Fallout Equestria: Dark Secrets

War… war never changes.

Goddesses, I honestly didn’t ever think I’d be dragged into this kind of thing. My ancestors may have been dragged into a war, but here I am. I thought that I would spend my whole life in the Stable just like my mother… just like my daughter. But things changed, the world and our lives have changed as a result of the actions of ponies that have been long dead.

Now all I want is to see the Stable again. To see my daughter again, but I know at this point that it is unlikely to happen. If this ever somehow gets to Midnight, I’m sorry, I should have been a better mother and not abandoned you like this.

Goddesses… here I am writing this after everything that happened like it’s nothing. But I should probably start from the beginning if you want to know everything that’s going on. I don’t know how much impact my words and actions will have on Equestria, but here we are.

My name is Nebula Sparkle, my family goes back to the old days of Equestria… long before this war destroyed our world. A lot of mistakes were made, and on behalf of my family, I apologize. I left my home Stable in order to try and finish a mission set down by my ancestor.

One that sent shockwaves through Equestria that I may never quite understand the effects of. And for that I am sorry, I should have been more careful, or at least been more aware of those around me.

So, this is my story. This isn’t a story about a war, this is a story about survival in the face of the worst things that the Equestrian Wasteland can throw at you. But I fear that someday what I brought about will lead to something more. A war that will either leave us in further ashes or pull us out of the flames once and for all.

And war… war never changes.

00000

In the northern part of Equestria, close to the border of the old Crystal Empire, there was the Great Northern Wilderness. Seated at the base of the Crystal Mountains, the large forest was rarely visited by the rest of the world. So the tribes that called it home were separate from the civilizations that had risen in the rest of Equestria in the wake of the apocalypse.

One such tribe was known as the Dayrunners. A nomadic Unicorn tribe that moved throughout the forest, but preferred their ancestral home off the central road near an old-world Stable.

In the Dayrunners village proper, a Unicorn stallion with a red coat and a short golden mane was making his way into the village. He was pulling a makeshift cart behind him that had several dead animals piled on it. He pulled it into the center of the village and unhitched himself as several more tribal ponies started unloading it.

“Hey Blaze, how was the hunting?” One of the Unicorns asked as he brushed himself off.

“Okay, but they seem to be moving again, we may have to move the village,” Blaze said with a sigh as he checked on his kills. “This should feed the village for a while at least. Elder Spark doesn’t believe it’s the right time to move.”

“Yeah, it’s not the best time to be moving,” the Unicorn agreed. “Not with some of the mares in the state they’re in. We shouldn’t put the foals at risk right now.”

“Agreed,” Blaze said as he started walking towards one of the huts. He smiled a little as he took a deep breath. He had been away for a few days now on his hunt, it wasn’t unusual for him, but he had wished that he didn’t have to leave this time.

He pushed the cloth open that covered the entrance to the hut and smiled as he entered. Seated against the wall was a tired looking Unicorn mare with dark blue fur and a black mane and tail with a cutie mark of two crossed arrows. Her usually calm demeanor was a bit haggard, but he could see her beauty through it.

She looked up at him and smiled a little as she nodded down between her hind legs where a filly was nursing. “Sorry for not getting up, but she just started feeding. How did the hunt go?”

“Well enough, but the animals are starting to move out of this area,” Blaze said as he nuzzled his wife gently. “It’s good to see you again, Midnight. I missed you both so much while I was gone. So how’s our little one doing?”

“Keeping me up at night, but that’s to be expected,” Midnight replied with a chuckle as she nuzzled back. “I’ve been waiting for your return for her official naming ceremony.”

“Of course, I’m sorry I had to leave but it was my turn,” Blaze sighed. “Have you picked a name for her yet?”

“Hmm… I was thinking about Aurora,” Midnight said with a soft smile. “It’s a perfect name for her if you ask me.”

“Heh, Aurora Sparkle huh?” Blaze asked with a light smirk.

“Don’t even suggest that, you know I wanted to move away from that little tradition of my family’s,” Midnight said indignantly. “We’ve been Sparkles going back to when Eclipse first came into Stable 13. After what happened, I’m not so sure that she should consider herself part of that legacy…”

“Midnight, you can’t hide from your family your whole life,” Blaze said as he brushed his wife’s mane back a little. “Just because your mother ran out on you doesn’t mean…”

“I’m still a Sparkle, that same blood runs in my veins…” Midnight interrupted as she looked down at her daughter. “In her veins. She doesn’t have to know what our family did in the past, she doesn’t have to carry that shame like I do.”

“I think if given the chance, she would understand,” Blaze reminded her. “Perhaps we should let her decide for herself, once she’s old enough. It is unusual, but we can leave her last name blank, if you wish.”

