Fallout Equestria: Luck

By: Gun Shot

Chapter 5: Rainbow

“Being brave isn't about not being afraid, but about facing the thing that scares you, but what if your fear is facing your fears?”

Rainbows, I was once told that they were nothing more than light reflecting off of water in the air. But there was no light here, the room was near pitch dark, yet bountiful colors danced across the ceiling. I groaned, my head hurt as if somepony had bucked me in the head. I sat up, not wanting to lay on the cold, wet floor. My vision went darker than before and I found myself on the ground again. I sat up again, slower this time, then stood, slowly. I couldn’t see anything but the colors, trailing across the darkness above. I began to walk, following them. They reminded me of a river, always flowing and moving, going the same way I was, leading me somewhere.

As I walked, a static-like sound became apparent. Almost like the waves from the beach not that long ago, but constant. Walking along the darkness left me with nothing but my thoughts. My mind began to wander, driven by the soothing static. I saw the face of my mother, stereotypical in appearance. Her deep red mane flowing in the breeze, her soft white coat glistening in the sunlight, like a crystal. She looked like a medical mare, which she was. But then her coat turned black as charcoal, her bloodred mane igniting into a blazing mohawk of fire. She had become a Nightmare.

Not wanting to keep down that path, I snapped out of my mind. I had begun humming to myself, a soothing tune to block out the static. Ahead, there appeared to be a turn in the river of colors above, which revealed there were walls, the trail was cut off but expanded further to the left as I approached. I turned to meet it, falling down an unseen drop in the floor. The fall lasted only half a second, but it felt like an eternity.

Instead of hitting the ground, a cool substance wrapped around me, some form of liquid, hopefully water. I was submerged, I tried to kick towards the surface, but impacted an unseen wall that sent me tumbling. I hit several walls, scratching along them, before settling for flailing in the center, being dragged by an accelerating current. I fought to reach the surface, but the current fought harder. The liquid, i realized, was the source of the static, the water was rushing toward some unforeseen destination. Every now and then I got a quick breath of air, or a glimpse of the colors still above. I was starting to black out, the small gasps of air weren’t big enough nor often enough to sustain me. Smashing into another wall as the path turned, I let out the last of my air and accepted my fate, death by a mysterious liquid. My vision darkening, I closed my eyes, it was almost calming, feeling the liquid ripple by as I tumbled. Coupled with the light-headedness of passing out, it all felt like a dream.

My eyes shot open as I shot out the side of a fall, the liquid around me suddenly replaced by air. I tumbled through the air for about five seconds before bouncing and skidding along the ground. The several impacts knocking the fluid out of my lungs, causing a sharp intake of air, then knocked that out too. Gasping for breath, I tried to get my hoofing, rolling onto my chest and pushing up into a sit, then a stand. The world spun as I stood, as if I were still tumbling through the water. It was water, I realized, thankfully the sewage was no longer dropped into the sewer system. That’s where I was, based on the various tunnels with water flowing out from them. As my vision slowly steadied and the pounding in my head began to fade, I began to notice more details of my surroundings. Along the roof, several colorful rivers split from behind me, each heading down its own tunnel. Each tunnel had a large drop, as if they’d been cut off, water fell from each hole, forming streams that cut through the sloped ground. The room was well lit by a colorful light behind me, a bright light.

My head ached, my leg was in an agonizing pain, my back hurt, I didn’t want to stand anymore. But I knew I had to, otherwise I’d never escape this pit, so i turned to face the light. A blindingly bright ball of color and light floated above the center of the small crater. It hurt my eyes to look at, and resonated some form of unearthly heat, yet it didn’t burn. The feeling was inviting, like how I imagine a dip into a soothing heated spring would be, it was calming, yet invigorating. It was like a party trapped in a magic ball, waiting to break free, begging to break free, to spread its joy and cheer to the world. I stepped towards it, the soothing ball of magic fire, it reached a wisp out to me. The wisp wriggled through the air, forming into a tentacle of colored flame, circled around my forehead before vanishing entirely.

The soothing warmth suddenly became a burning sensation, as if the whole room were on fire, I had to get out of there. I limped my way to the nearest tunnel, my vision going blurry. The heat intensified as I left, and the static sound of flowing water was replaced with a chorus of screams. The melody rang through my head, echoing within my skull. My hooves began to feel heavy, my joints locking up, my already slow speed became even slower, and continuing to slow. One step up the stairs, made up of fallen ceiling rubble. Two steps up. Almost trip on three. The pain was intense, the heat felt as though I was going to melt. Three steps up. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Trip over eight, falling to the ground within the tunnel. I heard a familiar voice among the chorus, but i couldn’t quite place it.

