Fallout Equestria: Killing with Kindness

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Prologue
Epilogue

Chapter One

The sun shone brightly down upon the citizens of New Ponyville, the wind rustling gently through their manes, whispering of the peace and prosperity that now blanketed the lands of Equestria. There was joy in the chirp of the birds, as they tilted their heads and belted out their inner music with all the power their small feathered bodies could produce.

These things were not lost on Syntax as she trotted briskly along the streets, headed towards a small cottage at the edge of town. She was normally not in so much of a hurry, but today was different. Today the local newspaper reporter and aspiring author had been summoned by a very special friend on an "urgent matter", and she was not going to let her down.

Her rapid pace soon placed her directly at the door of her destination, and she knocked loudly. In a matter of seconds, a young unicorn with emerald eyes answered. Her expression brightened, and then sobered.

"Syntax. It's good you came so quickly."

"What's happened, Doctor Tulip?"

The unicorn released a heavy sigh, and Syntax tensed.

"Oh no. She's not...has she...?"

"She's taken a slight turn for the worse. I don't know really how many more days she has."

Syntax felt her heart constrict. "I'll go see her."

She trotted the familiar hall to the equally familiar room where she knew her friend was waiting. As soon as she got inside, she turned, and her navy blue eyes met orbs of teal.

"Syntax." The name rolled off Fluttershy's tongue with quiet joy.

Syntax smiled. "Hello, Flutters. How are you doing?"

She rotted to her bed. She didn't look too well. Her smile was weaker than it had been at her visit a few days ago. She chuckled softly.

"Oh, I'm doing well, considering." She gazed at Syntax searchingly. "Syntax, I-I need a favour from you."

"Of course, anything you need."

"I'm not going to be around much longer-"

"Don't say that." Syntax nearly pleaded, voice pained.

"Shh. It's ok. Everypony's time comes sooner or later. I have had a long life after all. Very long..." Her eyes took on a pained, almost haunted expression. "And its that reason I asked for you. I want to tell you my story. From during the bad times."

Syntax blinked. "But everypony knows already what happened, and how you turned into-"

"No. My story." Her voice was quiet yet firm. "The things I have told nopony else. The things that I...saw. I need to tell it. I want to tell it, so I can maybe pass with some peace. I want- I want my story told better than other books. I want-" she broke off, coughing.

Syntax suddenly realized what she was saying. "You want to tell me what you experienced back then."

Fluttershy nodded. "The books don't say what happened exactly after Rarity teleported me to safety. Or...what she thought was safety. I want to share it. I've...kept it inside too long. And you may decide who you share it with and when, but it might help somepony. Somehow."

Syntax settled into a chair. "Ok."

Her uncertain tone brought a curious look from her friend.

"You seem unsure."

"It's just...having read Littlepip's accounts of back then was...horrific."

"It was just as horrific to watch as to be a part of. Worse." Her eyes were haunted again.

"Why wor- oh." Syntax swallowed, filled with pain for the pony in front of her.

Fluttershy seemed to have slipped into her memories, her eyes looking at Syntax yet seeing nothing.

"It was the wasteland's cruel and unusual punishment. I was the cause of the chaos, it was fitting I should watch as it destroyed everything."

Twisted and sickly horrific justice. Syntax couldn't even imagine what it was like, trapped and immobile, unable to speak, move, or act. Only able to watch the carnage that arose from the megaspells that her Ministry...no, that she, had created. Helpless to do anything at all about it.

"I wished for death." Her quiet voice captivated every fiber of Syntax's concentration. "Every day, for two centuries. I watched the horror, and I pleaded to die. But there was no merciful death for me. I just had to watch."

She inhaled deeply, prompting a wracking cough, and then her eyes met those of her audience of one, truly met them, actually seeing this time.

"I remember the day as clearly as if it were yesterday. The day everything went so wrong..."

"NO! NONONONO! HOW COULD THEY DO THIS?!" Her panicked and agonized screams rang out between sobs as she viciously clung to Rarity like a lifeline. "THEY'VE KILLED EVERYPONY! RUINED EVERYTHING!"

Already the ominous crack of breaking glass was reaching her ears, and Rarity let go to fly over to the window as the pink cloud of certain death flowed towards them. Fluttershy watched in horror as her friend slammed her hoof into the hole in the glass, her face almost instantly contorting with pain.

"Forget Stable One!" She cried urgently. "There is no time! I need to get you to safety!"

Her horn glowed, and Fluttershy let out a strangled cry before the scenery changed around her. Her office was gone, Rarity was gone, and she was in the forest. Near Zecora's old hut, to be exact. She slid to the ground, chest heaving with panicked breaths and painful sobs.

How had it gone so wrong? In her misguided efforts to help everyone, she had succeeded in killing them all. What was she thinking? She picked herself up and started to run, where to she didn't know, she only wanted to escape the horrors that surrounded her. She made it a short distance before tripping over a root and going down hard, right near a patch of familiar blue flowers. Only these were not the harmless type of years ago. These were plants of a sick and twisted nature that nocreature could possibly contain, control, or even hope to explain their existence believably.

Killing joke.

As soon as she saw them, tendrils of vines lashed out, seizing her before she had time to move, dragging her towards them.

"Noooo!" She screamed out in horrified terror. "NO!"

It was no use. The tendrils were tight around her body, painfully tight, drawing specks of blood as they dragged her into their midst. She could feel a foreign magic coursing through her, whitehot and incredibly painful, like it would burn her to death from the inside out. Her screams of raw agony echoed through the woods, intermingled with vain pleas for help and begging for quick death.

There would be no help. There would be no quick death. No, this was going to end in something far worse.

