Author's Note
Well here it is! My first story. Slight spoiler warning for Fallout: Equestria here, a story I think a lot of peoole should read!
The Squirt and the Hero
Pip sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror. The tiny little fan of Luna with the English accent sighed sadly. He was still so small. So.... insignificant. She was surrounded by ponies of all ages who had done so many amazing things, especially the amazing Cutie Mark Crusaders and the eually awesome Mane Six, led by the princess herself.
Then there was his classmates, who were already working on their talents in amazing ways. Snips and Snails were local heroes at Buckball, Diamond Tiara was doing some charity work far and wide with Silver Spoon in tow, Featherweight was beginning his carrear as a journalist...
And here he was. Still small, still alone, still unimportant.
"And no one will ever know who I was when I am gone." He said sadly as he walked slowly down the street. He did not notice the portal that suddenly opened up. He did not see a certain being of chaos who, like his counterparts in other dimensions, had a knack for using extreme measures to teach life lessons. And most of all, Pip did not see he was now in a new world.
One particularly not pleasant.
************************
INTRUDER DETECTED.
A monitor kicked on as the klaxon went off. Somehow, someone had gotten inside the SPP tower, where Littlepip would be trapped until the end of time. Even now the grey furred and scarred Hero of the Wasteland slept in the SPP hub, a massive clamshell bed with a helmet attached to her head. By going into self indiced comas she was able to control the weather all over Equestria and communicate outside the tower. Naturally, however, she had to get up every now and then to eat or exercise.
Homage often helped with the latter.
INTRUDER DETECTED
The monitor was in the main room where the clamshell hub was located, and on the monitor appeared the image of Celestia, her persona forever trapped in the computers of the SPP. She was the one consytant companion Littlepip had, and when she was plugged into the system the two spent a lot of time together, becoming closer thah close. In many ways, Littlepip was the daughter Celestia always wanted, and Littlepip in kind had a scond mother, one who wasn't always slumped over a bottle of Las Pegasus.
INTRUDER DETECTED.
"Littlepip, wake up. We have company." Celestia said, a hint of worry in her voice. Littlepip's digital form turned in sleep. Moaning as she awoke. Being corporeal when she was plugged into the SPP was a rather.... intresting expereince. The inside of the SPP was in many ways a glorofied prison. Oh it had some work done thanks to some friends from the Twilight Society, so that now it was a virtual representation of the Canterlot Castle (Which, truth be told, was hard for Littlepip), but it did not change that Celestia was trapped for all time. Forever.
"Oh Homage...." Littlepip said sleepily. "Five more minutes... and one more session..."
"LITTLEPIP." Celestia said, firmer now. The Sable Pony moaned as she woke up, openeingher eyes and seeing Celestia. She sighed.
"Oh. YEah. Still plugged in." She said, Celestia chuckling some.
INTRUDER DETECTED.
"Oh, what's that?"
Celestia sighed. "We have company Littlepip. And in case you forgot we disabled the remote turrets. You better go check it out."
Littlepip sighed as a tunnel opened back to her actual body. "Augh, As much freedom as I have here it is hard going back to that body of mine."
Celestia sighed. "At least you have one to go back to."
Littlepip gave ANOTHER sigh. "Oh buck.... sorry... I didn't mean to..."
"Oh hush Littlepip, I am merely playing. Now you be careful. I think she was in section 14, near the generator room."
"How are you sure it is a she?"
Celestia hmmed. "Honestly, I do not know. But... what I saw of the pony was so small. It must be a she if it is a full grown pony... or else.... a little filly."
Littlepip sighed AGAIN. "Fine. I'll check it out. Seriously if Homage is playng another trick I may very well have to shoot her this time."
Celestia chuckled. "From what I heard she may be into that."
"OH BUCK ME."
*************************
By the time Pip realized he was not in Ponyville anymore, he had been in the hall for a good half a minute. By then he was very scared. His little hat had been shaken off he was shivering so much, and he was backing up down into a wall. Had he been abducted by aliens? If so, why? Why him? Not like anyone would notice him, he was nothing important, just a tiny colt. It was made worse as he suddenly heard some steps from the end of the hall, at the bend, getting closer.
"I know you're there. Either you show yourself or I break out Little Macintosh!"
Who was that? He had never heard that voice before, and now he was scared. Then... he saw it. It was a peice of metal with an ivory peice that looked like it could be held in the mouth. A rounded peice at the bottom had a single little part sticking out, just right for a tounge to be in. A rounded part now came out, and six little pellets were inserted into it, the peice going back in the object with a loud click. Pip had heard of these before but had never seen one, since they were so rare. And this wone was encased in magic, meaning it was ready to... ready to fire.
A gun. This thing had a gun!
"Please don't hurt me!" Pip called. "And don't probe me either!"
The sound opf steps stopped. There was silence.
"Wait.... what?"
Pip gulped. "Isn't that why aliens abduct ponies? To do experiments with probes?"
The gun dropped from the grip of telekinesis, and there was a bit of a snort, then a slight laugh. "Oh buck me.... oh that's funny. You must have been talking to Ho...." But thre voice stopped as she came around the corner, and beheld the tiniest of tiny colts, white with little brown spots here and there like a pre war cow, and a cute little hat on his head, covering his brown mane slightly. The colt had no cutie mark, and looked positively spooked.
