Author's Note

HELLOING! So, we got a new story, Poggers.

So the original plan with this was to have it be the prequel to my Fallout: Equestria story- Man out of time. But I personally had ideas and plans for this one to go farther than season 3 of Mlp:FIM. So this one is going to stay separate from that story as a AU... of a AU... that sounds weird but &*^% it we're going with it!

In any case, I have some really fun ideas for this relationship-wise. (not romantic) and some interesting takes on some real-world problems. (not politics, don't worry) Ill be working on this story when Im feeling burnt out on my Fallout: Equestria story- Man out of time So, for now, it will be put on hiatus.

That being said lets get this story started!

Crash landed

//// WARNING: SEVERE CRASH DAMAGE SUSTAINED! ////

///PASSENGER CAPACITY: UNKNOWN///

//// INTERNAL FUNCTIONALITY AT 17%////

/// ATTEMPTING SYSTEM REPAIR......... ERROR: SELF-REPAIR SYSTEMS OFFLINE///

//// COMMUNICATIONS RELAY FUNCTIONALITY AT 87%: ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT CAPITAL CITY ROMULIOS FOR RESCUE...... ATTEMPT FAILED. REASON: COULD NOT PINPOINT ROMULIOS RADIO FREQUENCY///

/// WARNING: POWER LEVEL CRITICAL, ARC ELEMENTAL REACTOR COMPROMISED: ENTERING LOW POWER MODE///

/// ACTIVATING SOS BEACON... AWAITING RESCUE///

Those words were the first thing I saw when I came to. They were big, red, and bold and took up most of the cockpit windshield, which was cracked like a horrific spiderweb of broken glass. The windshield spanned the majority of the front and sides of me. But only gave a view of dirt and grass that almost covered the entirety of the glass save for the top. I could see dim forms of treetops and leaves through my blurred vision. I was hanging slumped forward in my seat, an X-shaped seatbelt strapped over my chest. My head rested on a set of steering handles that protruded from the central dash. The steering handle was shaped like an H and had two red buttons on the tips where the thumbs would rest just below. The dash it stuck out of was littered with many dim buttons and controls, along with throttle and engine angle levers to the sides of my seat just next to the armrests.

I tried to sit up, but my head pounded with extreme agony. Causing me to reflex and grip my head with both hands, trying to stop the pain, wincing as I did so. I slowly but surely sat up and leaned back in my chair as my pounding head continued without slowing. My chest felt heavy, and it was hard to breathe. I had no idea what had happened or how I got to where I was. The pain in my head was too much for me even to think, and to try simply made the pain worse. My mouth was dry, and I desperately craved water. My stomach growled, begging for sustenance. I felt my whole world was tilted sideways, only to realize it was actually tilted sideways.

I looked around the cockpit slowly, trying not to move my head too much, when my eyes fell on a humanoid figure lying across the dash in front of a seat that was a few feet away from me. It was some form of Specter, an advanced robotic unit made in my home city. That's all I could remember through the pain. The glass in front of the Specter that made up the windshield was cracked to a central point just below its head, which was broken and smushed. Looking at the seat, the straps where the seatbelt was attached to the seat were torn and mangled. Even in my dazed state, I could tell what had happened. The Specter was strapped in when the seatbelt gave away and was ejected from the seat, smashing into the windshield. But I didn't know how we crashed. I just stared at the flashing red letters on the windshield.

Suddenly my strength gave out, and I lurched forward in my chair as gravity took hold. The crash seemed to put the aircraft at an angle. The seat belt stopped me from falling too far, but the sudden yank on my chest caused me to cough and wheeze. The heaviness I felt before not turned into throbbing agony. The seat belt saved me from the Specter's fate, but not before breaking some ribs. I took hold of the buckle that bound me to the chair and braced myself, holding my free arm forward to stop my fall. And unbuckled the seatbelt.

Gravity took me the rest of the way down. My arm prevented me from hitting the dash and steering handle. But I couldn't stop myself from bouncing off and rolling out of my seat in my weakened state. Taking me to the floor and hitting my head on it. The hit jogged forth what felt like a small lifetime's worth of memories. The war, the wall on the front lines, great red lighting striking down from jet black thunder clouds spawning from the firey mushroom clouds of the Cataclysm bomb as it vaporized the city where I grew up. I remember crying, holding my dad as he told me to run. He had to have Romulus drag me into this plane to ensure my safety. The last thing I heard from him was, "Be better than us." I remember watching the bomb go off as Romulus flew as fast as he could. The red lightning and the shockwave hit us, and then... nothing.

