Fallout Equestria: Killing with Kindness

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.