"Who are you?" The stranger asked Pip, who got a good look at the 'alien' with the gun, a smaller adult mare, with grey fur and a blonde mane, wearing barding that was blue with yellow outlines and had what looke dlike armor plating on it. Pip stared at her for a bit before speaking.
"Are you an alien? You look like a pony... but..."
Littlepip, for indeed that was who it was, blinked. This pony looked perfectly healthy, not in any way messy. Moreover... he looked so small... like a baby. And he was calling her an alien. Maybe he never heard of her?
"No.... I am not an alien. My name is Littlepip. Who are you?"
Pip blinked. "wha....? Your Littlepip? But.. that's my name!"
Littlepip blinked. "Huh? Are you named after me?" She asked, a little flattered.
"Ummm... I dunno. I was named this because I was so small. They also call me Squirt sometimes.
And there went the whole honored feeling.
"Look kid, how the fuuuuuuuuuuuuudge did you get in here anyway? The SPP is sealed completely, no way in or out. I should know. I live here, along with Celestia."
Pip blinked. "What? But Celestia is in Canterlot!"
Littlepip growled. "NEVER. MENTION. CANTERLOT. What the Enclave did to it.... to those ghouls..."
Pip blinked. "Ghouls? Enclave? What are you talking about?"
Littlepip stammered. "You seriously never heard of the Pegasus Enclave? You been living under a bucking rock?!"
Pip eeped and hid, seeing the 'alien' getting angry. Suddenly a monitor turned on, and the image of Celestia appeared. Pip eeped as he saw her, and she gasped in a mix of shock and horror.
"What the... no, you cannot be here!"
Pip blinked. "Princess Celestia?! How are you doing that?!"
Littlepip went wide eyed. "Wait.... you know him?!"
Celestia sighed. "Yes. And it is a long, sad story. Pip..."
"Yes?" Both ponies said, blinking as they realized they did that.
"erm.... I better explain." She looked to the Wasteland Hero. "Better grab some food. This will be a long, hard story to tell."
Littlepip nodded, and Celestia began the tale of the End of Equestria.
**********************
For the next few hours, Pip listened to the tale of greedy ponies who destroyed Equestria, the long time of sufering, and the eventual appearence of the one to show the way to a new age, Littlepip. And then Pip, who was sad by that point beyond belief, got into the exciting tale of fighting raiders and ghouls, making friends in new places, of a two mare relationship that still went on, and of the harsh life and destiny of a Hero.
"... wow." Was all Pip could say. "Your... your amazing."
Littlepip blushed. "Not really. A lot of ponies died because of me, and a lot I tried to save couldn't be. I just did what I needed to do and what I could do."
"But.... you brought the world back. You run the weather alone, giving up everything to do so. Your... you are a hero."
Littlepip smiled. "Pip, heroes are just what people say you are. Heroes can be anypony big or small. And believe me I know the small part." She smiled and walked with Pip out into a large chamber, where in everything was like the best days of spring. "In my Stable I was the smallest pony and the last to recieve my cutie mark. And to make matters worse it was of a PipBuck. That was like getting a cutie mark of a cutie mark at that time. So I became a PipBuck Technician as a result.
"But I soon found out the cutie mark meant more than that. we use our PipBucks to help us and show the way. That was my destiny, to light the way for everyone, to be their hope, to bring about a new day with the help of my friends. And little Pip, I have had a lot of help there."
She leaned in close, and Pip could see the scars she had, the marks of battle, and the face of a mare who had been through a literal Tartarus. But her smile was sweet and sincere.
"Even the smallest pony can do big things, I found out. And I know you can when the time comes."
Pip looked at the hero of the future and smiled, unable to resist hugging her around her forward legs, the mare smiling softly and patting his head. She smiled up at the image of Celestia, who nodded in agreement at Pip's words of wisdom.
"Now... we need to get you home." Celestia said. "Fortunetly I recognize Discords tricks anywhere. We can open a portal at about the same spot if you focus Littlepip. Just use program t31-222."
Littlepip sighed. "Seems sad not to visit the beter days, but I have work here." She looked at the littlest of little colts. "But I do hope we will meet again someday."
Pip nodded. "Me too. I'd love to hear more about you, and may be someday we can see the world you live in."
Littlepip chuckled nervously. "Let's... just wait awhile if it comes to that, until after the world is rebuilt." She waves as she executes the one use program, opening the portal to a brighter Equestria. "Goodbye Pip."
"Bye Littlepip!" He said, and vanished into the portal, which closed behind him.
*******************
From that day on Pip worked to find his talent like never before, and soon learned his small size had alot of gifts, such as amazingly more speed and agaility. He trained to be a hero like Littlepip, to protect and help others in need, big or small, and when the day came that he got his cutie mark, he smiled to see it have a picture of a medal on it, like one given to heroes.
There was a moral in this, he thought after getting his mark. "No matter how small you are or how worthless you seem, you can still make a big difference in the world."
He looked up at the sky, remmebering Littlepip, the Hero of the Wasteland. He wondered when he would see her again. He hoped he would.
THE END
