My Little Fallout: New Yorkby MrDenimChaptersChapter 1 -- Stranger in ParadiseChapter 2 -- Wake the Town and Tell the PeopleChapter 3 -- Quiet VillageChapter 4 -- I'm Walking Behind YouPrologue -- Introduction of the New York WastesChapter 1 -- Stranger in Paradise -- Stranger in Paradise =-=-=-=-= Canterlot, Equestria =-=-=-=-= Six months after Twilight’s disappearance =-=-=-=-= Canterlot was experiencing one of the most beautiful days in a decade. Everypony was enjoying the blue sky and warm weather. Well, everypony minus one. A certain white, alicorn princess of the day was sitting on her balcony, depressed. Princess Celestia sighed for what seemed to be the fiftieth time in the span of a half-hour. Her normally magically-flowing mane barely moved even with the wind pushing it, plus it was slightly monochrome. Day Court had been disbanded until further notice, as it had been when… when Twi… Golden tears started streaking the princess’ face as she shuddered in sadness. Not a day has gone by when she didn't regret being there to protect her most faithful student. She sighed again, this one being particularly long. She stood up and was about to head back into her chambers to sigh some more when she was interrupted midstep by a bright flash of light and a loud bang. She turned her head upwards and saw a white ball with a purple tail streak across the sky. Celestia flew up into the air just in time to see it land in the Everfree Forest. There was another loud band and a gradient dome of light formed then disappeared just as quickly in the area where the… thing landed. Without even alerting her guards, she rocketed towards the crash site. =-=-=-=-= Inner Depths, Everfree Forest =-=-=-=-= The lavender unicorn groaned as she woke up. Getting to her hooves, she winced and cursed as she put pressure on her bandaged front left hoof. She moved her remaining eye back and forth to take in her surroundings. She sighed in relief when she recognized the thick trees of the Everfree Forest. “Home…” Twilight said, which quickly turned to cheering. “I’m… I’m home. Woohoo! Take that Wasteland, you icy cunt! I’m FINALLY HOME! WOO!” Completely disregarding her current situation, Twilight started hopping in circles, not even caring that she was in a crater. After several minutes of cheerful bouncing, she stopped to take inventory. “Hmm… Let’s see here…” She laid out everything she had on her person in front of her, including her armor. Mental Inventory Checklist 1) 1 – .45 Auto Submachine Gun (unmodified) 2) 15.3 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, all filled to capacity minus one, including current in weapon 3) 3.58 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, +P, most filled to capacity 4) 4.24 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, Hollow Point, most filled to capacity 5) 1 – 9mm pistol (Extended Magazine modification) 6) 38.4 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, including current in weapon, most filled to capacity 7) 4.2 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, +P, most filled to capacity 8) 6.5 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, Hollow Point, six filled to capacity, one filled to half capacity 9) Broad Machete 10) Combat Knife 11) 20 – Weapon repair kits 12) 1 – Set of Lightweight Leather Armor 13) 1 – Set of Hunters’ Sniper Division dog tags 14) 4 – Antivenom 15) 20 – Doctor’s Bags 16) 34 – Purified Water 17) 14 – Rad-X 18) 2 – RadAway 19) 3 – Stealth Boys 20) 75 – Stimpacks 21) 18 – Super Stimpacks 22) 5 – Bottles of Vodka 23) 15 – Bottles of Whiskey 24) 26 – Bobby Pins 25) 1 – Screwdriver 26) 1 – Box of Premium Cuban Cigars 27) 1 – Engraved Cigar Lighter 28) 1 – New York Wasteland map 29) 1 – Wasteland Survival Guide, signed 30) 1 – Unremoved eye patch 31) 1 – Irremovable Pipboy 4000 Nodding in satisfaction, Twilight put on her armor and her friend’s dog tags. She opened the side pocket of her armor and levitated everything, excluding her weapons and a single bottle of vodka, into the pocket, once again thankful for that expansion charm Celestia taught her. She opened the bottle and raised it to the heavens and exclaimed, “To survival and home!” She downed half of it in one go and wiped her mouth with a hoof, then let out a rather unladylike belch. With a satisfied sigh, she equipped her primary weapon: the SMG, put her pistol in its holster, her machete in its sheath, her combat knife in the sheath attached to her leg, and teleported out of the crater. She appeared a few meters away from the edge of the crater. With a quick look around, she gathered her bearings. Without even taking a single step forward, Twilight got a hostile marker on her radar. With a groan, She went into VATS to access the situation. A hydra? …Screw it, I have some time to kill, something else now too. Heh… Twilight chuckled and readied her primary. Not five seconds later, the hydra’s heads appeared over the tree line, all of them glaring at her. She glared back, not even flinching. With a smirk, Twilight yelled at the hydra. “Your mother was a gecko! And your father was fish!” The hydra reeled back at the yell, then roared at her once it registered the insult. Twilight just smiled and aimed her SMG. She pulled the trigger and fired. The SMG jerked upwards from the recoil, which was exactly what she wanted. A line of holes formed along the neck of one of the segments, finishing right between the eyes of one of the heads, killing that segment. One down. Twilight jumped out of the way of the even angrier heads. Six more to go. Twilight jumped onto its tail and ran up onto its back. The hydra couldn’t even feel her, which was apparent as the heads were looking around in confusion. She levitated both her SMG and her secondary weapon: the 9mm, aimed them at different heads, and fired. Two heads collapsed with a dull thud. Three down, four left. Right as the remaining heads turned towards her, she teleported back to the edge of the crater, aimed her SMG, whistled, then quickly fired, killing another head. She managed to take down one more before the last ones saw her. They roared again and charged. Perfect. Twilight teleported out of the way at the last second, causing the hydra to fall into the crater. She appeared right front of the last two heads, then fired and killed one of the heads. When she aimed her SMG at the last, still living head, it whimpered. Twilight smirked and said, “Hasta la Vista, baby.” She pulled the trigger and killed the final head. After the final head died, she sighed and said, “Well that was eas-” She cut herself off by slapping a hoof over her mouth, before warily glancing up at the sky and smiling sheepishly. “That didn't count, right?” As usual she got no response. With a huff, Twilight placed her SMG on her back and headed towards Canterlot Mountain, the city looking as gorgeous as ever in the midday sun. =-=-=-=-= It had only been a few hours since she started walking, but she thought she would’ve reached the foot of the mountain by now. She stopped, and muttered, “I wonder…” She brought up her Pipboy’s HUD and went to the Radio section to find… “Epic! I still got radio!” With a hum, she tuned the radio to Radio New York, placed the ear bud in her uninjured ear and listened to the broadcast while she walked. Well ladies and gents, I have a very special guest here with us at the studio today. That guest is Sergeant Tyson of the Hunters’ Sniper Division. Welcome to the show, Sergeant. Thanks, Arthur. It’s a pleasure. Twilight tripped on nothing when she heard his voice. He sounded manlier on the radio. The pleasure’s all mine. Now then, word has been spreading around the New York Wastes that for the past six years, you have been travelling with a rather… interesting companion. Is this correct? One hundred percent correct. She was a Corporal for the Sniper division and was my spotter for a good part of that time. After I was given temporary leave to train her, we travelled for a fairly large portion of those six years. I took her to the best places that the Wasteland had to offer: what was left of the Empire State Building, Times Square, even Central Park! Central Park? That place is infested with Deathclaws. How’d you two make it out of there alive? We disabled the legs of any Deathclaw we came across, then finished them off as we walked backwards. Huh… Well there’s your Tip of the Day for you folks: If you come across a Deathclaw, take out the legs. Why the legs, may I ask? Because when you take out the legs, the Deathclaw’s speed is lowered to a brisk jog. Well now, how ‘bout that… Anyway folks, we’ll cut to a break, so be sure to stay tuned for the second part of the interview… The gentle strumming of a guitar began, and Twilight smiled widely when she realized what song was playing, then she started singing softly along, Love me tender. Love me sweet. Never let me go. You, have made my life, complete. And I love you so… Love me tender. Love me true. All my dreams, fulfilled. Oh my darling, I love you. And I always will. Love me tender. Love me long. Take me, to your heart… For it’s there that I belong. And will never part. Love me tender. Love me true. All my dreams, fulfilled. For my darling, I love you. And I always will. Love me tender. Love me dear. Tell me, you are, mine… I’ll be yours, through all the years. ‘Til the, end of, time… Love me tender. Love me true. All my dreams, fulfilled. For my darling, I love you. And I always will… As the song ended, Twilight sighed happily, turned off the radio, and placed the ear bud back in its place. She checked her HUD, and found several hostiles and one friendly behind her. She sighed and readied her SMG for the impending battle. The rustling of bushes in the distance alerted her all too easily. She almost pulled the trigger, but was surprised to find that the hostiles were wearing golden armor. The golden armor of the Royal Guard. They surrounded her, spears out. Twilight rolled her eyes and thought. If the Guard are the hostiles, then that friendly must be- “Twily!” “Oof!” Twilight was almost shoved to the ground by the force of her brother hugging her. She stood there, shocked, before reciprocating the hug, wrapping her right hoof around her BBBFF. The guards around them looked confused and felt awkward. Shining Armor smiled and released his now returned sister. “Twily, we’ve missed…” His voice faded as his took in her appearance. “Twily… What… What happened to you?” His face turned into an expression of shock and concern as his mind tried to register his sister’s appearance. Apparently, a torn ear, a missing eye, a horn missing its tip, a bandaged leg, and wearing leather armor while carrying strange weapons must not be ‘in’ yet. Twilight looked at herself and turned three-sixty to get a better look at what her brother was seeing. As she turned around, she heard a gasp come from Shining. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Your… your Cutie Mark…” Twilight’s good ear fell back when he mentioned that. Her head lowered as the memory assaulted her mind. She jerked up in surprise when she heard him growl like a rabid animal. “When I get my hooves on whoever did this to you…” She intervened before he could get any further. “Brother, look me in the eye, not at my wounds, but in the eye.” He did. “I Pinkie Pie Promise that I’ll explain everything I can later. Right now, we need to gather up my friends, Spike, and the Princesses. I've got a lot to talk about…” Author's Note So... How was it? NOTE: I have never been to New York and I live in Kentucky. If I make any mistake on NY's geography or about the location of certain places, don't hesitate to call me up on it! Chapter 2 -- Wake the Town and Tell the People -- Wake the Town and Tell the People =-=-=-=-= Canterlot, Equestria =-=-=-=-=-=-= Royal Dining Hall =-=-=-=-= Twilight’s friends were ecstatic to learn about her coming home. Spike didn’t believe Shining at first, accusing him of saying that to make him feel better. Night Light and Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor’s parents, were both slightly disbelieving as well. Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, suggested that they throw her a- “…party!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Her friends agreed, not even noticing Shining Armor’s expression change from passive to fear in less than a second. He started stuttering, trying to form the words needed to say ‘No’ to the surprise party. He felt a wing drape across his back. He looked to the side and saw his wife-to-be, Princess Cadance, smiling warmly at him. With a sigh and the shake of his head, he left Dining Hall to head towards the Infirmary, leaving behind the voices of happiness. At some point in time during the trip, the Princesses met up with him and followed close behind. They had stopped in front of the ornamental double doors with a glazed red cross adorning the center. They looked at each other awkwardly before they motioned for the others to go first. They shared a chuckle. Princess Celestia stepped forward and said, “I suppose we shou-“ “I said that I’m fine, damn it!” There was a thump that followed the yell, causing the three to run in, horns glowing. Needless to say, what they saw wasn’t what they expected. Twilight was scowling as she held an icepack on her forehead with her magic, as her hooves currently crossed in a pout. Her armor and weapons were gone, as was the eye patch and the bandage that was around her hoof, the only thing still there was a set of dog tags. Instead of a hole, as Shining had feared, it was just a sown-over eyelid. It wasn’t surprising that she wore the eye patch, as the patchwork on her eye was grisly at best. The doctor was nursing a black eye and a torn jacket. His mane was in disarray as if he had just finished a marathon. Princess Celestia asked, “What just happened in here?” “She punched me!” “He punched me!” The two said at the time, glaring at each other. “Why?” Celestia asked simply. The doctor pointed a hoof in Twilight’s direction. “She won’t cooperate!” The mare in question just stuck her tongue out at him and muttered, “I won’t cooperate because I know that I’m fine.” “You have a missing eye, a torn ear, and the tip of your horn is gone! You’re anything but fine!” The doctor yelled. Twilight just stared at him for a few seconds before rebutting, “I’ve had the tip of my horn missing and my torn ear for six years, and my missing eye for two. If there were any complications, I do believe that they would have presented themselves by now.” Silence met her reply as the others just stared at her. Princess Celestia broke the silence. “Twilight… my most faithful student… You’ve only been gone for six months, not six years.” Twilight blinked in surprise, before blowing air out her nose and saying, “And here I thought that the wasteland couldn’t backhand me anymore than it already has. But nope! It just had to go and use time dilation of all things.” She sat down and blew some of her mane out of her face. “And one month here equals to one year there? That’s just…” She trailed off. Celestia didn’t quite understand what she meant by ‘wasteland’ and ‘time dilation’, but asked, “Where exactly was ‘there’?” Twilight stopped messing with the dog tags around her neck and looked at everypony in the room. Even the doctor was waiting for her answer. “I’d prefer it if I talked about this in front of everypony else, that way I won’t have to repeat myself.” Celestia smiled and nodded. “Of course. You can talk about it all with your friends in the Dining Hall…” Twilight’s face lit up as she stood up. “…after you finish up here.” Twilight promptly fell back onto her rump, a grimace on her face. =-=-=-=-= Outside the Royal Dining Hall =-=-=-=-=-=-= One hour later =-=-=-=-= “You promise to keep your weapons in the side pocket?” Shining asked, concerned. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, I promise.” She continued as she fixed the position of a leather strap. “Only an idiot flings about their weapons. I’ve used these for almost six years now, I know what to do and what not to do.” “Like what?” Princess Luna tilted her head. “Like using the iron sights of your SMG as a backscratcher.” Twilight chuckled. “Best part was it was a friend that did that.” “What did you do to help?” Celestia asked. “Nothing,” Twilight cut Celestia off before she could chide her. “I needed the laugh. That place was more depressing than Michael Barrymore’s career.” Blank stares greeted that statement. Twilight rolled her eye and said something about explaining later. With a pause, she opened the door only to find pitch black within, which was odd, considering that the dining hall had very large stained glass windows opened to the world. Her Pipboy read at most twelve non-hostiles. Realizing what it was, Twilight walking three feet into the room and sat down. “SURPRISE!” The lights flicked on and ponies jumped out from behind pillars and tables with large smiles on their faces. Twilight feigned surprise with a look on her face and a small jump. She smiled back at them, the smiles there faded when their owners took in her appearance. The only pony still smiling was- “Oof!” “OhTwilightI’mhappytoseeyou!Youweregonebutnowyou’rebackandIwasalllikeGASPthensadnessthen-“ Pinkie Pie continued to talk with a heavily muffled voice, even after Twilight stuck her hoof in her mouth. “Pinks, I’d greatly appreciate it if you would stop talking long enough for me to get a word in edgewise.” At Pinkie’s nod, Twilight removed her hoof, with Pinkie still sporting her large smile. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Twilight wrapped her in a bear hug that would make Mr. Grizzly cringe, and not because of his back problems. Pinkie quickly hugged her friend back, sending off some loud pops from Twilight’s spine. “Gah!” Twilight let go and rubbed the back of her neck. “Thanks, Pinkie. I really needed that.” “You’re welcome!” Pinkie exclaimed. She looked back at the other ponies in the group, all of which were looking at Twilight in shock… maybe even a little bit of fear. Pinkie wrapped a hoof around Twilight’s neck and said, “Come on everypony! Sure she may have a missing eye and a torn ear, but it’s still Twilight!” That seemed to do the trick as ponies shook their heads and surrounded the mare. They all welcomed her back and were asking her how she got her injuries. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were wearing the same looks that Shining got in the Everfree Forest. Rarity fainted at the sight of Twilight’s complexion, while Fluttershy just whimpered at how scary and intimidating her friend looked. “Twilight!” A voice shouted from the edge of the group. The group parted to show- “Cadance!” The two mares trotted up to each other and said together, “Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They started laughing together and embraced one another with large smiles on their faces. Their hugging was interrupted Twilight’s parents running forwards and practically smothered their daughter with love. Twilight tried to push them off, but even with her improved strength it was futile. “Twi… Twilight?” A soft voice spoke. The ponies moved aside to show- “Spike…” The now-a-little-taller drake looked around awkwardly and eyed his older sister in disbelief and confusion. He took a few careful steps forward… before sprinting and embracing Twilight. Sobs and sniffles could be heard from the dragon. Twilight hugged Spike back, tears falling from her eye. “Please tell me you’re real…” A muffled spoke said. Twilight looked at her parents in confusion with her mom mouthing, I’ll explain later. Twilight nodded and hugged Spike tighter. “Of course I am, Spike.” Twilight replied softly. “…and you promise not to go away again?” Twilight smiled softly. “Of course I do.” Spike released his hold on his sister and smiled with tear-stung eyes. He hopped onto her back and laid down on his, and spoke with a voice barely holding back a hiccup, “I’m hungry, anyone else hungry?” There was a collective laugh from the group as they went to the mountains of food for a rather unhealthy lunch. As they ate, Twilight opened conversation with a question, “Now,” Twilight began, with most of the ponies having stopped eating to listen. “I’m sure that most of you in here are wondering why I look so much older than I should be.” There was a nod from all of the ponies, and dragon. Twilight continued, “First, a question: Who here knows what time dilation is?” Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash answering the question at the same time. “Time dilation, in the Theory of Relativity, is an actual difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses.” There were collective blinks from all of the ponies there. Twilight said, “Uh… Yes, that’s exactly right. How did…” “We were required to take a Physics and Aerodynamics course when we went to High Flyer’s Academy for Pegasi.” Responded Rainbow Dash. More blinks. Twilight shook her head and said, “Well then. To explain further, and with simpler terms, time dilation is where time moves at different speeds at different locations. For example, let’s say that time is moving normally where we’re sitting right now.” There was a collective nod from everypony. “Alright, now let’s say that time is moving five minutes faster over by the throne for every one minute here. If a pony was sitting here and five minutes had passed for them, over at the throne, a pony sitting around there was have had twenty-five minutes pass for them. Everypony following?” More nods. “Good. In my case, the dilation was very extreme. The reason why I look more like a fully grown mare is because I am one.” Murmuring passed through the assembled ponies as Twilight spoke over them. “In my case!” The murmuring stopped, and Twilight lowered her voice back to normal levels. “In my case, the reason why I am now a fully grown mare is because for every one month here in Equestria, one full year had passed where I was at. So instead of being six months older like I should be, I am actually-” “…six years older.” Twilight Velvet finished. Twilight Sparkle nodded, which caused her mother to let out a filly like squeal of excitement. “Oh I have some the cutest dresses at home that you can wear! We can even go shop-” Twilight interrupted, “Not now, mom. Maybe later okay? Right now I just want to get started on my story.” Her mother blushed then nodded and followed her daughter back to the table to sit with the others. “Now then, where to begi-” Pinkie Pie shouted, “Cliffhanger!” Author's Note Anyone else notice how I'm not rushing into the story??? That's some big@$$ time dilation ain't it!? As usual, leave a comment letting me know what you think! Chapter 3 -- Quiet Village -- Quiet Village Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie in confusion, but eventually shrugged and left it to Pinkie Pie be Pinkie Pie. “Okay…” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. “Anywho, let’s start at the beginning…” =-=-=-=-= Unknown Location =-=-=-=-= Twilight stumbled as the teleportation spell ended, the white light blinding her vision. Her ears were ringing as the unexpected bang nearly ruined her eardrums. As her senses returned, Twilight was shocked. She wasn’t in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle as she should have been. No, she was in what appeared to be in a city that looked a little bit like Manehattan. That is, if Manehattan was in ruins with strange chariots scorched and overturned in the streets, and the entire city had been thrown in a northern blizzard straight from the Crystal Empire. Twilight squinted her eyes against the wind and snow that assaulted her vision, putting a hoof in front of her face to try and block out the stinging snow. She looked around, trying to find something, anything that could give her an idea as to where she was. “Hello?” She called. An echo was all that answered. Twilight took a deep breath, the cold air freezing her lungs, and yelled, “HELLO?!” No answer. Starting to panic, Twilight turned rapidly and yelled for anypony that may listen. “Hello! Anypony! Spike! Princess! Luna!” She started running in a random direction, more names coming forth from her mouth. “Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, R… Rarity!” An echo followed and the wind continued its dance, seemingly oblivious to the unicorn’s plight. “Trixie! Gilda! Any… anypony…” Twilight stopped in the middle of another empty intersection, rubble from collapsed buildings blocked off any passage other than the one she just came from. With a gasp for air, Twilight let herself fall to the ground, the snow softening the blow that the asphalt street would’ve dealt. She had laid there for who knows how long. Sniffling through teary eyes, she picked herself up from the ground. She got rid of the snow that clung to her coat with a simple levitation spell, and looked around again. Her tracks had been covered up by fresh snow, leaving her more lost than she already was. She sighed and started walking back the way she came, hoping to find some sort of evidence as to where she was, when she suddenly felt something graze her horn, sending a sharp pain through her nerves to her brain, eliciting a small gasp of pain from the unicorn. There wasn’t a warning, not even a sound. Just pain. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Twilight tapped her now scarred over horn tip, earning gasps of shock from the unicorns and alicorns, and cringes of sympathy from everypony else. She nodded and muttered, “Yeah… that’s how I got that one.” Fluttershy asked softly, “What about your… your ear?” The lavender unicorn smiled sadly and said, “I got that a few seconds later…” =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Going through the pain, Twilight ran towards the closest cover, which was a large overturned chariot. She ran around it and slammed her back against the cold metal of the side, her lungs shuddering for air. The sound of metal getting ripped apart was the only warning she received. Her body felt the warm blood slide down the side of her head, while her mind took a little bit longer to register that she was actually in more pain than before. When it did however… Her vision started to swim as the pain overloaded her senses. She staggered out into the middle of the street, not entirely sure of where she was going. She was going to stop this invisible assaulter, no matter what. She saw the harsh glare of sunlight against a piece of glass at the top of a brick tower that was in slightly less disrepair than the other buildings. Thinking that it was the location of her assailant, she turned and looked directly into the glass. She closed her eyes, waiting for more pain, when she heard something in front of her. What it was, Twilight didn’t know. The form of the body led her to believe that it was some form of skinny ape. It was facing away from her, its arms spread out wide. After a minute or two of nothing happening, a metal door at the bottom of the tower slid sideways, and another ape like creature walked out, wearing some form of clothing and wielding something that looked like a metal stick. Twilight gave out a gasp of surprise, realizing what these creatures were. Humans, she thought. Real humans. Twilight groaned as she began to remember the texts that went over the Human race. Great. Just great. Humans are territorial creatures that won’t hesitate to send any intruders back where they came from. They can be your greatest ally, or your worst enemy. And apparently, I just made one really mad, with another trying to save me. Twilight was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice the two humans looking at her with confusion. It was only when the one that saved her had waved its hand in front of her face did she take notice. Cringing at the constant surge of pain from her horn that matched her heartbeat, Twilight said, “Sorry, I was lost in thought.” The humans blinked. The one with the weapon said, “I almost shot you in the head, twice.” By the voice, that human was male. He held up two fingers and continued, “Twice! And you’re standing there lost in thought? How the hell does that work?” Not particularly fond of the male human, Twilight turned to the other human and said, “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?” The second human, female by sound of the voice, replied. “My name’s Stephanie, and this lump,” She elbowed the other human in the ribs. “is Drew.” Twilight nodded and said, “Nice to meet you. Well, one of you anyway...” She narrowed her eyes at Drew. He held up his hands defensively and said, “Whoa whoa whoa! If it’s any consolation, if I had known beforehand that you were sentient and not a hostile, I wouldn’t have tried kill you. Honest.” Twilight scrutinized him for a few seconds, before sighing. She said, “Alright, I’ll tolerate you... for now. That’s doesn’t mean we’re friends or anything. I’ll only be around until Princess Celestia and my friends come find me.” Drew scoffed, which caused Twilight to ask, “What’s so funny?” “It’s just that here, unicorns are nothing more than myths from the old world. The chances of your friends finding you are slim to none.” Drew replied, “So you better get used to the wasteland, Sparkle. You’re gonna be here for a long time.” Without missing a beat, Twilight rebutted, “I don’t believe that. Back home, Celestia raises the sun, I’m sure that I’ll be home by the end of the week.” Drew deadpanned, “It’s Friday.” “Oh.” Twilight said sheepishly, “Then by the end of next week.” Drew nodded, and Stephanie said, “Well, how ‘bout this? We all head back to base to let Twilight get settled in, and wait for this to blow over.” Twilight nodded and said, “I’m fine with that.” Drew shrugged, and said, “I suppose. It couldn’t hurt, much at least.” Twilight rolled her eyes, and opened her mouth to say- “Well, well, well. What do we ‘ave ‘ere?” That wasn’t her. Twilight looked around, and saw several humans surrounding them. Looking back at Stephanie and Drew, she saw that they were tensed. Drew was pointing a smaller weapon at one of them, his larger one across his back. Stephanie was holding what looked like a short sword, wielding it with one hand as she held a serrated knife in the other. Twilight looked back at the other humans and eyed them warily. “Look ‘it ‘em. Two travelers an’ der pet brahmin! We’re eatin’ good tonight boys!” One of the humans ran at Drew with a small knife. There was a loud bang! that nearly made Twilight deaf. She screamed in fright and held her forehooves over her ears while cowering on the ground, her eyes closed tightly. She opened an eye to find Stephanie locked in a melee duel with one human, with a second one on the ground, grasping the area between his legs and hollering in pain. The first human that ran at Drew, Twilight noticed, was on the ground, unmoving, with a small pencil-sized hole in his forehead. Even in her current state, Twilight could tell that the human wouldn’t be getting back up. A human walked up to Twilight cautiously, as if expecting her to lash out and bite him. He chuckled darkly and knelt down in front of her, smiling, his rotted and mossy teeth showing in full view of her face. It was a good thing that ponies didn’t have a gag reflex, otherwise the foul stench from this human’s mouth would’ve made her empty her stomach. Twilight tried to stand up, run, anything that would get her away from the terrifying sight before her. Alas, her limbs refused to respond. The human pulled out a very rusted and dull kitchen knife. A blackened tongue slithered out of his mouth. It was scarred, with slashes running along multiple places. He then did something that still gave her nightmares: He licked the sharp side of the knife, slicing his tongue and letting the blood run down the blade. “Gots ta git it nice an’ lubed up, eh.” He said with another dark chuckle following soon after. He raised the blade over her head, the point aimed for the base of her horn. Twilight closed her eyes, waiting for the pain. It never came. There was a yell followed by a grunt then the sound of rolling. Twilight opened her eyes to find Drew locked in tumble with the human that almost killed her. Drew slipped up and landed on the ground, the other human on top of him, the knife held high, ready for a strike. Twilight looked around for Stephanie to try and get someone to do something. Unfortunately, Stephanie was still fighting melee with that human. With a deep breath, Twilight got to her hooves, a grunt escaping her. She looked back at Drew to find him struggling to hold back the knife from piercing his heart. Twilight rapidly looked for anything useful. She looked back and saw that Drew was losing the struggle. With a quick flick of her horn, Twilight flung the closest thing her magic could hold towards the human with the knife. A serrated knife flew through the air. The human looked towards her in confusion. The gaze quickly turned to fear when he noticed the knife flying at him. Without any time to respond, the knife impaled the human in the throat. A red mist sprayed out from the wound. He tried to scream in pain, but with the wound opening his windpipe, nothing but a whistle escaped as his flailing grew less and less frantic. Twilight was oblivious to the second scream as the last human was killed by the quick movements of Stephanie. Drew got to his feet while he wiped the stray blood off of his face. He walked over to the now dead human. He placed a foot on his chest, grabbed the knife, and pulled it out of his throat. “This yours?” Drew asked, presenting Stephanie with the combat knife. “No. I still got mine.” Stephanie placed a hand against her sheath, the knife still inside. Drew walked over to Twilight, her gaze having never left the body of the human with the hole in his throat. He recognized that gaze anywhere. He sighed and motioned Stephanie over. She came over and saw Twilight’s expression. Her face fell at the sight. With a careful touch, she grabbed Twilight’s shoulder and shook it. When there wasn’t a reaction, Stephanie snapped her fingers in front of Twilight’s face. Still nothing. “Twilight...” Stephanie said softly. “Twilight, are you okay?” Twilight murmured, “I... I... Why did I...” While Stephanie was busy trying to bring Twilight back to Earth, Drew was keeping watch for anymore raiders. A slab of concrete fell to the ground and shattered, catching Drew’s attention. He looked at the slab, then looked way up. At the top of a shorter building, he saw the end of a cloak go out of view. With a grimace, Drew muttered, “Dammit.” He turned around and called to Stephanie, “Steph, let’s get outta here. Grab Twilight and let’s go.” Stephanie looked at him, confused. “What’s wrong?” He said only one word: “Skyliners.” Stephanie nodded, and without warning, picked Twilight up by the waist and started running, with Drew following close behind. Author's Note Major f*cking thanks to the World-Building Team: Lore - one_fish_two_fish & Professor Plum Companions - ObviousGerman NPCs - (Quest-related NPCs) TellyVision, (Merchant NPCs) ProtheanBrony Vaults - wargamebrony Factions - HeavyMetalCommunist, Sully48 New Yorkers - ObviousGerman, wargamebrony Unique Weapons - Genghis55 Chapter 4 -- I'm Walking Behind YouChapter 4 – I’m Walking Behind You The entire room was silent, except for the whimpers of a distressed mare. Fluttershy quickly enveloped Twilight in a hug. A hug that was quickly returned with more sobbing. Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran towards the two mares and gave their sympathetic hugs, soon followed by Rarity and everypony else. They stayed like that until Twilight calmed down. When she finally did, and they had released her, she sniffled and said, “Thanks… all of you.” “Do you want to continue?” Fluttershy asked softly. The lavender mare nodded and cleared her throat… =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The two bipeds, one of them carrying Twilight, were sprinting through the streets, alleys, and buildings, trying to get back home. They skidded along the snow to lose momentum and ran down a shadier looking, and less destroyed, alley. As Drew rounded the corner at full speed, a fist flew out of nowhere and decked him across the cheek, making him do an involuntary back flip before he crashed to the ground in a daze. Twilight, in a slighter saner state, looked up and saw a biped blocking the exit. His skin was heavily cracked and a lack of eyelids gave him a constant maniac appearance. He was wearing a badly damaged denim jacket, jeans, and a not-so-white pair of sneakers. “Finally!” He exclaimed, his voice sounding strained. “I’ve been chasing you two all day! And now that I’ve got you right where I want you!” Twilight tensed up. “Would you guys like some exclusive deals on some porn?” Drew groaned from his position on the floor, and mumbled, “We don’t want that shit Ghoul porn! Get outta here!” The “Ghoul’s” face fell as he accepted defeat with a resigned sigh and left them to do whatever. They stayed there in silence before Drew picked himself up from the ground, dusted himself off, and said, “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen agai-” There was a strained yell and the ghoul from earlier ran past the alleyway entrance. A feral roar nearly busted their eardrums. The two humans tensed up as an overly large and pale white figure with two foot long claws ran after the ghoul. “What was that thing…” Twilight asked breathlessly. “A Deathclaw. One of few things in the wasteland that can take on a full battalion and make it out virtually unscathed.” Drew answered. “One of the few?” Twilight muttered, a shocked look on her face. He nodded. “There are very few things in this wasteland that even Satan himself would have every right to fear. A Deathclaw is one of the seven.” Satan? Twilight thought. A questioning look appeared on her face as she asked, “What are the other six?” Drew looked around the wall of the alley slowly as he answered, “The seven are Deathclaws, Shred Serpents, Tundra Wolves, Sloths, Cryo, Wraiths, and Night Crawlers.” Just the mentioning of the names of these creatures seemed to make the two humans nervous. “Are they really that bad?” Twilight asked innocently. “No.” He stated, “They’re worse. They always hunt in groups. All of them have immunity to cold. And they all have no sense of compassion or mercy.” “Let’s hope that we don’t run into any.” Stephanie said softly, “We’re nowhere near equipped enough to even consider taking one down. There are only four people in post-war history that could, and two of them are dead, one is busy keeping order in the Capital Wasteland, and one is busy running an independent New Vegas clear on the other side of the country.” “How do you know all this?” Drew asked, confusion evident on his face. “Unlike you, I actually paid attention in class.” Twilight asked hopefully, “Can we just get to safety and talk later?” The two humans nodded. Stephanie put her down, and the three of them took off running down the street. =-=-= They were at another dead end, which made it the eighth one within an hour. Drew and Stephanie started looking nervous, while Twilight looked peeved. “I thought you said that you knew this area like the back of your hand.” She said in a deadpan voice. Drew’s face fell. He looked toward her and was about to retort when he saw an entrance to an office complex. They ran into the lobby, where was a strange logo on the floor. He sighed and muttered, “Who was dumb enough to make a window a company’s logo?” “A bunch of morons.” Stephanie replied after a chuckle. “Come on.” Drew made a follow motion with his pistol. “Let’s see what’s around here. Keep an eye out for any robots or raiders.” Drew and Stephanie walked down the hall, with Twilight slowly following. Steph slowed down until she was walking side by side with Twilight. “Hey Twilight, you okay?” She asked, concern etched on her face. The only response she got was a brief shake of the head and a sigh. “I know that you’re still in shock and probably aren’t really listening to what I’m saying. But, if we run into any trouble going through this place, we’ll really need any help you can provide. Especially with that weird levitation thing you did back there.” Again, very little response. Steph sighed. “At least take this.” She unsheathed her knife, grabbed the blade, and pointed the hilt towards Twilight, who flinched. “If we come across any robots, I’ll distract them so that you can take out their power source.” Twilight reluctantly took the knife by the hilt. She moved it side to side and looked it all over. “What’s the power source?” “The thing on the back of their chassis.” The only form of acceptance from the mare was a small nod. “I suppose. If we come across any of those others humans, I’m running.” “After your experience, I wouldn’t be surprised.” “Hey! You two following or what?” Drew yelled from far ahead, before taking a left at an intersection. Several beams of red light shot passed from the intersection Drew had walked down. He ran back toward them and ran past yelling, “Don’t follow me! Don’t follow me! Don’t follow me!” Steph and Twilight looked at each other, then at the intersection. What came out from the hallway confused Twilight greatly. It was bipedal, that much was certain. It seemed to be made out of metal. At the top, where the head was, was a mirror-like surface. Steph groaned and yelled out to Drew, who was currently cowering in the lobby, “It’s just a Protectron!” “It’s what’s behind it!” Was his reply. Steph’s expression turned to one of confusion. She turned back to the Protectron, who was looking around aimlessly. The ground suddenly rumbled in time with a loud growl, almost making Steph and Twilight fall down. The same couldn’t be said about the robot. It fell over and smashed against the wall while saying, “Error. Error. Error…” Back at the intersection, frost started coating the walls. A lower growl mixed with a hiss resonated through the air, chilling Twilight to the bone. A snow white, snake-like figure slithered into their part of the intersection. At least thirty feet of the thing was coiled up. It had four pure black, slit eyes. Its head seemed to be filed down to a point. Whenever it opened its mouth razor sharp teeth were revealed, along with a literal spike of a tongue, which flicked up and down rapidly before receding back into its mouth. Steph whispered out of the side of her mouth, “Do not move a single muscle. Its eyes are its primary sense for tracking its food.” Twilight did the same, “What is it?” “A shred serpent.” The shred serpent slithered itself right up to Twilight. Its nostrils flared and blew hot and putrid air right into her face, blowing her mane back. It opened its maw, and licked her face. Twilight thought, That tongue is as hard as a rock! The shred serpent, after nearly five minutes of staying perfectly still, turned around and slithered back down the hallway it had come out of. Steph and Twilight stood there, still as a statue for a few minutes longer, in case it came back. When it didn’t, the two of them sighed, and snuck back to Drew, who was still hiding in the lobby. “So, that was a shred serpent?” Twilight asked quietly. The two humans nodded, which made Twilight sigh. A stiff wind blew into the lobby, causing her slightly dried over ear wound to sting, which made her cringe in pain. “I knew we were forgetting something.” Steph facepalmed. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a syringe and a dark red bottle with the words “Disinfectant” printed on the front in black. “This may sting.” “What ma- gah!” Twilight yelped in pain. She held in her whimpers as best she could while Steph rubbed on the disinfectant against her wound with a cotton ball. When the wound was fully covered, Steph put the bottle away and grabbed the syringe. With no form of a warning, she jabbed the needle into Twilight’s ear wound and injected the medicine. When every last drop was injected, Steph removed and pocketed the syringe. “Are you done?” Twilight asked with her eyes still shut tight. Steph chuckled and said, “Yep, I’m all done.” Twilight opened her eyes warily, before sighing and muttering, “It wasn’t that bad.” She looked at the two of them and asked, “So, what do we do now?” Drew, who was leaning against the lobby desk, hoped to his feet and said, “Back to North 16th and Madison!” Both females of the group groaned and followed the jogging man. It didn’t take long as he was only a few meters away from the building. “Why’d you stop?” Steph asked. Drew did nothing but point off in the distance. Steph looked in that direction and muttered, “Oh…” Twilight could have sworn that she heard some weird noise in the background, but was too entranced by what she saw. It was ghouls. A lot of ghouls. There was one in particular that had on a red leather jacket, black slacks, and a single glove. The ghoul was in the front, with at least twenty other ghouls behind him in a box formation. Then, they did something that Twilight would have never expected. They started dancing. The front ghoul spun in place rapidly before he suddenly stopped, grabbed his… groin area, and pelvic thrusted three times. He spun again, stopped, then walked backwards in a way that made him look as though he was gliding on air. He did same thing again in the opposite direction. He stopped when he was at the center-front of the group, who was providing background dancing. Another rapid spin, stop, then he started doing something that resembled jogging in place as he sang, “Cause this is Thriller! Thriller night! And no one’s gonna save ya from the beast about ta strike! You know it’s Thriller! Thriller night! Fighting for ya life to get her. Thriller! Get her! Thriller! Tonight!” The ghouls ran at them and stopped with a small jazz hand. The ghoul with the red jacket looked at the small group and asked, “Well?” Drew said, “I’ll give it an eight.” Steph clicked her tongue and said, “Nine.” Twilight muttered, “Eight point five.” The ghoul shrugged and said, “Fair enough.” He made a motion with his arm as he said, “Come on guys. To Broadway!” When the ghouls left, Twilight blinked and asked, “What just happened?” Drew shook his head and said, “I have no idea.” “Me neither.” Steph replied, “Just another day in the wild wasteland I suppose.” Author's Note I am so so so so so sorry about how late this is. I am trying to get back into the groove of writing again but It's been a slow going process. I've just felt like a dick recently and have been up for the past eight