“Fine, we’ll do that,” Midnight said as the filly stopped nursing. She sighed a little and burped her daughter before she held the small blue Unicorn filly gently in her forelegs. “Blaze, I’m scared. I don’t know the first thing about being a mother, my own mom left me alone years ago. What am I supposed to do?”

“Just do what comes naturally to you, you’ll make a good mother, I know it,” Blaze said as they gently wrapped the filly up and gently placed her in her crib.. “Now come on, we need to get ready for the Naming Ceremony.”

“Yeah, okay,” Midnight said as she looked down at her daughter for a long moment.

Her own mother had vanished when she was just a filly, sometimes she even had a hard time remembering her. It hadn’t been easy, but she had managed, especially with help from the other ponies in the Stable, and then in her Tribe. Since then she had become an expert hunter, and now had a loving husband and daughter.

She sighed a little as she thought about her mother. Part of her hoped that maybe she was still out there somewhere, but she knew at this point the odds were against it. Part of her wanted to go out and find her, but she knew that there was no point in it. She couldn’t leave her family behind, she had obligations now.

She wasn’t going to become her mother.

00000

The naming ceremony was one of the most important ceremonies in the Dayrunner Tribe. It marked the point where a pony was officially considered part of the Tribe. Usually it was done after birth, but rarely when ponies were brought into the tribe at an older age it was still performed.

The tribe had gathered in the center of the village around Midnight and Blaze. The Elder, Bright Spark, an aging Unicorn mare dressed in shaman garb, approached them with a bowl of crushed berries of different colors. She took some in her hoof and drew markings on half of Midnight and Blaze’s faces. Each mark was a mirror image of the other.

“It is our duty as a Tribe to grow,” she said as she finished the markings on them both. “And this world comes in cycles. The cycle of birth is among the most sacred to us of the Day. For you two have brought life into this world and brought it before the Tribe, we welcome this new life. You have done well, and this life shall grow amongst us and become part of the whole. Come children, your greatest task has just begun. Name the filly, and make her one of the Dayrunners.”

Midnight gently levitated her daughter up and spoke the words she had learned by heart by now. “Daughter of the Sun, you are welcomed among your Tribe, may it become your family as it has ours. I name you Aurora, for the lights that dance upon the night sky. May they guide you as your life continues.”

“And may time bring you understanding,” Blaze said. “You will someday learn more of your family. But for now, may your second name remain silent. That will be your choice once you are of the age. I welcome Aurora as part of my family and of the Tribe. What say you, Elder?”

“The Tribe welcomes the child of the dancing lights, mark her as one of our own,” Bright Spark said as she levitated the bowl over to the parents.

They each took some paint on their hooves and drew on the filly’s face. Both of them drew a mark that reflected the one placed on their own faces, making a perfect symbol resembling a sun on the filly’s face. She gurgled a little as she looked up confused between her two parents.

“We give you, Aurora of the Dayrunner Tribe.” Midnight said as they presented the filly to the rest of the Tribe. “Welcome her as you would your own child. For we are all one family.”
As the ceremony came to a conclusion, Midnight and Blaze started to walk back towards their hut. Blaze was holding Aurora gently in his hooves, the two of them smiled as they talked, enjoying the moment together. Midnight reached over and nuzzled him gently. “She’s beautiful, don’t you think?”

“Just as beautiful as her mother,” Blaze replied as he nuzzled her back. “I’m glad that we had her. Wanna have another?”

“Hang on there, we gotta make sure this one isn’t screwed up first,” Midnight chuckled as they stopped by their hut. It was only a matter of time before they would have to pick up and leave, but she was concerned about moving Aurora when she was so young. “Come on, we should go get her…”

She was cut off when she heard a cry of surprise. She whirled around and was surprised to see a tall purple Alicorn standing in the middle of the village center. They had never seen one, but the occasional outsider had brought stories of them. The Tribesponies drew their weapons, preparing to fight as the purple Alicorn stood there.

“I am looking for Midnight Sparkle,” She said in a calm voice that echoed through the forest nonetheless.

“Get Aurora to safety, I’ll handle this,” Midnight hissed to her husband as she levitated up her rifle. “If she’s here for the Tribe then we can’t put Aurora in danger.”

Blaze nodded weakly as he secured Aurora and started making his way out while Midnight approached the Alicorn. She was still gripping her gun as if her life depended on it, and for all she knew it did.

“I’m Midnight Sparkle, what do you want?” She said, trying not to sound nervous around the false Goddess.

“I come bearing gifts, you have nothing to fear from me,” the Alicorn replied as she used her magic to open up her bags slowly. Midnight and the other tribesponies looked worried for a moment, but were surprised to see that she had taken out an old crate. She set it down on the ground carefully. “She wanted you to have them?”