Her eyes flew wide, her vision going completely white, and a singular long, bloodcurdling scream tore itself from her throat as fresh waves of unspeakably horrific pain raced through her. Then everything went black.

That would be her final vocal sound for the next two centuries.

Chapter Two

Syntax's heart was breaking as Fluttershy sat propped up on pillows against the headboard of her bed, struggling to speak past her tears. So much pain and agony had to have been locked inside the gentle mare for all these years, and she wished for all that she was worth that there was a way to go back in time and change history. Prevent the horrors that had left their gruesome scars on her mind and heart.

"Why-" she swallowed. "Why a tree though?"

Fluttershy laughed mirthlessly, sending her into another coughing fit.

"I jokingly made a comment that I'd like to be a tree. And I guess they killing joke just decided how appropriate it was. Trap me in a place high enough to see everything fall apart, and trap me in a way that I couldn't get free and I couldn't die, using my own words against me."

"So they...made you eternal, sort of."

"The land in those days had a very, very ugly sense of humour." Fluttershy said quietly. "I wished they had killed me instead. In a way, I still do. My friends all..."

Syntax barely nodded. "They all died in that attack...well...almost all. Applejack made it to safety. But...well. I can't imagine how it feels to be the only one that, uh, survived."

"No. I wasn't." Fluttershy gazed towards her window. "Oh physically they passed, but they never truly died. Their spirits live on. And in Rarity's case, she...never really died either. Her soul still lives on."

Syntax blinked. Oh. Right. The soul jars.

She shuddered in horrified sympathy at the account in Littlepip's book of the memory orb, the one from Snips. The one which showed the gruesomely painful process of tearing Rarity's soul into pieces. Forty-two pieces. She had read this account with a mix of shock, horror, and, surpsingly, understanding. Rarity had wanted to give a piece of herself to each friend, and in so doing perhaps pull them all back together.

Sadly, it had never come to fruition. However, encased safely in the sould jars, her soul lived on, just as her spirit did in the minds and hearts of those who had been close to her or were close to her descendants.

"We all made it through. Together." Fluttershy said softly, tears in her eyes. "But we shouldn't have had to at all. I should have-"

She coughed, and Syntax flinched, hearing the guilt in her voice, but not daring to interrupt.

"Looking back, I should have known giving the megaspells to both sides was a horrible idea. But I just thought I could make everything better."

"Oh, surely this should work! Surely creatures will have to get along. If I can just get this to both sides, restore healing and health in place of war, maybe this will end and we can go back to normal!"

Fluttershy was pacing the floor of her office, talking aloud to herself, the only audience being a white bunny that sat in a chair, periodically tapping his foot against it's wooden surface in annoyance at the long speech.

"This will heal everything. It has to. This has to stop. We have to do better! Be better!"

Her office door opened to admit a stately looking zebra, who walked to stand stiffly before the Ministry Mare.

"You summoned for me. Why?"

Her oddly accented voice held a hint of loathing, as if it should be far beneath her to actually yield to the call of a common pony. Even one such as a Ministry Mare.

"To give you this."

Fluttershy opened her safe, removing an object that glowed with the magic inside it, and offered it to the zebra.

"What manner of magic is this?!"

"This is a megaspell. Well, a small one. When detonated it heals and restores everycreature and everything it touches. I'm giving it to both sides. In hopes we might end this senseless war for once and for all."

Fluttershy was deadly serious, her teal eyes locked into orbs of blood red. The zebra stared intensely from her to the magic she offered and back again, before finally accepting the gift.

"I will take it to my council."

With that, she walked away, shutting the door behind her as Fluttershy sank into her chair, a sudden mess of frazzled nerves. She had a twinge in her gut, small but nagging, making her a tad uneasy.

"Don't be silly, Fluttershy." She told herself. "It's a good plan. What you've just done might just save the world."

She would come to discover that she had actually done the opposite. She had only signed Equestria's death warrant.

"I never meant for that to happen." Fluttershy murmured. "I only wanted to heal Equestria and stop the war. But instead, I just sentenced all of us to death. When I first heard the news that they had used our own megaspells against us, I was...devastated."

Syntax inhaled, watching her in silence, seeming to share the pain as she listened.

The attack on Canterlot was unexpected and brutal, the explosions resounding viciously through the city as a pink fog started growing and expanding. Fluttershy was downstairs, preparing to go out and eat lunch, when the building shook with the force of the explosion.

Her eyes widened in horror, and that horror only got worse as a gasping guard ran up to her, panic on his features.

"They...there is magic in the...they used megaspell technology!"

Fluttershy felt like she had been hit by an entire cart of bricks. No. No...it couldn't be. No! Why?! How?! How could they do this?! No!

She fled to her office, tears already streaming. How could they? They had just killed everyone! And then it hit her like an even larger cart of bricks: they had just killed everyone using the megaspells she had given to them.

She ran faster, screaming out in frustration, anger, and panic, sobbing as she crashed into her office and frantically scrambled to grab a few things in preparation to leave for Stable One. Then there was Rarity, running in to find her, trying to comfort her, trying to save her life.

She shouldn't have needed saving, but she did, and it had been all her fault.

Chapter Three

Fluttershy again paused her tale, needing a drink, and Syntax fetched her a glass of water before settling down in her chair. While she drank, Syntax's eyes landed on an array of colorful photos on the wall. Images of happier times. She saw the Mane Six together as they had once been, carefree and oh so close. There were pictures at the spa, at Sweet Apple Acres, at what once was Sugarcube Corner, and various other places.

