Dyrilby's Tale

Ah, my beloved home. It has been 22 years since I have lived here. Or been physically alive. Now it is the home of my daughter, Star. She appeared to be about 10 years older than me, in her early thirties in earthly years. In true years, I was over 400. I had lived for about 80 earthly years. I should think about retiring soon… Nah, not until I’m older than Celestia. Anyway, we come now to the part where Star and I sit down for a chat, over a nice bottle of Chablis:

“So, dad… You said you were in Hell. Why?” questioned Star.

“Well, that’s easy. I’m a Celestia-damn murderer. About 8 years before I met your mother, I joined a group known as the Lunesian Order. They are now a core part of the New Lunar Republic, but when I was with them, they were a much smaller sect. I was an assassin. I killed many and innocent pony under their orders. I helped the one known as Trixie on her path to darkness. I helped kill her parents. I… regret ever joining them. If I could go back and change things, so I never joined, I would. But alas, that is not possible. One should not meddle with time. After Nightmare Moon was defeated by your mother, I defected to the Solar Empire. I became one of Celestia’s advisors. I was a great help against the Republic’s rebellion, as I knew much of their death cult’s secrets. I earned forgiveness from her, but even she cannot erase the stains of blood from one’s soul. Killing is easy, redemption is not. I had very bad karma, and yes, it did come back and bite me on the flank. That’s why I ended up in Hell. I come from the OC, so I was given a choice: save the world from myself, or have a shot at redemption by living again. Oh, and Satan said to say hi.”

“If you joined the Solar Empire, you should immediately go to Canterlot. The Princesses will need all the help they can get right now. We are at war. Nightmare Moon is, once again, free. She has a powerful ally this time too. You know the tale of how mum defeated Discord, turning him into stone? He has been freed again. He tore Luna’s soul in half; the good and the evil parts, and made them into separate entities. Luna is fine, I’ve seen her, but the evil part has taken the guise of Nightmare Moon. The Elements of Harmony have no bearers and there is the threat of war drifting in from the zebra kingdom to the south.”

“Luna fuck me with the moon… I must go immediately. I will return soon.”

***

With those words, I left for Canterlot. I knew that I would be needed to help with the war effort. Civil war is never pretty, even less so when one side has two of the most powerful spirits this world has ever known. I had been so long since something this bad had happened, most ponies didn’t think it ever would or could. The worst that had happened was Discord reappearing 55 years ago and Nightmare Moon 5 years prior to that. This time, shit had gotten real.

When Canterlot appeared, I was surprised to see the changes to it. Equestria is a peaceful place, so you would never expect to see firearms lying around. But right there in front of me, was a large stockpile of guns, being dispersed to a large group of ponies in khaki uniforms. Canterlot itself was covered in what appeared to be sentry guns which, as far as I know, didn’t exist 20 years ago. They must have been a recent addition.

“War is happening alright…” I muttered. “If we need that much firepower, we are truly fucked.”

As I flew towards the main entrance to Canterlot city, I was ordered to land for a search. I didn’t really feel like going up against that kind of firepower, so I did as I was told. They could probably help me by letting the Princesses know that I was here.

“State your name and business in Canterlot” said one of the ponies, wearing a type of armour I had never seen before. It was metal plated, and had a rebreather and everything. It made her voice sound tinny and robotic.

(A/N: Guess the armour. I’ll give you a clue: Bethesda Softworks.)

“I am Dyrilby, first advisor to Princess Celestia circa 60 years ago. Have one of your men let her know I am here.”

“Wait. Sir, Dyrilby died 22 years ago.”

“Yeah, well, I’m back. Not even Death himself can stop me. Now, let the Princesses know I am here. I have urgent business to attend to.”

“Sir, I’m going to have to place you under arrest. You are clearly impersonating Dyrilby. He was in his eighties and he died twenty two years ago. I am going to have to ask you to follow me. We are going to see the Princesses, to resolve this problem.”

