me again once the battle is over. >" He then stood and ran back into the fight, leaving a stunned Meiyo to stand alone.

The battle didn't last much longer as the other guards, along with John, managed to repel the other attackers. Once the last enemy was dispatched and the three ponies that John knocked out were tied up, all of the ponies from the caravan rallied on the lead wagon. Moondancer caught up to John, looking rather green in the face with all the death and bloodshed around her. She kept looking at John to give her some sense of normalcy, if she were to call a bipedal alien from another world 'normal.' "What just happened? You took off to help them. And then I saw you fight like... like you were born for it! And then I saw you... kill that one pony! How... how could you do such a thing so easily?"

John sighed. "Believe me, it wasn't easy. I've never killed anyone before. I didn't want to do it. But I really didn't have a choice. It was either me or him." John looked down to Moonie. "You stayed out of the fight, right? You didn't get hurt anywhere?"

Moonie stopped walking and stared at John. "How can you ask about me when you're the one who was fighting? Aren't you worried or care about yourself at all?"

John looked back to her. "Someone gave me some good advice long ago. They told me that a strong man stands up for himself. But a stronger man stands up for others. I admit it's kind of a code I like to live by. Or try to, at least." He looked towards the front of the caravan. "Come on. Let's find out what we can."

John and Moonie made it to the lead wagon and met with Tettei and Meiyo. All eyes were on him. That wasn't unexpected considering he was the odd one here. Some of the caravan ponies backed away from him in fear. "< Is everyone alright in the caravan? Any major injuries? >" John ask both guard ponies.

Tettei looked at John with a grim face. He then kneeled down in a deep bow. He was soon followed by Meiyo and the other guardponies. They started a chain reaction as all of the ponies around him bowed down in respect to him.

John got extremely nervous as he looked around himself. "< Uh... What's going on? >" John asked to anyone still listening. Moondancer looked just as confused as he was.

It was then that an older looking mare approached John. She was a green earth pony with a bright yellow mane and an image of a red heart with white dove wings as a cutie mark. She walked with an aire of... 'leadership?' No. 'Responsibility' would be a better word to describe her. It seemed she held the weight of the world on her tired shoulders. She was followed by two younger-looking earth mares; one yellow with a dark orange mane and a heart covered paper fan as a cutie mark, the other green and also had an orange mane, but had an image of a white bamboo sword through a blue heart for her cutie mark. All three stopped in front of John and dipped their heads slightly in a bow. "< Noble one, I am the Elder of this humble group, >" said the older mare. "< My name is Dere. And these are my daughters, Danmari and Tsun, >" she said as she gestured to the younger mares behind her. "< Thank you for assisting us. If not for you, we may have had loss of life. By what title do you go by, young warrior? >"

John bowed in greeting and gestured for Moonie to do the same. "< I have no title, ma'am. My name is John Stone. This is my friend Moondancer. We are pleased to meet you all. I have to apologize for Moondancer. She does not know the language here. >" John glanced to the side to see Meiyo watching closely. "< As for assisting, I only did what I could to help. It was our fault that your guards were distracted. Please forgive us. We mean you no ill will. >"

Dere smiled. "< But surely you did not have to get involved in such a battle. We are unknown to you and your friend. Why would you risk your own safety for strangers? >"

John laughed and shook his head. "< One of your guards asked me the same earlier. My answer is this. >" John sighed and closed his eyes as if to pause for a dramatic effect. "< Why not? >"

The Elder was confused, as were the others around her. There were plenty of dumbfounded looks on all their faces. "< Eh? I don't understand. >"

"< It's simple, really, >" John replied with a confident smile. "< To me, there's no such things as 'strangers.' Only friends I haven't met yet. >"

The confused look on Dere slowly turned into a smile, and then a full grin as she began to laugh out loud. "< You are a strange one, John Stone. But again we thank you for your help. We do not have much for food or supplies, but please take what you need for your travels. >"

"< No. >"

And once again, Dere was stunned. "< Eh!? Why not? You have earned this much for helping us. You should at least... >" Moondancer was looking back and forth to the older mare and John, confused as the rest of them but for different reasons.

"< No. All my friend and I need is some information about where we are and directions to the nearest town. We do not want to be a burden to you. >"

Dere was truly awed by such a simple request. "< You are too humble, John Stone. If it is all you desire from us... >" She turned to the guardponies. "< Tettei, please give them the information they need. And if they would accept, they can ride with us to our destination, if it's a town they need. >" Dere turned back to John. "< I must take my leave at this time to get the caravan back on schedule. Please go with Tettei. I will send my daughters with you. If you have questions, they will be able to give you some answers in my stead. >" Dere then bowed in respect before leaving.

John bowed in return. "< I thank you for your assistance, ma'am. May your travels be safe. >" John turned to Moondancer who looked very out of the loop. He quickly caught her up on what was happening as well as some of the names of the traveling ponies as they followed Tettei, Meiyo, Tsun, and Danmari to board the fourth wagon. Once there, Meiyo seemed eager to volunteer the information.

"< Our caravan is heading to the capital, Tokyoats. Although we are behind schedule, we should get there before late night, >" Meiyo said as if being a tour guide.

John thought about the closeness of the city's name to his world's Tokyo, and compared it to what Lyra had told him about some Equestrian cities and how they were almost parallel to Earth’s. "< Okay. That explains a lot. But to make sure, what country is this? >" He tried to keep a straight face as he remembered his brief but funny argument with Lyra a week ago.

"< Huh? You don't know what country this is? Um, this is the great country of Neighpon, >" Meiyo said as she looked at John curiously.

Both John and Moondancer's eyes went wide. Even in a different language, Moonie heard the name. As for John, he could easily match the name with 'Nippon.' And 'Nippon' was the native name for 'Japan.' Moonie dove into her saddlebag to get her books on the subject. Meanwhile, John had one other question. "< Meiyo, Is there any way to contact someone, a pony, in Equestria? There's a pony there that should be able to help us. >"

"< Contact Equestria? It has been very hard to do so since the war began there. I'm afraid-- >" Meiyo was quickly cut off.

"WAR!?" John exclaimed loudly, scaring everyone. Moondancer's magic cut off and the book she was reading dropped to the floor of the wagon.

"War!? What war?" Moonie asked John.

But John wasn't paying much attention to her. "< What are you saying? There's a war going on in Equestria? >"

Meiyo had gotten extremely nervous and wondered if she should continue. Seeing Meiyo’s situation, Tettei decided to take over. "< From what we know, the war was over not long after it started. But that was... about two hundred years ago or so. Don't tell me you never knew about the war over there with the Zebras. Where have you been? Under a rock? >"

"A war... in Equestria... two hundred years ago…?" John was stunned. But it didn't help Moondancer as she heard John's muttering.

Moondancer's eyes couldn't get any wider. "A war two hundred years ago!? In Equestria!? Oh, Celestia! What happened? What happened to everypony?" Moonie's mind stopped working as she thought of Twilight Sparkle, her first friend. Her first crush. She wondered what happened to her? Two hundred years is a long time. There would be no way she could have lived or survived for that long. Moonie had lost her friend. She collapsed in a heap onto the wagon floor as she cried. Moondancer had lost her very first friend to war.

****<<<<

War. War never changes.

(To Be Continued)