FoE: Festering Virtues

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, two sisters ruled as goddesses. One, Celestia, raised the Sun, the other, Luna, the Moon. Together, they ushered in a golden age of peace and prosperity. But Luna was unsatisfied with her position, she resented her subjects not giving her the same adoration at night that Celestia received during the day. She rebelled, corrupted into Nightmare Moon, seeking absolute control, but Celestia was more powerful and banished her to the moon itself, protecting Equestria.

1000 years later, Nightmare Moon returned, but was defeated once again, this time by six friends; friends who restored her mind and helped her become Luna once again. And, with both sisters, a new golden age of technology and growth spread through Equestria.

But the very drive and ambition that created the golden age also allowed greed, cruelty, and discontent to grow in the hearts of ponies. Demands for more power and more resources led to conflict with the Zebras and their Caesar, culminating in a war where magic and technology fought against talismans and alchemy, killing millions on both sides.
Eventually, facing certain defeat, the Caesar ordered a last ditch attack, attempting to obliterate Equestria, and every pony with it, from the face of the world, despite knowing that it would mean his own destruction. And it nearly worked.

However, Equestria was aware of this possibility and constructed massive underground Stables, designed to weather even the worst attacks and keep a nucleus of Pony society alive for the future. These Stables saved, and damned, thousands, with each reopening offering the chance of redemption for the wastes. So far, they have all failed.

And yet...

The Stables were not the only way ponies survived the apocalypse. Some ponies, be it luck, timing, or planning, managed to hide from the attack and the aftereffects. Occasionally, entire regions were spared, places so useless that the Zebras didn’t want to waste the bombs.

Far to the north, one such place was Mane. Little use to the military, few strategic resources, even most Equestrians barely knew that it existed, overshadowed by Fillydalphia and Manehattan. Here, the apocalypse was felt, but society had slowly recovered. Raiders were replaced with mobsters, who provided protection for their extortion.

But recently a new breed of raider had come in, pushing out the genial relationship between the mobsters and their clients. Stronger, larger, and more resilient than any normal pony, rumors of mutations and unspecified drugs abounded. The mobsters retreated back to their strongholds, beginning to reach into deep coffers to even the odds and bring in outside help.

As both sides readied for war, the local population suffered, being forced to give aid beyond their ability, wary of both factions.