Fallout Equestria: Frozen Clock

“Follow your journey through the ruins to a forested area in the middle of the city. In the middle of the city was a mining complex. In there you will find what you need for the armor you will make and your weapon. Just remember Rose the only way you will become a citizen is if you show us you’re willing to fight.”

It’s been at least half a day walking through the ruins of Detrot to find this forested area in the middle of the ruins. I huddle tightly in the warm coat they gave me while I have a pack full of food, water, and a tent. I remember what the elder told me.

“If you need to sing like a pony. Singing will scare away some of the creatures in ruins. It’s not just raiders you need to worry about some awful creatures in these ruins. I wish I could tell you more but I don’t want you to have too much fear in your heart.”

I come out of the memory hearing a howling from a hungry beast. I look around seeing strange wolves made of metal? Timberwolves I wonder if they mutated over the years and gained the ability to form themselves from metal.

I cough sniffing the air. It's a rusty smell coming into my nose. I know they’re close but I don’t think they’re after me. I hear the wolves screaming smelling melting metal. I look over to the ruins seeing a community of scavengers, one of them holding a smoking flamethrower. The pony turns to look at me, bowing her head at me.

I nod at her as well. I was told I can’t ask for help but I can trade with those I run into. I feel maybe it’s wise to deal with whatever I have with me with these ponies. I walk toward the scavengers and the mare gets ready to fire her flamethrower aiming at me.

“Don’t worry, I am not here to harm anypony. I came over to see if you would like to trade.”

The mare lowers the flamethrower.

“Heh, a force of habit you get used to somepony being kind to them backstabbing you to get everything you own.”

I keep my distance just close enough to be on the outskirts of the camp. I can understand fully how you can tell if those around you will suddenly or someone new would just try to kill you for what you have.

“I have some food if you need any as well as some water.”

The mare smiles shaking her head.

“We are alright for now. May I ask why you are out here though?”

I take a deep breath sighing.

“I am out here to prove myself to the zebra community in the medical complex not far from here.”

The mare nods.

“I see we trade with the merchants there. I heard stories of a zebra mare showing up with a hellhound or diamond dog. A buffalo and a pegasus you wouldn’t be that zebra mare would you/”

I nod

“Yes, I am the mare who showed up. What else do you know?”

The mare shifts on her hooves.

“You knew the world before the war. Is that true? Did you know the world before the war and before the end of the world?”

I sigh remembering the world I came from. A world of peace, a world of love, a world with no care in the world. A world I would do anything to get again if I could. I doubt I could do anything big enough to bring it back.

“Yes, I was there. I was then frozen in a pod before the war fully started and woke up to see this world before me.”

The mare looks towards the group of tents.

“Do the zebras expect you to return on time so you don’t fail to prove yourself or do you just show back up when you want to?”

I shake my head.

“I was never given a time or a ticking clock on when to return. They just want me to find an old mining complex, make myself armor and weapons and kill a powerful creature to prove myself. Then they wish me to bring back everything for brews.”

The mare smiles as she looks back to the tents.

“Do you think you could tell my friends and me about the past? We find so many things during our scavenging and we never find any ghouls around long enough to explain anything. So are you willing to do so and we will give you something to eat?”

A soft smile forms on my face.

“Would the rest of the ponies in your group welcome me?”

She chuckles.

“I am sure they will let me go find the head of our group. I do have a request while I do this. Do you think you could stand guard for me just in case?”

I give a quick nod as she trots off and I stand guard for her. After a few minutes, a large stallion comes out from the group of tents.

“Is this her Dusty?”

The mare nods.

“Hi there Dusty told me you’re a mare who got frozen in a pod and knew what the world was like back then?”

I turn to nod.

“Yes, I lived in the old world.”

The stallion smiles nodding to Dusty. Dusty gets back into her spot to guard and the stallion leads me to a campfire in the middle of the camp. I sit by the campfire removing the hood from my head.

“Before we ask you about the past, why do you have no fur?”

I chuckle weakly.

“There is a group of anti pony zebras in the community in that medical complex. They wanted to make an example of me since back in the past I fell in love with a pony stallion and had his foals. So yeah they felt I had to cleanse myself and make an example of me.”

