Fallout Equestria: Redemption is Magic

Chapter 2

When writing a story, one must take into consideration the plot. Is it justifiable? If you say yes, chances are you’ve missed a plothole or two.

Rainbow Dash hit the pavement hard. How she was able to survive the impact without a scratch, she’d never know. She got up onto all fours, placing a hoof on her head in pain. “Ugh…
that hurts…”

As the pain subsided, she began to look around, seeing nothing but desolate land surrounding her, the ground cracked and seemingly devoid of life. The only sign of civilization was a wide road leading to the side of what appeared to be a large warehouse in the distance. Dash, seeing nowhere else to go, and wanting to get out of the cold air, decided to head there.

As she made her way across the hard, rough ground, she took note of the sky. It was a bit discolored; the clouds were darker than normal storm clouds. They had a sinister shade of sorts to them, as if they were there to set the mood for a dark scene. Dash shook off the uneasy feeling, continuing on her way to the building.

Luck seemed to be on her side for the warehouse to have been there, as it had started raining, the drops of water pitter-pattering on her back as she approached the door. With her right wing stretched out to push open the front door, the knob having been rusted completely off, Dash called out into the building’s expanse, “Hello? Anypony here?”

The light from outside was filtered through the door and the window beside it, the blinds on the ground from the strings having been decayed over time. With each step Rainbow took, puffs of dust rushed away from the spots where her hooves would touch down. “Anypony…?”

The warehouse was noticed to be filled with endless shelves as she went further inside, all holding boxes with many unique labels. However, one label stood out among the rest: Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark, a cloud with a rainbow in the shape of a lightning bolt emerging from the bottom. Rainbow Dash, confused and curious, approached the dusty cardboard box bearing her signature.

She carefully slid her wings under the top flaps and opened it slowly, revealing six sky-blue spheres, each sphere containing swirling mist within. She picked up one with her wing and inspected it closely. It was completely smooth, with no flaws or bumps; It was perfect, like a marble. “What... is this? Some kinda toy?”

It would be a while before she got an answer. Her ears picked up several clicking noises, each click accompanied by a short-lasting high pitched whine. She quickly turned around, coming face to face with what was definitely a weapon of sorts, being held in the covered wing of a pony in full black barding and armor, only his mouth being exposed.

The pony spoke into his headset. “Uh… Command? Are you picking this up on camera view? I’m not sure if I’m hallucinating.” Behind him were five other ponies, all dressed in the same black metal armor. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but notice the scorpion tails they all had, with thoughts in her mind of how awesome she might look if she had armor like that.

The headset responded, with Dash being able to clearly hear the voice. It sounded way too familiar, being the voice of a mare who was probably a bit too happy with her job. “Probably a Rainbow Dash sympathizer. Terminate and finish objective.” Complying with her order, the pegasus aimed his weapon point-blank to Dash’s forehead.

Everything seemed to pause at that moment, with something registering in Dash’s brain. She wasn’t sure why this was, but the weapon in front of her was eerily familiar. She felt as if she knew more about it than she should, as if she had seen it for years. Memories flashed in her brain, images of Spitfire holding one of these weapons, demonstrating her skill with it, a beam of light, a dummy exploding.

Rainbow Dash, realizing what it could do, zoomed sideways in a flash, out of the aim of the “gun”, then charged into the side of the opposing pony; her front hooves outstretched in a kick, knocking him into a shelf, the shaking of the metal structure causing a few smaller boxes to fall atop him, not enough to really kill, but enough to keep him busy..

The five remaining soldiers aimed their weapons. “It’s a hostile! Threat level raised!” Dash, not wanting to stick around, flew high above the metal shelves, narrowly avoiding beams of light being emitted from the weapons and decided to book it, her usual rainbow trail following close behind as she sped away towards the exit of the warehouse. The moment she left the building, she was pelted with both rain and hail. The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse while she was inside.

Exclaiming, “What’s with those ponies?!” Dash quickly turned, poking her head back inside the warehouse. The sounds of disgruntled and annoyed ponies echoed through to her ears, getting closer. She pulled back, then simply sped off in one direction: away from the building.

Who were they? What were those spheres? She’d have to go back for them later when it was all clear. Why would they want to even hurt her? And more importantly, who was leading them? As she flew, Rainbow Dash would go over the questions in her head, pondering the possibilities.

After only a few minutes of flying, her left wing flared up in pain as she was hit by a beam of light. She receded the wing, causing her body to spin out of control. “Nononononononono!” She took an unexpected nosedive, and she was a hundred feet up! “NONONONONONONO!” She couldn’t die like this! So she did what any wonderbolt would do - embrace the pain. Luckily, it wasn’t the splattering kind. She forced her injured wing to stretch out, eyes filled with determination, embracing the pain of her damaged muscles.

“I’m not going down just yet!” Her outstretched wings, both of them, were finally able to catch the wind, slowing her descent as much as she could. She slowed to a vertical halt, still flying forward, face inches from the ground. With a great heave, she flapped her wings, both good and injured, forcing herself to fly upward.

The pegasi trailing behind her followed, keeping in a tight V formation. They rapidly fired their weapons, forcing Dash to perform evasive maneuvers, maneuvers that only a Wonderbolt could do, pride swelling in her chest, despite her pain. She flew higher, higher, higher still, above the rainy clouds, even further! She wasn’t stopping until she hit the thermosphere, a layer where no sane pegasus would ever go.

But, then again, Rainbow Dash was no mere pegasus. She was as awesome as she wanted to be. She began to feel the air getting thinner. It was harder to breathe, harder to keep her speed. The soldiers stopped at the stratosphere, staring at the dot that was this crazy mare.

A pegasus in the back of the squadron group spoke up with an uncertain tone. “Do we go after her?”

