Truth or Dare

A Fallout: Equestria sidestory by StormbadgerXIII

Prologue

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria...

...magic, true magic, the magic of friendship, was almost completely forgotten and casually discarded by the ponies, instead leaving an open fissure for greed, anger, fear and hatred to manifest and grow in the heart of Equestria. Nations took up arms against each other. Cities were reduced to rubble. Fire rained from the sky and scorched the land. And when the megaspells hit, it was then the once-peaceful land of Equestria was no more.

The good ponies of the world, the ones who had not forgotten the six aspects of friendship, had built life-preserving underground shelters called Stables, which housed thousands upon thousands of ponies, each one spared the horrors of their world being destroyed.

Stable 22 was one of those Stables, but as luck would have it, it was situated in one of the harshest regions in the Equestrian Wastelands.

Detrot.

Fuck...

I felt cold. My body was freezing up at the hooves. The soggy ground under me couldn't hold me up. I was caked in my own blood. Or was it theirs? I couldn't tell anymore. Blood is blood. And there was too much around me.

I wanted to just sleep. Let everything wash over me. Lay down and rest my head on this nice cool ground. But a little pony inside of me told me I couldn't just give up. I had to keep going. For my friends. For me. For Detrot.

My hooves were numb. How had I fallen over again? A machine near me, broken and bent, smoke billowing out of its cracked centre, kept letting of a persistent wail from its whistle. A sledgehammer lay a few feet away from me. There were ponies all over the damn place, scrambling for cover. Cracks of gunfire. Shouts, screams, curses, cries. I think somepony shouted my name.

I closed my eyes. I don't know when I opened them again, but I was still there. Everything was the same. The wail had grown softer, more pathetic. I think I chuckled a little before my body shook in violent coughs. More blood. Not good.

I had to get up. I tried to get up. One of my legs didn't respond. Another struggled to hold me up, before I slipped again and landed chin-first in the ground, splashing mud all over me.

What a really lame way to die.

"Are you quite finished, little pony?" A solitary voice said from out of the gloom, as the fog of war seemed to part in her mere presence. She was majestic, her violet coat almost shining. One of her hooves was coated in blood. Her azure mane remained untarnished. How was she still alive? Could that mare even die? This was, what, the seventh time?

"Not yet." I replied snidely as best I could, once again trying to lift myself up. And failing. I hated failing. But there wasn't much else my body could do. What wouldn't I give for a healing potion right now? Probably my hooves.

I felt myself being lifted up, a soft red glow around my body. I'd felt this before, but it was still alien to somepony like me. I groaned internally. Unicorns.

Everything was destroyed. To my left a factory plant was immolating, ponies scrambling around it. To my right, a warehouse had collapsed on itself. Vehicles, each different and coloured uniquely lay in piles of scrap. A slight whistle in the wind followed by a boom destroyed the last of our machines, a fragment of its chassis flying past me.

The creepy yet alluring mare walked achingly slowly towards me. An explosion burst right next to her, showering me in hot debris, but she ignored it. The explosion didn't exist for her. Did it exist for me too? The shrapnel in my hooves and body told me 'yes', but my dizziness decided to keep questioning it.

She pulled out a sharp, pointed object. Even over the din of battle, even though my killer migraine, I could hear the thing humming. Argh, that humming. My ears felt like they were being stabbed. Too many explosions. The pony stepped right up to me; she was way taller than me. But I was standing up... well, sort of. She was holding me up.

I wanted to lift my hooves up to cover my chest, but they were being snapped to my side. It hurt. I think I heard somepony call my name again. Nopony was going to shoot when I was still here. I was too close to her to risk it. Clever bitch.

"You have proven to be a remarkable fighter." The mare purred, almost at the same frequency as the dagger. Her right eye was hidden under her long mane, but I knew it could see everything. "But I'm afraid this is your last dice roll."

I chuckled, coughing a little. "Good thing I've made all my saving throws so far." Why was I quoting that of all things?

She smirked softly, snorting a little laugh. Did she actually find my pathetic counter funny? "Truth or dare?"