hours typing this up, so it'll more than likely suck @$$. This should hopefully tide everyone over while I try to find my muse once more. Prologue -- Introduction of the New York WastesA cracked radio turned on in a rundown bar, an ensemble of trumpets blaring through the speakers. A man’s voice started singing, Oh, the weather outside is frightful. But the fire is, so delightful. Since we’ve no place to go… Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The scene widened out to reveal what seemed to be the aftermath of a warzone. Buildings were crumpled and in utter disrepair. Cars were scorched and overturned. All the while, snow and ash covered the ground, with more snow falling lightly, finally letting up after 200 years. It doesn’t show signs of stoppin’. And I brought some corn for poppin’. Lights are turned down low… Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The scene focused on a pack of snow white canines, feeding on a group of unlucky travelers. One of their members looked up, a chunk of meat still in its mouth, when suddenly, its head exploded. The other canines stopped their feast and stared at their fallen comrade. Another of their heads exploded, soon followed by another and another. The final canine started running towards the closest cover: an overturned charter bus. This proved worthless, as its head exploded as well. The scene transitioned on the still smoking barrel of a silenced sniper rifle with winter camouflage coloration. The wielder moved it to a more comfortable position. By the form of the armor, it was apparent that the sniper was male. The next scene showed the entirety of a ruined city. In the distance, on an island, was a giant torch still held by a green hand, almost entirely covered by snow and ice. =-=-=-=-= War. War never changes. When atomic fire consumed the earth, those who survived did so in great underground vaults. When they opened, their inhabitants set out across the ruins of the old world to build new societies, establishing villages, forming tribes. As decades passed, what had been New York united under three different banners: a Viking helm, a halo, and a duo of crossed shotguns. These three tribes maintained dominance over their own personal slice of New York. As they grew, so did their needs. Land was taken and lost in bloody conflict, resulting in a three-way war between the tribes. This chapter of mankind’s blood filled story is centered on a sniper that is a member of the Hunters tribe. He’s led a semi-normal life, that is, until she came. Who was this mysterious companion of his? She would have to be seen to be believed… =-=-=-=-= The sniper sighed as he sat back down in the rusted chair. He rested his sniper rifle across his lap and reached into a pocket. With a little bit of rummaging around, he pulled out a slightly burnt wooden case, a picture, yellowed with age, of a long lost island nation on top. He opened the box with little difficulty and pulled out a cigar. Laying the box to the side, he sniffed the cigar. Reaching to the side of his left boot, he pulled out a combat knife. With it, he cut the head of the cigar. He put the knife back into his boot and pulled out a flare. He popped the cap off of it and stroked the flare against the wall, lighting it. With the lit flare, he lit his cigar and threw the flare out into the snowy street below. Taking a couple puffs of his cigar, the man leaned back in his chair and laid his feet on top of some bricks that made up a short wall, a frame on the sides that use to house a window. When he was about to fall asleep, a bright flash of light and a loud bang echoed from nowhere. The sniper flew to his feet and brought his rifle to his eye and looked around. He panned left to right, in the windows of buildings to the streets far below. Until he saw it… It appeared to be a runt Brahmin with an unusual growth on its head. It was even more unusual due to the fact that it was a bright shade of purple, a color that was very rarely seen in any of the wastes nowadays. His stomach rumbled. And with a lick of his chapped lips, the sniper took aim… …and pulled the trigger. Author's Note Wanna hear a song that describes anything Fallout related? CLICK HERE!
Chapter 1 -- Stranger in Paradise -- Stranger in Paradise =-=-=-=-= Canterlot, Equestria =-=-=-=-= Six months after Twilight’s disappearance =-=-=-=-= Canterlot was experiencing one of the most beautiful days in a decade. Everypony was enjoying the blue sky and warm weather. Well, everypony minus one. A certain white, alicorn princess of the day was sitting on her balcony, depressed. Princess Celestia sighed for what seemed to be the fiftieth time in the span of a half-hour. Her normally magically-flowing mane barely moved even with the wind pushing it, plus it was slightly monochrome. Day Court had been disbanded until further notice, as it had been when… when Twi… Golden tears started streaking the princess’ face as she shuddered in sadness. Not a day has gone by when she didn't regret being there to protect her most faithful student. She sighed again, this one being particularly long. She stood up and was about to head back into her chambers to sigh some more when she was interrupted midstep by a bright flash of light and a loud bang. She turned her head upwards and saw a white ball with a purple tail streak across the sky. Celestia flew up into the air just in time to see it land in the Everfree Forest. There was another loud band and a gradient dome of light formed then disappeared just as quickly in the area where the… thing landed. Without even alerting her guards, she rocketed towards the crash site. =-=-=-=-= Inner Depths, Everfree Forest =-=-=-=-= The lavender unicorn groaned as she woke up. Getting to her hooves, she winced and cursed as she put pressure on her bandaged front left hoof. She moved her remaining eye back and forth to take in her surroundings. She sighed in relief when she recognized the thick trees of the Everfree Forest. “Home…” Twilight said, which quickly turned to cheering. “I’m… I’m home. Woohoo! Take that Wasteland, you icy cunt! I’m FINALLY HOME! WOO!” Completely disregarding her current situation, Twilight started hopping in circles, not even caring that she was in a crater. After several minutes of cheerful bouncing, she stopped to take inventory. “Hmm… Let’s see here…” She laid out everything she had on her person in front of her, including her armor. Mental Inventory Checklist 1) 1 – .45 Auto Submachine Gun (unmodified) 2) 15.3 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, all filled to capacity minus one, including current in weapon 3) 3.58 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, +P, most filled to capacity 4) 4.24 – Magazines of .45 Auto rounds, Hollow Point, most filled to capacity 5) 1 – 9mm pistol (Extended Magazine modification) 6) 38.4 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, including current in weapon, most filled to capacity 7) 4.2 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, +P, most filled to capacity 8) 6.5 – Clips of 9mm Rounds, Hollow Point, six filled to capacity, one filled to half capacity 9) Broad Machete 10) Combat Knife 11) 20 – Weapon repair kits 12) 1 – Set of Lightweight Leather Armor 13) 1 – Set of Hunters’ Sniper Division dog tags 14) 4 – Antivenom 15) 20 – Doctor’s Bags 16) 34 – Purified Water 17) 14 – Rad-X 18) 2 – RadAway 19) 3 – Stealth Boys 20) 75 – Stimpacks 21) 18 – Super Stimpacks 22) 5 – Bottles of Vodka 23) 15 – Bottles of Whiskey 24) 26 – Bobby Pins 25) 1 – Screwdriver 26) 1 – Box of Premium Cuban Cigars 27) 1 – Engraved Cigar Lighter 28) 1 – New York Wasteland map 29) 1 – Wasteland Survival Guide, signed 30) 1 – Unremoved eye patch 31) 1 – Irremovable Pipboy 4000 Nodding in satisfaction, Twilight put on her armor and her friend’s dog tags. She opened the side pocket of her armor and levitated everything, excluding her weapons and a single bottle of vodka, into the pocket, once again thankful for that expansion charm Celestia taught her. She opened the bottle and raised it to the heavens and exclaimed, “To survival and home!” She downed half of it in one go and wiped her mouth with a hoof, then let out a rather unladylike belch. With a satisfied sigh, she equipped her primary weapon: the SMG, put her pistol in its holster, her machete in its sheath, her combat knife in the sheath attached to her leg, and teleported out of the crater. She appeared a few meters away from the edge of the crater. With a quick look around, she gathered her bearings. Without even taking a single step forward, Twilight got a hostile marker on her radar. With a groan, She went into VATS to access the situation. A hydra? …Screw it, I have some time to kill, something else now too. Heh… Twilight chuckled and readied her primary. Not five seconds later, the hydra’s heads appeared over the tree line, all of them glaring at her. She glared back, not even flinching. With a smirk, Twilight yelled at the hydra. “Your mother was a gecko! And your father was fish!” The hydra reeled back at the yell, then roared at her once it registered the insult. Twilight just smiled and aimed her SMG. She pulled the trigger and fired. The SMG jerked upwards from the recoil, which was exactly what she wanted. A line of holes formed along the neck of one of the segments, finishing right between the eyes of one of the heads, killing that segment. One down. Twilight jumped out of the way of the even angrier heads. Six more to go. Twilight jumped onto its tail and ran up onto its back. The hydra couldn’t even feel her, which was apparent as the heads were looking around in confusion. She levitated both her SMG and her secondary weapon: the 9mm, aimed them at different heads, and fired. Two heads collapsed with a dull thud. Three down, four left. Right as the remaining heads turned towards her, she teleported back to the edge of the crater, aimed her SMG, whistled, then quickly fired, killing another head. She managed to take down one more before the last ones saw her. They roared again and charged. Perfect. Twilight teleported out of the way at the last second, causing the hydra to fall into the crater. She appeared right front of the last two heads, then fired and killed one of the heads. When she aimed her SMG at the last, still living head, it whimpered. Twilight smirked and said, “Hasta la Vista, baby.” She pulled the trigger and killed the final head. After the final head died, she sighed and said, “Well that was eas-” She cut herself off by slapping a hoof over her mouth, before warily glancing up at the sky and smiling sheepishly. “That didn't count, right?” As usual she got no response. With a huff, Twilight placed her SMG on her back and headed towards Canterlot Mountain, the city looking as gorgeous as ever in the midday sun. =-=-=-=-= It had only been a few hours since she started walking, but she thought she would’ve reached the foot of the mountain by now. She stopped, and muttered, “I wonder…” She brought up her Pipboy’s HUD and went to the Radio section to find… “Epic! I still got radio!” With a hum, she tuned the radio to Radio New York, placed the ear bud in her uninjured ear and listened to the broadcast while she walked. Well ladies and gents, I have a very special guest here with us at the studio today. That guest is Sergeant Tyson of the Hunters’ Sniper Division. Welcome to the show, Sergeant. Thanks, Arthur. It’s a pleasure. Twilight tripped on nothing when she heard his voice. He sounded manlier on the radio. The pleasure’s all mine. Now then, word has been spreading around the New York Wastes that for the past six years, you have been travelling