Fallout Equestria: Wasteland Outcastsby IndigoMoonChapters1: Escaping the Crystal Empire2: Vex3: WhinnyapolisPrologue: A Hint Of Lemony Snicket1: Escaping the Crystal EmpireChapter 1 “It was carnage. Absolute carnage” When the Crystal Empire returned, it wasn't some spectacular festival nor some horrifying resurrection. It wasn't there and then it just was. At least to the outside observer. To me, it was as if we were in hell and the suddenly everything was filled with snow. King Sombra was back as well but that wasn't even the worse part. At that time, Sombra was nothing more than a shadow with a face. But when the Empire reappeared in the Frozen North, the cold wasn't the only thing to await our return. There were... things... outside. I'll try and give you a description, but it probably won't do them justice. They resembled bipedal dogs, with sharp teeth and long, curved claws, they were anywhere from a dark black to a shade of gray so pale, you would mistake them for albino. But those who saw such details up close never lived to tell about. They slaughtered anypony and everypony lucky enough to be caught outside in a most gruesome fashion. Now, I say lucky because their deaths were short and quick. Those who weren't killed ended up dying slowly and painfully. There was some sort of sickness that plagued the Empire. We initially presumed it to be contagious since it originated on the Eastern Outskirts, but then someone in the Western Outskirts caught it as well. What confused and scared everyone more than anything was that there was no way for somepony from the Eastern Outskirts to get to the Western Outskirts alive. The beasts, or Devil-dogs as I called them, had a nasty habit of digging underground and waiting. They could feel when somepony was walking on the streets. The only reasons those of us in houses, like myself, weren't massacred like those outside was that the special crystals used to make the houses were able to repel the Devil-dog claws and absorb hoof impacts. By the end of our first week back, half the Empire had died. The only reason that anypony got any news was that ponies would pass messages to one another through the windows by making parchment planes and throwing them across. Messages by plane were scarce in an effort to preserve parchment. We also had to ration what food and water we had on our snowboxes. As ponies around me were dying of some weird illness, I decided to leave the Empire and go get help. My plan was to go to Canterlot and request help from the Royal Pony Sisters. {-----} I grabbed my saddle-bags from beside the door and grabbed what food I knew would last. I filled up 3 canteens with what water I had left, and placed them inside as well. I grabbed medicine, bandages, and 'The Guide to Surviving the Frozen North' by Frostbite, and placed those in my saddlebag as well. I grabbed the body and leg armor of the full set of jousting armor I had displayed in my room, forgoing the helmet for a pair of snow-goggles that I placed on my head and a scarf that I wrapped around my neck. As I looked in the mirror, my normally shiny purple coat was dull, my silver and gold mane unkempt. My saddlebag latches were emblazoned with my Cutie Mark, a silver and red-striped lighthouse with a neon pink light beam glowing outwards. I walked over into the kitchen and grabbed a Crystal knife in my magic. It floated over to me wrapped in the pink glow that was my magic, and slid it into the homemade sheath I had strapped to armor on my right foreleg. I walked over to the door and looked around. I realized I would probably never see this place again. As I turned and faced the door, I muttered a quote from a book I had read in the Crystal Library. "'It's a dangerous business, going out your front door.'" I didn't realize how true that statement would become. I opened the door, walked outside, and glancing back one last time, closed the door behind me. {-----} I tip-toed down the front steps, stopping on the last one before the ground became regular crystal, not the special house-crystal. I knew I had to time this just right. If I ran over a patrol, I'd be dead in five seconds. Patrols passed underground every 10 minutes (I had spent hours timing them), and the last one had passed about 5 minutes ago. If I was going to go, it needed to be now. I'd have to make for the border of the Empire. Ever since the Devil-Dogs appeared, they haven't ventured near the border. I was hoping that if I made it, they wouldn't follow. I was about to run when I heard a bloodcurdling scream fill the air. I whipped around and saw that my neighbor, Crystal Sheen had apparently had the same idea as me but upon making a break for it, was caught almost immediately by the patrol. Perhaps they were faster than I thought, or the patrol intervals were shorter. Either way, it wasn't good for me. "Help!" screamed Crystal. "Shut up, stupid pony! No one come for you," said the one I assumed was the leader as the others nodded in agreement. As soon as those words came out of his mouth, something inside me snapped. I was sick and tired of these... monsters killing everypony because they could. I decided to put aside my fear and terror and do what I knew was right. So, plan formulating in my mind, my horn sparked to life, glowing brighter and brighter with the spell that got me my Cutie Mark. My horn had a fire-y glow with a similar overglow, with a bright light glowing at the tip of my horn, magical sparks flying off as I managed the slightly volatile light spell. All the glowing and fizzing got their attention. "Hey! What is glow-y pony doing?" asked one of the Devil-Dogs. "Doesn't matter! Get her. you fools, get her!" screamed the leader. Before any of them could move, I shot out an electrocution spell that hit the leader right in the face, his metal armor conducting it down the rest of his body. He roared in rage and leapt after me, his goons close behind. "Crystal! Get inside!" I yelled before I got too far. As I stole a quick glance back, I saw the Devil-Dogs were gaining. Quickly. But I also saw Crystal leap back into her house. As I ran, I heard some of the Dogs were digging underground. That's when I thought for sure I was fucked. Then, I realized I was closing in on the border, but before I could even smile in celebration, one of the Devil-Dogs leapt out in front of me. I skidded to a halt and managed to duck just as the Dog swiped for my head. I felt it fly over my head with a *woosh*. I quickly grabbed my knife in my magic and slit his neck. Blood splurted out over me as the Dog died immediately and began to fall forward. I began running again, sidestepping the collapsing Dog. Another one dived at me from the side, and I lifted the knife just high enough so he would impale himself in the head as he flew through the air. He landed with his head dug into the ground, so I kept running, all hope of retrieving the knife alive dashed. I just kept running. One dived for me from behind, his claws digging into my left hind leg, leaving a giant gash. "SHIT!" I yelped. I then proceeded to mentally berate myself for swearing while I ran. I tried not to swear but it slipped out sometimes. I was nearing the very edge of the Empire, and with one final spurt of energy, I ran and jumped.... .... right out of the Crystal Empire. The Dogs stopped a few feet away from where I lay, snarling at me. As I took a deep breath, I got up and began limping away towards the Crystal Mountains, the Devil-Dogs howling at the loss of their prey. After making it a good distance away, I sat down and looked at my leg. It was nasty. It was bleeding profusely with pus coming out as well. I took some of the water and a strip of cloth from my saddle-bag. I proceeded to wash off the long gash. By my estimate, it was about a good 6-7 inches long. I knew even then, I would have a scar there for as long as I lived. I wrapped my leg in some of the bandages I brought and trudged towards the mountains. My only hope of helping my home lay beyond. Or so I thought. Footnote: Level Up. Perk Attained: Peter Pan -- Your skill with a knife has improved significantly. +5% experience every time you use a knife to kill someone. Author's Note The first full chapter of a new series! I really hope you enjoy this one and it comes somwhat close to how amazingly fantastic the original Fallout: Equestria was. See you soon with chapter 2! 2: VexChapter 2: Vex "Two heads are better than one." As I trudged my way through the storm, limping, I realized with horror that there was no way through the mountains. I slumped down in the snow, realizing that I'd have to go back to the Crystal Empire. I reached into my saddlebag with my magic and plucked out an apple. But when I did, it wasn't the only thing that came out. A small piece of yellowed paper came fluttering out. My head whipped around as I tried to grab it, but the wind was steadily picking up as the storm worsened, and the paper fluttered out of reach. I leapt up and chased after it, my leg in agony as I chased it. The only reason I was chasing after it is because I was the only pony who could have put it in my bag, and the only reason I put anything in my bag was when I was gathering supplies to escape. I managed to get close enough to the flittering paper scrap so I could grab it in my magic. I grabbed the paper and brought it close enough so I could read it. In my horn-writing it said: Legend says that the Crystal Pass, the only way through the Crystal Mountains on hoof, lies between the tallest mountains, Mount Cancer and Mount Coponycus. It can only be opened when light shines from within. And with that, I began the long trek to Mount Coponycus, the closer of the two. When I reached the valley in between Mount Coponycus and Mount Cancer, I was met with a stone barrier, about 3 times as tall as me, at an estimate. I felt the wall, searching for something like a door handle or a keyhole. As I searched, I reread the passage I had written down. 