The stallion sighs, shaking his head.

“I guess some zebras don’t wish to move on. Of course, even some ponies I have met don’t wish to move on either. So I don’t blame them for having issues with the other species. Since some hate others.”

I sigh, nodding he is correct. I notice they have a pot of food cooking over the fire. I glance at the stallion.

“May I have some?”

The stallion chuckles

“It’s veggie stew. I doubt the vegetables were the best of the best but we are willing to share if you share your stories with us of the past.”

Many hours later I am still telling stories to the ponies. I didn’t sugarcoat how things were back then. Even though the world wasn’t as bad as it is now. We still had to deal with threats sometimes worse than others.

“The biggest reason I left my tribe was mostly because of the constant wars between us. It was a peaceful world but not for zebras. For ponies, they did all they could to make it peaceful for themselves. Even though at times they mostly failed because they cared more about friendship than peace.”

I lost track of time since these ponies have been so kind and let me have as much food as I wanted. I knew full well it was getting late but I need to go on my way before I find myself staying here. I get up from the stool looking at the group of ponies.

“I need to be on my way. I want to thank you so much for what you did for me.”

The leader of the scavengers nods.

“You helped us learn more about the past. I wish we could go back and give the foals who live now a peaceful land.”

I shrug my shoulders. The only way a peaceful land will return is if a pony or a zebra says enough is enough and tries to fight for the freedom of everyone around them. I am sure there is those type of heroes around. I doubt I would ever become one of those heroes. I just want to survive and become a simple citizen of a simple community. I don't need the glory or pain of being a hero.

“If I wished to be a hero I would do so. But I am just a simple zebra wanting to live a simple life after I become a citizen. If others consider me a hero I will just ignore them. I am sure you ponies don’t blame me.”

The large pony leader nods.

“I don’t blame you, the idea of trying to be judge and jury makes no sense. It makes perfect sense to put slavers and raiders in their place. Why turn a pony or a zebra into a hero for doing what is known as common sense. Those types of ponies or zebras don’t deserve to be in the world if they prey on others.”

I nod agreeing.

“I need to be going it was great to meet you. I hope to meet you all again.”

I bow my head walking out of the camp to head on to my task. I look back at the ponies feeling sadness in my heart. These ponies know nothing about the peace of the past. War and strife are all they know. They only know how bloody things get and they normally may never see a foal grow to adulthood.

_________

The Destination.

I finally made it to the former park turned into a mining complex back during the war. I look around seeing many ghouls wandering around and larger creatures. I am told if I stay far away from the ghouls they won’t bother me. I do have an idea to make sure they don’t bother me.

I set down my bag and brought out some fertilizer I was given. I was told the ghouls normally go for flesh or anything that smells good to them. I doubt this will work but I have to see. I place the fertilizer in a bucket I brought with me and dumb a little bit of my water supply and mix it to make it wet and stink.

I place my hoof in it, sniffing it and coughing a bit. It’s enough I guess I rub it all over my body. I hope what I was told is right. If it’s not my body is going to be already stinking before it decays. I grunt at the smell as I dumb the rest of it on me.

I take a deep breath looking through my bags more to find a pike ax and look at how much I need to make what is needed for me. Looking at the list I need enough to make an entire set of armor and I need to use my soul to make a weapon that calls to me. I need to allow the stars to open my heart to sing to me so I can make it.

I sigh deeply, finding everything taking a deep breath gagging, and smelling what I placed on myself again. I sneak even though I already did what I did. I sneak into one of the mining tunnels I was told it’s not too deep into the mines

“May I ask why you're here?”

The voice makes me suddenly jump. I turn around to see a ghoul with a top hat on. The mare smirks. A ghoul whose mind is still there I cough smirking weakly and she covers her nose after a second.

“Sorry I was told the way to sneak past the feral ghouls I just need to make myself stink.”

The ghoul laughs.

“It won’t work as you think. Now zebra, why are you here?”

I sigh

“I am here to get some of the ore to make armor and a weapon to be welcomed to a community in this day and age.”

The ghoul tilts her head.

“This day and age?”