It was too much, the wave of memories, the sudden emotions. I started crying, screaming, and pounding my fist against the cold metal floor. I screamed until my lungs gave out, and I cried until my eyes had no tears to give. I pounded until my body went limp from exhaustion. It all felt like it happened only a few moments ago. It all felt fresh. I always had a direction, a path, or a choice I could make. Now, I had nothing. I felt the darkness and pain overwhelm me as I slipped back into a dreadful slumber.

When I felt I came to. It was dark, pitch black, with a dark emerald green and black floor stretching out as far as the eye could see. Small bits of emerald mist floated from the floor like weak flames. Shards of glass floated through the air with the same emerald green glowing around the edges. Inside those shards, I swore I saw my own memories in short glimpses. The was no sound, not even an echo. The only sound to be heard was my own breathing. I thought to myself, "Is this the afterlife?" I was standing but fell to a sitting position, leaning against what felt like a wall. But when I looked behind me, there was nothing there. My head was still swarming with the flood of heart-wrenching memories. I couldn't do anything before I wrangled them under control. I couldn't think straight.

I knew what to do in this, thankfully. Letting your body rest while you tackled issues of the mind both inside yourself and in the real world was a common practice among the more magically talented back home... Home, I just couldn't grasp the concept that the home I grew up in, a Monument to the ages that stood for over Five Thousand Years, was gone. A testament to the first king of Romulios, Merlin. The first and still, to this day, the most mighty elemental mage in history. I thought nothing would ever befall my home. Yet, here I am. Passed out in a plane that crash-landed in an area of unknown territory. Picking apart the shards of my own memories in a Mindwalk because I couldn't function right in the real world as long as they tormented me. Where did we go wrong?

"My word, Is this truly a dream? This place is more fractured and alien than any dream I've ever visited." I heard a voice from the darkness. A voice I had never heard before. Female, to be sure, and the way the voice carried itself. One of high esteem.

"Hello? Who's there?" I called out, not being able to see anything other than myself. A dim purple mist crept around me, and from the dark stepped forward... A large dark blue unicorn? And one with wings on top of that. The mane and tale looked like a starlit night and moved like a wind was blowing it around. But I felt no wind at all. I wasn't really surprised. Back home, we had way weirder things like this that we kept as pets. But It spoke upon seeing me.

"How interesting," The winged Unicorn said, eyeing me curiously. "In my years of dream walking, I've never encountered a creature of the likes of you."

I stayed quiet. I assured myself that this was some form of malcontent within my mind. I was dealing with more than a few of those at the moment. I knew that no equine of any kind could do anything considered to be 'dream walking.' I conjured a purging rune behind the winged unicorn, and with a simple cast, it disappeared with a flash. No noise, just gone.

When I awoke from my mind walk, my head was clearer and more focused. I silently thanked my inner self for giving me the time to wrangle myself under control. My head still hurt from me hitting the floor, but my train of thought was an actual train and not crashed on the side of the track. I wiped my face as it still felt freshly wet with tears. I must've been crying in my sleep, no matter. I picked up my head and looked around. It was much darker within the cockpit of the plane than before. Outside, just above where the grand mound of dirt collected from the crash. It was pitch black.

I stumbled to my feet, bracing myself on the chair I once sat in. I looked over to my co-pilot, Which I now recognized as what I considered my brother and personal advisor to the throne of my Kingdom. Romulus. A super advanced specter that served the Kingdom since king merlin himself. His model was more human-like besides his triangular head. His once square blue eyes had little white dots in them with shutters that opened and closed. Giving the feel of natural eyes. His body was the sleekest and most well-curved out of all the specters I had known back in the war. He also had full coverage from his internal components vs. other models with shoulder or rear knee joints showing. On top of his head were two pointed rods that angled acutely, moving and shifting like ears or radio antennae, But now were dead and limp, laying on the sides of his smashed head.

I ran over to the downed Specter as fast as my dazed body would let me. I dragged him off the dash with strained tugs until he unceremoniously fell to the floor. I hooked my arms under his metal shoulders and dragged him to the wall, and propped him sitting against it. I crouched beside and examined the extent of the damage.