"We were so happy once." Fluttershy said sadly. "It was an easier and more pleasant time then, before any major war or disastrous Equestria-wide disasters. We even held on to some of that happiness together after the war came. But then there was a day where we just all fell apart. Twilight and Pinkie had that falling out, and it just...took the life from the rest of us. It would have been so much better if we had just done what Princess Celestia wanted and stayed out of the front lines. But we were Ministry Mares, and dedicated to our causes. How I miss those carefree days. I want them again, Syntax. I want to experience just one more day with all my dear friends, like we used to do so long ago. I know it's not possible, but, I just want it."

Syntax felt tears threatening. There was so much pain in Fluttershy's eyes. She wished she knew how to ease it. The pegasus sighed in misery.

"That killing joke should have simply just ended me. But instead it made sure I would suffer a fate far worse than death. You know what's worse than death, Syntax?"

Syntax shook her head.

"Watching while multitudes of lives are cruelly ripped to shreds and exterminated. Watching while the terrors that hold you captive lure victims in and viciously torture and murder them in front of you, dying you red with every spray of their blood. Watching while ponies brutally slaughter other ponies, leaving them to rot. And knowing all the while that it was you who made it possible."

Syntax felt like throwing up. How could something be so evil, so vile, as to make this sensitive soul watch such destruction?

"It became a sight I was used to." Fluttershy murmured. "But being used to seeing it did not make the pain any less intense."

Trapped in the cruel prison, Fluttershy could not move, speak or do anything but observe. She still had sight and hearing. The calculated brutality of the plants that surrounded her was sickening and heart breaking. Watching while the world was turned desolate and practically uninhabitable was bad enough. But then they lured in other victims.

She was watching in agony when they lured in a young mare. She tried to warn her.

Keep away! Keep away!

But to no avail. Her warning was but a whisper on the wind, and the helpless mare was dragged into the killing joke, it's tendrils wrapping around her, tightening down horribly, effectively carving her body to pieces while she screamed in agony. Her blood sprayed out freely, coating the base of the yellow tree and soaking the ground beneath it.

And all Fluttershy could do was internally weep in anguish. The horrid tendrils completely dissected the mare's body, and then finally flung her bloody remains aside. They then wrapped higher around the tree, leaving lines of crimson on the pastel colored trunk.

Fluttershy was begging for death, anything to avoid continuously watching the bloody massacres of the innocent in front of her, yet it did no good. Some of the helpless victims were foals, and these the tendrils took particular delight in torturing. Over time the soil was nearly black from the blood shed there, and streaks of darkening red lined the trunk. One thing was certain: the killing joke was never going to stop making her suffer as long as she was in it's power.

Syntax was struggling to swallow the bile that kept rising in her throat as the graphic story continued. She didn't want to even think about having to go through this kind of gruesome horror. The fact that the killing joke had deliberated tormented Fluttershy by murdering countless victims in front of her through the decades was sickening.

How Fluttershy had even come out of it anywhere near sane was beyond her understanding. Watching such things would have robbed her of her sanity within a day. Yet Fluttershy had endured for two centuries.

"I suppose in a way it was fitting." Fluttershy said. "I did contribute to the desolation, so my punishment was fairly just."

"Nopony deserves that." Syntax managed. "Nopony should be forced to watch while all they love and know is ruthlessly destroyed and ponies are ripped into bloody shreds in front of them. I don't care what part they played in it, nopony ever deserves that."

Fluttershy's eyes met hers.

"That's not what I told myself."

Day in and day out, the terrible sights just kept coming. Fluttershy was able to think clearly, even as a tree, and she did think.

I did this...it's my fault. I should never have given the megaspells to the zebras. I just wanted to stop the war but instead it's much worse. It's oh so much worse.

And she cried bitterly. Internally she was screaming and sobbing as her heart bled at what had become of the land she had once loved. Her inward agony made itself known outwardly by creaking branches and drooping pink leaves.

As usual her turmoil was interrupted by the arrival of yet another unlucky pony. Again she tried to warn him. Again it failed. Again she was forced to watch the panicked victim emit screams of terror as the tendrils that held him fast ripped into his flesh, exposing muscle and bone. Blood sprurted forth like a scarlet fountain, drenching the killing joke's other helpless victim as she watched, silently weeping.

His blood soaked remains joined those of other ponies, and by nightfall he would be fully consumed by the murderous and cannibalistic plants. Fluttershy's heart bled further, agony increasing more. She longed for death to take her but sadly, that was not an option. The killing joke saw to that. It kept her alive even as it mercilessly continued it's slaughter of others.

Her vision once more on the desolate lands around her, she continued her forced vigil, never missing even the most gruesome of sights...though she desperately wanted to. But gradually she came to accept this as punishment, as a justified course of action to make her pay for her sins.

To make her pay for single-hoofedly handing the enemy the weapon to kill them all with, all in what she should have known beforehoof was a lost cause to end the war. In reality, even if she watched the horrors around her for eternity, it was not nearly enough to atone for this.

Nothing would ever be enough for that.

Chapter Four

"I wonder what went through their heads about me."

Fluttershy spoke so softly Syntax barely caught it. She had her eyes closed, and a single tear had escaped.

"They had to have known where the megaspells came from. I told Rarity, and Rainbow knew. But did the others? I don't really remember. Did they blame me? They should have. The Crusaders blamed all the Ministry Mares, but really, it was my fault. I hope their last thoughts of me weren't...bad. Even if I deserve it."

Syntax took her hoof in both her own. "Fluttershy, you couldn't have known they would take your megaspells and use them against you. You were tired of the war, tired of the fight, tired of watching lives be lost. You did what you thought would help."

"I should have known. But I was so sure it would work I never even considered they might use it on us. I just wanted to do better, be better. Stop the senseless war before more got hurt or killed. Bring my friends back together again. I just, I don't know. I don't know how it all went wrong, but I do know that I was the sole one to blame. This land would never have seen an apocalypse if not for me." Her breathing hitched; she was trying not to cry. "I wish there was a way to ask for forgiveness. My friends deserve that much. But I can't."