The leading soldier shook his head. “Negative. She’s suicidal. She won’t last up there. Basically did our job for us.” He grinned, sending a shiver down the background soldier’s spine. As they turned to pull back, her ears perked up, that unmistakable boom catching their attention. The leader looked back, eyes wide behind his helmet.

A rainboom, only caused by intense speeds. Rainbow colors flew outward in a ring, making the sky look brilliant. Was she really just a Dash sympathizer? Or was she the real deal? The dot rapidly grew as the mare came closer, hind hooves outstretched in a kick. He was going to die. There was no way he could survive a blow at that speed. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for imminent death, as no one could possibly move out of the way in time.

But then, she flew past him and the others, yelling, “Psych!” As she flew by, the wind displacement behind her forced the flyers to spin out of control, distracted as they attempted to correct themselves to an upright position. Dash looked back with a huge grin on her face. “You should really get on my level sometime!”

As she sped away, she noticed a few small details in the distance ahead of her. They were abandoned buildings. Well, abandoned buildings were still better than none. A great place to hide, that was for sure. As she got closer, it was apparent that it wasn’t just a few buildings. No, it was an entire city. Dash’s coat stood on end as she realized something was definitely wrong.

She looks over the streets from above, flying high over the abandoned skyscrapers. It looked eerily familiar, as if she’d been here before. No… It can't be. It was Manehattan. She could recognize these shops. She swooped down and landed on a random street, looking around for the signs.

Finding one, she could tell she was on North Hoofway Street, just next to a large movie theater. She had been dragged here once before by Rarity for some kind of “culture lesson”. Some lesson that was, as it was just about some detective, and the whole thing was in black and white.

After all that flying, the pain in her left wing had caught up to her once more. She’d need to find bandages, as she’d obviously done more than just sprain it. Perhaps there was some kind of emergency kit in the theater?

She walked up to the theater. This would be a good place to hide. Multiple rooms would increase her chances of survival. She went to the glass double doors and pushed them open, going inside. “Alright… Maybe a few movies are leftover to watch?” She grinned nervously, trying to put aside the fear and the fact that this building might be more than it seemed.

Going past the front counter, she made her way into the hallways that led to multiple rooms, each one with a different poster depicting a movie. One poster stuck out to her among the others: The High Flyer: A Rainbow Dash Documentary. She felt both flattered and creeped out at the same time. Who would make a movie about her? Sure, she was awesome, but wouldn’t someone need her permission first to make one?

She opened the theater room and walked into the darkness, the light of the projector being the only illumination. Why was it still on? This place looked like it hadn’t been used in centuries, dust covering most of the surfaces. She flew up to the projector and examined it, the machine having been propped up on a decaying wooden stool.

A voice called out from the front row of the seats. “Who’s there?” This spooked Dash, not expecting anyone to be here. She turned around and could barely make out a ruby red mane, most of the mane having been combed to the right side of the pony’s head.

“Who’s there?” Dash asked in response.

“That’s what I said. You’re definitely not Seatrow,” the mare said.

Dash walked closer to the front row, still talking. “Seatrow? Is that a pony?”

“Kinda,” the mare answered. “He’s like a caretaker here.”

Dash stayed silent as she got to the front row, eyes fixated on the pony. The mare in question was an oyster white pegasus, with beige-tipped wings. Her cutie mark was of a dusky sun, surrounded by ruby red feathers. What really got Dash’s attention, though, was the medical blindfold over the pony’s eyes. Dash couldn’t help but ask, “Who are you?”

The mare hesitated to speak. “My name? Dusk Feather. And I assume yer a surfacer, right? Please, lemme be right.”

Dash was a bit confused. “What’s a surfacer?”

“So, you are,” Dusk confirmed. “That’s good. If it were Enclave, I’d probably be Dust Feather instead of Dusk Feather.” She emitted nervous laughter after that sentence.

“You alright?” Dash asked. “Is that what those ponies are called? Enclave?”

Dusk put a hoof to her chin. “Menacing armor? Pegasi? A tendency to be a bit shooty on the first date?”

“Yeah!” Dash answered. “They tried to take me down! As if I’d let ‘em!”

Dusk chuckled, leaning back in her seat. “Yeah, they’re pretty cocky. Of course, what Enclave soldier isn’t nowadays? It’s that natural pride of theirs.”

Rainbow Dash was almost offended. “Pride, huh? I know a thing or two about pride. That’s not pride. That’s just hurting ponies.”

Dusk smirked. “Pfft. Where are you from? Sugarville? It’s not like many ponies care about each other. We kill, we get over it, we kill again.” Her mouth returned to a neutral position, the mare now serious. “It’s not like there are heroes. Sure, Littlepip may’ve been one, but now she’s stuck in some tower. Raiders gonna raid, Enclave gonna invade, and ponies gonna hurt each other.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t like this pony right now. She took ahold of her by the shoulders. “Look here! Ponies don’t have to hurt each other! What kind of place is this? What happened to Manehattan?!” She shook Dusk a little, trying to shake the answers out.

Dusk growled and pushed Dash away, standing up. “The hell you mean? It’s always been like this! I think you’ve hit your head one too many times!”

Rainbow Dash pushed Dusk back into her seat. “No, it hasn’t! I was in Manehattan a month ago for a Wonderbolts show! Everything was fine!”

Dusk tried to stay calm. Blinded, she couldn’t risk a fight. Last time she got lucky with those troopers. She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Okay. So, you’re trying to tell me that this city was bustling with ponies a month ago.”

“Yeah! Exactly!” Dash growled. “There’s no way this wouldn’t be in the news!”

Dusk’s nose twitched. “It was, two-hundred years ago.” This made Rainbow Dash’s blood run cold. “When the megaspells dropped, it was devastating, forcing the pegasi to seal up the sky, separating us from the surfacers. Those on the surface who survived were either mutated in some way or were trapped in underground facilities called stables. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m tired, and I’d rather be left alone than to talk to you.”