His head was crushed like a tin can under boot. The triangular shape that resembled a cheese wedge now looked like a smashed pizza slice. The shudders and glass that were his eyes were shattered and smushed. The antennae that were his ears were dangling to the sides of his head like a droopy-eared dog, barely hanging on. His neck was smashed into the chest, making the head look like it tried to retract into the body. His chest plate was bursting forward awkwardly, most likely due to the neck that slammed downward into his internal components pushing everything around.

I felt more tears fall down my face as I gazed upon the damage. The last part of my family was dead in front of me. And there was nothing I could do...

"WAIT" I yelled, pulling back his head and digging into what would be the backside of his neck. I remembered that in order for Romulus to have his own personality inside a specter and not just control it. He needed a specially made AI chip that could be inserted into any specter for use. And said slot for said chip is neigh indestructible, capable of surviving a full force missile. So my only hope is that I can get access to the chip and hopefully repair the current chassis. If not, make a new one for Romulus.

Only one issue, the chip slot is in the neck, Which is currently smushed into the innards of Romulus's chest. No matter how hard I pried, bent, tugged, and ripped. I couldn't get access to the chip. All the metal and wiring mushed together like it was. I couldn't possibly get through it without the proper tools. A plasma saw would be an excellent place to start, seeing as I need to get through his durable chest plate. My short burst of hope was short-lived, however. This craft was packed and sent out in such a hurry due to the city's impending destruction that there were no such tools on board. Only our most important pieces of culture and relics pass down through the ages. So, for now, the best thing I could do is hold out hope until I got the resources I needed to fix Romulus. Which wouldn't be possible without power.

"Ok, one thing at a time. Let's get the power on first." I mumbled to myself. Walking over to a square-shaped panel in the middle of the aircraft. Using a screwdriver, I leveraged the floor panel high enough to get my fingers under. I pulled the panel till it sat on its side and pushed it away, resulting in a loud crash as it hit the metal floor, which made my ears ring and my head throb. I held my head with both hands, trying to stop the ringing until it faded and I regained my focus.

Underneath the panel was a collection of wiring and advanced mechanical parts. I knew the ins and outs of this ship well. I helped design it alongside my father and chief engineer. So I knew I needed to get into the ship's innards to fix the arc element reactor. In between the mesh of parts was a small crawlspace, just big enough for me to squeeze through. I dipped my head into the small space and looked around. It was darker than the cockpit. I Needed light, but nothing had power. I sighed and thought hard about a spell, like headlights for eyes. Calling upon the powers of fire and a sigil that held the runes that matched what I needed. My head pounded in resentment of using magic, and I had yet to cast the spell. As I cast the spell, the same sigil of runes appeared over my eyes, and they quickly fizzled. Replaced by twin beams of light that shot forward. Illuminating wherever my eyes pointed.

The long shallow crawlspace was short and turned at the end. More wiring and lifeless mechanical lined the walls. The whole space reminded me of an eerie crypt of dead machinery. I was not deterred and started to crawl into the space. Sucking in my stomach for an easier fit. The floor was cold to the touch as I crawled, coughing on the dust that had gathered in the dead machinery. I continued down the turn at the end of the path. The space opened up slightly, and a single glass cylinder was in the center of the room, no bigger than my thigh. Metal parts were connected to the top and bottom. There were three softly glowing blue sparks inside of it. Occasionally arcing a small bolt of electricity to one or the other. But it was very dim and lacked the energy they usually had. The exterior of the glass was visibly cracked, and no small crack it was.

As I approached the arc elemental canister, I felt my hair stand on edge. Not from fear but rather from the static electricity that had been building up in this room. The canister is supposed to provide a stable and self-sustaining environment that keeps the arc elementals alive since they can not survive long exposure to air. That crack had broken the seal and was not only causing the lack of power but was also killing the elementals.

I hastily crawled to the containment unit and held my hands a few inches from the glass. The three elementals inside brightened up a tad and made a few harmonical beeps at my approach. Even though they weren't capable of English, I could tell they were happy to see me. "Good to see you guys as well. Yeah I know im late. Lemme work my magic here, and you guys will be fine."