Syntax moved to sit by her on the bed, wrapping her forelegs around the weak and trembling form now wracked with coughs and ragged breaths.

"They would forgive you wholeheartedly, Fluttershy. I'm sure of it. They wouldn't want you to loathe yourself for whatever remains of your life. They would want you to smile. Pinkie would demand you turn that frown upside down!"

This got a smile out of her. But her eyes were pained.

"I wish I had a few moments with them, like old days." She reiterated, leaning against Syntax, sighing. "I lost everything because of what I did. My friends were gone. It was all just gone."

Syntax simply held her, not even sure what to say to comfort her. How did you comfort somepony that was carrying the crushing weight of so much guilt on her shoulders? She felt a shudder pass through the older mare's body and slightly tightened her grip.

"Syntax?"

"Yes?"

"Is- can there ever truly be forgiveness for such things?"

"Yes." Syntax didn't even hesitate. "Fluttershy, there is nopony that blames you. You acted on what you hoped would end the war. You did what your Ministry was built for. You tried to create peace in place of war. Healing instead of pain. Life instead of death. Nopony could ever blame you for that."

"Even though it cost Equestria everything? Killed countless thousands? Turned the land into nothing but a radiation filled wasteland? There's thousands of deaths, Syntax, that are on my hooves, all because I was foolish enough to think I could trust such powerful magic to the enemy. I killed them all, as sure as if I had released those megaspell attacks on them with my own two hooves."

Her body was shaking violently, her tears streaming freely. Syntax felt her heart ripping in two at the pain that was radiating from her friend. Her words were not sinking into her anguished and guilt ridden mind. She was convinced the blame for this lay squarely on her shoulders, and hers alone.

"I know what they wanted to do. The Crusaders. Scootaloo especially. Lock us in Stable One and never let us out. Make us pay for what happened to the world by keeping us and our future generations locked away til not one of us was left alive. I wish I had been in that Stable. But then, maybe it was better that I wasn't. Better that I had to face my sins from the hilltop. Better that I had to see what my choice brought."

Days stretched into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. As the wasteland claimed lives on a daily basis with it's pockets of toxic gasses and pools of remaining pink clouds, along with the horrific hybrids the toxic waste produced, and as innocent lives of ponies and creatures were savagely ripped away by the raiders and thieves that ravaged and pillaged and destroyed, Fluttershy watched from the tallest seat the forest could offer her.

Day in and day out she thought of what might have been had she just not given the enemy the power they had ultimately used to destroy everything. She thought of her friends. In fact, her friends became her mental escape. As the killing joke wreaked it's bloody havoc on the victims it lured in, Fluttershy slipped into mental images of her friends when the sight of gore and spraying blood was too much.

She thought of Rarity, the fashion designer and most generous of them all. How she never judged her for her choice of giving the spells to the enemy in a desperate bid to end the carnage once and for all. About how she had so willingly sacrificed herself to save her life. And there was no doubt in her mind that Rarity had died in her office, blocking the obnoxious gasses while teleporting her to what she had hoped was safety.

In a sick, twisted sort of way it was safety. Safety from death at least. However, it was far worse than if she had simply died in that office with her friend. She might be alive, but it was no life. Only existence. And a horrific one at that. But Rarity could not have known that. Her final act for Fluttershy had been to simply ensure she would survive. And she had succeeded...just not the way she would have liked.

With the screams of another victim sounding in the background, Fluttershy's thoughts drifted to the others. Where were they all? She could only hope they had lived through the onslaught, hope they had gotten safely into Stables where they would stay alive. Rainbow Dash would have the chance to live out her days just being awesome. Applejack would have the chance to live out hers doing what she had always done best: be an apple farmer. Pinkie Pie would have the chance to live hers throwing the best parties ever seen. And perhaps, she and Twilight would be able to patch things up between them. As for Twilight, well, she would have the chance to continue being a bookworm, and passing down her countless years of study to younger generations. Rarity, she thought with sorrow, would never have a chance to live out her days being a fashionista. Her life was tragically over.

Fluttershy was unable to ignore the now higher pitched screaming of the victim being brutally murdered. Her attention was drawn back to it as she silently cried, helpless to stop it. The noisy splashing of blood against the base of her trunk was unmistakeable and seemed horribly amplified throughout the woods. She didn't even know anymore how many layers of blood and gore covered her. She had lost count a long time ago.

Mercifully, the screaming stopped, replaced with a final sickening cracking and popping of bones being torn apart, and the pony's remains disappeared under a pile of the killing joke. Fluttershy would have screamed in agonized protest against the plants' sadistic and coldly brutal actions had she had the capabilty, but she could not. And she had learned a long time ago that the protests would have done no good anyway.

She still wished for death, but knew it would never come. She didn't know how many other victims would die cruelly at her base, but she did know the killing joke would make sure she witnessed every single one of them.

This was the twisted punishment it had chosen to give to her, and nothing short of a miracle would ever undo it.

Chapter Five

If you took all the pain that plagued every creature in Equestria and bottled it up, it would not even come close to the years of anguish that Fluttershy had suffered. Hearing her story told through her eyes, listening to all her thoughts and emotions through those years, was hard on Syntax. It broke her heart and it made her feel sick, but she wasn't going to complain. Fluttershy needed to talk this out, needed to finally share her deepest pain, needed a sympathetic ear to confess her deepest guilt to, and Syntax was willing to listen, no matter how horrific the topic.

