Fallout Equestria: The Blue Lightning

— Your friendship, and the friendship of future generations, will always be safe within these walls.

MLP, 9/3

“Yes, it’s me,” Shadow replied to the gasps of surprise from the other aliens. “It wasn’t easy to get to you.”

A red silhouette darted forward, and in the next instant, the black hedgehog was pinned to the wall of the gorge by his throat. With a hand in an unbending spiked glove.

“How did you find us?!” Knuckles growled. “Tell us!”

Shadow grinned.

“With the help of–”

His hand slowly found the side pocket of his backpack and pulled the zipper. Knuckles froze, looking the hedgehog straight in the eye.

“…this.”

They all gasped in unison. Only Knuckles clenched his teeth tighter; his gaze at Shadow was even more disgusted.

The black hedgehog was holding a large and obviously heavy emerald, the cut of which made the stone walls sparkle even in this dim light.

“Of course, Master Emerald…” the echidna muttered. Suddenly, he snatched up the stone and threw it behind his back. “Get it, Sonic.”

The blue hedgehog caught the Emerald and, with Cosmic’s silent approval, placed it in her saddlebag.

“Can’t you let me go after all?” Shadow panted. “I’m not gonna hurt you…”

“You said so yourself.”

The gloved hand yanked away from his throat, and the black hedgehog fell heavily to the bottom of the gorge. Bulky scabbards and cylinders clattered against the stone.

“Why did you do that, Shadow?” Tails asked. “Why did you steal the Emerald?”

“It was Eggman who ordered you to do it, right?!” Knuckles interjected, looming over the new alien.

“I… didn’t realize much,” Shadow replied. “Eggman unfroze me, that’s true, and I’m grateful to him for helping me come back to life… but when I heard of his plans, which also involved me, I wanted to stop him.”

“And so you stole the Master Emerald from us?!” The echidna sneered. “Who here would believe you–”

“Wait, Knuckles,” said Cosmic, and he turned to her with disapproval in his eyes. “Let him speak. We’ll decide what to do with him later.”

“I thought it was really about the Emerald. But when I stole it and hid it, I found out…” Shadow shook his head sadly, “that it was just a shell.”

“What are you talking about?” Knuckles frowned.

“I went back to Eggman, to keep an eye on him, and if possible, to anticipate his next move… And then one day,” the black hedgehog looked up at the others, “he told me how he’d escaped from Green Hills after your second battle. And then he showed me what he’d used to do it.”

Shadow grimaced.

“Dr. Eggman had all seven Chaos Emeralds.”

There was silence in the gorge for a long moment.

Sonic was the first to break it.

“But how…?”

“You’re lying!” Knuckles kicked Shadow in the face, sending him flying a few steps away. “That’s impossible! I put that Emerald together from the shards back then…!”

“Remember what happened when Sonic gave up his superpower after his victory?” Shadow sat up and laughed, wiping the blood from his lips with his gloved hand. “The Emeralds flew away – and were picked up by Eggman instead. Who used them to teleport himself to the abandoned base where his grandfather had frozen me before he died.”

“But why…?” Tails muttered, looking at his palms. “How could my detector have missed them…? Turns out we came all this way for nothing…?”

The fox turned to Sonic and Cosmic. There were tears in his eyes – the despair of a scientist whose theory suddenly came crashing down.

“Well, he didn’t miss them,” Shadow chuckled again. “Because then I stole them, too. Look at this!”

He reached into the other side pocket of his backpack and pulled out a handful of colorful jewels. Which, however, he put back immediately.

“But –” he sighed heavily “– not before Eggman used them to create Metal Sonic. Basically, he’s like you or me, Sonic… only robotic. Steel, blue and ruthless. Eggman wanted to send him after you… but when I stole the Emeralds, he sent him after me. And the robot even caught up with me… not far from your base. Luckily…” Shadow smiled. “I had the rings.”

“How many are left?” Knuckles asked, approaching the black hedgehog.