Dash was in the future? She could hardly wrap her head around it. This mare was really peeving her off, but was she right? From what Rainbow Dash had seen of the decrepit city, it was the only thing that made sense. The only thing that didn’t make sense was what a megaspell was, but if it was something that could cause this kind of damage, Dash didn’t even want to be near one.

Dusk’s ear twitched. “I don’t hear you leaving.”

Dash shook her head. “I’m not leaving you here. You’re blind.” She gestured to the blindfold. “Why don’t you take that thing off?”

Dusk also shook her head. “My eyes are as good as gone. They were greatly damaged. I gotta keep this on to prevent any nasty infection from getting in.”

Dash was surprised. “Did those Enclave ponies do that to you?!”

Dusk nodded. “Eeyup. I’d rather not go into details. Later, maybe, but not now. I still gotta wait for Seatrow. They’re supposed to be bringing medical supplies from the basement.”

“Alright.” Dash took a seat next to Dusk. “How long do we wait?”

“Not sure. I’m a little worried,” Dusk admitted. “They’ve been gone for an hour, I think.”

Dash blinked. “An hour?! It shouldn’t take that long to get to one room and back! How big is this place?”

“It shouldn’t be that big,” replied Dusk.

“Then I’m gonna go find ‘em,” said Dash, getting back up and flying to the exit of the room. Dusk tried her best to follow after her, the blind pegasus barely able to avoid bumping into the seats.

“Hey, wait! Don’t be stupid!” Dusk cried out. “You can’t go off on your own!”

“Sure I can!” Dash said back. “I’m not scared of some stupid Enclave soldiers!”

As Rainbow reached out a wing to pull open the door, Dusk warned, “It’s not Enclave we should be worried about! It’s feral gho--!!!”

It was too late. Once Dash opened the door, a partially decayed face of a pony stared back at her, only one eye blinking while the other was gray and looked to be full of some putrid liquid. Upon the very sight of the monstrosity, Rainbow Dash was pelted with flashback after flashback of a particular prank gone wrong, specifically when she put special dye in the cookies that should have only colored her friends’ faces upon eating them. However, once they found out, they did inevitably teach Dash a lesson by pretending to be zombies.

How she wished this was a prank.

Rainbow Dash screamed, and the ghoul screamed in return with added gurgling in its voice. Dash slammed the door shut, her back against it. “What is that thing?! A zombie?!”

Dusk facehoofed, sighing. “It’s a feral ghoul, based on what you just called it. Were you born yesterday or something? You should know what a ghoul is. Even wasteland foals know what they are.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “I’m not from around here. And, considering your little story, I’m not even from this time!”

Dusk didn’t really care, however. In fact, she just wanted to sleep. “Whatever, crazy. Just make sure you prop up something against that door.” The fact that this random mare just came in and disturbed her rest, then caught the attention of a ghoul unsettled her. This mare was bad luck. “There was only one, right?”

Dash nodded, but then, remembering that Dusk was blind, replied, “Yeah, I think so.” She quickly went over to the projector and lifted it off the stool, setting it down on the ground gently. She then took the stool and came back to the door, propping the furniture piece underneath the door handle. “Wait, what am I doing? I can take one zombie, can’t I?”

“Nope. Problem with feral ghouls is that they can travel in groups,” explained Dusk. “Sometimes they’re sneaky, too. If one is around, you can be sure the others are probably hiding nearby.

"Then what are we even supposed to do?" Dash questioned. She wasn't liking this situation at all. Dusk just stayed silent for a few seconds, unsure of how to answer.

Dusk Feather huffed, annoyed. "We'll just have to wait. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not become a meal to some surface creature, especially not to a ghoul."

Dash grumbled and reluctantly flew over to an empty seat, sitting down in it, following the blind mare’s advice… for now.

And so, they waited...

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

Dash had fallen asleep from boredom while waiting for Seatrow to return. Her head was filled with dreams of Equestria, the blue skies, the bright sun, and happy ponies, everything being as it should be. But then those dreams grew dark, with a mysterious object falling from the sky. Dash could only guess as to what it was.

She got her answer soon enough. When it hit the ground, a massive boom echoed throughout the world, forcing many ponies to cover their ears. The confused cries of a few mares and stallions were quickly drowned out by an unnatural scream, one that wasn’t equine. It was a scream of static, and it was coming from Canterlot.

A pink, gaseous giant loomed over the city, its loosely equinoid shape reminding Dash of a similar creature she had once fought alongside her friends. But this creature didn’t bring disturbances to one’s sleep. Instead it brought death.

One by one, every single pony in Canterlot succumbed to its deadly effects, ponies being fused to the ground, the buildings, their own clothes, trapped and forced to breathe the burning air as it slowly killed them.

The creature wasn’t satisfied with just that, though. Its form spread out across the land, covering villages, towns, cities, all of Equestria, and then the entirety of the planet.

Its reign was absolute, and under that rule came forth twisted shells of what were once the citizens of Equestria, not alive, but not dead. The undead, seeing the last pony fall to their might, unleashed a scream of static, startling Dash from her sleep.

As she steadied her breathing, she noticed that Dusk was no longer in her seat. Dash turned her head to see the blind mare talking with a pony whose head was covered in bandages, blotches of dried blood staining the once-pristine white medical cloth. Covering the rest of their body was an old movie theater employee uniform.

The pony, noticing Rainbow Dash, turned to walk over to her. She spoke with a very scratchy and gender-neutral voice. "You're either an imposter or got lucky enough to be frozen. Sorry for the bandages. They're stuck to me. Nice to meet you. I'm Seatrow." The pony laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

Dash could see some of the exposed skin, dried and rotten. "You're a zombie? How come you're not trying to eat my brains or anything?"

"Ha. Zombies. I miss those movies," replied Seatrow. "There are three types of ghouls: Normal, Feral, and Gaseous. Some argue that ferals are the norm, but I'd rather not feel any more like a freak, so I try to call myself normal."