The last surviving Ministry Mare needed to spend her last days in as much peace as possible. She deserved that. She deserved peace after decades of nothing but agony. And Syntax was not going to take that from her just to spare her own mind from the brutal images her story produced.

Leaning her head into her friend's chest, Fluttershy sighed. Her body was no longer shaking, and her breathing had evened out. She lightly rubbed her head against Syntax's soft coat, adjusting it so the earth pony's heartbeat could be heard clearly in her ear. It seemed to soothe her somewhat, as she relaxed even further in her grasp.

The silence was nearly deafening, and broken only by an occasional soft sigh from Fluttershy. Syntax didn't ask questions or push her to continue her tale, knowing she would speak when she was ready.

"I remember the day Littlepip and her friends came. I was sure they were all going to die."

Syntax tightened her grip just slightly, this time also letting her hoof stroke gently between the pegasus's wings in a soothing motion. Fluttershy remained relaxed, eyes closing as the images replayed in her mind.

It was hard watching the group that approached her. It was harder than usual because for some reason they all seemed so different from the other victims the killing joke lured there. They seemed special. She frantically tried to warn them of impending doom.

Keep Away! Keep away!!

A mare with a songbird cutie mark was the one who tried to approach first, despite the warning.

"It's...it's you, isn't it?"

Fluttershy's mind was frantic. This pony knew what she was...or rather who she was. And that made her desperate to protect her, and her companions, from whatever cruel torture the plants around her base would put them through. It was easier somehow when the victims didn't know her, didn't know what she truly was. But on the rare occasions they did, the pain of watching their bloody demise was ten times worse. She redoubled her efforts to warn them.

Keep away! Keep away!

Her warning was echoed by the zebra of the group, throwing the pony out of the way just as the tendrils lashed out. And then they were all fighting for their lives against the brutal plants, desperately trying to stay out of their clutches. She internally screamed in horror as the zebra went down, several of her stripes flayed horrifically off of her body as scarlet streams of her blood sprayed from the wounds, coating the earth. A unicorn with a Pipbuck on her foreleg rapidly formed a gruesome cast around the zebra's body with her own blood, and Fluttershy hoped desperately that the creature would survive her injuries.

The pony who had tried to approach, who she heard one of the others call "Velvet", looked up from where she sat gasping to gaze upon the bloodstained tree with eyes full of sorrow. The group had managed to back out of the killing joke's range, and it wrapped it's blood soaked tendrils tightly around her trunk. She was inwardly crying, but full of relief that they had survived. They headed away from her, to Zecora's old hut, with Velvet casting back a final glance of sadness, tears spilling from her eyes.

Fluttershy was grateful that the killing joke had lost this round. It would have been far too much to bear to watch an entire group of Innocents being slaughtered in the same way countless others had throughout the years. She would catch glimpses of them off and on for several days, before eventually not seeing them, and she hoped they were all ok and would make it to wherever they were going in one piece.

The killing joke was a vengeful plant, and in retaliation for having been denied the success of slaughtering the group of intruders, it instead lured in the next unlucky pony to pass and systematically ripped his hide from his body, blood spraying from broken vessels and arteries as it skinned him alive and gutted him, brutally ripping out his internal organs from the least vital to the most vital, leaving him fully alive to feel every shred of pain as he screamed in raw, desperate agony unlike any creature could imagine. His blood thoroughly soaked the base of her trunk, sprayed some of her lower hanging leaves, and saturated the darkened earth.

Fluttershy could only weep inside her prison, silently praying for forgiveness that her actions had contributed to this. Not even trying to slip into her memories of her friends was enough to drown out the screams of the dying pony. All she could do was just hope that it would soon end for him.

It did.

Before long the screams stopped, replaced with the cracking of bone and the wet sounds of the bloody remains being greedily consumed by the plants. She would never be able to understand or explain how they managed to actually eat the bodies, and she really didn't want to dwell on it. It was too much just to know that they did it.

Her vision was once more on the surrounding wasteland, watching the fog of the still remaining radiation sweep across the barren ground, well, barren except for dead trees poking up out of the cracked earth. Even after two hundred years the sight of it always hurt on a level nopony would ever fully grasp. And even after two hundred years she felt as though she had not even come close to atoning for a tiny fraction of her past choice. No. This would never be atoned for. It could never be. It was impossible.

It was a lonely and exrutiatingly painful existence, yet still all the praying for death went unheeded. She was doomed to remain this way for as long as Equestria existed.

Chapter Six

"I can still vividly recall the day the sun came back." Fluttershy spoke quietly against her friend's chest. "It was something spectacular. I had given up hope that Equestria would ever see peace and light again, but there it was. Celestia's sun blazing through the cracks in the cloud cover."

The day was just like any other to the imprisoned Ministry Mare...dull, grey, lifeless, and the random attacks of helpless victims at her base. Nothing had changed for two hundred years and really, there was no hope in sight that it ever would. Over the last decade, she had given up wishing for death, simply accepting that she was helplessly trapped for eternity by the cruel design of the killing joke. She had no energy left to loathe the plants. No energy left to loathe the desolate and death ridden wastelands. No energy left to pray to Celestia and Luna for it to all end.

She had completely given up.

Now she was just empty, having been drained of whatever emotions she had left, simply existing from day to day and no longer even possessing the mental capacity to force herself into thoughts of her friends when the plants below her tortured their victims. What was the point in trying to drown out screams that she was going to hear for eternity anyway? What was the point in trying to pay no attention to the bloody sights she was faced with every day? The mental and emotional anguish had long since passed the point of being unbearable. It was like a knife, blade brought to a temperature that could rival the sun she never got a glimpse of, being thrust deeply into her heart and twisted without mercy, the whitehot steel searing what was left of her fragile feelings.