I sigh knowing I am going to need to explain. I explain to her what happened to me and the others and about waking up in a factory in sleeping pods. The mare's eyes are wide open and she has a large smile on her face.

“It’s good to see another from the past who knows what I remember. I would attack you for yes the war ended badly but I see you as a gentle soul. I don’t want to cause another small war because I have issues of your kind from the past.”

I shrug my shoulders.

“I don’t blame you for the past things that happened, not everyone will be happy about what went on. I can understand perfectly.”

Then it finally hit me. How long has this ghoul been here? I was told these mines are empty from other souls. Maybe no one has been deeper into the mines and this is just a guard. It’s confusing. Maybe they knew and I would learn by myself.

“I was told no one lived in these mines, are there more of you?”

The ghoul chuckles

“There are underground tunnels and we have used them ever since the bombs fell. I don’t blame others for not telling you about us since we normally hide pretty well here. But I could tell you didn’t seem to be like any other zebra walking in here. Most of your kind normally have weapons and try to kill ghouls. You just tried your best to hide and sneak through like a zebra of the past.”

I just stare at the mare confused. She didn’t answer my question but I am not going to press it. I don’t want to feel like I am invading but I doubt she cares. The past is long gone and I doubt they have anything to gain for stopping me.

“Do you have an issue with me taking what I need and then leaving?”

The mare tilts her head shrugging her rotting shoulders.

“I doubt any of us would care. We have no use for the ore anymore. The ore didn’t help us win the war. Some of the ore you will find here have been magically moon-touched and it’s a rare type of ore you would find.”

I felt a shudder come over me. Moon touched ore is something I learned about years ago. It’s not ore you want to deal with. It can corrupt your soul of course back in the day anything connected to the moon bothered zebras.

“Is all this ore moon touched?”

The ghoul shrugs her shoulders.

“It’s what we were told. I highly doubt any of it is moon touched. Now we do have some metal which fell from space years ago deep in the mine if you would like to help yourself with this metal.”

Metal that fell from the sky? It could be one of those probs or old space junk I have heard about. I will take the ore I need then take some of this metal and make the weapon I need. I glance at the ghoul.

“I just need enough ore to make armor and I could use the space junk to make a weapon. Unless a ghoul in your community is going to have an issue with me doing so?”

The mare chuckles.

“I highly doubt that we live with zebra ghouls who attacked us years ago. After the war ended we all felt it would be best to work together. I am sure they would like to meet you if you have time to speak with us?”

I take a deep breath smelling the stink again coughing. Finally regaining myself after all the coughing. A weak smile forms over my face. I don’t know what to think. I worry I might make too many friends but it’s always good to have friends.

“I would love to and maybe I could make it easier on myself.”

The ghoul chuckles

“You’re an odd zebra.”

I shrug my shoulders. She is right I am an odd zebra I always have been. At first, I didn’t buy the stories about the stories of the stars. After going through the court of the stars and hearing about the judges they have under their control. I wonder how powerful they can be?

“I am sure I know what you mean by me being odd. I will just add I didn’t care about how my kind lived half the time. But I still followed the traditions of zebras and also accepted the ones of ponies. No matter how many crazy fairs and holidays they had. They had far too many by the way.”

The mare laughs shaking her head.

“We can talk about all those things on the way below. I do have a question: do you think you will fail for not doing this yourself?”

I shrug my shoulders. The mare leads the way deeper into the mines. I look over at the feral ghouls looking at me but they seem to ignore me since I am with the ghoul mare. We go down many stairs and when we get deeper in I notice a strange door.

“Forgive the door, it's to keep the ferals out. We may be ghouls like them but we don’t want them near us. It makes us worry we will become like them sooner than later.”

_____________________

Ghoul community.

The mare opens the door letting me inside. I notice there are no guards, just many ghouls wandering around. A zebra ghoul turns to look at me and the stallion comes over to me staring down at me.

“One touched by the stars. Have the stars asked you to come to draw our blood?”

I shudder and shook my head. I am tired of being called the one touched by the stars. I get it I was stupid and I deserve to be called everything.

“No, I stood in the court of stars and placed my punishment on a non-zebra who might not even be born yet.”