"Your voice is a bit scratchy. I can't tell if you're a stallion or a mare. Sorry," said Dash, trying her best not to offend.

Seatrow's lips turned slightly upward into a smile. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. The ghoul knew this. "I'm a mare," she replied. "It's okay. A lot of ponies get confused."

"How'd you get like this?" Dash asked.

The ghoul almost flinched at the question. That too was a question that was often asked of her. She stowed away the discomfort and widened her smile a little more. "I was in Canterlot the day the megaspells dropped. I remember it vividly. I had just gotten out of the hospital three days prior. I was allowed to work as long as it didn’t bother my face, and all I really did was sweep out the theater rooms after the showings.”

Dash motioned to Seatrow’s face. “Um… Why were you in the hospital?”

Seatrow coughed, and embarrassingly said, “Burns from scalding water. I was boiling it for a dish.”

Dash nodded. “Yeah, I getcha. Anypony could get hurt from something like that.”

Seatrow smiled at Dash’s understanding. She then continued her story. “I was on my break, and as I was about to head out, the theater shook. I could hear ponies screaming outside, and some of those screams were pretty haunting."

Rainbow Dash hung onto every word, her curiosity knowing no bounds as this point.

Seatrow continued, her mind flashing back to the event in question. "Before I could run out of the theater, a flood of ponies ran in. I assumed there was an earthquake, so I thought it was odd that ponies would be running into a building. It was a mess, ponies climbing on top of the counter, doing everything they could to stay off the ground. Pegasi would stay in the air, never landing."

Dash raised a brow. "Why were they trying to stay off the ground?"

If Seatrow's tear ducts hadn't been burned away, she would have shed a tear as she said, "The pink gas."

Dash was even more befuddled now. "Pink gas?"

"The gas seeped underneath the doors," said Seatrow. "It was no use. The poor souls were reached by the vapors. I could see some ponies struggling to move, but they couldn't, and it was plain to see why. They were melted to the floor. I couldn't tell where the pony ended and the ground began."

"How can gas do that?!" Dash asked, eyes wide in disbelief. It felt more like a horror story than a real event to her, but here was a pony who was literally undead. How could she not believe?

"That's what I asked," replied Seatrow. "I was scared, so I ran, trying to outrun my fate, but…"

"Don't tell me it got to you!" Dash almost begged, desperately wanting the story to end on even the slightest happier note.

Seatrow looked the sky-blue mare in the eyes. Dash couldn't look away from the cloudy eyes. This ghoul had seen many things in her two hundred year long life, but Dash was certain that out of everything Seatrow could have possibly experienced in that time frame, this was the most traumatizing event for her: the beginning.

Seatrow nodded slowly. "I was lucky compared to everypony else. I hid in the janitor's closet, and then I took the mops and stuck their heads in the crack under the door. By the time I finished, a small bit of the gas got in. I wasn't fused to the floor, but my bandages…"

Rainbow Dash stayed silent, unable to think of what to say. What could she say? There were no words of comfort that could make what Seatrow had gone through any better. All Dash could do was wait for the ghoul to finish her story.

Seatrow's eyes roamed over Dash's figure. "Funny… I was asked to go out on a date the day before by a foalhood friend. The fact that he'd seen my bandages and still asked makes me smile. But look at my body now."

Dash continued to be quiet. This was the first time she had ever felt it appropriate to keep her mouth shut. Other situations weren't as bad as this. This was a dead mare, for crying out loud.

Well, undead…

"I feel like he'd run and hide if he was still alive to see me." The ghoul grabbed onto the name tag that was attached to her vest and straightened it. It had lost most of the gold-colored coating on it over the years, becoming a rusted gray. "At least I kept my job, right? I mean, nopony's fired me yet… nopony to fire me."

"So you just stay here…? And why this theater if the one you worked at was in Canterlot? And even then, why a theater or all places if it’s just gonna remind you of that event?" Dash couldn't understand why Seatrow would remain in a place that gave her bad memories.

Seatrow gave a sad little smile, her foggy eyes full of sorrow. "Well, the one in Canterlot is still full of pink gas, so I decided to relocate to this one. It's all I have left. Sure, there were traumatic experiences, but there were good ones, too… Before the megaspells, I used to spend a lot of time in theaters, even as a little filly. It keeps me sane, and keeps me going."

"I'm really sorry to hear that," said Dash. "I didn't know something so bad could happen to anypony."

"Sheltered lives, I guess," replied Seatrow. "We took everything for granted before the war, thinking everything would be sunshine and rainbows for the rest of our lives."

There was a long silence, all three mares standing in the dimly lit theater room, expressions barely recognizable in the dark. What could be said? It was a cruel world, and Rainbow Dash, having just learned this, couldn't feel as awesome as she did earlier.

Her views from before were to take life by the hooves and beat it into submission, but this damaged mare in front of her was proof that life could just as easily make a pony admit defeat.

However…

Dash wouldn't give up. She had been in many scrapes before, facing impossible odds and outperforming almost everypony she had ever met. The only exceptions were her friends, and that was because

Dusk was the first to break the silence. “Um… I don’t mean to be rude, but uh, I’m still blind. I kinda need that stuff you promised me."

"Oh, right." Seatrow pulled a large syringe from her vest pocket. It was yellow, with the signature of Fluttershy, that being her cutie mark, the familiar pink butterflies adorning the object.

Dash looked at the object and, with as straight a face as possible, asked, "What's that thing?"

"Hydra Plus," answered Seatrow. "Started selling a week before the megaspells dropped, so you'll be very lucky to find one in the wasteland."

"What's Hydra Plus?" Dash asked.

Seatrow smirked. "A more advanced version of Hydra, which normally regenerates minor parts of the body. Hydra Plus, though, that's an entirely different ball game. This thing is said to bring ponies back from being mangled. Broken bones? Hydra Plus. Missing lung? Hydra Plus. Entire torso gone? Stick somma that good ol' Hydra Plus on it."