I blinked. "What...?"

"I asked you a question. Truth... or dare?"

I hated that question. But I laughed.

"Are you seriously asking me that question?"

She remained unfazed, that constant smirk on her face. Guess I had to answer the question.

"Alright then... dare." I chose the answer I knew had gotten me here in the first place. I'd probably end up worse off, but fuck it, she was going to kill me anyway, might as well do it for nostalgia's sake. And besides, I could chance it. It's in my name after all.

"I dare you..." She started, before her magic aura became a little brighter, and I felt something lance into me, hot and cold at the same time. I looked down. "...not to scream."

I didn't scream. I just laughed blood. And shut my eyes slowly. That voice called my name again.

You know how ponies say that your entire life flashes before your eyes when you're just about to die? Well, that's what happened to me. A lot of ponies don't actually get to say they witnessed it, now that I think about it. Probably because most of them died. Or they didn't see anything.

Looking back, it was a pretty shitty life. But at least I did some good amongst everything else. A few big errors, of course, but everypony makes mistakes.

But what did I see when I felt that unnatural blade carve into my chest?

Everything.

So much of my life was brought back up to me like radroach meat in my throat with a sweet taste of Sparkle~Cola in the mix - a lot of horrible, disgusting stuff with some lovely carrotty bits that just barely masked the rest. Carrots are cool.

Fuck, I keep going off on tangents. Where was I? Oh yes, my life. Well, most of what I saw was irrelevant. Moments in my childhood, test scores, getting my cutie ma- wait, that bit's important. Dammit! Hang on, let me start over.

Well, I suppose I should start with 'who the fuck am I and why am I telling you this?' The answer to the first part is simple; I'm Chancer. The Stallion in the Shadow of the Steel-Eyed Stranger. Luna-tier hero of Detrot. Leader of the Detrot Counterattack Force. And a number of other meaningless titles.

The second part isn't as simple. But it, effectively, boils down to 'because you need to know the truth of this'. There's things that happened that ponies need to know about. Not so they can be scared into submission by what terrors lie around, but what they could become if they let themselves become what they fear, and the mistakes our ancestors made. Oh, and, probably most important, can't forget this bit - how you really shouldn't face them. Not everypony's as lucky as me.

Ok, let’s stay focused here.

I guess a good point to start in my story is where I grew up. Is it weird a lot of heroes come from Stables? Because I think it is. But, anyway, that's where I came from; Stable 22.

Stable 22 was a pretty nice place, actually. It had clean water, fresh(ish) food, and a close-knit community. And by close knit, I mean 'half the Stable was closed off so we were kinda cramped'. I hadn't even been born at that time, but I had learned pretty quickly that there was some sort of radiation accident that closed half the Stable off. Nobody saw it coming. Apparently 20% of the population of 22 were trapped in that area. The foals said you could hear their screams at night, when all is quiet and the thrum of the overhead lights dimmed down. I barely slept for weeks after that.

The point is, we had no choice but to be close. A full thousand and something ponies fit into an area that could only accommodate half of that number. All the vital areas had been spared the radiation, so we still had all our facilities - toilets, doctors' offices, jails, cafeteria, security station, the works.

Unfortunately, the family of cows we had for milk didn't survive.

Where do I fit in all of this? Well, I was an outcast in society the moment I was born, then even more when I grew up. The first, because my mother was from the outside. The Stable had a policy - if you were from the wasteland, needed shelter, and weren't a health hazard, and didn't try to persuade everyone to leave into the wastes, you were integrated. I was told it was 'to keep our gene pool diverse'. I glazed over that lesson. But no, my mother was apparently one of the healthiest ponies anyone in here had ever seen come from outside. She was tired, exhausted, and weary from weeks of travel, one of her eyes was covered in bandages, but she was healthy.

While there was a law against discrimination against outsiders, it still happened. Coupled with my mother's shy disposition, she barely left her assigned room. My father only met her by chance. Let's just say she was cute, he was handsome, they got married, fucked, and pop, out I came. A tiny bundle of soft bones, matted fur and a brain only beginning to grasp life. Who knew that little guy would do what I've done?