She was past the point of internal screams and tears. She was empty, with nothing left to feel. The wasteland was a brutal, coldly calculating place, violently annihilating the weak and leaving the strong floundering in their own gradually increasing weaknesses. She had seen it all, and it had thoroughly broken her.

Her emptiness was suddenly shattered when she saw something in the sky. Was that a-? No, it was impossible. She must be delusional.

There it was again! A light! A faint but glowing yellow ray piercing through a miniscule crack in the cloud cover. And as she watched, stunned and fascinated, other similar fissures appeared, lining the entire sky as more rays of golden light penetrated through them into the hazy realm below...and wrestled a faint jolt of hope into Fluttershy's long since shattered heart.

Oh! Oh sweet Celestia! Th-the sun!!

Her thoughts were scrambled, her annihilated emotions slowly ressurecting. A ray of sunlight pierced through the cloud cover directly above her and shot down fiercely into the patch of murderous plants at her base. To her amazement, the plants seemed to wilt, recoiling from the solar intruder with slight wisps of smoke rising from some of them. The beam was relentless, and another, larger ray pierced through the clouds and slammed into the killing joke with a force to rival the first one. Fluttershy watched as the plants thrashed, tendrils lashing out at nothing, twitching and jerking erratically as if in death throes, and she imagined them screaming in agony.

An entire section of clouds burst apart and dissapated, massive rays of sunlight shooting down to the radiation ravaged lands below. The struggling plants stood no chance, and it took only a moment more before they disintegrated to ash and blew away in the faint wind. Fluttershy could have laughed out loud.

Finally she was free of her cruel captor. And this gave her something she hadn't felt in a decade: strong hope.

Across the wasteland larger chunks of the cloud cover were disintegrating, letting the life giving rays of light strike the barren ground. Equestria was beginning a new dawn, and Fluttershy felt as though she were dreaming. One ray of sun gently played across her blood stained trunk, and she could feel it's warmth. She was internally crying for joy, and simultaneously for sorrow, because here she was witnessing what her dear friends never would.

Equestria was returning.

Syntax felt tears drenching her face, thinking of how it must have felt to see light and peace returning after two centuries of nothing but darkness, war and death. How relieving it must have been.

"I wish they could have seen it." Fluttershy murmured. "It was such a bittersweet moment. Watching Equestria as it began to renew itself and replenish what was lost. How they would have loved it. Pinkie would have thrown the largest party the land has ever seen, and Rainbow Dash would have performed her best sonic rainboom ever. Rarity would have made everypony the most fabulous outfits for the occasion. Applejack would have-"

Her voice cracked, a quiet sob escaping.

"Applejack would have busted out the best apple cider ever tasted." Syntax whispered softly. "And Twilight would be all over the place conducting science experiments and trying to figure out the best ways to help everything grow to its best."

"I miss them, Syntax. I really do. It was so hard coming back to a world with them gone. In a way I almost wish I had stayed a tree. But...in another, I'm glad I'm not." Fluttershy sniffled. "I'm hopefully going to be with them, once I pass from here."

"I-I wish you wouldn't mention that." Syntax murmured sadly. "I've really gotten to know you, and you're such a kind and wonderful friend. It's sad to think you might-" she stopped, breathing hitched as she fought back further tears.

Fluttershy nuzzled her young friend.

"Shh." She said softly. "Like I said at the beginning, everypony's time comes sooner or later. I have lived for so long, Syntax. I'm not sad that it's my time, because I'm really tired, and I want to be with my friends again."

"But you'll be gone..." Syntax managed.

"I'll still be here. Just like all my friends are still here in a way." Fluttershy leaned back and gently patted her hoof against Syntax's chest. "My spirit will live on, right here, in you. And in anycreature that knows and loves me. I won't really be gone."

Syntax sighed. This was true. As sad as it was to consider her dear friend leaving, Fluttershy had lived a long and pain filled life. She deserved nothing less than to finally rest in peace and be reunited with her loved best friends.

"Syntax?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you bring me my bag?"

Syntax knew the one. She'd seen it before. Fluttershy never parted with it. Easing away from the pagasus, she fetched the bag and brought it to her. Fluttershy waved to her.

"Open it."

Syntax did as requested, and gasped softly as she found herself gazing at the set of figurines. She removed each one with great respect and care, lining them up on Fluttershy's night-table. Just being in close proximity to them gave her a sense of calm and increased wellbeing.

"I want you to have these." Fluttershy said quietly.

"What? But-"

"No. I want you to have them. Take good care of them. Pass them down to generations after you, along with my story. Creatures must never forget. Never again must history repeat itself so horribly. Please, Syntax? Promise me."

The weight of this responsibility was almost crushing. But Syntax knew exactly what she had to do. She met those pleading eyes and nodded, expression soft yet determined as tears shimmered in her own eyes.

"I promise."

A small smile tugged at the yellow lips.

"Pinkie Promise?"

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

The smile widened more.

"Thank you. This means so much."

Fluttershy leaned her head back, gaze floating to the figurines on her table. Her friends, captured in moments of stopped time, preserved youthful forever.

"My only wish now..."

"One more moment with them like old days?" Syntax said softly.

Fluttershy nodded, eyes closing. "I know I will be with them, but...not here, where we used to go."

Watching her, a light bulb went off in Syntax's head, and she suddenly knew exactly what to do for the elderly mare in front of her.

It needed to be perfect. It needed to be special. And it would be the best last gift she could give to her.

Chapter Seven

Syntax was a burst of frantic activity. Putting her plans into action had been slightly more challenging than anticipated, but she had finally managed to accomplish her goal, and now she was trotting eagerly up to Fluttershy's front door.