Dash reeled back, incoherent thoughts filling her mind. Whether they were her own thoughts or not, she didn't know. "Why am I getting a bad feeling just from looking at it?"

"You're not the only one," said Seatrow. "The Ministry of Peace took on this project, and from what I've heard during the war, dozens of employees quit after working on it."

Looking over the syringe again, Dash now had a concerned look upon her face, a little hint of both confusion and fear mixed together. If there was a gas that could fuse ponies to the ground, then what could this possibly do if gone wrong?

"Now that we're done with the lesson," Dusk interrupted, "can I get my eyes back please? I'd like to be able to see when my enemies are about to shoot me."

Dash looked at Seatrow, and she could tell that the ghoul was also having second thoughts. What if something did go wrong?

"Well?" Dusk urged. "Get on with it."

Seatrow hesitantly stuck the needle into Dusk's leg. According to the instructions, Hydra Plus could be injected anywhere to take effect on the entire body. They waited, but nothing seemed to be happening. Dusk seemed a bit disappointed.

"What the hell? You said it wou--" Dusk fell onto her side, screaming loudly, the entire theater filled with the sounds of her agony. Dash quickly held Dusk tight as the afflicted mare spasmed violently.

"Why's she shaking?!" Dash asked frantically, worried.

Seatrow just calmly stared at Dusk. It was as if the ghoul had seen near-death experiences countless times, no longer even phased. "From what I've seen, it's a seizure. It's a side effect from taking the Hydra Plus."

"Well, can we stop it?!" Dash asked, trying to keep Dusk still, not knowing what to do.

Seatrow, shaking her head, knelt down and placed her hoof on Dusk’s forehead. “It’ll pass, hopefully. There’s really nothing I can do.”

And just as she said, it did pass, Dusk's twitching fit settling down. Dusk quickly broke free from Dash's grip, breathing heavily. Sweat ran down the sides of her face as she reached her hooves under her blindfolds.

With a single tug and a snap, the blindfold fell free, revealing Dusk's fully-healed sunset-colored eyes. They were full of maliciousness, the mare desiring revenge upon those who had caused her pain. The steely gaze made Dash secretly shiver in her head. This was the mare she had just spoken to a short time ago?

Dusk, wanting to see who her visitor was, let her eyes travel over… a forbidden rainbow mane. A dash sympathizer…? No, wait. As she looked over the rest of her friend's form, her eyes widened in realization. That face, that mark, the color if her coat, it looked too much like the same mare in her training videos.

She let out a scream.

Project Clarity

Video #109

Video Feed Interrupted.

. . . S t u d y G u i d e . . .

The following is an audio report from Professor Study Guide. All Enclave personnel ranked below General are forbidden from receiving this information.

"This is Professor Study Guide, calling in for the reports on both ghouls and the possible timeline fracture. I must admit, the fact that these topics even mixed together surprises me. I never thought they'd hold this much information. Due to the differing security classes between the two subjects, I have decided to put them into two audio files. The second audio file may only be accessed by higher levels in the Enclave.

"Ahem… Ghouls are the 'undead' residents of the wasteland. There are four types: sane, feral, gaseous, and feral gaseous. Current research on the sane ghouls is limited due to their reluctance to interact with the Enclave.

"Luckily, we had one volunteer, and we've learned much from her. I regret to say, however, that she went feral last week. We were forced to put her down after the situation became too unruly. May she rest in peace.

"Feral ghouls were once sane, those who've simply gone crazy. The initial cause of a sane ghoul turning into a mindless beast such as the feral is unknown, but we do have a theory, and it's willpower.

"Before these claims are dismissed, I'd like to bring up our late volunteer as an example. She had something to live for, and although it was unrealistic, she was very optimistic. It was a sad little tale, and it's... been keeping me up at night lately.

"Her name was Petal Skip, and she was a florist from Manehattan back during the war. She had a daughter who would come home every day after school and help her with her garden. When the megaspells dropped, her daughter was still at school, and so Petal Skip risked everything to get to her, fighting off rampant ponies who had lost their morals the moment the damned devices fell.

"When she got to the school, all the children had been evacuated to Stable Eighty-One. Given this information by her daughter's teacher, she rushed to the stable, only to be denied entry due to her elevated radiation. She was assured her daughter would be frozen and preserved, then thawed out when all was safer in the future. Of course, this news would scare any parent. After all, this wasn't what ponies were originally told, and the thought of her kid being on ice made her near-hysterical.

"After figuring out she was basically immortal from the effects of the megaspell, she decided to wait for her daughter. Every day for two hundred years she'd come by the stable entrance and ask for her in the hopes that the little filly would be thawed out. Then we came along.

"My team and I asked her to be a voluntary test subject, and although she was reluctant to leave, we were able to convince her by saying we could... open the stable. We took her with us to the nearby camp and ran a few tests, took samples, asked questions. I'm sure she was flustered from the barrage of quizzes she was given.

"During all the necessary tests, I quickly went into researching the stable in question. What I had found was unsettling: the children Petal Skip had told me about were not present within the still-online records of Stable Eighty-One. It was as if they had never existed in the first place.

"When the time came to open the stable, we used everything within our resources to hack into the stable's wireless systems. What had greeted us were both the stable dwellers and an unnaturally large army of synths. Synths, as many of us know, are machines built in our image, to look like us, built during the war.

"What many ponies back then didn't know, however, was that most Synths were normally used for spying. There was even a project proposed to place a pony's soul into a zebra synth in order to blend in much more seamlessly. With what we've encountered, I'd say whomever proposed the original idea had succeeded.

"Petal Skip was hysterical upon seeing her daughter's new form. Even we were shocked, seeing that her daughter had been killed long ago, her soul transferred into a synth body. She… didn't even recognize her own mother, even asking her owner if she should terminate the 'threat'.