'It can only be opened when light shines from within.' So, using the strength I had left, I began my 'Beacon' spell. But after I cast the spell, nothing happened. So, keeping the spell going, I searched the wall again. But again, my efforts were fruitless. I sat down by the barrier and thought. Then, I realized something. It wasn't talking about a magic spell. It was talking about a different kind of light. One shared by the Crystal Ponies to power the lost Crystal Heart. I knew what I needed to do... With more than a little pain, I got up and faced the wall. Over the howling wind and snow, I yelled, "I wish to gain entrance to the Crystal Pass, so I may go inform the Princesses of what has befallen the Crystal Empire, so that they may come and help bring light back to the Empire!" A deep rumbling filled the air. As I squinted through the snow, I watched as the middle of the wall slowly descended into the ground. "Thank you!" I called out as I hobbled through the opening. Once I walked through, the section slowly rose back out of the ground, back into its original spot, almost as if it had never opened to begin with. It opened to a narrow, open passage through the middle of the mountains. Based on the lack of snow, I guessed it was magically enchanted to protect from harsh weather. Actually, it was pleasantly warm. As I walked through, I ate a second apple after realizing how hungry I was. It seemed that either time passed quicker here or it was later in the day than I thought when I entered the Pass because it was nighttime before I knew it. As it steadily got darker, I decided to set up camp. But with nothing to start a fire, the only thing I had to stay the rapidly descending nighttime chills was a thin blanket, worn from years of use. So I wrapped myself in my blanket and hunkered in a small crevice in the wall. But as I was getting comfortable I noticed a faint orange light further down the pass. "What's that?" I thought aloud. I tightened my blanket around myself and followed the light. As I got closer, I realized it was... "A campfire! Oh, thank goodness," I said. As I looked around, I saw that there was nopony nearby. So with that, I hunkered down by the campfire and waited to see if anypony came back. I must have fallen asleep because I was awoken by someone poking me in the face. When I opened my eyes, I immediately started screaming. It was a bug. A giant bug. A giant bug pony. As I continued shrieking, (mature, I know), he rolled what I could only guess were his eyes. They were big, and blue, with a dot that I could only guess was his pupil. He shoved what I assumed was a hoof into my mouth, as it was filled with holes. Literally. He had actual holes in his legs. He looked at me, and said, "Pardon my hoof, but would you mind not screaming?" I stopped screaming, and when I did he removed his hoof out of my mouth. "Now, since that unpleasantness is over, let's try that again, shall we? I'm Vex. Pleased to meet you, miss...?" "Beacon," I replied, stunned. He held out his hoof. I reached over and shook it. "Hello, Miss Beacon. It's a pleasure to meet you," said Vex. I nodded slightly, still dazed by how polite this person was, despite his appearance. "Umm... not to be rude, or anything, but, umm.... what are you exactly? No offense, or anything," I asked hesitantly. He smiled. "Oh. None taken. I am a Changeling." I frowned. I had read that somewhere. "Changelings... Changelings... where have I heard that before?" "Well, we can change our appearance, and we normally feed on love, if that's any help," Vex offered. "Oh yeah! I've read about you guys. But, I also read that you guys are master deceivers. And that you have a tendency to take love with hostility. Wait... did you say 'normally'?" I asked. Vex nodded. "Yes, I did. While all you've read on us is correct, I'm what you might call a special case, if you will. I was always different from the others. While they were all big, violent brutes, I was the small but polite one. I was never big on the whole 'forcefully taking love' thing. But, about a month ago, Queen Chrysalis sent me out on a recon mission to see if Equestria had any love and was worth conquering. But when I got there, I was met with a barren wasteland filled with horrors and evil ponies. I eventually made my way to Maripony, which is a scientific facility. I don't know what it could have been used for or what created such a desolate place. But I could feel love radiating from there, love for someone, but I didn't know who. As I flew over Maripony, I was attacked by alicorns." I gasped. The only alicorns where Celestia and Luna, but they wouldn't attack anypony. "They fired spells at me from the roof and a couple tried to confuse me by teleporting all around me and shooting at me. One of them landed a hit, knocking me out of the sky. Below the facility was something I can only describe as a rainbow lake. I ended falling in at the shore, and as I pulled myself out, I accidentally swallowed some. Let me just say, for the record, it tasted terrible. But when I crawled out, I could still feel the love radiating from the facility. But when I tried to consume some to regain my strength so I would be able to fly away, I realized that my ability to consume love was fading, quickly. I quickly ate what I could before I, well, couldn't. With the little energy I had, I was able to escape Maripony undetected by posing as an alicorn. But before I did that, I learned something. While I was being attacked, dark green alicorns formed a shield around the facility, while the purple ones teleported around me. But I also saw blue ones, blinking in and of sight. My guess is that they can turn invisible. I have no way to prove my theory, but it's the best I've got to go one. About a week later, I infiltrated a town called Ponyville. One of the ponies tried to shoot me with a gun but luckily I had this thing to help." He reached into a nearby saddlebag and pulled out a strange looking device. It was box shaped, with what looked like a handle on one end and long nozzle-y thing on the other end. It had a similar tube thing attached to the top. Furthermore, it had a weird, rectangular thing stuck in it on the side. It was blue with a golden-yellow lightning bolt on the side. "What is that?" I asked. Vex gave me a funny look. "You've never seen a gun before? Where have you been?" "You finish your story first, then I'll tell mine," I said. Vex nodded and continued, "Well, this is a Changeling Pistol. I shot him with it and he turned into a fine dust. I then used my changing powers to pose as him and raid them. I stole a couple of slabs of meat and some cakes and 'got the hell outta Dodge', to use the phrase. I eventually made my way here hoping to find peace and quiet, and hopefully some sort of civilization." I winced. "What?" he asked. "Yeah, you won't be finding civilization around here anytime soon." "What do you mean?" asked Vex. "That means it's my turn for story time." When I finished my story, Vex sat in front of me, eyes wide and mouth agape. I nodded. "Woah. The Crystal Empire's been gone for a thousand years?" he asked incredulously. "Yep." "Yeesh. Good job avoiding those hellhounds though," Vex said "The what?" I asked. "You called them Devil-Dogs, but they're actually called hellhounds," explained Vex. "Oh. Well, I didn't do to good of a job avoiding them. One got my leg." I said. Vex shot up. "Let me see," he demanded. I showed him my leg. "Alright," he said. "I'm going to take off the bandage. It's going to hurt, a lot, but I need to see how bad the injury is." I nodded. He slowly began taking the bandage off. I gasped in pain. "OwowowowowowowowowowowowowOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" Vex groaned. "Oh, that's bad. It's very deep and it's infected. You're going to need a healing potion." His horn lit up green and a small bottle filled with a glowing liquid that was a pastel pink color. "Drink this," he said. "Your leg will feel better in no time." I rolled my eyes despite the pain in my leg. "Yeah, right," I said, but I still drank the potion anyways. And true to Vex's word, my leg began feeling better immediately. When I looked at it, the only remnant of the injury was a long, white scar. "Thanks, Mister Vex," I said. "Oh, please. Just call me Vex," he said with a smile. "Now, I believe you'll be wanting some food and rest." I nodded. "If it's no trouble. I mean, I have some apples and water..." "Oh, but it isn't," Vex said earnestly. "In fact, I insist! I have some cake leftover if you want any. I also have some bacon." I looked at Vex, quizzically. "What's bacon?" Vex gasped. "Oh, you must try some. It's amazing." He grabbed a smoothed rock and set a slice of cake and some strips of what looked like meat on it and floated it over. I took a bite of the cake. It was good. Tasted a bit... old, but it was still good. After I finished the cake, I tentatively lifted a piece of bacon and took a hesitant bite. I immediately downed the rest of the bacon. It was soooooooo good! Vex laughed. "Told you," he said. "Now get some rest. I'll keep watch, although I doubt we will encounter anything here." I nodded. I pulled my blanket back over me, curled up by the fire and fell asleep. Footnote: Level Up. Perk Attained: Friendship Is Magic -- You have made your first friend! +25% Experience every time you befriend someone. Author's Note And Chapter 2 is done! For those who can't tell, Coponycus = Copernicus. Just so you know. This chapter took a little longer to write on account of my trying to slow the pacing some. I don't know if it worked, but I hope it did. 3: WhinnyapolisChapter 3: Whinnyapolis "Welcome to Whinnyapolis: City of Flour and Sawdust" The next morning, I was shaken awake by Vex. As I look around our campsite, I noticed that the fire pit had vanished completely and our saddlebags were packed up and ready for departure. I magically rolled up the bedroll Vex had given me as the