Fallout Equestria: Rotting Lilies

That was it, there was no way she could survive this impending destruction, the green light already burning her uniform as well as her coat, mane, and skin, feeling even her goggles heat up and her eyes melting as a big ball of green enveloped the entire city, obliterating everything she sees from the glassless window; ponies and buildings disappear In the incoming wall of flame, blazing towards her cloudominium. Then... A white light enveloped her vision.

Turn back, now

There was still a sensation tapping her right shoulder.

She opens her eyes.

She was still looking out at the sky through the window, only this window is different than the ones from her Cloudominium. This one is long, has 10 panels, and with an arch design in the upper portion. And behind her was a mare wearing a blue flight suit with yellow streets in the chest and hoof, a flight goggle perched on her head, purple eyes filled with concern.

“Ah, sorry. I just doze a bit" Windy smiled at the mare.

“You should take some rest, Spitfire won't be happy if she sees you napping in the hallway” there was concern in those purple eyes. Spitfire maybe is tolerant but when comes to mistakes, she is professionally serious, especially if she found you slacking. You'll be considered lucky if she punished you, with style.

“You don't need to worry about me, Blaze. I have learned to take a nap and when Spitfire comes in, I will walk into the sleeping quarters and lay in my dead”

“You mean sleepwalking?” Blaze chuckled, “You're joking right? That's ridiculous you'd think Spitfire would believe your claim” Windy, satisfied to see amusement from Blaze, she smirked.

“I was. I even had a dream; a very strange dream”

“What was that dream about?”

“I don't know. I was inside my old home in Cloudsdale, looking out the window. Then, there was this big ball of green light and it ate everything, including me”

Blaze scratches her back “That's a strange dream, more stranger than any of the nightmares I had” her gaze would turn to the window, “Or it's just your artistic side giving nightmares and failing to scare you”

Windy was about to reply when another pegasus decided to join in, “What are you two discussing?”

“Nothing important. Just Windy having nightmares” Blaze told them.

“I think it's not a nightmare, Blaze" Windy hissed to her teammate before eyeing the other, “Have you finally finished your date with a mare named apple pie, Soarin'?”

Soarin' snorted “Yes, and I enjoyed it”

“Must been a very delicious date” Blaze batted her brows at him, smacking Windy's ass, forcing her to stumble towards the stallion, “Maybe you should try blueberry pies next time”

Windy flushed, biting her lip. She smiled at her colleagues. Soarin' was also blushing but less than the light blue mare, “Nah, I prefer apple pie. They're delicious than blueberry pies

“Hey, blueberries are delicious too!” Windy frowned, pointing a hoof at him.

Soarin' laughed, “They're tart, at least for me”

Windy softened her gaze, “Right, different tastes buds” she would look at the window, seeing the golden sky as the sun slowly set down behind the distant clouds, “I have to go now”

Soarin' raised an eyebrow “Go where? Spitfire hasn't left the academy, we still have extra minutes plus you, Blaze, and High Winds are going to do the cleaning for today”

“Today!?” she gasped, ”But my friends are having an important meet-up at Ponyville park, I can't be late and I promised I'll show up!”

“Why don't you just ask Spitfire about it? She'll let you skip your cleaning schedule if this friend meet-up is really important” Blaze casually told her.

”Tell Spitfire? well...yeah, always a good idea, thanks for telling me, Blaze!” Windy as gone in a flash before Soarin' or Blaze could say anything.

Windy had gone to Spitfire's office, bursting inside the office and interrupting the latter who has just finished her paperwork “Spitfire this is very urgent!”

If she was annoyed, she did not show it “What is it, Windy?” there was a small amount of annoyance dripping from her voice.

She walked up to her captain, putting her hooves on the desk “Can you let me pass my cleaning schedule? I have a very important meet-up at home and I can't be absent, I really have to go!” she pleased, hopefully, Spitfire would let her, the latter seem to be in deep thought, pondering what decision she should take.

“Alright, you can go. I'll just have somepony take your position. Just make you'll have to show up for tomorrow's airshow”

A grin slowly appeared on Windy's lips “Thank you, captain. I won't disappoint you!”

She did not even bother to undress, flying back to Ponyville whilst still wearing her wonderbolt flight suit. The sky was now yellow as gold as she flew over the town, heading for the park. She did not expect an apple to hit her right square in the chest.