Another set of harmonic beeps flew from the elements in response. "Yes, that was a joke. Now let me focus." I responded. Focusing a strong fire rune on the tip of my right finger. Picturing a bright blue blowtorch in my mind before casting. The result was the same blowtorch flame erupting from the rune on my finger as the rune rotated slowly. Holding the flame to the glass and melting the cracks together with extreme heat. It took some time and a few more spells to seal the crack fully, but it was better than nothing.

"Ok guys, it should be good to go." I waited a few moments for the lightning surge from within the canister. But only got a few beeps instead. "Shit, I need to give you all a boost? The things I do for you." I sighed and I got an Instant loud series of Beeps from the elementals that made my headache hurt even more.

"Hey, hey! Calm your sparky asses! I was making a joke, sheesh." I said, charging a lightning rune on my hand, sucking in the excess static electricity in the air in a ball of electricity in the palm of my hand. I deposited the ball into a small tube just below the canister. There was a small surge inside the canister as sparks of electricity erupted from the top and bottom of its interior. Arcing off the elementals inside as the whole plane shook. The plane's interior hummed to life as the light returned, allowing me to end my eye-light spell. I thanked the elementals before crawling back out the way I came.

When I reached the access vent I used to get into the power room. Light was pouring in from the cockpit room. I pulled myself out, getting partially blinded by the sudden light so much that I held a hand to block out the light. "Set interior lighting to dark mode," I said aloud. The lights dimmed heavily and sat at a much more comfortable brightness for my eyes. My eyes adjusted to the new setting and fell upon Romulus's body. Causing some depression to return. My sight drifted to the main dash where I first woke up. The screen had reset and was in calibration mode. After covering up the access vent. I went and sat back down in my seat.

I watched as systems were tested and calibrated, life support, engines, and communications. Several systems were straight up offline. Others partially worked, like the radio and long-distance GPS. However, the GPS couldn't pinpoint our location. Due to a 'lack of satellite connection,' which was odd. The satellites were built to stay in the atmosphere until we called them back down. They had a solar array that kept them powered and their own navigation system, which let them keep themselves in the correct orbit path. Plus, Volundra didn't have any weapons that reached that high in orbit. So this error really puzzled me. Even the atmospheric test and air quality were off. Showing to be better than some of the best results from before the war. Which just simply wasn't possible.

The system finished booting and ran a local terrain scan to see if it could match it with any maps in the database. It was the best it could do without Satellite. "In the meantime, I suppose I could take a look outside. Get familiar with my surroundings." I said. Getting up and walking to the rear of the craft. A small red handle hung from the ceiling on a small mechanical arm. I gripped it firmly and pulled it down. The lever gave way a few inches and retracted into the ceiling, pulling itself from my hand. There was a loud hiss of pressure as the blank wall I was staring at lowered slowly like a ramp until it opened completely. A rush of fresh, cold air hit me In the face like a bucket of ice. It felt great. Fantastic even! I've never felt such fresh air since before the war. The war back home had tainted the air with violence and death you could taste with every breath. Here, however, it was clean like a fresh mountain stream. I loved it.

I blinked back into reality when I realized I was blankly staring into pitch-black woods. It was clearly night. That much was obvious. But the was no moonlight, only lightly glowing green fungus and mushrooms along the stumps of certain trees across the small clearing where my aircraft had crashed. The ruptured dirt path from the craft's initial impact dredged the ground among uprooted tree roots and foliage. I stepped out of the craft and planted my feet in the fresh dirt of the crash path. I looked up, expecting to see the pitch-black thunderheads that permanently blackened the skies back home. After the first cataclysm bomb went off, the sky itself rebelled against all forms of life. Forming a terrible storm of red lightning and pitch-black thunderheads that blocked the sun's light from ever reaching the surface. The lightning always struck true and ignored the laws of normal lightning. Striking any living creature that happened to be outside rather than striking the highest possible point.

Instead, however, I only saw thick leaves and even thicker branches. The leaves glowed softly with light and had no gaps in between to show what was on the other side. I cocked my head in both interest and confusion. These trees should be charred and black first off. And second, why did this forest have such a perfect leaf top that blocked out the sky? I scanned this leafy roof all across the small clearing my craft landed in. And there was no break from where my craft should have broken through from, which was strange. I followed the crash path to the edge of the clearing and gazed upon mangled trees and branches back up into the leafy ceiling, and still, there was no hole from where my craft would have fallen through.