The second part of my being an outcast was the fact that I was... well... how do I put it lightly? I was weird.

I never really wanted to play with other foals, but I always played loudly and with energy. I couldn't sit still, I practically galloped everywhere. Oh yeah, sure, I was friendly, but I never had real and true friends. If a pony were to talk to me I would reply with gusto. Gusto freaks quiet ponies out. The only friend I had was Mr Huggyhugpants (clever, eh?), a plush toy which went missing one day. Never found it again, but I grew out of it... eventually.

I barely passed school. Not because I was stupid, mind you (though I am slightly dumber than most according to popular opinion and various tests). I just couldn't do the work. I didn't see any need to learn about the war against these striped ponies everyone called zebras. I didn't need to know trigonometry. I didn't need to know the names of famous ponies. In fact, I was only really good at making pictures, playing sports and games.

As I grew up, my hormones started kicking in. The fillies I once thought were gross became eye-catching. My previous friends became more friendly rivals. My parents became more annoying, each of their actions an attempt to stop me being me. Y'know, usual teenager stuff. Stuff most wastelanders didn't get the chance to truly experience. Mum kept reminding me every time I whinged about my day.

I was so focused on looking at mares that I didn't notice everyone else looking at me gazing. I was told I had some pretty lousy peripheral vision by my friends. I always made a fool of myself.

After a friend of mine lent me a copy of a Sword Mares comic, I fell in love. Not with Sword Mare, mind you. But the story of her. A great fighter traversing a large, wild land, slaying beasts and defeating evil. I fell in love with the idea that, one day, I could leave this Stable and follow in her footsteps. Entering the Stable was difficult, but leaving was impossible.

I'll fast forward a bit. When I finally got out of school, and earned my cutie mark (winning a board game for some unlucky colt who's food for a month had been on the line), I was instantly shafted into maintenance, as I had failed to show much aptitude for anything else. Because of that, I got the most backbreaking job in the Stable.

Heavy lifting.

Work was annoying. My workmates even more. Lifting objects weighing at least 200 pounds for the ponies who can't even lift fifty. In the first week, I had to spend the weekend in bed with some painkillers nearby. Not a happy chappy.

Oh, yeah, I should also mention - I was seen as weird because I was also so damn lucky. I dunno how it happened, but just about every game I played, I somehow pulled victory out of my ass and turned the tables. I had spent an entire day being tested by my peers, in card games, board games, and sports. Most games I seemed to win. I was confused as fuck. They were too.

However, in just about every other area I was as normal as could be. I couldn't pick up chicks like Smoothie. I couldn't run a mile like Hundred Yard (though I nearly did once before my legs gave out). I couldn't do science things like Valence. I was just... normal. Aside from my other oddities, of course.

When I had time, run out of comics to read, and become bored and restless, I snuck out at night and explored what little of the Stable I legally could. And then some. I found a way to confuse the doors with a bobbypin and screwdriver. While some doors remained locked for me, many fell to my mighty tools. I wanted to see more. To not be exposed to the same boring walls every day for the rest of my natural life.

However, I was starting to run out of space to explore. And I yearned to see more. My mother's tales of the outside, while filled with horrors unimaginable and acts against ponies one shouldn't even think of, always made me wonder what I'd actually see when I got out there. She might have been giving me the bad and none of the good. Or vice versa. I still dreamed of wide expanses, wielding a sword in my muzzle as I charged to fight evils and save the world. I knew it was a dream, because I woke up from them every night. Only a few times, early on, did I cry, but that's when everything was so real I could almost taste the air, feel the ground under my hooves and the weight of my armour.

Who knew that dreams could become real?

Author's Note

I swear, by the time I finish the story, I'll have rewritten this a hundred times over just to fit with the current story.

So yes, new storyline, altered characters, lodsa fun to be had.

Enjoy, and let me know what ya think

~Stormbadger

(PS: If anyone's willing to be an editor or proof-reader, send me a private message.)