Chapter 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!