“A few. Some I took from the lab after I was freed – they were mine, some I created with Emerald while hiding from Metal Sonic. I could have made more, but I didn’t. There wasn’t enough time.”

“What’s that hanging on your belt?” Tails asked. “Some kind of weapon?”

“The O.D.M from Attack on Titan,” Shadow grinned pleasantly. In response to misunderstanding looks, he explained, “Omni-Directional Mobility Gear. There are cables with sharp tips embedded in the hilt of my swords that shoot out and hook me to something. And the maneuvers themselves use gas from cylinders. I’ll show you someday when I get the chance. But I hope it never comes.”

“And why did you follow us?” Cosmic came forward, lowered the carbine. “What if your goal is to hunt them down,” she circled the group with a hoof, “and put this… Metal Sonic on them?”

“I’ll just…” Knuckles swung his leg again for a kick, but the mare stopped him.

Shadow shook his head and laughed.

“No-o… That might have been Eggman’s plan, but it wasn’t mine. I decided right away that I wouldn’t sign up for that shit. As it is… I’d rather be with you than with him. Especially since, unlike you, I’m more or less familiar with this world.”

“How?” Sonic wondered. “There was no mention of war in MLP G4… Or is it one of Starlight’s alternative universes?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Shadow sighed and pointed his finger in front of him. “I think there’s something going on here…”

“What…?”

Knuckles stopped as he saw Applejack figurine glowing brightly in his unbending hands again.

All six statuettes were glowing now. No one said a word as Shadow walked over and picked up Rainbow, which was standing alone on the ground.

And then a stream of light shot out of each statuette – so bright it was impossible to see with an unprotected eye. And all of them: lavender, orange, pink, blue, white, and yellow streams converged on the crystal wall that closed the passage to the cave.

There was a dazzling flash… and all was over.

Cosmic pulled her hoof away from her face and couldn’t hold back a gasp of astonishment. The others were also stunned by what had been revealed to them. Only Shadow didn’t seem surprised by what he saw.

The crystal barrier was gone, as if it had never existed. And on the other side of the passage (which reminded the blue earth pony of the tunnel to the maneframe in Spike’s cave), in the middle of a not very spacious cavern of gray-blue stone, stood it. The Tree of Harmony.

But it was different from Sonic and Tails’ stories. Time and wars had taken their toll: only the fossilized blue branches sticking out of the ceiling reminded of its former glory and the once beautiful palace that had grown out of it. And everything else had turned into a pile of tarnished rubble.

The Tree of Harmony was dead. Apparently for many, many years.

One by one, the travelers entered the cave. They cocked their heads, looking around the cold, dark walls, as if they couldn’t believe that the purpose of this part of their journey and a familiar place of power from the animated series was in such a condition. Even Cosmic’s heart shrank slightly at the image of such desolation.

To dispel the half-darkness, the mare turned on the flashlight on her PipBuck. The bright white beam splashed across the ground, highlighting a few skeletons scattered around the cave.

“Look, there are some remains here…” she murmured, pointing to the bones that had turned white with time. They had been here for a long time. Probably from the war. “And all different… This is a pony, here’s a griffin… some other crap – also like a griffin, but closer to a pony… something strange again – as if a pony and a bug had been combined… The large bone is probably a yak… And a dragon, judging by the wings.”

The earth pony turned to her companions.

“Has anyone figured out what all this means?”

“Pony, griffin, dragon, yak…” Shadow spoke up suddenly. “A hippogriff and a changeling… Aha. I think I know who those six were.”

Sonic and Tails looked at each other.

“Are you thinking the same as me?” the fox asked.

The blue hedgehog nodded.

“Just explain it in a normal way for once!” Cosmic exclaimed. “What did you all understand, looking at those bones for a second?!”

Shadow gave her a sneering look.

“Well, it’s probably worth starting from afar here–”

“Damn, I know that Equestria is fiction! They told me. Say it!”