The energetic rap of her hoof on the wooden surface was answered by the door gently opening to reveal Fluttershy, leaning against the wall for support since her limbs refused to hold her upright on their own without vicious wobbling.

"Fluttershy! Hi!" Syntax leaned in and gave her friend an affectionate nuzzle. "Good to see up on your hooves, I was afraid I might have to pick you up right out of bed!"

Fluttershy chuckled softly. "I wanted to try getting around on my own for once. You've put together some kind of special day just for me, the least I can do is not force you to have to coddle me."

"Nonsense!" Syntax huffed in mock indignance. "What are friends for? Also we're going a long walk away soooooo..."

Without further ado, she moved to her friend's side, sliding her body underneath hers and easily standing up with the frail mare fully sprawled on her strong back.

"Oh! Oh my." Fluttershy managed, with a slight blush. "Syntax, are you sure I'm not too...heavy?"

"Hey, are you calling me weak?" Syntax craned her head around to give her a look of fake offense.

Fluttershy giggled. "No, not at all, I just...I'm a heavy mare, so..."

"And now you're calling yourself fat!" Syntax shook her head. "I never."

The giggle-snorts coming from her passenger made her grin as she carefully walked outside and pulled the door closed behind them. In reality, Fluttershy was far from heavy. Her illness had left her frail and thin, and she weighed a lot less than a sack of feathers might.

"Where are we going?" Fluttershy asked, wrapping her forelegs about her friend as she rested her head on top of hers.

"Well if I told you that, it would ruin the surprise!" Syntax admonished cheerfully. "So I'm not telling. But trust me, you'll love it."

She kept at a brisk but steady walk, letting Fluttershy enjoy her surroundings without fear of being accidentally jostled off her back. The mare's sighs of contentment as she observed the nature she had loved for so long made Syntax smile with a mix of joy and sorrow. She flinched at the sadness creeping in, and quickly shook it off. Today was meant to be a thoroughly happy day. A very special day. She'd spent a lot of time and effort to make it that way and she wasn't going to let any surprise attacks of sorrow ruin it.

Eventually, she paused. "I need you to shut your eyes for a few minutes, Fluttershy."

"Ok." Fluttershy responded, doing it without question.

Syntax didn't even bother to check, she knew she could trust the mare to do as asked. She continued walking, slowing her pace as she rounded some brush and ascended a tall hill. Fluttershy hung on and kept her eyes closed tightly, eager and excited to see what Syntax had planned. At last her friend stopped walking.

"Ok. You can open them now."

Fluttershy opened her eyes, letting out a gasp as she was met with a chorus of cheerful "Surprise!". Syntax looked back at her, grinning like it was Hearthswarming Eve and she'd just been giving the best gift in Equestria. Also grinning at her were a group of friends she instantly recognized.

"Fluttershy, dear." Velvet Remedy was smiling widely as she leaned over to nuzzle her favourite mare in Equestria, and the one who had inspired her to be the nicest and kindest pony to all.

"Velvet!" Fluttershy's eyes were glistening as she looked about her. "And Calamity!"

"Yep!" Syntax piped up. "And Derpy and Homage! And me!"

"Oh my. What is all this?"

"This is the moment you wished you could have." Syntax said softly. "I know we're not the actual ponies themselves, but, we've taken their roles and well, yeah."

"Oh Syntax." Fluttershy nuzzled her head against her friend's neck. "You set this up?"

"I did." Syntax smiled. "I wanted you to have the best gift I could think of, because after everything you've been through, all you suffered, you deserve to spend your remaining time in peace and love and friendship. I couldn't give you Twilight, AJ, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, or Rarity...but I could give you the emodiments of them. The ones that now bear their Elements. Us."

"She planned everything." Homage spoke up with a gentle smile. "She did all the food, picked the spot, and hunted all of us down and would not take no for an answer. She spent so much time on this."

"Time you could have spent writing." Fluttershy hugged Syntax tighter. "You gave up the time you'd normally spend writing and put it all into something for me."

"Ah reckon she'd do Rarity proud." Calamity put in, nodding.

"It was worth it." Syntax responded firmly. "If I had to choose all over again, I'd still put the time in. Because friends matter more."

"Generosity at its finest." Velvet put in.

Fluttershy was overwhelmed, tears of joy spilling from her eyes. Syntax backed up to the blanket spread on the ground, crouching down slightly, and Velvet lit her horn, helping to steady Fluttershy as Syntax carefully eased her off her back. Derpy approached, holding up a notepad she'd scribbled on.

"We all love you, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy smiled through the tears, and Syntax sniffled loudly.

"Ok ok, enough onion cutting." She swiped at her eyes. "It's time to party!"

Between herself, Velvet, and Homage, the large picnic lunch was served up with extreme dramatics, which made Fluttershy laugh. The happy group shared the meal, as well as tossing stories around, and listening to ones about the original Elements from Fluttershy.

"Ah sure woulda liked ta meet em." Calamity offered. "Sounds like ya'll had a time!"

"We did." Fluttershy chuckled. "They would be proud of all of you. You've taken their...your, Elements very seriously. And you're doing a really good job."

"We'll never let their memories or their Elements die." Velvet said softly.

"I made a promise." Syntax stood and paced for a moment. "I pledged to never let the memories of what happened be forgotten. History must never repeat itself. It's my mission to continue spreading awareness until my very last breath."

"Our mission now." Homage laid a foreleg around her, looking at Fluttershy. "All of us, together. We will make sure the legacy of the Elements lives on, and that history never repeats itself this way again."

Fluttershy gazed at each pony in turn, eyes seemingly searching for something, and finally she smiled.

"Spike chose well when he picked you."