The tunnel was suddenly illuminated by an orange light, behind me i could hear the unmistakable roar of fire. I ran, despite the pain in my legs, I ran. I broke into a full gallop through the sewers, chased by a screaming wall of fire, silhouettes of burning ponies danced along the walls, running alongside me. With every shadow that fell, the screams got louder, with every corner I turned, the wall caught up. I couldn’t escape, I would run until I joined the shadow ponies, then join the jarring melody. Then i saw it, hope. A double door was positioned on one of the walls ahead. I blasted through it falling to the ground, behind me I saw the flaming wall closing in. Then the door closed and the room went black.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized my landing had been soft, not on concrete. Something plush sat beneath me, a sleeping bag, I realized. I stood, this was no time for sleep, and if i layed there i would only end up falling asleep, and I wasn’t so keen on another nightmare. So i began to look around, squinting my eyes in the darkness. I couldn’t see any walls other than the one I dove through, which seemed to stretch on into the infinitum of darkness to either side. I stepped forward, away from the wall, my eyes adjusted steadily, revealing the very faint outline of another wall. My hoof hit something metal and I tripped, my head smacking into a very hollow sounding metal cylinder on the way down. The pang echoed through the long expanse of darkness.

Rubbing my head, I continued to advance, carefully. I felt another metal bar on the ground a few meters away from the first, I stepped over it this time, stepping across various additional sleeping bags. Click “Alright, who’s down there?” I heard a voice call out from the left side void, “you know the rules, no camp raiding in the night”. I hesitated, deciding between hiding, turning myself in, or deceiving. A torch light rounded a corner in the darkness, a pony in its flickering light, “Show yourself, Im not going to ask again!” she sounded annoyed, and closer. “Uhhh… sorry, I just came back cause I…” I thought, trying to make an excuse, pretending I lived here, “FORGOT, yeah, I forgot my…” glanced around for anything to pick up, “lucky rock! Yep that’s why im here”. I smiled, unsure whether she could see me or not. “Geez, seems the loss of Peb is hitting harder than I expected…” she sighed, “for somepony we teased and bullied a lot, we all seem to miss him so much…” I nodded, trying to look upset. “No pony kept rocks but him, until he… …passed on”.

The approaching pony sounded on the verge of tears, which made this worse. This conversation had become a mine field, if I said the wrong thing she’d know i wasn’t from around here, if she saw me, she’d know. I started backing away from her, staying just out of her torchlight. The mare reached the barrel in the center of camp, she tossed his torch in and it blasted ablaze, lighting most of the camp. I was stood just within the dim light, I could taste the darkness just a step behind me. I looked at the pony, she looked around and saw no one, so she sat and stared at the fire, sobbing, “I know you didn’t want this, you only wanted the fighting to stop…” It appeared she thought I didn’t exist, thought I was just an audial hallucination of ‘Peb’. I could easily have stepped away, into the darkness, or even just walked passed her towards wherever she came from.

She flinched at the feeling, as forelegs slid around her shoulder, the legs wrapped around her and squeezed gently. She didn’t react beyond the flinch, a slight intake of air, and a “Pebble?” she welcomed the ghostly embrace. “I will always be with you,” ‘Pebble’ whispered into her ear, “even in the darkest hours of the night”. With that, I retracted from the hug and quietly limped away, leaving the mourning mare in silence, tears rolling over her smiling face. She needed that, I could tell. I disappeared into the darkness and found my way over to where the mare had come from.

A soft hum filled the air as i rounded a hidden corner, revealing a flickering bar of dim light. The light sat above a door, illuminating the area around it, but not bright enough to reach the long hall i’d come from. The whole floor was elevated, which made getting to the door a struggle, but my fumbling in the dark eventually found some stairs. I crossed the cracked tile floor, gingerly approaching the door. Cautiously, I pushed it open and braced for something, Boomer guards, a wall of fire, anything. What i saw was a lit staircase leading to the surface, the distant echoes of explosions could once again be heard.

Author's Note

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Shoulder Angel/Devil - you could lead the world from the shadows, charisma checks have a 50% higher success rate when you are hidden.