Changeling dug some apples out of one of the bags. He floated one over to me as I tied the bedroll to my saddlebag. "Thanks," I said between bites. "You know, for helping me. It means a lot." Vex smiled. "Oh, think nothing of it. You needed help, and I'm one of the only civilized people in the Wasteland. Oh! That reminds me! I have something for you..." Vex whirled around as he floated his saddlebag over. After about a minute of digging around, a book came floating out of his pack, wrapped in his green magic. It was gray with a black pony skull on the front. The title, though somewhat faded, read: 'The Wasteland Survival Guide by Ditzy Doo'. I took the book in my magic and levitated it over. "Oh, and you'll be needing this, too," said Vex. He reached behind a rock and pulled out what looked like clothes. It was made with what looked like a tough material of some sort. "This barding will help protect you in the Wasteland," Vex said. "I used your armor to re-enforce it. Hope you don't mind." My jousting armor! I had completely forgotten that I was wearing it through the ordeal with the hellhounds and the wound on my leg. I floated it over and looked at it. It looked as if he had taken the armor and fused it to the material on both sides. "What is this material?" I asked as I put the armor on. "Radigator hide," replied Vex. I froze. "W-what? Hide? As in, animal skin, hide?" Vex nodded. "Yep. I lifted it from the raiders. Don't worry. It isn't pony skin. It's from radigators." I resumed putting the barding on. "What's a 'radigator'?" "Well, the Wasteland Survival Guide says that they are irradiated alligators. I have yet to finish the book. The only section I read was about hostile creatures and where they are located." I floated my copy over to him. "Well, here. Finish it first." Vex laughed as he pushed the book back towards me. "No, it's quite alright. You keep that. Besides, I have my own copy." He patted his saddlebag. I flipped open the book and looked at the Table of Contents. The first chapter caught my eye: Origin of the Wasteland. I flipped to the page and was about to start reading when Vex poked me. I looked up and saw Vex was wearing his saddlebag. "What?" I asked. "C'mon. We're leaving. Grab your stuff." He nodded at my saddlebag. "Where are we going?" i asked as I picked up my stuff. "To Canterlot. That's were you need to go right?" he asked. I nodded in reply. "Well, then. That's our destination. There's a small city just south of here that we can make a pit stop in before we head to Canterlot." "Do you know where to go?" I asked. "Nope! But I'm pretty sure that something in the city will clue us in on where we need to got." It had taken about a day to get down the mountain with no problems. As we trekked downwards, I decided to pass the time by reading the book Vex had given me. As I read it, I learned more about what had befallen Equestria. I gave a small gasp at what I had read on the page. Vex must have heard me because he gave me a concerned look. "What's wrong?" I looked up at him. "I know what happened here. What happened to Equestria." He gave a start. "W-what? You know what happened?" I nodded solemnly. "I'll read it aloud to you as we walk. Deal?" Vex nodded. "Deal," he said. "I want to know what created such a desolate place." So, as we walked, I read him the story of the Wasteland. " '240 years ago, Equestria was much different than it was today. It was a land of peace and harmony where everypony was friends and no one lived in fear. But then, a war broke out, the likes of which ponykind has not seen before nor since. Equestria had gone to war with the Zebras. But for a while, it was just a political standoff. But the catalyst was the massacre at Littlehorn, where the children in Princess Luna's school were killed by zebras. Battles raged and ponies died. It got so bad that Princess Celestia abdicated the throne to her younger sister, Princess Luna. Princess Luna created a group of 6 Ministries to assist her. Each Ministry was lead by one of six of the Elements of Harmony. There was Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, who lead the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, AKA the Ministry of Magic, MoAS/MoM. They help develop magical weaponry for the war. Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, led the Ministry of Awesome or the MoA. Nopony is really sure what the MoA did, except for the big, white towers that dot the landscape. Applejack, Element of Honesty, was in charge of the Ministry of Wartime Technology, or MoWT. They developed almost all weapons and invented the Steel Ranger suit. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, lead the Ministry of Peace, or MoP. They were the doctors and nurses who helped the injured. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, led the Ministry of Morale, or MoM. Their job was to keep everypony happy while the war raged on. And lastly, Rarity, Element of Generosity, was the head of the Ministry of Image. They were the ones who made the war propaganda. But, their combined efforts were not enough. On what is now known as 'The Last Day', the zebras launched megaspells and detonated Balefire bombs everywhere. The onslaught only lasted a few hours. The first city to go was Cloudsdayle, which led the pegasi to abandon the war effort. The next cities to be hit were Manehatten, Splendid Valley (Maripony), Fillydelphia, and Canterlot. Canterlot got the worst of it. When the megaspells fell, the Princesses put up a shield to protect the city from the missile blasts. But a Balefire bomb was detonated in the city while the shield was up. The magic bubble filled up with pink gas. It was so thick you couldn't even see the castle. The Pink Cloud, as it's called is still there today, while not nearly as potent. The fates of the Princesses and of the Elements of Harmony remain unknown. But there were some who survived the apocalypse, be it in a couple different ways. The way most survived was in the Stables. Vast, underground buildings built by Stable-Tec, founded by three fillies I knew as the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. The built around 100 Stables all around Equestria. Many ponies were able to escape the horrors if the megaspells in these Stables. But most weren't that lucky. Most perished in the fires, and those who didn't were turned into ghouls, like me. For the next 200 years, ponies would leave the Stables, only to be greeted by the hells of the Wasteland. Some lost their minds and became Raiders, while others established settlements. But most either died from the radiation or the monsters that had been mutated by the radiation. And that is how the Wasteland began, and how it has been for the past 200 years.' " I closed the book and stuck it in my saddlebag as Vex sat in a stunned silence. We had stopped some time ago to set up camp. We had made it to an outcrop on the mountain when night had begun to fall. We now sat around a campfire, in complete silence, save for distant gunfire and screaming that came from the city. "That's horrible," Vex said as he wiped tears from his eyes. I then noticed that I had been crying too. I wiped my eyes as Vex walked over to the edge of the outcrop, sat down, and looked towards the city. I walked over at sat beside him. Vex turned and looked at me with his big, blue eyes. In his eyes, I saw something. Fear. "What do you think we'll find in there?" Vex asked as he turned back towards the city. "What do we do?" I leaned back, pondering his questions. "Well," I began slowly. "I don't know what we'll find down there, but I do know that you won't be alone." I put my foreleg around him, in a sort of side hug. "As for what we do? Well, I say that as we make our way towards Canterlot, we try and help whoever we can. Just because most ponies go around and kill for the fun of it doesn't mean we have to as well. And you're scared." Vex turned and looked at me. "I can see it. In you eyes, you're absolutely terrified. And guess what? So am I. I'm scared of dying, scared of the city below, scared for my home. But we need to have courage. We need to hang out to that, if nothing else. We need to have the courage do what's right. Courage isn't a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to anyway." Vex turned and wrapped his forelegs around me in a hug. "Thanks," he said. "I needed that." I returned the embrace. "You're welcome, Vex." Vex broke away and trotted back to the fire. He pulled out his bedroll, and laid it out to sit on. As he sat down, I spoke up. "Hey Vex? I'll take the night watch tonight." Vex looked like we wanted to argue, but I quickly shot him a look that told him I wouldn't have it. He reluctantly slid into his bedroll as I trotted over and set up mine in a similar fashion to the way he had his. I leaned back against the mountainside as Vex drifted off to sleep. But after a couple hours, I began dozing off, but a loud growl sent a shot of adrenaline running through me. I sat up quickly and floated Vex's gun over in my magic. As I looked around a similar growl rang out. I looked over at Vex to make sure he was still asleep when I saw his mouth open and close slowly. As it closed, a third growl rang out. I then realized that it wasn't an animal growling, but Vex snoring. After the discovery, I was finally able to relax again, albeit more than a little disgruntled. I managed to stay awake for about 3 more hours when sleep finally overtook me. I woke up the next morning and found that Vex was still asleep. Still miffed about last night, I picked up an apple in my magic and threw it at Vex's sleeping form. It bonked off his head, waking him up. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head. "That's for your snoring giving me a damn near heart attack," I replied. "Oh. Heh heh. Sorry. I should have warned you." " 's ok. Now come on. We have a city to get to." It was noon by the time we reached the road leading into the city. Or, at least I assume it was noon, but it was hard to tell through the cloud cover that seemed to block out the sky everywhere. As we walked down the road towards the city, we saw a billboard that had a faded picture of a pink pony with an even pinker, curly mane. It said: 'Welcome to Whinnyapolis!' We had reached the outskirts of the city when the skeletons started showing up. At first, it was just a couple here and there but as we walked deeper into the city, passed the toppled towers and scorched buildings, they began showing up more and more. Charred remains lay everywhere. But there was something off-putting about the city. It almost felt as if we were being watched. We turned down a street of houses when we saw a pony lying on the ground. She was a light blue earth pony, with a two-tone, green and pink mane. She was covered in bruises, cuts and scars. We ran over to her, but when we got their, she immediately curled up into a ball, hiding her head. "Pl-pl-please... n-no more!" she whimpered. I looked at Vex and nodded at the mare. He nodded in reply. He trotted over to her and kneeled next to her. "It's ok," he said in a soft tone. "We're not here to hurt you. We are here to help. Here..." Vex reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a healing potion. The mare looked up with blue eyes when she heard the rustling. He held the potion out to her, which she snatched and downed greedily. When she had finished, she looked up at the pair of us. "Thank you. Um... wh-who are you?" "We're friends," i said. I offered her a hoof to help her up. "What happened to you?" I asked. She opened her mouth to reply but her pupils shrank into pinpricks before she could reply. She pointed behind us. "Th-THEM!" She turned and ran into a nearby building. We whirled around to see three ponies walking up to us. The leader was a dark red unicorn, with a brown mane and red eyes. In his magic, which matched his eyes, he held two gleaming swords, grinning insanely all the while. Flanking him on one side was a yellow earth pony mare with a green mane, who was holding a pistol in her mouth. On his other side walked a giant muscular black earth pony stallion. My guess was his weapons were his hooves. Vex's eyes narrowed as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at them. I stood back some, and leaned over to Vex. "Who are they," I whispered. "Raiders," growled Vex. "You might want to arm yourself." i glanced around and saw a charred tree standing in front of one of the buildings. I grabbed a thick looking branch that had fallen in my magic and floated it over to me. The trio stopped a couple yards away. "Who are you?" Vex called. The red pony's grin widened. "I might ask you the same thing, insect. But since you asked first, I shall humor you. I am Bloody Corpse. These are my associates, Golded Flower, or Flowey for short, and Boulder." He gestured first to the yellow mare, and then to the black stallion. "Now, down to business. Where's the girl?" "You aren't going to ask our names?" Vex called out. Bloody's eyes narrowed slightly. "No, because I don't care who are. Now where's the girl?" "What girl?" Bloody scowled. "Don't play dumb with me, insect. I saw you and Shiny over here talking to her. Now where did she go?" "No idea." Bloody's scowl deepened as he raised an eyebrow. "Alright then. Since you supposedly don't know where she went, you are of no use to me." He turned to his 'associates'. "Kill the bug," he said. "but leave the girl unharmed. She'll fetch for a pretty price in Fillydelphia." As soon as he closed his mouth, Flowey and Boulder charged at us. Flowey dived at Vex, causing the both of them to drop their guns. As Boulder ran at me, I braced myself for the hit. Boulder leapt at me, as if to pile-drive me into the ground. But, right at the last second, I sidestepped around him. He skidded along the rough ground, face first. I whirled around, and using the branch, wholloped him as hard as I could over the head with the stick. To my dismay, the stick broke in half upon contact. Boulder rose up and sped around, snarling at me. His mouth was bloody, and as I looked at the ground behind him, I could see a decent number of small, yellowed teeth. I glanced around to try and find something to use to defend myself, when a giant wall of black filled my vision. I went flying back as his hoof connected with my face. I landed on my back with a hard thud. I looked over and saw Vex and Flowey at a standoff, guns pointed at each other. I reached out with my magic, grabbed Flowey's gun, and yanked it out of her mouth. Both Vex's and Flowey's eyes widened in surprise, but Vex quickly recovered. He fired one shot at Flowey. The green bolt hit Flowey, turning into a glowing dust of the same green. I felt the the ground begin to shake. I looked up and saw Boulder lumbering towards me, with a gummy, bloody snarl on his face. I quickly floated the gun in front of me and... did nothing. I realized I didn't know how to fire it. Vex must have seen me because he called out to me, "Pull the trigger! The small tab thing on the handle! Aim and pull it!" Following his instructions, I pointed the gun at Boulder's head, closed my eyes, and pulled. Multiple times. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! 4 shots rang out across the street. When I opened my eyes, I saw Boulder standing in front of me, a far-away look in his eyes. His forehead had a giant hole in it, that was bleeding profusely. He swayed to left and right a little, before promptly tipping to the right, his eyes glazing over. Bloody Corpse stood a ways away, mouth agape, eyes burning in fury. He looked at me and his jaw snapped shut, turning into a snarl that could've curdled milk. He pointed one of his swords at me. "YOU KILLED MY STRONGEST RAIDER!!" he roared. He went to charge but Vex flew over and landed beside me, gun pointed at Bloody. I followed in suit. Bloody stopped, glaring. He began backing away slowly. "I'll get you. Both of you. You're gonna make me rich, Shiny, but as payback for killing Boulder, I'll make your life miserable. And you, Insect. I'll make you regret coming here." With that, he turned and galloped away. I went to chase after him ,but Vex put a hoof in front of me and shook his head. "No. Let him go. We need to go and see if that mare is ok." He turned and walked towards the building the mare had hidden in. We got to the door, and on the front was a faded 11. He raised a hoof and knocked. "Miss? It's us, the ponies who tried to help before the raiders interrupted. Are you in here?" The door creaked open, revealing a blue eye looking through the crack. I leaned in front and waved. The door opened slowly, revealing the mare we had saved earlier. She gestured for us to come inside. We followed her in, as the door closed behind us. The hall was dimly lit, as we walked down it towards a door at the end. But before we could go in, she turned left, towards a small closet. She opened the door and walked inside. She turned to the right, knelt down, and opened a small hatch in the floor. She climbed down the ladder into the floor as Vex and I stood there and watched. She stuck a hoof out of the hole and waved us down. I pushed Vex forward, silently telling him to go first. He climbed down with me right behind. When we got to the bottom, we were met with an incredible sight. Under the street, maybe even the entire city, was a small underground town. The blue mare watched us from a distance, a small smile on her face. "What is this place?" I asked. "Welcome to Underground Whinnyapolis," said the mare. Footnote: Level Up. Perk Attained: Courage I -- You have begun to put aside your fears for the benefit of others. +5 experience every time you level up this perk. Author's Note Well, that was longer than normal. So... Underground Whinnyapolis, eh? New things! Yay! I will hopefully have the next chapter out some point this weekend. Prologue: A Hint Of Lemony SnicketPrologue - A Hint Of Lemony Snicket "If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book” Before I begin this story, I would like to issue a warning to anypony and everypony who reads or hears this. This story is not one for the faint of heart. It won’t be fun, it won’t be nice, and it most certainly won’t be pleasant. There is no happy beginning and very few happy moments in the middle that are few and far between. This is a tale of sadness and woe. But, I am pleased to announce that this story DOES, in fact, have a happy ending. But the course of this story is one of hatred, death, and suffering that all come to a boil. It is these moments where ponies… no, people, that care shine brightest. But those people are rare, and those moments even more so. All those who do not wish to continue, then don’t. I won’t force you, but I humbly ask that you do, however because these events need to be brought to light so one day these horrors will truly be over, and so history doesn't repeat itself. So, if those who wish to continue, well… wish to continue, then I shall begin… Everyone in the New Canterlot Republic knows the story of Littlepip, the Light-bringer (literally), and how she sacrificed herself to bring the Sun and sky back to the Wasteland. Everyone knows of her steadfast companions, Deadshot Calamity: Her first friend; Velvet Remedy: The one she followed out here in the first place; Xenith: A zebra slave she saved from the fires of Fillydelphia; and SteelHooves: The first Applejack’s Ranger. Well, if you came here to hear about them, then I’m sorry to disappoint you. This is not their story, although they play an important role. No… This is the story of the outsiders who strove to do anything they could to make the hell that was the Wasteland a better place for all, without asking for anything in return, even if they were treated like lepers by most. This is my story… the story of the Wasteland Outcasts. Author's Note This is a new story that I decided to write after re-reading Fallout Equestria and then reading Murky Number Seven. I hope you enjoy.