“She? She who?” Midnight asked as she brushed off the crate. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the six pointed purple star with wings and accompanied by five stars. “This belonged to the Ministry of Arcane Science…”

“Midnight, you will want to see what is in the crate,” The Alicorn said as she turned away, spreading her wings as she prepared to take off again. “It may provide the answers you’ve been seeking.”

“Answers? What are you talking about?” Midnight demanded as she stepped forward towards the Alicorn. “Who are you?”

“Who I am is not important, maybe someday you will know,” the Alicorn said. “But you are not yet ready, Midnight. I am sorry that it had to come to this, but someday you will understand. At least I hope so.”

She spread her wings and took off, leaving Midnight more confused than ever. She placed her hooves on the crate and cautiously opened it, not sure what to expect. Sitting on the top was an old PipBuck that looked like it had been through more than a few fights, though it still seemed to be working. Underneath it was two cases, and both of them had a familiar design painted on them, three shining six-pointed stars surrounded by a strange amorphous shape.

It had been her mother’s cutie mark.

She carefully closed the crate and stared at it for a moment. If this belonged to her mother, there was no telling what was inside. She headed back towards her hut, levitating the crate behind her, she’d have to figure this out later, maybe talk to Blaze about it first. Aurora came first though, she wasn’t going to worry about it just yet.

00000

“Midnight, are you okay?” Blaze asked as he nuzzled his wife gently. She was staring down at Aurora who was fast asleep in a crib they had fashioned. “You’ve been distracted ever since that Alicorn came to the village.”

“I’m trying to decide what I should do about this crate,” Midnight sighed as she trotted over to where she had left the crate. Blaze looked at it a bit confused as she unlocked it again and opened it up. “These things have my mother’s cutie mark on them… I’m not sure if I’m ready to actually see what’s in them.”

“Midnight, you’ve always been afraid of becoming your mother,” Blaze said as he placed his hoof gently on his wife’s. “Or is it something else?”

“That’s part of it,” Midnight admitted. “But it’s also because I’m afraid. I never knew what happened to her, I always assumed she died somewhere out there in the Wasteland. I’m afraid that this will give me answers that I really don’t want because part of me hoped she would come back someday. That it’ll tell me what happened, and I’m not sure I’m ready even after so many years.”

“I think she would want you to know for sure,” Blaze replied with a gentle smile. “Maybe this came from her to tell you that it’s time to move on. What harm would it be for you to check it out?”

“I… guess you have a point,” Midnight said as she opened the crate up again and took out the PipBuck. She hadn’t looked at it too carefully earlier, but she noticed through all the damage done to it, there was also a dent on the side. She chuckled a little when she remembered that, she had gotten into this PipBuck when she was just a filly and had knocked it against a metal table.

This was her Mother’s PipBuck, there was no doubt about that.

She finally opened the two boxes inside and was surprised to find that one of them contained orbs and the other contained holotapes. It took her a moment to recognize the orbs as Memory Orbs, a family in the Stable kept a stock of them, and they hadn’t left the Stable. They said that they were holding them for somepony, but hadn’t ever gone into detail.

So what were these for? She picked up one of the holotapes and took a moment to realize that it was numbered with the number five. She looked around and found the one numbered one and put in the earbuds from the PipBuck before putting in the Holotape. She took a deep breath, not knowing what to expect.

“Hello Midnight, I hope that this message finds you well, I don’t know how long it has been since I recorded it, but I hope that you have grown into a fine mare,” her mother’s voice said over the earbuds. “I know that my leaving must have been hard on you. But I also know that you’re a strong pony who can weather the storm. I would hope that if Stable 13 has opened up like it was supposed to, you have found some small peace in the Wasteland.

“I left these messages in order to provide an account of what happened to me and why I had to leave our home. I know that you won’t completely understand, you may even resent me for what I had to do. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to come back to you… maybe I should have… maybe what I did was ultimately selfish.

Goddesses… I’m sorry for what I did to you. I really am just selfish.

Midnight I am so sorry. But I’ve made my choice, and I don’t want you following in my footsteps, you must make your own choices now. I left this so you could have closure, and I hope it helps you more than anything.

Midnight, I love you. And maybe someday… maybe I’ll get to see you again, somehow, someday… but stay strong for me. For now, my stories are all I can offer to you, I hope they give you something.”

Midnight looked at a piece of paper that gave a rough idea of what Memory Orbs to watch first. She took a deep breath and picked up the first one, maybe it was worth at least getting some of the story.

She tapped into the memory orb and the world around her went white.

00000

Nebula Sparkle’s Perspective.