“Needless to say, this was enough to push Petal Skip over the edge, the poor mare having lost all will to live. The moment she went feral, we unloaded what we had to put her down before she could harm any of the stable dwellers. The stable dwellers thanked us for everything.

“Too bad that thanks wasn’t enough in my book. I ordered their termination. The dwellers were killed, and all synths were shut down and dismantled, despite their pleas for mercy. What had gone on here was an atrocity. Many questioned my ability to lead that day, and while it was seemingly reckless, I did have a reason.

“We had found plans hidden in their stable’s computer systems; a plot to take over the wasteland with their army of synths. This gave me authority to terminate for Enclave preservation. We’ve purged all evidence of the plot and have disposed of all bodies. Dismantled synths will be sent back to the camp for study. Hopefully we can reuse some of the technology for the betterment of the Enclave.

. . . S t u d y E n d . . .

. . . M e a n w h i l e . . .

As she flew, Celestia gazed out upon the land that was once home. It was almost instinctive. She knew every landmark, and she knew every street. It would have been difficult for her not to have known: this was Equestria, but what twisted version, she didn't know.

Throughout her life, she had learned enough from Starswirl the Bearded, her old teacher, that there were an infinite number of universes, each one being either extremely similar, or vastly different. It was no mistake that the portal had transported her to one of them. She just had to find her companions and bring them back home with her before it was too late.

Luna, flying beside her sister, stayed quiet. As she gazed over the broken buildings from above, she couldn't help but feel familiarity. Inside of her was regret, and she didn't know why. It was like all of this was her fault, but she knew it to be impossible.

Celestia looked to Luna and, sensing discomfort, gave an assuring smile. "We'll be fine, Lulu."

Luna looked back to her sister, Celestia, and gave a hesitant nod. "I know. Something just seems unnatural in this place.

"This is not our home, Luna. Be assured, we will be back soon enough," said Celestia, trying to comfort her little sister.

"I am aware of this," replied Luna, sounding cold. She didn't need comfort from an authority like Celestia. She knew Celestia meant well, but she wanted to be treated the same, with respect.

Celestia could feel an oddity in the air, some unusual behavior was coming from Luna, and Celestia wasn't certain if it was because of the current situation or something else. She looked away and saw what looked to be a tall skyscraper.

"Luna, look," pointed Celestia. Luna focused her gaze in the same direction, spotting the building and… something more unusual. There was a lone unicorn, sitting in an old chair and strumming a guitar.

"A pony in all of this?" Luna was surprised. She had thought this place to be devoid of life. Perhaps there was a hope in this forsaken land after all. A small hope, but still hope to begin with. "Let us land. I wish to ask of our surroundings."

Celestia hesitantly nodded. She wanted to be careful, but she also wanted to give Luna a chance to make her own decisions. After all, Luna was still older than most other ponies, just like Celestia. "Very well. Just be careful. I fear not all may be what it seems."

"Fret not, sister. If he is hostile, we can easily wear him down. I do not intend to lose to a single unicorn." With that, Luna swooped over and landed on the edge of the building, then slowly walked towards the center where the unicorn sat.

"Some say I'm a drifter, others say a crook.

But when I look upon myself I can see every nook.

These hooves of mine, they're nimble, as fast as they try to be.

But when I take a chance at stealin', they always gon' catch me.

Cuz I know I'm no crook, no prize winnin' thief with some medallion.

I'm just a no-good, clumsy, one-eyed stallion."

Luna had heard many songs in her lifetime, but she had never heard one like this. It felt odd and off-key. It almost felt like it was made up on the spot, too. With Celestia landing behind her, Luna approached the stallion with a bit more confidence. "Excuse me, local. My sister and I are lost, and we wish to--"

"Ehh?! Lost, ya say?!" The stallion, lifting up his hat, his apple green face disfigured, took one good look at Luna and, without a second thought, threw a wrapped sponge cake of some sort at her.

Luna tried not to be phased, but the reaction was so unexpected, it was hard not to be. "Are you alright?"

The stallion cackled. "Eat that there snack cake, lest ye be fixin' to offend mah hospitality!"

Luna reared her head back a little. What was there to offend? She saw no hospitality. What she saw was a stallion throwing food her. "I will do no such thing. There is no offense to you, nor any from my sister. We just wish to receive directions and information."

The stallion, looking dejected, sat back in his chair. "Eh… Not many visit, so Ah tend to get carried away iffin Ah do get a guest."

"I can clearly see that," replied Luna, keeping her distance. She didn't dare to relax, nor to sit down. This pony was possibly off his hinges. "Where is the most populated area? My sister and I must find civilization."

"Civilization? In this place?" The senile pony laughed. "No such thing in this place, but I can give you directions to Tenpony Tower. It won't do ye any good though."

Luna tilted her head slightly. "Why would it not do us any good?"

The stallion gave Luna a twistedly wide smile, and as he did, Luna could feel the dizziness taking her by surprise. Something was wrong with her, but what?

Luna pointed to the pony. "What have you done…?" She could feel herself getting weaker, barely able to speak.

Celestia ran up, catching Luna as she fell forward. The younger alicorn was out of commission. "What have you done?!" Celestia asked in a panicked manner.

She gently laid Luna down and lit up her horn with a golden aura. Celestia fired a beam of magic at the unicorn, who returned his own beam of purple energy, cancelling out both blasts. He rushed in, a knife floating out of his hat. He quickly threw the knife from his magic at high speeds, forcing Celestia to blink out of his sight with a teleportation spell.

She popped back into existence, eyes glowing with golden fury as she fired off multiple blasts from her horn as if she had been firing a minigun. The unicorn twisted his body, dodging as many shots as he could. One, however, hit him in his chest, knocking him back onto his rump.

He groaned and slumped over, his energy having been sapped from him by that blast. Nonlethal…? Why had she spared him? He didn't care. All he knew was that she was too weak to finish an enemy, so now he'd end it. Grabbing a syringe from his hat and into his mouth, he jabbed it into his leg.