“Then I’m even more surprised that you haven’t figured it out for yourself,” Shadow sighed. “For all intents and purposes, the Young Six from the last two seasons were here. I think they gave their lives trying to protect this place. But they didn’t protect it from everything, as we can see.”

“And now we’ve come after them?” Knuckles grunted. “And more importantly, what can we do about it? And this,” he spun Applejack figurine on his palm.

Suddenly, all the statuettes glowed again, and rays of light streamed from them toward the rubble.

“Stand in a half circle!” Cosmic ordered, shielding her eyes from the light. “Come on!

Lined up in a curved chain, the aliens held stone figurines and, like flames from flamethrowers, directed their glow at the dim stones.

But instead of building into something new, the remains of the Tree began to… disintegrate. Shards of the branches spattered from the ceiling – and the cave itself seemed to tremble as the ruins in its depths were engulfed by the blinding rainbow.

The ground shook violently, and Cosmic stepped in place to avoid falling. A rush of air blew from the bright glow in the place of the Tree… and then something happened that no one expected.

The glow that had converged from the statuettes to a single point began to fade. There was nothing left of the stones on the floor… but something new had appeared in their place.

The rock suddenly cracked, and instead of the former crystal Tree, an ordinary tree with pink leaves began to sprout from the ground, shrouded in the remnants of the shimmering light. After growing several meters high, it stopped… and all the figurines went out again. Now completely.

“Umm… And what was it now?” Cosmic stretched. “Now it’s just… a tree?”

“I think I understand…” Tails muttered, scratched his nose and raised his head. “It’s the new Tree of Harmony from G5! And that means…” The little fox shrieked. “Does the fifth generation really have such a prehistory…?”

“Why not, maybe,” Shadow snorted, lightly stroking Rainbow figurine with his fingers. “And by all story rules, some creature – I don’t know, a Tree spirit or something – should appear out of nowhere and explain everything to us.” The black hedgehog waved his hand for effect. “And if not, then it’ll be quite in the FoE spirit (excuse the pun) and we’ll have to guess everything on our own…”

And just as he said this, a purple glow appeared under the grown tree, with white sparks of light flying in all directions!

Oh, what’s that again? It’s like some kinda fireworks day now! Cosmic almost roared, covering her eyes and turning away. The shimmering figurines alone were enough for her.

The lilac cloud glistened with brilliance for a few seconds. It flickered again, but there was something else in its place.

Or rather, someone.

A lavender pony, as if made of light, stood in front of the group. A crimson strand was clearly visible in her straight blue mane, and her entire body seemed to glow from within in the same pleasant, warm hue.

A unicorn, Cosmic thought at first… but as she looked closer, she gasped. No – an alicorn! But not an evil and emotionless telepath like the followers of the self-proclaimed Goddess, and not so huge.

No, she was some other kind of being… But what kind, if she wasn’t even material?

The memories of the orb seen at Spike’s place stirred in Cosmic’s mind. The memories of someone else.

That lavender skin was vaguely familiar to the blue earth pony. And now, standing with the others and looking at the phantom alicorn, the mare realized that she knew who was in front of her.

Twilight Sparkle. The almighty Princess of Friendship, captured in this image before she lost her wings and became a Ministry Mare. More precisely, the spirit of the Tree of Harmony from the blue hedgehog and the fox’s stories who took her form.

The ghostly Twilight tilted her head to the side and smiled.

“Hello, unusual creatures… and pony,” she said, and her voice rang out, echoing through the cave like many little bells. “It had been years since anyone had visited here, for this place had been sealed. However,” the alicorn looked at the Mane Six figurines in the aliens’ hands, “you were able to find the key and get the Harmony.”

“Are you… the spirit of the Tree?” Tails asked.

The pseudo-Twilight sighed.