1: Escaping the Crystal EmpireChapter 1 “It was carnage. Absolute carnage” When the Crystal Empire returned, it wasn't some spectacular festival nor some horrifying resurrection. It wasn't there and then it just was. At least to the outside observer. To me, it was as if we were in hell and the suddenly everything was filled with snow. King Sombra was back as well but that wasn't even the worse part. At that time, Sombra was nothing more than a shadow with a face. But when the Empire reappeared in the Frozen North, the cold wasn't the only thing to await our return. There were... things... outside. I'll try and give you a description, but it probably won't do them justice. They resembled bipedal dogs, with sharp teeth and long, curved claws, they were anywhere from a dark black to a shade of gray so pale, you would mistake them for albino. But those who saw such details up close never lived to tell about. They slaughtered anypony and everypony lucky enough to be caught outside in a most gruesome fashion. Now, I say lucky because their deaths were short and quick. Those who weren't killed ended up dying slowly and painfully. There was some sort of sickness that plagued the Empire. We initially presumed it to be contagious since it originated on the Eastern Outskirts, but then someone in the Western Outskirts caught it as well. What confused and scared everyone more than anything was that there was no way for somepony from the Eastern Outskirts to get to the Western Outskirts alive. The beasts, or Devil-dogs as I called them, had a nasty habit of digging underground and waiting. They could feel when somepony was walking on the streets. The only reasons those of us in houses, like myself, weren't massacred like those outside was that the special crystals used to make the houses were able to repel the Devil-dog claws and absorb hoof impacts. By the end of our first week back, half the Empire had died. The only reason that anypony got any news was that ponies would pass messages to one another through the windows by making parchment planes and throwing them across. Messages by plane were scarce in an effort to preserve parchment. We also had to ration what food and water we had on our snowboxes. As ponies around me were dying of some weird illness, I decided to leave the Empire and go get help. My plan was to go to Canterlot and request help from the Royal Pony Sisters. {-----} I grabbed my saddle-bags from beside the door and grabbed what food I knew would last. I filled up 3 canteens with what water I had left, and placed them inside as well. I grabbed medicine, bandages, and 'The Guide to Surviving the Frozen North' by Frostbite, and placed those in my saddlebag as well. I grabbed the body and leg armor of the full set of jousting armor I had displayed in my room, forgoing the helmet for a pair of snow-goggles that I placed on my head and a scarf that I wrapped around my neck. As I looked in the mirror, my normally shiny purple coat was dull, my silver and gold mane unkempt. My saddlebag latches were emblazoned with my Cutie Mark, a silver and red-striped lighthouse with a neon pink light beam glowing outwards. I walked over into the kitchen and grabbed a Crystal knife in my magic. It floated over to me wrapped in the pink glow that was my magic, and slid it into the homemade sheath I had strapped to armor on my right foreleg. I walked over to the door and looked around. I realized I would probably never see this place again. As I turned and faced the door, I muttered a quote from a book I had read in the Crystal Library. "'It's a dangerous business, going out your front door.'" I didn't realize how true that statement would become. I opened the door, walked outside, and glancing back one last time, closed the door behind me. {-----} I tip-toed down the front steps, stopping on the last one before the ground became regular crystal, not the special house-crystal. I knew I had to time this just right. If I ran over a patrol, I'd be dead in five seconds. Patrols passed underground every 10 minutes (I had spent hours timing them), and the last one had passed about 5 minutes ago. If I was going to go, it needed to be now. I'd have to make for the border of the Empire. Ever since the Devil-Dogs appeared, they haven't ventured near the border. I was hoping that if I made it, they wouldn't follow. I was about to run when I heard a bloodcurdling scream fill the air. I whipped around and saw that my neighbor, Crystal Sheen had apparently had the same idea as me but upon making a break for it, was caught almost immediately by the patrol. Perhaps they were faster than I thought, or the patrol intervals were shorter. Either way, it wasn't good for me. "Help!" screamed Crystal. "Shut up, stupid pony! No one come for you," said the one I assumed was the leader as the others nodded in agreement. As soon as those words came out of his mouth, something inside me snapped. I was sick and tired of these... monsters killing everypony because they could. I decided to put aside my fear and terror and do what I knew was right. So, plan formulating in my mind, my horn sparked to life, glowing brighter and brighter with the spell that got me my Cutie Mark. My horn had a fire-y glow with a similar overglow, with a bright light glowing at the tip of my horn, magical sparks flying off as I managed the slightly volatile light spell. All the glowing and fizzing got their attention. "Hey! What is glow-y pony doing?" asked one of the Devil-Dogs. "Doesn't matter! Get her. you fools, get her!" screamed the leader. Before any of them could move, I shot out an electrocution spell that hit the leader right in the face, his metal armor conducting it down the rest of his body. He roared in rage and leapt after me, his goons close behind. "Crystal! Get inside!" I yelled before I got too far. As I stole a quick glance back, I saw the Devil-Dogs were gaining. Quickly. But I also saw Crystal leap back into her house. As I ran, I heard some of the Dogs were digging underground. That's when I thought for sure I was fucked. Then, I realized I was closing in on the border, but before I could even smile in celebration, one of the Devil-Dogs leapt out in front of me. I skidded to a halt and managed to duck just as the Dog swiped for my head. I felt it fly over my head with a *woosh*. I quickly grabbed my knife in my magic and slit his neck. Blood splurted out over me as the Dog died immediately and began to fall forward. I began running again, sidestepping the collapsing Dog. Another one dived at me from the side, and I lifted the knife just high enough so he would impale himself in the head as he flew through the air. He landed with his head dug into the ground, so I kept running, all hope of retrieving the knife alive dashed. I just kept running. One dived for me from behind, his claws digging into my left hind leg, leaving a giant gash. "SHIT!" I yelped. I then proceeded to mentally berate myself for swearing while I ran. I tried not to swear but it slipped out sometimes. I was nearing the very edge of the Empire, and with one final spurt of energy, I ran and jumped.... .... right out of the Crystal Empire. The Dogs stopped a few feet away from where I lay, snarling at me. As I took a deep breath, I got up and began limping away towards the Crystal Mountains, the Devil-Dogs howling at the loss of their prey. After making it a good distance away, I sat down and looked at my leg. It was nasty. It was bleeding profusely with pus coming out as well. I took some of the water and a strip of cloth from my saddle-bag. I proceeded to wash off the long gash. By my estimate, it was about a good 6-7 inches long. I knew even then, I would have a scar there for as long as I lived. I wrapped my leg in some of the bandages I brought and trudged towards the mountains. My only hope of helping my home lay beyond. Or so I thought. Footnote: Level Up. Perk Attained: Peter Pan -- Your skill with a knife has improved significantly. +5% experience every time you use a knife to kill someone. Author's Note The first full chapter of a new series! I really hope you enjoy this one and it comes somwhat close to how amazingly fantastic the original Fallout: Equestria was. See you soon with chapter 2!
2: VexChapter 2: Vex "Two heads are better than one." As I trudged my way through the storm, limping, I realized with horror that there was no way through the mountains. I slumped down in the snow, realizing that I'd have to go back to the Crystal Empire. I reached into my saddlebag with my magic and plucked out an apple. But when I did, it wasn't the only thing that came out. A small piece of yellowed paper came fluttering out. My head whipped around as I tried to grab it, but the wind was steadily picking up as the storm worsened, and the paper fluttered out of reach. I leapt up and chased after it, my leg in agony as I chased it. The only reason I was chasing after it is because I was the only pony who could have put it in my bag, and the only reason I put anything in my bag was when I was gathering supplies to escape. I managed to get close enough to the flittering paper scrap so I could grab it in my magic. I grabbed the paper and brought it close enough so I could read it. In my horn-writing it said: Legend says that the Crystal Pass, the only way through the Crystal Mountains on hoof, lies between the tallest mountains, Mount Cancer and Mount Coponycus. It can only be opened when light shines from within. And with that, I began the long trek to Mount Coponycus, the closer of the two. When I reached the valley in between Mount Coponycus and Mount Cancer, I was met with a stone barrier, about 3 times as tall as me, at an estimate. I felt the wall, searching for something like a door handle or a keyhole. As I searched, I reread the passage I had written down. 