“That works for me. Lead on, soldier.”

As we walked through Canterlot, I noticed that many ponies now carried sidearms and I even saw one with what appeared to be a minigun.

“How goes the war? I have been dead for a while, so I know not.”

“Sir, I am not cleared to discuss this with you. Wait until we arrive at the palace.”

Bloody cretins… As I was saying, we are truly fucked if the war is as bad as it appears.

Canterlot Palace… A majestic building, but not so great if you are being escorted there by armed guards. As we walked towards the throne room, I could hear a generator, powering some large device; possibly the security system, throbbing in the background.

“Princess Celestia! This one here claims to be Dyrilby, your advisor from 60 years ago!” called out the soldier who had escorted me in.

“Very well. You may leave, sergeant.” Celestia said, “So you claim to be Dyrilby. My first advisor and the husband of my most trusted student, Twilight Sparkle, do you? We’ll see about that. Show me your cutie mark. That is one of the first tests. If it matches Dyrilby’s, then we’ll move on. If not, you go to the jail.”

I showed her my flank, which of course had my cutie mark on it: a bass clef, the opposite of Octavia’s.

(A/N: Why the fuck does Octavia have a treble clef cutie mark, when a cello is a bass instrument?! Seriously Hasbro! Get your facts right!)

“As you can see, it is my cutie mark. The bass clef.”

“Very well. We move onto the next test. What is the name of Dyrilby’s daughter?”

“My daughter’s name is Star. Named after Twilight’s mother.”

“Very good… Now, you must tell me something only Dyrilby and I know. What happened to Dyrilby the night that he murdered Trixie’s parents? Answer me this and then, if you are in fact Dyrilby, explain how you come to be here.”

“The night I killed them… I regrated it terribly. I saw things, in my mind’s eye, that nopony should ever have to witness. I was cursed, and I nearly killed myself in a fit of madness. What happened was: cupcakes. I turned them into sweet and tasty cupcakes.”

“Very good, Dyrilby. I had a feeling someone like you would show up sooner or later. We have great need of OC’s. If Nightmare Moon manages to round up enough of them, she will be unstoppable, as each OC has different powers. You are one of the 3 OC’s with remembrance, which practically makes you immortal. One of the others resides her, in this palace. The other hasn’t been seen since she left for the griffin lands. You remember Essex, don’t you? The pony who ran the bar you worked at in the OC? He is like you. He has remembrance. He lives here, in the palace. I will show you to him, but first: why didn’t you remain dead? Most ponies would rather be dead in this day and age.”

“I left, because I was in Hell. I had a chance at redemption, so I took it.”

“Very well. Come with me. Essex will wish to see you. He has taken on the role of quartermaster for the soldiers out there. You have already seen some of the new armour he invented. He calls it ‘power armour’, as it runs off of spark batteries, which he also developed. He has also designed magical energy weapons that use gems to emit a beam of energy instead of a bullet.”

“Interesting… I have to try this. It sounds fun.”

“War is not a fun endeavour. It is a harsh, cruel, honourless experience.”

“I was not saying it is. I was merely stating that using a magical energy weapon would be an interesting experience. Also, this power armour… I wish to have a set.”

“You will require special training to use either of these devices. I can arrange for it, but first; you must do something for me. I require an envoy to the OC. You are able to freely travel there, whilst others are not. Essex has already taken on an important role in this war, so he cannot perform this task. You must do this, for the good of all Equestrians. You shall have the power armour training and the energy weapons if you accept.”

“Very well. I shall do this for you. Now, about that training…”

“Go on in. He’s expecting you.”

***

Perk Added: Power Armour Training

You have received the specialised training to move in any form of Power Armour

(A/N: Forgive me for this chapter. No, I am not doing a Fallout: Equestria side story, I have been playing Fallout 3 and I just rolled with it. This is not Fallout: Equestria in any way, shape or form. Fallout: Equestria© Kkat 2011)