“Yes. The Tree has a mind of its own and strives to maintain peace and order around it using the magical foundations of this reality.” She sighed and lowered her head. “Strove. The challenge Equestria had faced long ago had proved too harsh, and Harmony couldn’t bear it. Gradually, so much hatred spilled out that the Tree sank beneath it, unable to withstand the chaos.”

“Do you know whose remains lie here?” Cosmic asked, circling the bones on the ground with her hoof. “Were they the successors of the Elements?”

The ghostly alicorn nodded.

“Yes. At the very end of the war, when there was little hope of a successful outcome, the Young Six, as you call them, managed to band together and come here to use their friendship to give the Tree strength against the darkness that was overtaking Equestria. At the same time, a troop of zebras was sent into the Everfree Forest – perhaps to find the star metal, which they believed was cursed, and destroy the place from which they saw the threat. Yes, there was such metal in the forest – some of it still lay in a lost hut, and some of it had been taken from the Castle of the Two Sisters, which had been turned into a Stable. But the zebras didn’t know this and were just wandering around at random… and accidentally stumbled upon a group looking for the Tree.”

Sonic and Tails’ eyes widened as they realized what happened next. Cosmic pursed her lips, Knuckles cursed, Amy gasped, and Cream put her hands over her mouth and sobbed. Cheese flew around his hostess and squealed in fear, hiding behind her again.

“During the battle, they almost completely destroyed the Crystal Palace that stood above this place,” the pseudo-Twilight continued with a sad tone in her voice. “Even though its walls could protect against bullets, they weren’t able to withstand grenades endlessly. The enemies were more numerous, and the Young Six decided to retreat. But they were surrounded and driven into the gorge. They fired back and held the passage into the cave, but it was clear that they wouldn’t last long. Almost all of them were wounded and exhausted, and they were running out of medicine and ammunition. So,” she looked up, her eyes shining brighter than she herself, “they called upon the greatest weapon they had.”

“The magic of friendship,” Shadow sighed with a groan.

It was as if he’d grown tired of the unpredictable force that had always come to the rescue of the Mane Six in Sonic and Tails’ stories.

He obviously knows more than he’s saying, Cosmic remarked to herself. And made a mental note to talk to the black hedgehog when they got out of this damned forest.

“Right,” the ghostly alicorn replied. “The power of their spiritual union had awakened the remnants of the Tree’s magical power, and it had honored the common wish of the new bearers of the Elements to protect them by creating an indestructible crystal barrier at the entrance to the cave. By doing so, the bearers were saved from their enemies – but had to stay here for a long time. And they were no longer able to get out on their own.”

The spirit of the Tree moved forward, and the group involuntarily parted in front of her.

“The next day, the bombs fell, and it was even more unsafe to go out. They died here a few days later, of wounds, weakness, or thirst.”

The pseudo-Twilight stopped in front of the skeleton of a pony.

“Sandbar.”

Next, she approached the remains of a griffin.

“Gallus.”

Now the dragon.

“Smolder.”

And the yak.

“Yona.”

She crossed the cave and stood over the hippogriff.

“Silverstream.”

And the changeling.

“Ocellus.”

She looked up at the aliens and Cosmic watching her. And they saw in the ghost’s eyes the immense sadness she had lived with for so many years.

“By shutting themselves up here, they had escaped the zebras – but they had lost any chance later. The Tree had been too weak to give either of them a chance to survive.”

“So… what’s been up with you all these years?” Amy asked.

“The Tree was inactive. Having given up all its strength for protection, all it could do was watch – and scream silently in pain.” The pony ghost turned away. “Two hundred years of screaming that no one heard.”

“That’s… awful!” Cream exclaimed.

“But now you have come,” the pseudo-Twilight raised her head, a look of hope on her face, “and awakened the Tree with the magic you brought with you. For these statuettes” – she looked at the figurines again – “are only a faint echo of the real magic of the Elements. The rest was provided by you.”

“What?! And Shadow too?!” Amy looked wide-eyed at the black hedgehog, but he didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

The alicorn nodded.