“Nebula, thank you for coming to see me on such short notice,” Overmare Periwinkle said as I took a seat across from her. She didn’t look happy to have had to call me in here, and I didn’t blame her, I didn’t like it either and I wasn’t even sure what was going on. “Were you at least able to finish your class?”

“Yeah, you called for me just as we were finishing the assessments,” I answered as I brushed my mane back a little. “Though I don’t even know why I’m here. Is there some sort of problem?”

“It’s complicated,” Periwinkle answered as she put on her glasses and turned to her computer. “Nebula, as you know this Stable was built partially by your ancestor, Twilight Sparkle and her Ministry in addition to Stable-Tec.”

“Yeah, I know, what’s the point?” I asked.

“It turns out that there was more to it than just building this place,” Periwinkle answered. “Twilight did a lot to this Stable, as well as to other places around Equestria. And the only pony who can follow it is one of her descendants, such as yourself.”

“Wait, Twilight left behind some sort of mission for her descendants? What if we hadn’t made it into the Stable?” I pointed out. “What if it came up when there was only a foal?”

“Nebula calm down, this isn’t something that was taken lightly,” the Overmare sighed as she looked down at the floor. “Twilight set this Stable up as part of what she called Project Union. I know that this won’t exactly make sense, but maybe this will help. It was left in the care of the Stable’s first Overmare by Twilight herself.”

“Wait… what exactly is Project Union?” I asked, confused. “What does Stable 13 have to do with it?”

“This video will explain everything better than I can,” Periwinkle said as she levitated up a holotape and walked over to a projector. She put it in and the projector started up, playing a video of Twilight Sparkle next to a chalkboard.

“Hello there, future member of the Sparkle family, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there in person to give you this message,” Twilight said on the video. “I’m here to talk to you about Project Union, one of the most important projects put together by the Ministry of Arcane Science. Stable 13 is the Focal Point of this Project, which means that it is where you will have to start from.”

She turned to the board and tapped it with a piece of chalk before drawing out a rough looking map of Equestria. She drew a circle at the rough location of Stable 13, before drawing six more at points around Equestria before turning back to the camera.

“Project Union is all about these seven points around Equestria,” Twilight continued. “Each of them is a data node within a powerful network of computers made by the MAS. They were designed to be used in the event of a Megaspell Exchange between Equestria and the Zebra Empire. I should have been able to activate them myself, but if the network does not register activation within a preset amount of time, or if the network goes offline, Overmare Glimmer or one of her successors will have to call upon one of my descendants in Stable 13 in order to establish or reestablish the network.”

“Great, she wants me to go all over Equestria then…” I muttered as I looked at the projection of the blackboard. “Where would I even start with that kind of thing?”

“Shh, she’s not done yet,” Periwinkle said.

“I know this isn’t an easy thing to ask of you, I don’t know what’s out there and neither do you,” Twilight said as she sat down on her desk. “What I do know is that you are probably the only Pony capable of this. Project Union was developed to gather data on the state of Equestria as well as determine the best course of action for its future. If this works out, Stable 13 will open, and you will be allowed to return home. The Union Network will give your fellow Stable Dwellers a new home as well as a way to keep a close eye out for things. Maybe even you’ll find me at the end of the trail, if I’m lucky I’ll have made it to the final place before the bombs fall.”

Leave the Stable? It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it before, but the idea of leaving the Stable kind of scared her. Especially if there was no real way of knowing what was out there, and there was another reason. I couldn’t leave Midnight behind to live in this Stable without me, I was the only family she really had.

What was I supposed to do?

“I know that the prospect of leaving your home won’t be easy for you,” Twilight continued. “You likely have friends and family in Stable 13, maybe even children. I shouldn’t be asking you to do this, but this has to be done. Project Union is important to the future of Equestria, without it there is no chance of rebuilding Equestria. Project Union when combined with other projects will ensure Equestria’s recovery.”

She sighed a little and rubbed her temples a little before looking away from the camera. She stood there in silence for a moment. It was like she was figuring out how to put what she had to say next into words. The older mare took a deep breath and closed her eyes before finally continuing to speak.

“I don’t know your name, all I know is that you’re my flesh and blood,” she said. “You’re a Sparkle, that means you’ve got a lot of potential for good… or maybe not. I had Stable-Tec make Stable 13 as a way to create the best ponies possible for this project. I’m sorry that you have to do this, but it can only be a Sparkle. I can’t promise you’ll make it home, I can’t promise that you will be the same pony you were when you left home. But I promise you that it will make your home safe. Your family will be safe. Project Union is the future, you will need to first go to the MAS Hub in Manehattan. The Overmare will have more instructions for you. Goodbye, and good luck.”