with a rather… interesting companion. Is this correct? One hundred percent correct. She was a Corporal for the Sniper division and was my spotter for a good part of that time. After I was given temporary leave to train her, we travelled for a fairly large portion of those six years. I took her to the best places that the Wasteland had to offer: what was left of the Empire State Building, Times Square, even Central Park! Central Park? That place is infested with Deathclaws. How’d you two make it out of there alive? We disabled the legs of any Deathclaw we came across, then finished them off as we walked backwards. Huh… Well there’s your Tip of the Day for you folks: If you come across a Deathclaw, take out the legs. Why the legs, may I ask? Because when you take out the legs, the Deathclaw’s speed is lowered to a brisk jog. Well now, how ‘bout that… Anyway folks, we’ll cut to a break, so be sure to stay tuned for the second part of the interview… The gentle strumming of a guitar began, and Twilight smiled widely when she realized what song was playing, then she started singing softly along, Love me tender. Love me sweet. Never let me go. You, have made my life, complete. And I love you so… Love me tender. Love me true. All my dreams, fulfilled. Oh my darling, I love you. And I always will. Love me tender. Love me long. Take me, to your heart… For it’s there that I belong. And will never part. Love me tender. Love me true. All my dreams, fulfilled. For my darling, I love you. And I always will. Love me tender. Love me dear. Tell me, you are, mine… I’ll be yours, through all the years. ‘Til the, end of, time… Love me tender. Love me true. All my dreams, fulfilled. For my darling, I love you. And I always will… As the song ended, Twilight sighed happily, turned off the radio, and placed the ear bud back in its place. She checked her HUD, and found several hostiles and one friendly behind her. She sighed and readied her SMG for the impending battle. The rustling of bushes in the distance alerted her all too easily. She almost pulled the trigger, but was surprised to find that the hostiles were wearing golden armor. The golden armor of the Royal Guard. They surrounded her, spears out. Twilight rolled her eyes and thought. If the Guard are the hostiles, then that friendly must be- “Twily!” “Oof!” Twilight was almost shoved to the ground by the force of her brother hugging her. She stood there, shocked, before reciprocating the hug, wrapping her right hoof around her BBBFF. The guards around them looked confused and felt awkward. Shining Armor smiled and released his now returned sister. “Twily, we’ve missed…” His voice faded as his took in her appearance. “Twily… What… What happened to you?” His face turned into an expression of shock and concern as his mind tried to register his sister’s appearance. Apparently, a torn ear, a missing eye, a horn missing its tip, a bandaged leg, and wearing leather armor while carrying strange weapons must not be ‘in’ yet. Twilight looked at herself and turned three-sixty to get a better look at what her brother was seeing. As she turned around, she heard a gasp come from Shining. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Your… your Cutie Mark…” Twilight’s good ear fell back when he mentioned that. Her head lowered as the memory assaulted her mind. She jerked up in surprise when she heard him growl like a rabid animal. “When I get my hooves on whoever did this to you…” She intervened before he could get any further. “Brother, look me in the eye, not at my wounds, but in the eye.” He did. “I Pinkie Pie Promise that I’ll explain everything I can later. Right now, we need to gather up my friends, Spike, and the Princesses. I've got a lot to talk about…” Author's Note So... How was it? NOTE: I have never been to New York and I live in Kentucky. If I make any mistake on NY's geography or about the location of certain places, don't hesitate to call me up on it!
Chapter 2 -- Wake the Town and Tell the People -- Wake the Town and Tell the People =-=-=-=-= Canterlot, Equestria =-=-=-=-=-=-= Royal Dining Hall =-=-=-=-= Twilight’s friends were ecstatic to learn about her coming home. Spike didn’t believe Shining at first, accusing him of saying that to make him feel better. Night Light and Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor’s parents, were both slightly disbelieving as well. Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, suggested that they throw her a- “…party!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Her friends agreed, not even noticing Shining Armor’s expression change from passive to fear in less than a second. He started stuttering, trying to form the words needed to say ‘No’ to the surprise party. He felt a wing drape across his back. He looked to the side and saw his wife-to-be, Princess Cadance, smiling warmly at him. With a sigh and the shake of his head, he left Dining Hall to head towards the Infirmary, leaving behind the voices of happiness. At some point in time during the trip, the Princesses met up with him and followed close behind. They had stopped in front of the ornamental double doors with a glazed red cross adorning the center. They looked at each other awkwardly before they motioned for the others to go first. They shared a chuckle. Princess Celestia stepped forward and said, “I suppose we shou-“ “I said that I’m fine, damn it!” There was a thump that followed the yell, causing the three to run in, horns glowing. Needless to say, what they saw wasn’t what they expected. Twilight was scowling as she held an icepack on her forehead with her magic, as her hooves currently crossed in a pout. Her armor and weapons were gone, as was the eye patch and the bandage that was around her hoof, the only thing still there was a set of dog tags. Instead of a hole, as Shining had feared, it was just a sown-over eyelid. It wasn’t surprising that she wore the eye patch, as the patchwork on her eye was grisly at best. The doctor was nursing a black eye and a torn jacket. His mane was in disarray as if he had just finished a marathon. Princess Celestia asked, “What just happened in here?” “She punched me!” “He punched me!” The two said at the time, glaring at each other. “Why?” Celestia asked simply. The doctor pointed a hoof in Twilight’s direction. “She won’t cooperate!” The mare in question just stuck her tongue out at him and muttered, “I won’t cooperate because I know that I’m fine.” “You have a missing eye, a torn ear, and the tip of your horn is gone! You’re anything but fine!” The doctor yelled. Twilight just stared at him for a few seconds before rebutting, “I’ve had the tip of my horn missing and my torn ear for six years, and my missing eye for two. If there were any complications, I do believe that they would have presented themselves by now.” Silence met her reply as the others just stared at her. Princess Celestia broke the silence. “Twilight… my most faithful student… You’ve only been gone for six months, not six years.” Twilight blinked in surprise, before blowing air out her nose and saying, “And here I thought that the wasteland couldn’t backhand me anymore than it already has. But nope! It just had to go and use time dilation of all things.” She sat down and blew some of her mane out of her face. “And one month here equals to one year there? That’s just…” She trailed off. Celestia didn’t quite understand what she meant by ‘wasteland’ and ‘time dilation’, but asked, “Where exactly was ‘there’?” Twilight stopped messing with the dog tags around her neck and looked at everypony in the room. Even the doctor was waiting for her answer. “I’d prefer it if I talked about this in front of everypony else, that way I won’t have to repeat myself.” Celestia smiled and nodded. “Of course. You can talk about it all with your friends in the Dining Hall…” Twilight’s face lit up as she stood up. “…after you finish up here.” Twilight promptly fell back onto her rump, a grimace on her face. =-=-=-=-= Outside the Royal Dining Hall =-=-=-=-=-=-= One hour later =-=-=-=-= “You promise to keep your weapons in the side pocket?” Shining asked, concerned. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes, I promise.” She continued as she fixed the position of a leather strap. “Only an idiot flings about their weapons. I’ve used these for almost six years now, I know what to do and what not to do.” “Like what?” Princess Luna tilted her head. “Like using the iron sights of your SMG as a backscratcher.” Twilight chuckled. “Best part was it was a friend that did that.” “What did you do to help?” Celestia asked. “Nothing,” Twilight cut Celestia off before she could chide her. “I needed the laugh. That place was more depressing than Michael Barrymore’s career.” Blank stares greeted that statement. Twilight rolled her eye and said something about explaining later. With a pause, she opened the door only to find pitch black within, which was odd, considering that the dining hall had very large stained glass windows opened to the world. Her Pipboy read at most twelve non-hostiles. Realizing what it was, Twilight walking three feet into the room and sat down. “SURPRISE!” The lights flicked on and ponies jumped out from behind pillars and tables with large smiles on their faces. Twilight feigned surprise with a look on her face and a small jump. She smiled back at them, the smiles there faded when their owners took in her appearance. The only pony still smiling was- “Oof!” “OhTwilightI’mhappytoseeyou!Youweregonebutnowyou’rebackandIwasalllikeGASPthensadnessthen-“ Pinkie Pie continued to talk with a heavily muffled voice, even after Twilight stuck her hoof in her mouth. “Pinks, I’d greatly appreciate it if you would stop talking long enough for me to get a word in edgewise.” At Pinkie’s nod, Twilight removed her hoof, with Pinkie still sporting her large smile. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Twilight wrapped her in a bear hug that would make Mr. Grizzly cringe, and not because of his back problems. Pinkie quickly hugged her friend back, sending off some loud pops from Twilight’s spine. “Gah!” Twilight let go and rubbed the back of her neck. “Thanks, Pinkie. I really needed that.” “You’re welcome!” Pinkie exclaimed. She looked back at the other ponies in the group, all of which were looking at Twilight in shock… maybe even a little bit of fear. Pinkie wrapped a hoof around Twilight’s neck and said, “Come on everypony! Sure she may have a missing eye and a torn ear, but it’s still Twilight!” That seemed to do the trick as ponies shook their heads and surrounded the mare. They all welcomed her back and were asking her how she got her injuries. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were wearing the same looks that Shining got in the Everfree Forest. Rarity fainted at the sight of Twilight’s complexion, while Fluttershy just whimpered at how scary and intimidating her friend looked. “Twilight!” A voice shouted from the edge of the group. The group parted to show- “Cadance!” The two mares trotted up to each other and said together, “Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They started laughing together and embraced one another with large smiles on their faces. Their hugging was interrupted Twilight’s parents running forwards and practically smothered their daughter with love. Twilight tried to push them off, but even with her improved strength it was futile. “Twi… Twilight?” A soft voice spoke. The ponies moved aside to show- “Spike…” The now-a-little-taller drake looked around awkwardly and eyed his older sister in disbelief and confusion. He took a few careful steps forward… before sprinting and embracing Twilight. Sobs and sniffles could be heard from the dragon. Twilight hugged Spike back, tears falling from her eye. “Please tell me you’re real…” A muffled spoke said. Twilight looked at her parents in confusion with her mom mouthing, I’ll explain later. Twilight nodded and hugged Spike tighter. “Of course I am, Spike.” Twilight replied softly. “…and you promise not to go away again?” Twilight smiled softly. “Of course I do.” Spike released his hold on his sister and smiled with tear-stung eyes. He hopped onto her back and laid down on his, and spoke with a voice barely holding back a hiccup, “I’m hungry, anyone else hungry?” There was a collective laugh from the group as they went to the mountains of food for a rather unhealthy lunch. As they ate, Twilight opened conversation with a question, “Now,” Twilight began, with most of the ponies having stopped eating to listen. “I’m sure that most of you in here are wondering why I look so much older than I should be.” There was a nod from all of the ponies, and dragon. Twilight continued, “First, a question: Who here knows what time dilation is?” Surprisingly, it was Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash answering the question at the same time. “Time dilation, in the Theory of Relativity, is an actual difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses.” There were collective blinks from all of the ponies there. Twilight said, “Uh… Yes, that’s exactly right. How did…” “We were required to take a Physics and Aerodynamics course when we went to High Flyer’s Academy for Pegasi.” Responded Rainbow Dash. More blinks. Twilight shook her head and said, “Well then. To explain further, and with simpler terms, time dilation is where time moves at different speeds at different locations. For example, let’s say that time is moving normally where we’re sitting right now.” There was a collective nod from everypony. “Alright, now let’s say that time is moving five minutes faster over by the throne for every one minute here. If a pony was sitting here and five minutes had passed for them, over at the throne, a pony sitting around there was have had twenty-five minutes pass for them. Everypony following?” More nods. “Good. In my case, the dilation was very extreme. The reason why I look more like a fully grown mare is because I am one.” Murmuring passed through the assembled ponies as Twilight spoke over them. “In my case!” The murmuring stopped, and Twilight lowered her voice back to normal levels. “In my case, the reason why I am now a fully grown mare is because for every one month here in Equestria, one full year had passed where I was at. So instead of being six months older like I should be, I am actually-” “…six years older.” Twilight Velvet finished. Twilight Sparkle nodded, which caused her mother to let out a filly like squeal of excitement. “Oh I have some the cutest dresses at home that you can wear! We can even go shop-” Twilight interrupted, “Not now, mom. Maybe later okay? Right now I just want to get started on my story.” Her mother blushed then nodded and followed her daughter back to the table to sit with the others. “Now then, where to begi-” Pinkie Pie shouted, “Cliffhanger!” Author's Note Anyone else notice how I'm not rushing into the story??? That's some big@$$ time dilation ain't it!? As usual, leave a comment letting me know what you think!
Chapter 3 -- Quiet Village -- Quiet Village Everypony looked at Pinkie Pie in confusion, but eventually shrugged and left it to Pinkie Pie be Pinkie Pie. “Okay…” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow. “Anywho, let’s start at the beginning…” =-=-=-=-= Unknown Location =-=-=-=-= Twilight stumbled as the teleportation spell ended, the white light blinding her vision. Her ears were ringing as the unexpected bang nearly ruined her eardrums. As her senses returned, Twilight was shocked. She wasn’t in the courtyard of Canterlot Castle as she should have been. No, she was in what appeared to be in a city that looked a little bit like Manehattan. That is, if Manehattan was in ruins with strange chariots scorched and overturned in the streets, and the entire city had been thrown in a northern blizzard straight from the Crystal Empire. Twilight squinted her eyes against the wind and snow that assaulted her vision, putting a hoof in front of her face to try and block out the stinging snow. She looked around, trying to find something, anything that could give her an idea as to where she was. “Hello?” She called. An echo was all that answered. Twilight took a deep breath, the cold air freezing her lungs, and yelled, “HELLO?!” No answer. Starting to panic, Twilight turned rapidly and yelled for anypony that may listen. “Hello! Anypony! Spike! Princess! Luna!” She started running in a random direction, more names coming forth from her mouth. “Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, R… Rarity!” An echo followed and the wind continued its dance, seemingly oblivious to the unicorn’s plight. “Trixie! Gilda! Any… anypony…” Twilight stopped in the middle of another empty intersection, rubble from collapsed buildings blocked off any passage other than the one she just came from. With a gasp for air, Twilight let herself fall to the ground, the snow softening the blow that the asphalt street would’ve dealt. She had laid there for who knows how long. Sniffling through teary eyes, she picked herself up from the ground. She got rid of the snow that clung to her coat with a simple levitation spell, and looked around again. Her tracks had been covered up by fresh snow, leaving her more lost than she already was. She sighed and started walking back the way she came, hoping to find some sort of evidence as to where she was, when she suddenly felt something graze her horn, sending a sharp pain through her nerves to her brain, eliciting a small gasp of pain from the unicorn. There wasn’t a warning, not even a sound. Just pain. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Twilight tapped her now scarred over horn tip, earning gasps of shock from the unicorns and alicorns, and cringes of sympathy from everypony else. She nodded and muttered, “Yeah… that’s how I got that one.” Fluttershy asked softly, “What about your… your ear?” The lavender unicorn smiled sadly and said, “I got that a few seconds later…” =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Going through the pain, Twilight ran towards the closest cover, which was a large overturned chariot. She ran around it and slammed her back against the cold metal of the side, her lungs shuddering for air. The sound of metal getting ripped apart was the only warning she received. Her body felt the warm blood slide down the side of her head, while her mind took a little bit longer to register that she was actually in more pain than before. When it did however… Her vision started to swim as the pain overloaded her senses. She staggered out into the middle of the street, not entirely sure of where she was going. She was going to stop this invisible assaulter, no matter what. She saw the harsh glare of sunlight against a piece of glass at the top of a brick tower that was in slightly less disrepair than the other buildings. Thinking that it was the location of her assailant, she turned and looked directly into the glass. She closed her eyes, waiting for more pain, when she heard something in front of her. What it was, Twilight didn’t know. The form of the body led her to believe that it was some form of skinny ape. It was facing away from her, its arms spread out wide. After a minute or two of nothing happening, a metal door at the bottom of the tower slid sideways, and another ape like creature walked out, wearing some form of clothing and wielding something that looked like a metal stick. Twilight gave out a gasp of surprise, realizing what these creatures were. Humans, she thought. Real humans. Twilight groaned as she began to remember the texts that went over the Human race. Great. Just great. Humans are territorial creatures that won’t hesitate to send any intruders back where they came from. They can be your greatest ally, or your worst enemy. And apparently, I just made one really mad, with another trying to save me. Twilight was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice the two humans looking at her with confusion. It was only when the one that saved her had waved its hand in front of her face did she take notice. Cringing at the constant surge of pain from her horn that matched her heartbeat, Twilight said, “Sorry, I was lost in thought.” The humans blinked. The one with the weapon said, “I almost shot you in the head, twice.” By the voice, that human was male. He held up two fingers and continued, “Twice! And you’re standing there lost in thought? How the hell does that work?” Not particularly fond of the male human, Twilight turned to the other human and said, “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?” The second human, female by sound of the voice, replied. “My name’s Stephanie, and this lump,” She elbowed the other human in the ribs. “is Drew.” Twilight nodded and said, “Nice to meet you. Well, one of you anyway...” She narrowed her eyes at Drew. He held up his hands defensively and said, “Whoa whoa whoa! If it’s any consolation, if I had known beforehand that you were sentient and not a hostile, I wouldn’t have tried kill you. Honest.” Twilight scrutinized him for a few seconds, before sighing. She said, “Alright, I’ll tolerate you... for now. That’s doesn’t mean we’re friends or anything. I’ll only be around until Princess Celestia and my friends come find me.” Drew scoffed, which caused Twilight to ask, “What’s so funny?” “It’s just that here, unicorns are nothing more than myths from the old world. The chances of your friends finding you are slim to none.” Drew replied, “So you better get used to the wasteland, Sparkle. You’re gonna be here for a long time.” Without missing a beat, Twilight rebutted, “I don’t believe that. Back home, Celestia raises the sun, I’m sure that I’ll be home by the end of the week.” Drew deadpanned, “It’s Friday.” “Oh.” Twilight said sheepishly, “Then by the end of next week.” Drew nodded, and Stephanie said, “Well, how ‘bout this? We all head back to base to let Twilight get settled in, and wait for this to blow over.” Twilight nodded and said, “I’m fine with that.” Drew shrugged, and said, “I suppose. It couldn’t hurt, much at least.” Twilight rolled her eyes, and opened her mouth to say- “Well, well, well. What do we ‘ave ‘ere?” That wasn’t her. Twilight looked around, and saw several humans surrounding them. Looking back at Stephanie and Drew, she saw that they were tensed. Drew was pointing a smaller weapon at one of them, his larger one across his back. Stephanie was holding what looked like a short sword, wielding it with one hand as she held a serrated knife in the other. Twilight looked back at the other humans and eyed them warily. “Look ‘it ‘em. Two travelers an’ der pet brahmin! We’re eatin’ good tonight boys!” One of the humans ran at Drew with a small knife. There was a loud bang! that nearly made Twilight deaf. She screamed in fright and held her forehooves over her ears while cowering on the ground, her eyes closed tightly. She opened an eye to find Stephanie locked in a melee duel with one human, with a second one on the ground, grasping the area between his legs and hollering in pain. The first human that ran at Drew, Twilight noticed, was on the ground, unmoving, with a small pencil-sized hole in his forehead. Even in her current state, Twilight could tell that the human wouldn’t be getting back up. A human walked up