“You're late!"

Sky blue eyes glaring up to her, Windy knew she has upset one of her friends, atleast one. Surrounding the disappointed individual was a trio of others who are just simply glad to see her, finding herself smiling at seeing them all, including the pony who threw the apple at her. She joins them as she touchdown majestically.

“Sorry, Ire. I was scheduled to do the cleaning today” she apologized, but Ire wasn't going soft at her

“Hmph, you shouldn't make promises if you can't control your routine” she chided as Windy stare at the food on the picnic blanket, them at the basket laying beside the only stallion in the group.

“Ooh, what do you guys brought?”

“Apples, sandwiches, jam, fruit juice, cupcakes, and some vegetables. There's a lot and I even lose count of how many vegetables we bought today” the stallion smiled, “but that doesn't matter as long as everypony paid for each, and that includes you”

“I bet we should have bought a knife instead of letting you brought your jarred bread knife” came Ire's response as she gave him a deadpan.

“Huh? What's wrong with my knife?”

“Well, as you can see, the knife's blade is obviously too big for outdoor uses, buy a small one” the irate mare narrowed her eyes. Getting the message, the stallion let out a sigh of defeat, but Ire gave him a few more words before giving him his chance to talk, “but I'll give you a chance, just don't swing it around near Stormlight. Doing so, I'll be happy to cut your horn”

“You don't need to say that for Writer to understand, Iree” came the intervention of the smallest member of the group, not to mention possessing a young moderate high-pitched voice which is filled with concern. Ire did not say anything but her slightly lower of her head mean something more.

“No need to make an argument out of knives" another mare chimed in, this one is a unicorn, her face spoke egghead; a researcher of some kind but without any guidance. Despite her current status, she's able to fix this kind of situation as she brings out a small bread knife, “I expect something like this to happen so I got mine” this helped them obtain peace despite the 'reign of terror' still with them.

“I see you guys are already having a good time”

“Pfft! Come on, Windy, we are all having a good time. The many our numbers, the more the merrier the fun!” Writer cheerfully said as he took the sandwich with his magic, taking a bite as the other unicorn occupies Writer's speech position.

“Yeah, we are all happy if we're all together in one place” her purple eyes would wander away from the group, “speaking of together, I have something to show everypony”

“It better not be Marey sue's mane growth potion, Moonlight” Ire growled.

Writer raised an eyebrow “Marey Sue's mane growth potion? Hey, um, am I missing something here?”

Windy sighed, “It's about our last picnic gathering; you weren't with us. I think you sailed back to Coltagan”

“That was five months earlier,” Writer told her.

”Yeah. So, about this Marey Sue's mane growth potion, well...this is a hilarious failure for Moonlight. Sorry, Moon” she gave the shamed Moonlight an apologetic smile before continuing, “during the last picnic, Moonlight made a potion which can cause an instant hair growth which I find useful for some patients I know of, unfortunately, trying it out on non-bald ponies causes them what Ire called to be a Marey Sue's mane. Basically, you have a mane similar to Fluttershy, but gigantic and longer three times than hers”

Writer chuckled, a look of disbelief on his face, “Ah, haha, wow. That is some interesting potion she had, right Moonlight?” looking at Moonlight, the mare grew a smile you'd expect to see from a crazy scientist, “Uh, Moonlight?”

“So,” Moonlight stood up, for some reason giving off an intimidating presence for our poor little stallion, “are you interested, Writer? Don't worry you will not regret it. It will be a unique experience"

“S-Stay away from me, you mad scientist” he quickly scoots away from her, finding safety behind a nearby tree. The others chuckled at this even Moonlight letting go of her scary bearings just to laugh at the poor stallion.

“You guys are the worst.

*Creak!*

His ears swiveled, hearing a long crack not too far away from him as he is grabbing onto the source like a cat. It turns out the branch he climbed on is way too small to handle his weight. He immediately found himself plunging to the ground, crashing head-first into the green earth. He could hear his friends gasps in horror; he can still hear a faint chuckle of amusement, no doubt this one found his misery laughable.

“Writer, are you okay!?” slowly lifting his head (and spitting a handful of soil and grass), he saw two blue hooves belonging to Windy.