The stallion stares more at me, a dark smile forming on his face. He laughs loudly patting my shoulder. From the look in his eyes, he is impressed with me. I am sure when the day comes I will be forced to meet the life I destroyed.

“I see one touched by the stars giving their task to one not even alive yet. They could be alive but you aren’t sure. I am not sure if I should praise you for the guts you have to take on the court and their judge. So may I quickly ask why are you here?’

I sigh explaining to him what is going on and what happened to me and the others. His eyes turn to sadness hearing what I went through. I could tell from his emotions and his decayed face he wishes he went through what I did but not with losing a part of himself.

“I see you’re a zebra who gave herself to a pony stallion. But ponies accused you of a crime you never caused and then did that to you with your hooves. I wish I could have been frozen. I wouldn't have lived through so much pain. I have learned so much though about those I used to fight.”

I shake my head. I am learning so much about this world. I am not enjoying what I am learning. I glance at the mare.

“Would any of these ponies or zebras have issues with me taking the ore and the metal from space?”

The mare shrugs.

“I doubt they will have to do something while the world is destroyed. I don’t see any of us going out there to try to make deals with ponies or zebras. Unless you’re some powerful conversationalist able to convince us into an alliance with them.”

I don’t want to be anything. I just want to live. I want to live in this new world and if it changes around me from a real hero destroying everything around us to trying to bring back the old world more power to them.

“No, I don’t care about making alliances or making the world around me better. I am going, to be honest with you, what did the old world do for me? The old world turned me into a monster. The war destroyed the world. I could care less if the world around me kept falling apart. I'd rather focus on my personal life. I am sure none of you are to blame really.”

The mare snickers and the stallion nods.

“You’re a mare after my own heart. With me, I used to be a beautiful mare and a knockout and all it gave me was this dumb job. So I had to work in this mine till the end of the war. I was told oh the war was going to end. It did end but with fire.”

The stallion sighs.

“Yes, I was bound to kill every pony I saw. Then the bombs fell The ponies allowed us to hide with them in the mines. We spent a while getting to know each other. I learned we aren’t much different from each other. Just our idea of sex and marriage is very different.”

The stallion nods to me leaving to head back into his home. The mare who hasn't given me her name yet. I doubt she will or if they even remember their names. She leads me through the community and I am led to a large storehouse.

“Here you go, just take what you need. Don’t take too much and I will go get you one of those probes from space.”

The mare leaves and another mare who I can tell is pure white she has some fur around her ears and it’s on her body. She hasn't been decaying as much as the others. She sits on her haunches looking at me.

“Miss, may I request something from you?”

I finish gathering enough of the ore looking at the mare.

“As long as I do your request and you don’t call me a hero or a savior.”

The mare laughs.

“Nothing that silly dear. From what I see you will be heading to one of the factories to find a forge. Am I correct?”

I nod.

“Alright, there is an old wagon-making factory. It’s been taken up by a group of raiders. If you don’t mind after you make what you’re making with the ore you’re taking and from the sounds of it the probe. If you wish just to clear it out, we can use it to help build weapons for this city to fight back.”

I shrug my shoulders.

“Sure I will be living in this area so why not.”

I gather what I need and another ghoul sets a probe and another piece of space junk into my bag. I look at the ghoul they’re another zebra. She smiles nodding to me.

“I can tell you where a working forge is. One of us would have to go with you though. Since it’s full of ghouls.”

I sigh deeply looking towards the community of ghouls and then towards the zebra ghoul. I don’t mind having others come with me. But I don’t want to feel like I am failing my task. Maybe they won’t care if I make friends with ghouls.

“Shall we then?’

The ghoul nods and I follow her to her home. She puts on her armor on her side is a spear made with a gold tip. She nods to me, leading me back outside. She looks back at me with a weak smile forming on her face.

“I am named Story. Stay close to me if the ghouls attack you. I will make sure to kill them for you. Warning though if you see a ghoul releasing pink smoke stay as far away as you can. You don’t want any of the mist to get on your skin and you don’t want to breathe any of it in.”

I am confused why she is named Story? I know I am named Rose or Desert Rose to some but I have another name in the words of a zebra. Just Story? Maybe she forgot her name. I shrug my shoulders following the ghoul zebra out of the mine and to one of the factories which are closer.