'It can only be opened when light shines from within.' So, using the strength I had left, I began my 'Beacon' spell. But after I cast the spell, nothing happened. So, keeping the spell going, I searched the wall again. But again, my efforts were fruitless. I sat down by the barrier and thought. Then, I realized something. It wasn't talking about a magic spell. It was talking about a different kind of light. One shared by the Crystal Ponies to power the lost Crystal Heart. I knew what I needed to do... With more than a little pain, I got up and faced the wall. Over the howling wind and snow, I yelled, "I wish to gain entrance to the Crystal Pass, so I may go inform the Princesses of what has befallen the Crystal Empire, so that they may come and help bring light back to the Empire!" A deep rumbling filled the air. As I squinted through the snow, I watched as the middle of the wall slowly descended into the ground. "Thank you!" I called out as I hobbled through the opening. Once I walked through, the section slowly rose back out of the ground, back into its original spot, almost as if it had never opened to begin with. It opened to a narrow, open passage through the middle of the mountains. Based on the lack of snow, I guessed it was magically enchanted to protect from harsh weather. Actually, it was pleasantly warm. As I walked through, I ate a second apple after realizing how hungry I was. It seemed that either time passed quicker here or it was later in the day than I thought when I entered the Pass because it was nighttime before I knew it. As it steadily got darker, I decided to set up camp. But with nothing to start a fire, the only thing I had to stay the rapidly descending nighttime chills was a thin blanket, worn from years of use. So I wrapped myself in my blanket and hunkered in a small crevice in the wall. But as I was getting comfortable I noticed a faint orange light further down the pass. "What's that?" I thought aloud. I tightened my blanket around myself and followed the light. As I got closer, I realized it was... "A campfire! Oh, thank goodness," I said. As I looked around, I saw that there was nopony nearby. So with that, I hunkered down by the campfire and waited to see if anypony came back. I must have fallen asleep because I was awoken by someone poking me in the face. When I opened my eyes, I immediately started screaming. It was a bug. A giant bug. A giant bug pony. As I continued shrieking, (mature, I know), he rolled what I could only guess were his eyes. They were big, and blue, with a dot that I could only guess was his pupil. He shoved what I assumed was a hoof into my mouth, as it was filled with holes. Literally. He had actual holes in his legs. He looked at me, and said, "Pardon my hoof, but would you mind not screaming?" I stopped screaming, and when I did he removed his hoof out of my mouth. "Now, since that unpleasantness is over, let's try that again, shall we? I'm Vex. Pleased to meet you, miss...?" "Beacon," I replied, stunned. He held out his hoof. I reached over and shook it. "Hello, Miss Beacon. It's a pleasure to meet you," said Vex. I nodded slightly, still dazed by how polite this person was, despite his appearance. "Umm... not to be rude, or anything, but, umm.... what are you exactly? No offense, or anything," I asked hesitantly. He smiled. "Oh. None taken. I am a Changeling." I frowned. I had read that somewhere. "Changelings... Changelings... where have I heard that before?" "Well, we can change our appearance, and we normally feed on love, if that's any help," Vex offered. "Oh yeah! I've read about you guys. But, I also read that you guys are master deceivers. And that you have a tendency to take love with hostility. Wait... did you say 'normally'?" I asked. Vex nodded. "Yes, I did. While all you've read on us is correct, I'm what you might call a special case, if you will. I was always different from the others. While they were all big, violent brutes, I was the small but polite one. I was never big on the whole 'forcefully taking love' thing. But, about a month ago, Queen Chrysalis sent me out on a recon mission to see if Equestria had any love and was worth conquering. But when I got there, I was met with a barren wasteland filled with horrors and evil ponies. I eventually made my way to Maripony, which is a scientific facility. I don't know what it could have been used for or what created such a desolate place. But I could feel love radiating from there, love for someone, but I didn't know who. As I flew over Maripony, I was attacked by alicorns." I gasped. The only alicorns where Celestia and Luna, but they wouldn't attack anypony. "They fired spells at me from the roof and a couple tried to confuse me by teleporting all around me and shooting at me. One of them landed a hit, knocking me out of the sky. Below the facility was something I can only describe as a rainbow lake. I ended falling in at the shore, and as I pulled myself out, I accidentally swallowed some. Let me just say, for the record, it tasted terrible. But when I crawled out, I could still feel the love radiating from the facility. But when I tried to consume some to regain my strength so I would be able to fly away, I realized that my ability to consume love was fading, quickly. I quickly ate what I could before I, well, couldn't. With the little energy I had, I was able to escape Maripony undetected by posing as an alicorn. But before I did that, I learned something. While I was being attacked, dark green alicorns formed a shield around the facility, while the purple ones teleported around me. But I also saw blue ones, blinking in and of sight. My guess is that they can turn invisible. I have no way to prove my theory, but it's the best I've got to go one. About a week later, I infiltrated a town called Ponyville. One of the ponies tried to shoot me with a gun but luckily I had this thing to help." He reached into a nearby saddlebag and pulled out a strange looking device. It was box shaped, with what looked like a handle on one end and long nozzle-y thing on the other end. It had a similar tube thing attached to the top. Furthermore, it had a weird, rectangular thing stuck in it on the side. It was blue with a golden-yellow lightning bolt on the side. "What is that?" I asked. Vex gave me a funny look. "You've never seen a gun before? Where have you been?" "You finish your story first, then I'll tell mine," I said. Vex nodded and continued, "Well, this is a Changeling Pistol. I shot him with it and he turned into a fine dust. I then used my changing powers to pose as him and raid them. I stole a couple of slabs of meat and some cakes and 'got the hell outta Dodge', to use the phrase. I eventually made my way here hoping to find peace and quiet, and hopefully some sort of civilization." I winced. "What?" he asked. "Yeah, you won't be finding civilization around here anytime soon." "What do you mean?" asked Vex. "That means it's my turn for story time." When I finished my story, Vex sat in front of me, eyes wide and mouth agape. I nodded. "Woah. The Crystal Empire's been gone for a thousand years?" he asked incredulously. "Yep." "Yeesh. Good job avoiding those hellhounds though," Vex said "The what?" I asked. "You called them Devil-Dogs, but they're actually called hellhounds," explained Vex. "Oh. Well, I didn't do to good of a job avoiding them. One got my leg." I said. Vex shot up. "Let me see," he demanded. I showed him my leg. "Alright," he said. "I'm going to take off the bandage. It's going to hurt, a lot, but I need to see how bad the injury is." I nodded. He slowly began taking the bandage off. I gasped in pain. "OwowowowowowowowowowowowowOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" Vex groaned. "Oh, that's bad. It's very deep and it's infected. You're going to need a healing potion." His horn lit up green and a small bottle filled with a glowing liquid that was a pastel pink color. "Drink this," he said. "Your leg will feel better in no time." I rolled my eyes despite the pain in my leg. "Yeah, right," I said, but I still drank the potion anyways. And true to Vex's word, my leg began feeling better immediately. When I looked at it, the only remnant of the injury was a long, white scar. "Thanks, Mister Vex," I said. "Oh, please. Just call me Vex," he said with a smile. "Now, I believe you'll be wanting some food and rest." I nodded. "If it's no trouble. I mean, I have some apples and water..." "Oh, but it isn't," Vex said earnestly. "In fact, I insist! I have some cake leftover if you want any. I also have some bacon." I looked at Vex, quizzically. "What's bacon?" Vex gasped. "Oh, you must try some. It's amazing." He grabbed a smoothed rock and set a slice of cake and some strips of what looked like meat on it and floated it over. I took a bite of the cake. It was good. Tasted a bit... old, but it was still good. After I finished the cake, I tentatively lifted a piece of bacon and took a hesitant bite. I immediately downed the rest of the bacon. It was soooooooo good! Vex laughed. "Told you," he said. "Now get some rest. I'll keep watch, although I doubt we will encounter anything here." I nodded. I pulled my blanket back over me, curled up by the fire and fell asleep. Footnote: Level Up. Perk Attained: Friendship Is Magic -- You have made your first friend! +25% Experience every time you befriend someone. Author's Note And Chapter 2 is done! For those who can't tell, Coponycus = Copernicus. Just so you know. This chapter took a little longer to write on account of my trying to slow the pacing some. I don't know if it worked, but I hope it did.
