Prologue

Hello!

My name is Scootaloo. You probably know me as the founder of Red Racer. Today I am talking to you as the Vice President of Stable-Tec. If you're hearing this, it means Omega-Level Threat Protocols have been enacted and you have been appointed as Chief Scientist of a Stable-Tec life-preserving Stable. You have been chosen for your sense of loyalty and duty to Equestria, to the ponies around you and to this company. While Equestria might be – possibly is – nothing but blasted and irradiated rubble now, our ideals have to live on.

Your Stable has been selected to participate in a vital project. The first goal of your Stable, like all others, is to save the lives of the ponies inside. But you also serve a higher purpose beyond saving the lives of individual ponies.

I know you must be confused by the fact that you are getting a second of these messages. Honestly, I would have preferred that you never had to hear this second message, that I could give the all clear, that Equestria wasn’t... gone.

You’re receiving a second message because—well there is no easy way to say this. Your Stable was initially sealed under false pretences. There were no bombs – at least, not when the Stable was sealed. I hope you can someday forgive us – forgive me – for this deception. But the research being conducted in your Stable is of the highest importance.

They really did it. Everypony is dead, including me. You are the only hope for Equestria now. You must understand that it doesn't do ponykind any good to save ourselves now only to annihilate each other later. We must figure out where we went wrong. We must do better!

Inside the safe in your office, you have already found a set of special instructions and objectives, as well as details on how your specific Stable has been fitted to carry out your part.

Please, I implore you to not stop the research. When the Stable doors open, there will be nothing left. We will need to repopulate the world. We could only save so many. We are counting on you to find a way to repopulate Equestria, and to do better. We need better ponies. Ponies that are better than the ones that destroyed the world. By any means necessary. Without that, all of this will have been for nothing. With a starting population of two hundred and fifty ponies, we've calculated that you can avoid inbreeding for... well let's say you have a chance. I am so very sorry, but the door won’t open until your research is finished.

It is imperative that you broadcast the signal as per your instructions the moment you find a solution. If anyone is left alive out here—if there is anything left of Stable-Tec, we need to know. If not, the mainframe will provide you with all the locations of other Stables. If that is the case, it is up to you to get the solution to them.

The fate of our entire race rests in your hooves. Thank you from all of Equestria, and may the goddesses up there have mercy on us all.

******

Amber Delight closed her eyes and sighed softly. The message was clear, and even though it was old, she knew that her predecessor was right. ‘We need better ponies. Ponies that are better than the ones that destroyed the world. By any means necessary.’ The words rang in her head. The same words she had been told when she was younger.

“Do the ends… actually justify the means?” she asked, her eyes wandering to the elderly mare that sat besides her. “Mother… this is... not right.”

“It’s not a question of right or wrong, it is a question of survival,” the elderly mare said, her voice soft and tired. “My dear filly, you need to continue our work, you need to. As your daughter will need to, and her daughter after that.”

Nodding slowly, the young mare sighed. “Yes, Mother,” she whispered, though in her mind she vowed never to let her daughter inherit this legacy of… horror.

“Good. I’m too old, too tired to continue. It is all yours now,” the elderly mare whispered ever so softly. “You start tomorrow morning, alongside me.”

Amber nodded slowly. “Of course, Mother,” she said, her tone neutral, her eyes glued to the screen, sickly green text scrolling by with horrifying accounts of the first experiments. She hated it. But it was her burden to bear now.

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I would like to give a huge thanks to Kkat for creating Fallout: Equestria and making this story possible.

A huge thank you to Shutter Speed who co-wrote this with me.

I would also like to thank Fuzzy Fabricator, Troposphere, Silent Whisper, ScopeEva, and GraveDigger for editing and helping me make this story readable.

I would also like to give a massive thank you to my Patreon supporters:
> Fuzzy Fabricator
> Dr_MindQuill
> Richer19
> Psy Key
> Luminescent Aurora
> Darkaito Bruns
> Shanaar
> sixkiller5

If you like what you've read here, then please consider supporting me on Patreon! The support is greatly appreciated!

I would of course also like to thank you lovely people for reading this chapter!

With that I will sign off,
Happy Hunting everypony!