I glance at the ghouls looking at me. They gnash their teeth hungrily and stay away from me because of Story. It takes us a little bit of thirty minutes to get to the factory. Since we have to go through some traps left by soldiers of the past. I finally got to see the name of the factory. It used to be a candle maker and it was turned into making guns for the war effort.

“The reason this forge is still going. Because there is a ghoul in here with a mental mind like mine and he makes candles as a way to force punishment on the lives he took during the war. He feels the only way he can be redeemed till he makes enough candles to count every single life he took.”

________

The candle factory

We are led into the empty factory. All the ghouls are dead and have died for some time. Around there are candles. Each candle is either lit or slowly smoking. Most of them have been melted over the years. When we get deeper into the factory I hear a voice echoing through the building.

“All deaths during the war are not only my fault. I never praised Celestia for either death. I never praised her or Luna. I just lit them again to honor those I killed.”

I follow Story listening to the ghoul. I can tell from his crying and anger he regrets everything. We hear a gunshot and a ghoul screaming in pain.

“Another death from the fire. No. It’s not the fire, it's for the wax, yes! For the wax, there is no way we can do it.”

We walk into the main room holding the forge. The candles are big here. Two large ones with Celestia and Luna’s cutie marks. I stare at the burning and they have been burning for a very long time.

“This poor stallion hasn't forgiven himself for so long?”

The stallion comes into the room looking at me and Story. He sets down his sniper rifle and quickly comes to me putting his hooves on my face. He stares into my eyes, his eyes full of tears shaking as he holds my face.

“Life!! Oh goddess thou have failed me.. OH Goddess, how dare you bring me life!!”

He removes his hooves screaming, kicking the sniper rifle, and breaking it. He chuckles weakly looking back at me.

“Zebras dead on my hooves. Watching their souls vanish from their eyes. The eyes are the windows of the soul. I can’t… I can’t do it anymore no NO!!!”

He screams and charges at me but doesn’t hit me. He cries holding me tightly. He sobs loudly. I could feel his sorrow and his pain. All those he killed he killed so many in the name of war in the name of death. I wonder at times if I would have become like this if I stayed awake and fought during the war.

“PLEASE FORGIVE ME!! The idea of a zebra alive is here to see me. Are you here to kill me?! The story is the hope of the endless waltz of dreams in the ending bugs and stones of blackholes death!!”

He laughs loudly, sighing.

“I am sorry I didn’t mean to lose my mind there for a moment. Just when I see a zebra I regret all I did to them. May I have your name please before I lose my mind again?”

I gulp wondering if it's a wise idea. I glance at Story and she nods.

“I am Rose. I never fought during the war. I was frozen in time with others who became my family and friends. You have no right to ask me for forgiveness for you never did a thing to me. I may be a zebra but I have no issue with what you did.”

The stallion sighs stroking his face.

“I see you got saved from the nightmare of war only to see the world end and become death like this. I pity you. I wish I could have seen the world like this. I..worry someday I will be judged for what I did. Maybe I should be judged but I don’t see you judging me for all the deaths I cause.”

A sigh escapes my mouth, shaking my head. I have no right to judge this stallion. I have never met or dealt with this stallion before. I wish I could help him but I have no right to help him. I lean down to look into his eyes.

“Listen, I am not here to harm you or anything. I am here to use the forge. Do you have a problem with me using the forge?’

The stallion stands up on his hooves looking at all the candles. He holds his head like he is hearing the screams and voices of all those he killed over the years. He rushes towards the candles of the princess and kneels to them.

“They all scream for relief, my princess. I can’t give them what they want. I know you won’t answer me oh goddess of the past. I see the future, I see the past. I wonder should I give them access to the rooms?

Story walks over to the stallion and puts her hoof on his shoulder. He looks up at the zebra mare and she weakly smiles.

“I am sorry to say they will never give you the answer you want. Please give us the key so she can go in there and do her task. I know this is much for you to take in but please do it?”

The stallion tosses the key to the ground and Story picks it up heading back to me. She swings her head to head to the door. I follow her to the door looking back at the stallion. He screams in anger again laughing loudly.