3: WhinnyapolisChapter 3: Whinnyapolis "Welcome to Whinnyapolis: City of Flour and Sawdust" The next morning, I was shaken awake by Vex. As I look around our campsite, I noticed that the fire pit had vanished completely and our saddlebags were packed up and ready for departure. I magically rolled up the bedroll Vex had given me as the Changeling dug some apples out of one of the bags. He floated one over to me as I tied the bedroll to my saddlebag. "Thanks," I said between bites. "You know, for helping me. It means a lot." Vex smiled. "Oh, think nothing of it. You needed help, and I'm one of the only civilized people in the Wasteland. Oh! That reminds me! I have something for you..." Vex whirled around as he floated his saddlebag over. After about a minute of digging around, a book came floating out of his pack, wrapped in his green magic. It was gray with a black pony skull on the front. The title, though somewhat faded, read: 'The Wasteland Survival Guide by Ditzy Doo'. I took the book in my magic and levitated it over. "Oh, and you'll be needing this, too," said Vex. He reached behind a rock and pulled out what looked like clothes. It was made with what looked like a tough material of some sort. "This barding will help protect you in the Wasteland," Vex said. "I used your armor to re-enforce it. Hope you don't mind." My jousting armor! I had completely forgotten that I was wearing it through the ordeal with the hellhounds and the wound on my leg. I floated it over and looked at it. It looked as if he had taken the armor and fused it to the material on both sides. "What is this material?" I asked as I put the armor on. "Radigator hide," replied Vex. I froze. "W-what? Hide? As in, animal skin, hide?" Vex nodded. "Yep. I lifted it from the raiders. Don't worry. It isn't pony skin. It's from radigators." I resumed putting the barding on. "What's a 'radigator'?" "Well, the Wasteland Survival Guide says that they are irradiated alligators. I have yet to finish the book. The only section I read was about hostile creatures and where they are located." I floated my copy over to him. "Well, here. Finish it first." Vex laughed as he pushed the book back towards me. "No, it's quite alright. You keep that. Besides, I have my own copy." He patted his saddlebag. I flipped open the book and looked at the Table of Contents. The first chapter caught my eye: Origin of the Wasteland. I flipped to the page and was about to start reading when Vex poked me. I looked up and saw Vex was wearing his saddlebag. "What?" I asked. "C'mon. We're leaving. Grab your stuff." He nodded at my saddlebag. "Where are we going?" i asked as I picked up my stuff. "To Canterlot. That's were you need to go right?" he asked. I nodded in reply. "Well, then. That's our destination. There's a small city just south of here that we can make a pit stop in before we head to Canterlot." "Do you know where to go?" I asked. "Nope! But I'm pretty sure that something in the city will clue us in on where we need to got." It had taken about a day to get down the mountain with no problems. As we trekked downwards, I decided to pass the time by reading the book Vex had given me. As I read it, I learned more about what had befallen Equestria. I gave a small gasp at what I had read on the page. Vex must have heard me because he gave me a concerned look. "What's wrong?" I looked up at him. "I know what happened here. What happened to Equestria." He gave a start. "W-what? You know what happened?" I nodded solemnly. "I'll read it aloud to you as we walk. Deal?" Vex nodded. "Deal," he said. "I want to know what created such a desolate place." So, as we walked, I read him the story of the Wasteland. " '240 years ago, Equestria was much different than it was today. It was a land of peace and harmony where everypony was friends and no one lived in fear. But then, a war broke out, the likes of which ponykind has not seen before nor since. Equestria had gone to war with the Zebras. But for a while, it was just a political standoff. But the catalyst was the massacre at Littlehorn, where the children in Princess Luna's school were killed by zebras. Battles raged and ponies died. It got so bad that Princess Celestia abdicated the throne to her younger sister, Princess Luna. Princess Luna created a group of 6 Ministries to assist her. Each Ministry was lead by one of six of the Elements of Harmony. There was Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, who lead the Ministry of Arcane Sciences, AKA the Ministry of Magic, MoAS/MoM. They help develop magical weaponry for the war. Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, led the Ministry of Awesome or the MoA. Nopony is really sure what the MoA did, except for the big, white towers that dot the landscape. Applejack, Element of Honesty, was in charge of the Ministry of Wartime Technology, or MoWT. They developed almost all weapons and invented the Steel Ranger suit. Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, lead the Ministry of Peace, or MoP. They were the doctors and nurses who helped the injured. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, led the Ministry of Morale, or MoM. Their job was to keep everypony happy while the war raged on. And lastly, Rarity, Element of Generosity, was the head of the Ministry of Image. They were the ones who made the war propaganda. But, their combined efforts were not enough. On what is now known as 'The Last Day', the zebras launched megaspells and detonated Balefire bombs everywhere. The onslaught only lasted a few hours. The first city to go was Cloudsdayle, which led the pegasi to abandon the war effort. The next cities to be hit were Manehatten, Splendid Valley (Maripony), Fillydelphia, and Canterlot. Canterlot got the worst of it. When the megaspells fell, the Princesses put up a shield to protect the city from the missile blasts. But a Balefire bomb was detonated in the city while the shield was up. The magic bubble filled up with pink gas. It was so thick you couldn't even see the castle. The Pink Cloud, as it's called is still there today, while not nearly as potent. The fates of the Princesses and of the Elements of Harmony remain unknown. But there were some who survived the apocalypse, be it in a couple different ways. The way most survived was in the Stables. Vast, underground buildings built by Stable-Tec, founded by three fillies I knew as the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. The built around 100 Stables all around Equestria. Many ponies were able to escape the horrors if the megaspells in these Stables. But most weren't that lucky. Most perished in the fires, and those who didn't were turned into ghouls, like me. For the next 200 years, ponies would leave the Stables, only to be greeted by the hells of the Wasteland. Some lost their minds and became Raiders, while others established settlements. But most either died from the radiation or the monsters that had been mutated by the radiation. And that is how the Wasteland began, and how it has been for the past 200 years.' " I closed the book and stuck it in my saddlebag as Vex sat in a stunned silence. We had stopped some time ago to set up camp. We had made it to an outcrop on the mountain when night had begun to fall. We now sat around a campfire, in complete silence, save for distant gunfire and screaming that came from the city. "That's horrible," Vex said as he wiped tears from his eyes. I then noticed that I had been crying too. I wiped my eyes as Vex walked over to the edge of the outcrop, sat down, and looked towards the city. I walked over at sat beside him. Vex turned and looked at me with his big, blue eyes. In his eyes, I saw something. Fear. "What do you think we'll find in there?" Vex asked as he turned back towards the city. "What do we do?" I leaned back, pondering his questions. "Well," I began slowly. "I don't know what we'll find down there, but I do know that you won't be alone." I put my foreleg around him, in a sort of side hug. "As for what we do? Well, I say that as we make our way towards Canterlot, we try and help whoever we can. Just because most ponies go around and kill for the fun of it doesn't mean we have to as well. And you're scared." Vex turned and looked at me. "I can see it. In you eyes, you're absolutely terrified. And guess what? So am I. I'm scared of dying, scared of the city below, scared for my home. But we need to have courage. We need to hang out to that, if nothing else. We need to have the courage do what's right. Courage isn't a matter of not being frightened, you know. It's being afraid and doing what you have to anyway." Vex turned and wrapped his forelegs around me in a hug. "Thanks," he said. "I needed that." I returned the embrace. "You're welcome, Vex." Vex broke away and trotted back to the fire. He pulled out his bedroll, and laid it out to sit on. As he sat down, I spoke up. "Hey Vex? I'll take the night watch tonight." Vex looked like we wanted to argue, but I quickly shot him a look that told him I wouldn't have it. He reluctantly slid into his bedroll as I trotted over and set up mine in a similar fashion to the way he had his. I leaned back against the mountainside as Vex drifted off to sleep. But after a couple hours, I began dozing off, but a loud growl sent a shot of adrenaline running through me. I sat up quickly and floated Vex's gun over in my magic. As I looked around a similar growl rang out. I looked over at Vex to make sure he was still asleep when I saw his mouth open and close slowly. As it closed, a third growl rang out. I then realized that it wasn't an animal growling, but Vex snoring. After the discovery, I was finally able to relax again, albeit more than a little disgruntled. I managed to stay awake for about 3 more hours when sleep finally overtook me. I woke up the next morning and found that Vex was still asleep. Still miffed about last night, I picked up an apple in my magic and threw it at Vex's sleeping form. It bonked off his head, waking him up. "Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head. "That's for your snoring giving me a damn near heart attack," I replied. "Oh. Heh heh. Sorry. I should have warned you." " 's ok. Now come on. We have a city to get to." It was noon by the time we reached the road leading into the city. Or, at least I assume it was noon, but it was hard to tell through the