“I've been better...” he groaned. Windy offer her hooves to him, accepting it with gratitude as she helped him up, “Thanks, Windsie”

“No problem” Windy bowed her head slightly before backing away from the stallion with a shy look on her face.

But Moonlight is still worried, “Do you feel any pain?"

“With that amount of impact? I have no doubt he's in pain” Ire spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, rolling her eyes at Moonlight.

“I'm fine, everypony. A nasty fall is nothing to me” Writer waves an assuring hoof at them.

“J-J-Just be careful next time, Writer!” trembled Stormlight, hooves over her mouth, “you'd get hurt!”

“Don't worry, Stormlight. I won't!” he winked at her complete with a grin.

Ire sighed, “Let's get over this shall we?”

“I can agree with that” Moonlight shrugged, taking a carrot and giving it a big bite, making a loud crunch. The others did not say anything as they went back to doing their usual picnic activities, most of said 'activities' involves eating the food they have brought.

“Writer, can you pass me the hot sauce?" A red sauce bottle floated at her enveloped in a yellow hue. She took the bottle, muttering a thank you to Writer who whispered back to her, though she doesn't care what he said. As the sun sets in the horizon, everything starts to look more gold and many began leaving. The group didn't knew this but they did not care, but there are also confused they may have stayed to late long enough for night to reach them still outside.

“We should go back to our homes too” Stormlight suggested as she watches a family leave the park.

“I agree” Writer lets out a yawn, “my bed needs me"

Windy did not say anything as she began putting their leftovers into the basket.

“Wait!” all their attention shifted to one unicorn mare, “I forgot to show something to everypony!” Moonlight turned around and ran into a nearby bush, confusing her friends.

Ire sighed with annoyance, “What is this going to be?”

“I hope this one is better than the hair shampoo” Windy muttered. Writer looked on with worry. His curiosity getting the better of him, he approached the bushes.

But what he felt when his body touch the bushes may be incorrect. Maybe he did not touch the bush at all. He fell to the floor with a thud. He swore he heard something break as he clutched his head, hissing and groaning in agony.

“Argh, Moonlight!” he could hear Ire call out to Moonlight with anger in her voice. Looking, he saw Moonlight sitting on her rump, rubbing her head while looking like a foal who lost their lollipop. Following her gaze, he saw a... Whatever it is, it broken into two, red liquid leaking out of this small L contraption slowly becoming a puddle on the ground...

Moonlight would look at him, realization hitting her mind as she comprehends what had happened, “A-Are you okay, Writer? I'm so sorry that I-"

Writer cuts her off “I'm alright" he stood up, this time without any aid from his friends.

“Ugh, what are that red stuff?” Ire pointing at the small growing blood-like red pool surrounding the broken contraption.

Windy stared at the red liquid, approaching it casually, “I don't know” she turned to Moonlight, “Do you anything about that?”

“No, I just found that yesterday and I thought it would be a good idea to show that to my friends”

Ire snorted, “Yeah, showing something to your best buddies alien is always a good idea” Moonlight glared at Ire but did not say anything as Windy stood just beside the ruins of the item she tried to showcase to the group. There was anxiety as Windy dips her hoof into the red pool, seeing as the thing is literally glowing. But why?

She mentally sighed when Windy retracted her hoof in one piece. Not melting not going up in flames, everything is going to be fine.

“It feels hot to the touch, but it feels like touching gel”

“That's a very strange description” Ire's eyes widened, ears pinned, “Windy, look out-!”

However, a bright red light engulfed them all, with only Stormlight managing to let out a scream of fright. The light soon dissipated and everything went back to normal. No explosions, no fissures.

What is strange is the group of five and their picnic equipment are all but gone.

A flash of red light appeared in the same spot, the same part, the same town, but in a different world. Ponyville was nothing but a husk of once it was, all of the houses have lost their vibrant colors, and most had taken damage either from the environment or by something else

The park fared no better. It was brown as chocolate, barren, with no life or vegetation other than the trees that died centuries ago.

The flash dissipated, the new occupants of Ponyville came to investigate. If there was something that can be described as more rotted than a ghoul, it would be those who mutilate, rape, and kill innocent lives. They paused, then smiles formed.

“Looks like we got some visitors!” tackled a unicorn stallion, licking his mouth as he brandishes a blood old ax.