"How in the world?" I mumbled to myself. Investigating the area further. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a low growl emanate from the woods. I stepped back, not taking my eyes off where the noise was coming from. A small patch of glowing mushrooms on and between two large trees.

That's when I saw the eyes, a pair of glowing green eyes that blended in with glowing fungi. The only reason I even noticed it was when they moved. Slowly but surely, they crept around the edge of the clearing. Staring at me. I couldn't see the beast's body, but it was stalking me for sure. Getting a read on me before making a move. Something predators do when hunting a new form of prey.

"SHOW YOURSELF, BEAST!" I yelled, preparing a fire rune in my head and focusing it on my hand, not casting it yet. Most creatures of the night don't like fire. So when dealing with a new creature. Always test its fear of fire.

The beast graciously accepted my proposition and stepped forth from its hiding place. A large wooden form of a wolf showed itself in the dim lighting. Its splinter-like teeth drooled in a glowing green slobber. Leaves protruded from its head like ears. Its whole body looked as though it was composed of old tree logs and moss. I had seen many different species of wolf and coyote before. But this thing was something else entirely. And it was big, VERY big. Practically the same size as the wandering dire hounds of the eastern planes that feasted on the wild six-horned bison.

I was still in awe of the creature when it leaped forward into the air toward me. My military reflexes kicked in as I swung the hand with the rune at the beast. I pictured a roaring fireball before casting it. And as such, a large fireball flew from my hand and struck the beast mid-air. Knocking it to the ground with a whimper as it ran back into the forest. The flames from the blast dying out before it dashed into the night.

I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding in before turning and returning to my craft. Hitting the lever on the way in to seal the ramp door. I had questions, yes, but they can wait until I get my bearings on where the hell I am. And avoid the giant wolves made of wood and bark. The holographic screen showed it completed the scans and compared them to several maps. I sat down in my seat and watched as one map after another popped up on the screen. Slowly increasing in speed until I couldn't make out the maps anymore. Finally, the screen showed a set of words that made my already wild confusion skyrocket.

// SCAN COMPARISON COMPLETE: LOCAL TERRAIN MATCHES NO KNOWN LOCATION IN GEOGRAPHICAL ARCHIVE//

Baffled, I stood up and began pacing. We have used satellites over the last three thousand years since their inception to map the entire world down to every mountain peak, forest, and ocean. And yet we landed somewhere we had yet to see? It was impossible. There were six different kings before my father's conception, and we had mapped the entire world as far as we knew. I looked back at the screen for a moment before sitting back down. I pressed a blue button on the side of the chair's right arm that brought up a smaller holographic screen in front of me with a keyboard and menu. I used it to cull the final video log of one of the outer hull cameras before the crash.

The video popped up on the main screen. The scene was familiar as it should be, Pitch black skies, blood red lighting thrashing around the sky as the craft swooped in all directions dodging it. The circular disc-like thrusters in the wings rotating and twisting with each twist and turn. All around the craft in every direction but the rear was the violent crashing ocean. In the distance to the rear of the craft. Were the mainland and the small pixel of the city of Romulios upon it, with a bright light trailing smoke coming down just above it. There was a blinding flash a moment later, and an enormous mushroom cloud of lightning and fire you could have imagined erupted on top of the city. The sight caused my heart to stop and me to clench my chest in fear and shock. The wave of fire and lightning from the base zoomed towards the craft with such incredible speed it was upon it in seconds. Just before the impact from the wall of fire, A bolt of lightning struck one of the two thrusters. Timing perfectly with the collision of the wall of destruction from the cataclysm bomb. The camera glitched violently with pixels and colors for a few moments before clearing up. Showing a bright blue sky and a dark green and somewhat menacing forest below. It was a completely different area than just moments prior. The thruster that was struck by lightning was on far, and the craft rapidly descended before making an impact on the ground. Crashing through trees and such before movement settled, and the craft just sat in the woods.

The recording ended, and I had more questions than answers. "Instant teleportation?" I questioned, rubbing my chin. "Using the elemental runes, we could make short-range portals. Long range if we link them to archways. But never could we just pop and go without a warp drive. And even then, that was highly experimental and was only used on a handful of naval craft. And the sudden change in scenery... What could have happened?" I thought hard for a moment. Trying to connect the dots.

Then a realization dawned on me that made every inconsistency make sense. "Were not in the same realm anymore!" I gasped.