cloud cover that seemed to block out the sky everywhere. As we walked down the road towards the city, we saw a billboard that had a faded picture of a pink pony with an even pinker, curly mane. It said: 'Welcome to Whinnyapolis!' We had reached the outskirts of the city when the skeletons started showing up. At first, it was just a couple here and there but as we walked deeper into the city, passed the toppled towers and scorched buildings, they began showing up more and more. Charred remains lay everywhere. But there was something off-putting about the city. It almost felt as if we were being watched. We turned down a street of houses when we saw a pony lying on the ground. She was a light blue earth pony, with a two-tone, green and pink mane. She was covered in bruises, cuts and scars. We ran over to her, but when we got their, she immediately curled up into a ball, hiding her head. "Pl-pl-please... n-no more!" she whimpered. I looked at Vex and nodded at the mare. He nodded in reply. He trotted over to her and kneeled next to her. "It's ok," he said in a soft tone. "We're not here to hurt you. We are here to help. Here..." Vex reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a healing potion. The mare looked up with blue eyes when she heard the rustling. He held the potion out to her, which she snatched and downed greedily. When she had finished, she looked up at the pair of us. "Thank you. Um... wh-who are you?" "We're friends," i said. I offered her a hoof to help her up. "What happened to you?" I asked. She opened her mouth to reply but her pupils shrank into pinpricks before she could reply. She pointed behind us. "Th-THEM!" She turned and ran into a nearby building. We whirled around to see three ponies walking up to us. The leader was a dark red unicorn, with a brown mane and red eyes. In his magic, which matched his eyes, he held two gleaming swords, grinning insanely all the while. Flanking him on one side was a yellow earth pony mare with a green mane, who was holding a pistol in her mouth. On his other side walked a giant muscular black earth pony stallion. My guess was his weapons were his hooves. Vex's eyes narrowed as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at them. I stood back some, and leaned over to Vex. "Who are they," I whispered. "Raiders," growled Vex. "You might want to arm yourself." i glanced around and saw a charred tree standing in front of one of the buildings. I grabbed a thick looking branch that had fallen in my magic and floated it over to me. The trio stopped a couple yards away. "Who are you?" Vex called. The red pony's grin widened. "I might ask you the same thing, insect. But since you asked first, I shall humor you. I am Bloody Corpse. These are my associates, Golded Flower, or Flowey for short, and Boulder." He gestured first to the yellow mare, and then to the black stallion. "Now, down to business. Where's the girl?" "You aren't going to ask our names?" Vex called out. Bloody's eyes narrowed slightly. "No, because I don't care who are. Now where's the girl?" "What girl?" Bloody scowled. "Don't play dumb with me, insect. I saw you and Shiny over here talking to her. Now where did she go?" "No idea." Bloody's scowl deepened as he raised an eyebrow. "Alright then. Since you supposedly don't know where she went, you are of no use to me." He turned to his 'associates'. "Kill the bug," he said. "but leave the girl unharmed. She'll fetch for a pretty price in Fillydelphia." As soon as he closed his mouth, Flowey and Boulder charged at us. Flowey dived at Vex, causing the both of them to drop their guns. As Boulder ran at me, I braced myself for the hit. Boulder leapt at me, as if to pile-drive me into the ground. But, right at the last second, I sidestepped around him. He skidded along the rough ground, face first. I whirled around, and using the branch, wholloped him as hard as I could over the head with the stick. To my dismay, the stick broke in half upon contact. Boulder rose up and sped around, snarling at me. His mouth was bloody, and as I looked at the ground behind him, I could see a decent number of small, yellowed teeth. I glanced around to try and find something to use to defend myself, when a giant wall of black filled my vision. I went flying back as his hoof connected with my face. I landed on my back with a hard thud. I looked over and saw Vex and Flowey at a standoff, guns pointed at each other. I reached out with my magic, grabbed Flowey's gun, and yanked it out of her mouth. Both Vex's and Flowey's eyes widened in surprise, but Vex quickly recovered. He fired one shot at Flowey. The green bolt hit Flowey, turning into a glowing dust of the same green. I felt the the ground begin to shake. I looked up and saw Boulder lumbering towards me, with a gummy, bloody snarl on his face. I quickly floated the gun in front of me and... did nothing. I realized I didn't know how to fire it. Vex must have seen me because he called out to me, "Pull the trigger! The small tab thing on the handle! Aim and pull it!" Following his instructions, I pointed the gun at Boulder's head, closed my eyes, and pulled. Multiple times. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! 4 shots rang out across the street. When I opened my eyes, I saw Boulder standing in front of me, a far-away look in his eyes. His forehead had a giant hole in it, that was bleeding profusely. He swayed to left and right a little, before promptly tipping to the right, his eyes glazing over. Bloody Corpse stood a ways away, mouth agape, eyes burning in fury. He looked at me and his jaw snapped shut, turning into a snarl that could've curdled milk. He pointed one of his swords at me. "YOU KILLED MY STRONGEST RAIDER!!" he roared. He went to charge but Vex flew over and landed beside me, gun pointed at Bloody. I followed in suit. Bloody stopped, glaring. He began backing away slowly. "I'll get you. Both of you. You're gonna make me rich, Shiny, but as payback for killing Boulder, I'll make your life miserable. And you, Insect. I'll make you regret coming here." With that, he turned and galloped away. I went to chase after him ,but Vex put a hoof in front of me and shook his head. "No. Let him go. We need to go and see if that mare is ok." He turned and walked towards the building the mare had hidden in. We got to the door, and on the front was a faded 11. He raised a hoof and knocked. "Miss? It's us, the ponies who tried to help before the raiders interrupted. Are you in here?" The door creaked open, revealing a blue eye looking through the crack. I leaned in front and waved. The door opened slowly, revealing the mare we had saved earlier. She gestured for us to come inside. We followed her in, as the door closed behind us. The hall was dimly lit, as we walked down it towards a door at the end. But before we could go in, she turned left, towards a small closet. She opened the door and walked inside. She turned to the right, knelt down, and opened a small hatch in the floor. She climbed down the ladder into the floor as Vex and I stood there and watched. She stuck a hoof out of the hole and waved us down. I pushed Vex forward, silently telling him to go first. He climbed down with me right behind. When we got to the bottom, we were met with an incredible sight. Under the street, maybe even the entire city, was a small underground town. The blue mare watched us from a distance, a small smile on her face. "What is this place?" I asked. "Welcome to Underground Whinnyapolis," said the mare. Footnote: Level Up. Perk Attained: Courage I -- You have begun to put aside your fears for the benefit of others. +5 experience every time you level up this perk. Author's Note Well, that was longer than normal. So... Underground Whinnyapolis, eh? New things! Yay! I will hopefully have the next chapter out some point this weekend.
Prologue: A Hint Of Lemony SnicketPrologue - A Hint Of Lemony Snicket "If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book” Before I begin this story, I would like to issue a warning to anypony and everypony who reads or hears this. This story is not one for the faint of heart. It won’t be fun, it won’t be nice, and it most certainly won’t be pleasant. There is no happy beginning and very few happy moments in the middle that are few and far between. This is a tale of sadness and woe. But, I am pleased to announce that this story DOES, in fact, have a happy ending. But the course of this story is one of hatred, death, and suffering that all come to a boil. It is these moments where ponies… no, people, that care shine brightest. But those people are rare, and those moments even more so. All those who do not wish to continue, then don’t. I won’t force you, but I humbly ask that you do, however because these events need to be brought to light so one day these horrors will truly be over, and so history doesn't repeat itself. So, if those who wish to continue, well… wish to continue, then I shall begin… Everyone in the New Canterlot Republic knows the story of Littlepip, the Light-bringer (literally), and how she sacrificed herself to bring the Sun and sky back to the Wasteland. Everyone knows of her steadfast companions, Deadshot Calamity: Her first friend; Velvet Remedy: The one she followed out here in the first place; Xenith: A zebra slave she saved from the fires of Fillydelphia; and SteelHooves: The first Applejack’s Ranger. Well, if you came here to hear about them, then I’m sorry to disappoint you. This is not their story, although they play an important role. No… This is the story of the outsiders who strove to do anything they could to make the hell that was the Wasteland a better place for all, without asking for anything in return, even if they were treated like lepers by most. This is my story… the story of the Wasteland Outcasts. Author's Note This is a new story that I decided to write after re-reading Fallout Equestria and then reading Murky Number Seven. I hope you enjoy.