Celestia stepped forward, her eyes still aglow with righteousness. "You're lucky I don't hurt ponies…"

"Damn right Ah'm lucky," he replied, that one shot giving him the boost of energy he needed to fling his knife with his magic from behind her, directly into her back. Celestia let out a shocked cry in pain.

While she was distracted, he ran towards her, jumping and throwing… the same wrapped sponge cake? It hit Celestia square in the face, confusing her. It was then she realized something. Her face was wet with something. He'd coated it with some sort of chemical!

Celestia ran for Luna, needing to teleport out of here right away before she passed out, too. There was no telling what he'd do! But… another knife jammed itself into her leg, then removed itself and slammed into her side. She groaned in pain as she slowed down. Have to get to Lulu…

The knife stabbed Celestia again and again, the unicorn showing no emotion as he struck her. Celestia inevitably went down, the dizziness from the chemical making her lose consciousness, still alive.

But for how long…?

. . . S t u d y G u i d e . . .

Welcome.

Please enter password.

[********]

Password Accepted.

Level 6 Personnel Has Accessed File #198005-B7.

“Before the incident, we received conflicting stories. Not of anything to do with the stable, but of the megaspell events. Petal Skip had noticed one of our history books, and upon reading it, she informed us that our recollection of events were severely wrong. Many had laughed this off, of course, but I begged to differ. After all, I’m nothing if not a professional, and a professional takes everything into consideration.

“With assistance from partnering unicorns, we were able to extract raw memories in perfect condition. Now, to be fair, I must add that all memories degrade, especially traumatic ones, and so I did comparisons with others ghouls we had come into contact with, two weeks after the untimely termination of Petal Skip.

“Strangely, we had found two scenarios. Petal Skip claimed that, rather than Canterlot, it was Manehattan that had been hit with the pink gas. We had confirmation of her claim the moment we had acquired memories from at least four other ghouls. Only two ghouls out of the group had what we know as the real events.

“There is currently no doubt in my mind. Some are skeptical, but we must take into the possibility that there may have been a rip in our timeline at the initial impact of the megaspells, as I believe only a megaspell could cause such an occurrence. Therefore, I am sending a request to use [Redacted. Level 8 Clearance Required.] to test this theory. This is the end of my report. Professor Study Guide, signing out.”

. . . S t u d y E n d . . .

It had taken roughly half an hour to calm Dusk down. The fact that she had seen Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, was staggering to her. She couldn’t quite get into that peaceful state of mind, but she was calm enough to keep her sanity. Dusk’s renewed eyes roamed across the legend’s form, the pegasus still having trouble taking in the information.

“Do you know you’re supposed to be dead?” Dusk asked. Dash blinked, both in disbelief and in offense.

“Uh, Yeah, no way. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon,” Dash replied, a smug smile spread across her face. She then tilted her head, a thought coming to mind. “Why were your eyes messed up?”

Dusk stayed calm and firm in her stance. “Don’t change the subject. You’re not even supposed to be alive, and yet here you are, talking to me like the megaspells never happened.”

“I don’t really know a lot about this place, but I do know it’s filled with some pretty crazy ponies. I don’t think I’m the weird one here. Now what happened with your eyes? Why are you even hiding in here to begin with?”

Dusk pressed a hoof into Dash’s chest, pushing back the rainbow-maned pegasus. “That’s none of your business. I have a right mind to report you to the Enclave.”

Dash raised a brow. “Weren’t you against them? Wait, is that why you’re here? And if it is, why go to them and report me? You’re not making any sense!”

The whole conversation was beginning to wear down on Dusk’s nerves. She gritted her teeth and said, “Because there’s a lot of money in it for me, and a chance to reclaim my position if I bring you in.”

“As if you could even catch me. I’m a Grade A Wonderbolt. And since you’ve been blind for so long, you’re probably a little rusty in the flying department,” Dash said both proudly and smugly. She was certain she had won the argument at this point. Besides, no winged creature had ever truly beaten her except for a special few.

“Really now?” Dusk was very frustrated with this so-called legend. “I’ve trained under multiple instructors in both pegasi and zebra fighting techniques. I could take you down before you could even lift yourself off the ground.”

Being confident, Dash flew up into the air, looking down at Dusk, challenging her. The pure anger was evident in Dusk’s newly restored eyes. Before Dash could even react, Dusk flew straight at her, using her legs to propel herself up before flapping her wings in a single powerful lunge. Both pegasi tumbled through the air, exchanging hits with their hooves. Dash inevitably freed herself, pushing Dusk away as Dash zoomed towards the eastern wall of the room.

Dusk wrapped her hooves around the arm of a theater chair, then, with a slight amount of force, tore the wooden arm off its base. Thank Celestia for two-hundred years without maintenance. She then zipped off the ground and through the air at Dash, swinging the broken-off arm of the chair at her.

Dash very quickly flew to the side, then wrapped her hooves around Dusk’s new improvised weapon. Using all her strength, she ripped it out of Dusk’s hooves, throwing it onto the ground and shattering it, the wooden splinters scattering across the floor.

Dusk wasn’t able to predict Dash’s next move, as the rainbow mare immediately zoomed forward and delivered a punch to Dusk’s face. Dusk could, however, see the next punch. She raised her hooves, taking a hit to them instead of her head. It was a little difficult to block the third blow as Dash tried to go in for a headbutt.

Dusk did the only thing she could think of: do the same thing. She reared her head back and thrust it forward in a headbutt of her own. Both heads collided, creating a thunk sound. “Ow!” They both cried out. “That hurt! You’re hard-headed! What?! Me, hard-headed?! You’re hard-headed!”

Dusk flew in and kicked out her hind legs, getting Dash in the stomach. Luckily, Dash had taken far worse hits before. She wrapped her hooves around Dusk’s hind legs and swung her into the eastern wall before letting go.