“You will answer me!!”

I quickly follow Story into the forge room. She locks the door and a deep sigh comes from my mouth. shaking my head. I have a feeling I am going to have to put him down. Looking towards the forge there is coal within. Story walks over to the forge starting it and now one who has no skills in this department I need to learn how to make weapons and armor.

With the help of Story, she tells me what to do. So I formed a helmet of metal, made a visor, and connected it to a strange solar battery I found in the area. Then make the body armor to hold my weapon and wiring to make it work with the helm. Then the legs connect to the metal legs and let Maria connect to it so I can talk to Deco in the visor if needed.

“I know it’s strange how in the world do I know how to make armor like this? I was one of the soldiers who came down here to kill ponies. Then I, along with the others, broke off from the platoon so during all these years I learned things.”

I chuckle weakly. I hear the screaming ghoul hitting the door leading into the forge. I have a feeling he has fully lost it. I take a deep breath. I got more than one thing I need to make. Pulling out the space junk. I was told to let the stars tell me what to make. I close my eyes communicating with the stars if they wish to hear me again.

“Oh, great stars who lead us through much strife and blood. Tell me in your grand design of the universe what to make. Oh please, stars of hope, stars of blood and strife. Bring forth the dream of what I should make and tell me the name.”

In my mind I see it forming. As I have my eyes closed I work to make the weapon letting the stars tell me what to make. I sing what they tell me.

“Take our light and our will to live. The universe is vast. We sing for our will to bring us blood and peace. Oh, a small zebra trying to bring forth a dream. The judges shall put you in your place. For the return and with the goat of undeath. We shall win our battle but for now. We shall help with our song.”

I ignore what they say about the goat of undeath. I know who the goat is but I doubt he will ever return. With the help of the stars, I forge the weapon looking down at the weapon I made after I douse it while staring at the weapon. The weapon is made of a gray color. It's a giant hammer. It has a rubber mouth grip so I don’t hurt my mouth. I take a chisel and hit in the name of the hammer.

‘Stars Wrath.’

I put on the armor with the help of Star and she connects the wires to make sure they work and the visor comes up. I made a zebra-like armor. I look at my hammer again and I notice I added something else. I didn't even notice ways to hold it by the hooves. I can fight as I trained. I put my one forehoof into the hoof holder looking at Story.

“Open the door and please hide if he starts attacking.”

Story trots to the door opening it after she unlocks it. The ghoul comes in holding a large sword and laughs softly. He slowly walks toward me holding the sword in his hoof. I hold my hammer tightly in my hoof.

“You…you’re a monster zebra. I am going to stop you from what you’re planning to do. You’re a figment in my mind. A story to my heart. I have killed so many. How do I know you’re real?! Are you a door to keep my mind closed? Thou will sing to me so I can understand the path to come?!”

I stay silent just looking at him through my visor. I don’t know why I made armor like this. I doubt I will use it all the time. But I feel this is the only way I can find my path. The two of us start to circle each other.

“The princess demands I kill you. Let's make this a grand battle to end all battles. Maybe my soul can be taken to the hell it belongs. So much blood, so much death. YOU CAUSED IT MONSTER!!”

I keep calm

“Listen stallion, you need to remove yourself from what you did. I am not a monster or the zebras you fought in the past. Lower your weapon and I won’t kill you, please. I don’t want to harm you, I don't want you to become another victim of the past.”

The ghoul laughs as he shifts, swinging his weapon. He is not even close to hitting me.

“Oh thee devil, I see what you’re doing. You wish to pull the wool of sheep over my eyes. To stop me from freeing Equestria from the monsters who have taken it over. Stay behind me oh monster and become another one of the ground.”

I take a deep breath.

“I shall end you devil we shall sing.”

I charge at him and he charges at me our weapons smash into each other and they sing. Each hit and with one swing I smash into his sword and sparks fly and he falls back and he turns on a bright light. I felt it was blinding. I could see it through the visor. I swing my weapon and he does the same with our weapons smashing together. The stallion gets out of the way soon after climbing up a ladder and jumps down at me from above. My heart slows as I feel the world around me freeze our weapons ready to strike.

To be Continued