Syntax returned to her side and settled down next to her, and her friend laid her head on her back, gazing off across the rolling green hills at the clear sky in the distance, her eyes slowly closing as she gave out a single tired yawn. When her mouth closed, she slightly smiled.

"Thank you, all of you. Especially you, Syntax. A mare couldn't ask for better friends, and your special day for me was perfect."

Syntax nuzzled her as the others settled down around them, just enjoying each others' company. Fluttershy's eyes fully slid shut and her breathing evened out and slowed.

"You did well, Syntax." Velvet told her quietly, so as to not disturb the sleeping pegasus.

"I wanted her to have the best last gift possible. Maybe now she can finally rest peacefully after so many years of turmoil."

"She will. You gave her an amazing gift, Syntax." Homage, on her left, nuzzled the younger mare lightly. "You gave her a feeling of being surrounded by love, friendship, and peace, and for Fluttershy, that means the world. Trust me."

Velvet laid her head on Syntax's back, next to her friend's, their muzzles touching slightly. Derpy watched the scene with bright eyes, and Calamity rested his head on Velvet.

They stayed this way for a long time, none of them wanting to break the complete peace of the moment. And then, the sacred silence was disrupted by a very quiet voice that carried a note of sadness.

"Syntax?"

Syntax looked back at Velvet, as the others did. The mare had not moved her head, her muzzle still touching Fluttershy's, but there were tears of emotional pain glistening in her eyes, and she looked sideways to her friend before returning the grief stricken glance to Syntax.

There were no words spoken. No words were necessary. Every pony just knew what Velvet couldn't bring herself to speak. Homage leaned her head down to rest on Velvet's, tears filling her own eyes. Calamity tugged his hat over his eyes in an effort to hide his own tears. And Derpy laid her head on Homage's back as her ears flopped back.

As for Syntax, she gazed at Fluttershy for a long moment, then nuzzled her head into the side of her neck, hot tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh Fluttershy. Be at peace now. You deserve it."

The group remained huddled together on the hill, not speaking or moving, the only sounds being the quiet rustling of wind through the grass and the happy chirp of birds overhead. They did not even move until the golden sun began its slow descent down behind far off hills, casting soft rays of light over them.

Author's Note

Ok that's almost a wrap for this tale. My emotions won't let me write much of anything else for it. Just getting this far has made me tear up on more than one occasion. So...brief epilogue to follow then it's done.

Hope you enjoyed this. Also Velvet, Calamity, Ghoul Derpy, and Homage belong to Kkat and the original Fallout: Equestria.

If I remember correctly, they represent Kindness, Loyalty, Laughter, and Honesty, respectively.
I temporarily made my OC Syntax Generosity (as I can't recall if that element was ever pinned to a pony in FoE or not). Magic was missing due to be unable to satisfactorily find a substitute.

Prologue

Equestria.

It is a peaceful land, teeming with life and beauty, creatures of all kinds dwelling in perfect harmony with each other. Happiness is in abundance, there is a blissful innocence.

However...

Things were not always this way. For a period of two centuries the land was all but desolate, viciously desecrated by mortal enemies that sought to fully destroy it forever. Entire cities and towns were wiped from existence by a dense cloud of pink that became known as brutal and merciless Death.

Megaspells decimated everything, leaving in their wake nothing but broken fragments of what once was. Leaving in their wake nothing but endless death. Creatures of all kinds rotting away where they fell. And all across the land there were death traps of this pink cloud, death traps of toxic waste and radiation, and those who managed to survive the onslaught were thrust into a brutal world full of violence one could not have even imagined...

But I digress.

This is about that, yes, but I'm going to take you on a journey through the eyes of one forced to watch the world she loved turned into one of absolute nothingness. Forced to watch death and destruction while praying for death herself. A death that would never come for her. She was forced, by the cold, calculated brutality of the forest that held her prisoner, to just simply watch. All the while knowing the horrors of the wastelands could so easily have been prevented if she had just...

But no spoilers. This you need to hear from the lips of the pony herself.

This. Is her story.

Author's Note

I feel like I'm going to get slammed hard for what's coming in future chapters...

I'm really sorry in advance if this causes massive heartbreak.

Epilogue

Syntax inhaled deeply, the fresh air filling her lungs and somewhat soothing the ache in them from all the crying she had been doing. It had been a rough time, but she had made it through with the help of good friends.

Fluttershy had been laid to rest on the hill where she had spent her final day, and on Syntax's insistence, the stone statue of Angel Bunny been removed from Fluttershy's room and placed at the head of her resting place. It seemed only fitting that the small creature that had watched over her when she was living should now guard her final place of rest as well.

The animals that had been under her care were now under Velvet's care, and her home now belonged to Syntax, as was stated by a brief letter she had written to the young mare. In it, she thanked her for being her dear friend, reminded her of her promises, and left everything she had in her care. Syntax had placed the figurines she was now keeper of in a central location in the house, where anypony walking through could see. She spent time sharing Fluttershy's tale to any who visited. But there was something missing.

She made her way to her small office and sat down, staring at an empty page in front of her. Selecting a quill, she set to work and began to write.

"In the words of Fluttershy, Element of Kindness and once Ministry Mare of the Ministry of Peace, "No creature must forget. History must never repeat itself so horribly again." But what must it never repeat?

You undoubtedly already know of the story of the great Apocalypse, the complete destruction of Equestria wrought by megaspells, radiation, and some of the foulest, most coldly calculating evil creatures ever seen. But one version of the story you have yet to hear was told to this reporter....no, this friend, of the late dear Fluttershy, and I have been entrusted to tell it. To ensure that all know of it, and that none forget the story, so that history will never have a chance to repeat itself so brutally again. I made a pledge, and I will see that it is carried out.

So, as heard straight from the lips of the mare herself, this is her story..."