Spiraling, Dusk went down, with Dash quickly landing and pressing a hoof to Dusk’s back, keeping her held in place.

“I told you you couldn’t beat me!” Dash gloated. “Now that that’s over, tell me why you’re hiding. Something tells me you’re in trouble, and I wanna help you.”

“Get off me! You’re insane!” Dusk fought with all her might, but Dash had her effectively pinned.

Rainbow Dash pressed her hoof down in between Dusk Feather’s wings, a known weakness among pegasi. “No way! You’ll just give me away to those Enclave bozos! Now spill it! I can help you, but only if you tell me what they did!”

Dusk, frustrated, shouted, “Fine! I’ll tell you! Just lessen the damn pressure!”

Dash, still wary, only let up on the force by a tiny bit. “Talk!”

Dusk sighed, a bit disgruntled at the fact she was being pinned by somepony who was supposedly dead. “Most Enclave stay up in the air. I was torn between both the clouds and the surface. My dad wasn’t exactly somepony a pegasi would approve of. Anyways, I’d rather not go into that part of my life right now. What you do need to know is that I was often watching over a unicorn colt. He was like a little brother to me…”

“Yeah…? What was his name?” Dash asked.

“His name was Coast,” Dusk replied. “He was a little troublemaker at times, but he never really meant any harm. A few magical surges here and there, but I’d often help him get it under control. Used to sing him to sleep in his younger years. Those were more wholesome times…”

“What happened?” Dash asked, keeping her hoof pressed against Dusk.

Dusk paused, flashing back. “One day, I was watching Coast at our usual hangout. I didn’t think they’d find me there, ya know? The fact that I had been watching Coast at the time had made it even worse. Enclave showed up at the door, and dragged both of us out. Coast was fighting so hard against them.” Dusk stared blankly at the floor. “That… stupid kid…”

“What did he do?” Dash felt as though she shouldn’t have asked.

“As they were about to shoot me, he got in the way. I told him not to be a hero. Fucking idiot…” Dusk coughed from the dust she had inhaled from being on the floor.

Dash finally let her up, holding out her wing and pulling Dusk to her hooves. Dash then asked, “Is that how they blinded you?”

Dusk rubbed the back of her neck. “No. I was blinded when I went up against my own squadron. Grenade to the face.” She smiled nervously. “Because of that incident, they ramped up the search for me. That’s when they found Coast and I. It was supposed to be just me, but…”

“But what?” Dash tensed up. Why did she keep asking? She didn’t understand why she kept pushing. She knew this was traumatic, but she just kept going.

Dusk stared at Rainbow Dash. “So… I heard Coast. He cried a little, and he was just… there in my hooves. Then he was gone… It was like he had never existed. All that remained,” she choked out, “was dust, and I just… snapped. I used everything I had ever learned from both the academy and a special friend, killing who were once fellow soldiers. They took everything from me, and so I’d take everything from them.”

Dash swallowed. She immediately regretted asking. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be,” Dusk replied. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have led them back there. If I’d just surrendered back when my eyes were damaged, Coast wouldn’t be dead. He would have grown up. Who knows? Maybe he would’ve done something to help the wasteland.” She gave Dash a sad little smile, then coughed out a sob. She dropped to all four knees, tears leaking from her face and soaking the carpet. Dash instantly hooked her hooves under Dusk’s helping her up.

“H-Hey… It’ll be okay! We’ll get back at those rotten Enclave!” Dash said, trying to encourage Dusk to go on. “We can easily take ‘em!”

“You’re fucking insane,” Dusk barely whispered. “You can’t fight the Enclave. We can’t fight the Enclave. It’d take a miracle. Even if their forces are scattered, we stand a better chance flying to the moon!”

Dash’s mouth slowly spread into a smirk. “You’re looking at a miracle right here!”

Dusk’s ears lifted upon hearing those words come from a passed legend.

“Once we find my friends, we’ll take on the entire messed up world if we have to!” Dash promised. “We’ll show ‘em a thing or two!”

Dusk smiled, tears still running down her face. She shook her head, then looked Dash in the eyes. “You’re a crazy mare, have I said that?”

“Only about two or three times,” replied Dash, giving a grin. Dusk grinned back, then looked to the side, seeing Seatrow. The ghoul had been sweeping up the wooden splinters from the earlier fight.

Seatrow glanced up. “You two made quite a mess. Good thing I don’t get paid, otherwise it’d be docked.”

He had been waiting for years. He knew they’d come, and now they have. The silhouetted pegasus wrapped the tip of his wing around a small teacup, then brought it to his lips. Blowing onto the hot beverage of ginseng, he smiled, then took a slow sip. The monitor flickered as it displayed the three mares in the theater.

The door behind him opened up, allowing light to flood the room and reveal his white coat and slick green mane. An earth pony poked his head into the room.

"Uh, sir?” the visitor pony muttered. “They’ve been waiting for thirty minutes.”

“Ah. Pardon my lateness,” said the white pegasus. “I was just keeping an eye on our new friends.”

“New friends, sir?” the earth pony raised an eyebrow. “Are they the blessed ones you spoke of?”

“Hush now. All will be revealed in time,” the pegasus promised, giving a charismatic smile as he put on a blindfold. “All will be revealed…”

Project Clarity

Video #36

Video Feed Interrupted.

Author's Note

Forgive us for the wait, but now our production has ramped up. In order to do so, we had to settle for a shorter comedic video while the longer video is posted in a later chapter.

We will now be running smoothly from now on, bringing you Fallout: Equestria goodness!

A big thank you to Francis, for animating this video for us!

Special thanks for the entire Project RiM team, like Rand-Dums, from Deviantart, who gave us her permission and character's backstory, design, and AngryPenguin gave us the nice chapter art for the story.

Update: We now have the longer video in this chapter! Thank you for your patience!