“All of you. The friendship that binds you together stretches across the worlds, and with it, you can overcome any obstacles.” She sighed heavily again. “At least I would like to hope so.”

“Is there a seventh Element?” Cosmic cut in. “Or… then what is my role here? Is it really –” the mare grinned unhappily “– just as a guard?”

“Depends on how you look at it. There are many virtues, and each is important in its own way. If you serve your own, that role is no less important than the others.”

“As always,” Cosmic shook her head. “It’s clear that nothing’s clear. And… that’s all? We are no longer needed? What’s gonna happen to you now if it’s still the same shit out there?”

“As I said, you’ve been invaluable in helping the Tree rise from its former wreckage. Now I have enough power to find a safer place.” The ghostly Twilight smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine. Equestria will be reborn… and sooner than you all think. Thank you so much for everything, and… goodbye.”

And in another flash, the lavender pony vanished into the air.

The new Tree glowed again… and disappeared as well, leaving only a hole in the ground, torn open by roots.

The cave was now empty. Except for the aliens, Cosmic, and the old bones lying on the floor.

But what had made the cave a sacred place for centuries was no longer there.

“And… where is it?” asked Sonic, the first to recover from the shock. He pointed with his white-gloved hand to where the tree had just stood. “No, but did you see it? Did you see it…?”

“Somewhere else in Equestria,” Shadow shrugged. “The Wasteland’s big, but there must be some islands where it’s peaceful, right? Maybe there’s one to the east…”

“Why there?” Cosmic looked at him.

“Too long to explain,” the black hedgehog grumbled. “Now we should decide what we all are gonna do.”

“I suggest we go to our temporary base and think about it there,” the earth pony replied. “And on the way, it would be good to give the statuettes back to Spike, because he threatened to mince us if something happened…”

“Yeah, and then Littlepip won’t see them…”

The familiar name immediately brought back Cosmic’s uncomfortable feeling of something being hidden from her. She didn’t know that unicorn mare from the Stable that Monterey Jack was rumored to have tried to rob – but that wasn’t surprising. The strange thing was that this pony was known to a damn trickster who had just arrived in their world himself.

Cosmic gritted her teeth. Why did everyone always know more than her?

It was… unfair!

The next second she found herself leaning over Shadow, who she threw to the ground and pressed her hoof against his throat.

“Tell me! How do you know her?! How do you fucking know everything, even more than they do?!”

“Cosmic, don’t…!” Sonic shouted and rushed towards them, but he was stopped by Knuckles, who was also watching tensely what was happening.

“Ask me if I know Tyler Durden as well…” Shadow wheezed.

Cosmic pressed harder.

“I’ll explain everything to you…” the hedgehog coughed. “Just let go…”

“Uh… guys?” Amy’s voice was heard. Suspiciously quiet and pale. “Don’t you think now’s… not a good time…?”

“Yeah, you better listen to her. Otherwise, it could end very badly.”

Cosmic broke into a cold sweat. She froze, eyes wide open, still standing over Shadow.

This was bad. This was very, VERY fucking bad!!!

Slowly, very slowly, she removed her hoof from the hedgehog’s neck and turned around.

At the entrance to the cave stood an unknown stallion with a sniper rifle on a battle saddle, puffing on a cigarette. Two more – with light machine guns – stood at his sides. All barrels were aimed at those inside the cave.

And the picture was completed by a unicorn peering out from behind the others’ backs, levitating a frag grenade.

“Drop your weapons and come out with your hooves up… or paws… whatever.” The stallion took a puff, then took the cigarette, and flicked off the ash before releasing a cloud of smoke. And smirked. “Resistance is useless. Red Eye would probably be happy to talk to you.”

He spat out the cigarette and rasped it with his hoof.

“And then you’ll be dead anyway.”

Note: 50% of the next level.

Thе quest stage “Find the Tree of Harmony” has been completed. Added new stage “Return the statuettes to Spike”.