to Twilight cautiously, as if expecting her to lash out and bite him. He chuckled darkly and knelt down in front of her, smiling, his rotted and mossy teeth showing in full view of her face. It was a good thing that ponies didn’t have a gag reflex, otherwise the foul stench from this human’s mouth would’ve made her empty her stomach. Twilight tried to stand up, run, anything that would get her away from the terrifying sight before her. Alas, her limbs refused to respond. The human pulled out a very rusted and dull kitchen knife. A blackened tongue slithered out of his mouth. It was scarred, with slashes running along multiple places. He then did something that still gave her nightmares: He licked the sharp side of the knife, slicing his tongue and letting the blood run down the blade. “Gots ta git it nice an’ lubed up, eh.” He said with another dark chuckle following soon after. He raised the blade over her head, the point aimed for the base of her horn. Twilight closed her eyes, waiting for the pain. It never came. There was a yell followed by a grunt then the sound of rolling. Twilight opened her eyes to find Drew locked in tumble with the human that almost killed her. Drew slipped up and landed on the ground, the other human on top of him, the knife held high, ready for a strike. Twilight looked around for Stephanie to try and get someone to do something. Unfortunately, Stephanie was still fighting melee with that human. With a deep breath, Twilight got to her hooves, a grunt escaping her. She looked back at Drew to find him struggling to hold back the knife from piercing his heart. Twilight rapidly looked for anything useful. She looked back and saw that Drew was losing the struggle. With a quick flick of her horn, Twilight flung the closest thing her magic could hold towards the human with the knife. A serrated knife flew through the air. The human looked towards her in confusion. The gaze quickly turned to fear when he noticed the knife flying at him. Without any time to respond, the knife impaled the human in the throat. A red mist sprayed out from the wound. He tried to scream in pain, but with the wound opening his windpipe, nothing but a whistle escaped as his flailing grew less and less frantic. Twilight was oblivious to the second scream as the last human was killed by the quick movements of Stephanie. Drew got to his feet while he wiped the stray blood off of his face. He walked over to the now dead human. He placed a foot on his chest, grabbed the knife, and pulled it out of his throat. “This yours?” Drew asked, presenting Stephanie with the combat knife. “No. I still got mine.” Stephanie placed a hand against her sheath, the knife still inside. Drew walked over to Twilight, her gaze having never left the body of the human with the hole in his throat. He recognized that gaze anywhere. He sighed and motioned Stephanie over. She came over and saw Twilight’s expression. Her face fell at the sight. With a careful touch, she grabbed Twilight’s shoulder and shook it. When there wasn’t a reaction, Stephanie snapped her fingers in front of Twilight’s face. Still nothing. “Twilight...” Stephanie said softly. “Twilight, are you okay?” Twilight murmured, “I... I... Why did I...” While Stephanie was busy trying to bring Twilight back to Earth, Drew was keeping watch for anymore raiders. A slab of concrete fell to the ground and shattered, catching Drew’s attention. He looked at the slab, then looked way up. At the top of a shorter building, he saw the end of a cloak go out of view. With a grimace, Drew muttered, “Dammit.” He turned around and called to Stephanie, “Steph, let’s get outta here. Grab Twilight and let’s go.” Stephanie looked at him, confused. “What’s wrong?” He said only one word: “Skyliners.” Stephanie nodded, and without warning, picked Twilight up by the waist and started running, with Drew following close behind. Author's Note Major f*cking thanks to the World-Building Team: Lore - one_fish_two_fish & Professor Plum Companions - ObviousGerman NPCs - (Quest-related NPCs) TellyVision, (Merchant NPCs) ProtheanBrony Vaults - wargamebrony Factions - HeavyMetalCommunist, Sully48 New Yorkers - ObviousGerman, wargamebrony Unique Weapons - Genghis55
Chapter 4 -- I'm Walking Behind YouChapter 4 – I’m Walking Behind You The entire room was silent, except for the whimpers of a distressed mare. Fluttershy quickly enveloped Twilight in a hug. A hug that was quickly returned with more sobbing. Rainbow Dash and Applejack ran towards the two mares and gave their sympathetic hugs, soon followed by Rarity and everypony else. They stayed like that until Twilight calmed down. When she finally did, and they had released her, she sniffled and said, “Thanks… all of you.” “Do you want to continue?” Fluttershy asked softly. The lavender mare nodded and cleared her throat… =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The two bipeds, one of them carrying Twilight, were sprinting through the streets, alleys, and buildings, trying to get back home. They skidded along the snow to lose momentum and ran down a shadier looking, and less destroyed, alley. As Drew rounded the corner at full speed, a fist flew out of nowhere and decked him across the cheek, making him do an involuntary back flip before he crashed to the ground in a daze. Twilight, in a slighter saner state, looked up and saw a biped blocking the exit. His skin was heavily cracked and a lack of eyelids gave him a constant maniac appearance. He was wearing a badly damaged denim jacket, jeans, and a not-so-white pair of sneakers. “Finally!” He exclaimed, his voice sounding strained. “I’ve been chasing you two all day! And now that I’ve got you right where I want you!” Twilight tensed up. “Would you guys like some exclusive deals on some porn?” Drew groaned from his position on the floor, and mumbled, “We don’t want that shit Ghoul porn! Get outta here!” The “Ghoul’s” face fell as he accepted defeat with a resigned sigh and left them to do whatever. They stayed there in silence before Drew picked himself up from the ground, dusted himself off, and said, “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen agai-” There was a strained yell and the ghoul from earlier ran past the alleyway entrance. A feral roar nearly busted their eardrums. The two humans tensed up as an overly large and pale white figure with two foot long claws ran after the ghoul. “What was that thing…” Twilight asked breathlessly. “A Deathclaw. One of few things in the wasteland that can take on a full battalion and make it out virtually unscathed.” Drew answered. “One of the few?” Twilight muttered, a shocked look on her face. He nodded. “There are very few things in this wasteland that even Satan himself would have every right to fear. A Deathclaw is one of the seven.” Satan? Twilight thought. A questioning look appeared on her face as she asked, “What are the other six?” Drew looked around the wall of the alley slowly as he answered, “The seven are Deathclaws, Shred Serpents, Tundra Wolves, Sloths, Cryo, Wraiths, and Night Crawlers.” Just the mentioning of the names of these creatures seemed to make the two humans nervous. “Are they really that bad?” Twilight asked innocently. “No.” He stated, “They’re worse. They always hunt in groups. All of them have immunity to cold. And they all have no sense of compassion or mercy.” “Let’s hope that we don’t run into any.” Stephanie said softly, “We’re nowhere near equipped enough to even consider taking one down. There are only four people in post-war history that could, and two of them are dead, one is busy keeping order in the Capital Wasteland, and one is busy running an independent New Vegas clear on the other side of the country.” “How do you know all this?” Drew asked, confusion evident on his face. “Unlike you, I actually paid attention in class.” Twilight asked hopefully, “Can we just get to safety and talk later?” The two humans nodded. Stephanie put her down, and the three of them took off running down the street. =-=-= They were at another dead end, which made it the eighth one within an hour. Drew and Stephanie started looking nervous, while Twilight looked peeved. “I thought you said that you knew this area like the back of your hand.” She said in a deadpan voice. Drew’s face fell. He looked toward her and was about to retort when he saw an entrance to an office complex. They ran into the lobby, where was a strange logo on the floor. He sighed and muttered, “Who was dumb enough to make a window a company’s logo?” “A bunch of morons.” Stephanie replied after a chuckle. “Come on.” Drew made a follow motion with his pistol. “Let’s see what’s around here. Keep an eye out for any robots or raiders.” Drew and Stephanie walked down the hall, with Twilight slowly following. Steph slowed down until she was walking side by side with Twilight. “Hey Twilight, you okay?” She asked, concern etched on her face. The only response she got was a brief shake of the head and a sigh. “I know that you’re still in shock and probably aren’t really listening to what I’m saying. But, if we run into any trouble going through this place, we’ll really need any help you can provide. Especially with that weird levitation thing you did back there.” Again, very little response. Steph sighed. “At least take this.” She unsheathed her knife, grabbed the blade, and pointed the hilt towards Twilight, who flinched. “If we come across any robots, I’ll distract them so that you can take out their power source.” Twilight reluctantly took the knife by the hilt. She moved it side to side and looked it all over. “What’s the power source?” “The thing on the back of their chassis.” The only form of acceptance from the mare was a small nod. “I suppose. If we come across any of those others humans, I’m running.” “After your experience, I wouldn’t be surprised.” “Hey! You two following or what?” Drew yelled from far ahead, before taking a left at an intersection. Several beams of red light shot passed from the intersection Drew had walked down. He ran back toward them and ran past yelling, “Don’t follow me! Don’t follow me! Don’t follow me!” Steph and Twilight looked at each other, then at the intersection. What came out from the hallway confused Twilight greatly. It was bipedal, that much was certain. It seemed to be made out of metal. At the top, where the head was, was a mirror-like surface. Steph groaned and yelled out to Drew, who was currently cowering in the lobby, “It’s just a Protectron!” “It’s what’s behind it!” Was his reply. Steph’s expression turned to one of confusion. She turned back to the Protectron, who was looking around aimlessly. The ground suddenly rumbled in time with a loud growl, almost making Steph and Twilight fall down. The same couldn’t be said about the robot. It fell over and smashed against the wall while saying, “Error. Error. Error…” Back at the intersection, frost started coating the walls. A lower growl mixed with a hiss resonated through the air, chilling Twilight to the bone. A snow white, snake-like figure slithered into their part of the intersection. At least thirty feet of the thing was coiled up. It had four pure black, slit eyes. Its head seemed to be filed down to a point. Whenever it opened its mouth razor sharp teeth were revealed, along with a literal spike of a tongue, which flicked up and down rapidly before receding back into its mouth. Steph whispered out of the side of her mouth, “Do not move a single muscle. Its eyes are its primary sense for tracking its food.” Twilight did the same, “What is it?” “A shred serpent.” The shred serpent slithered itself right up to Twilight. Its nostrils flared and blew hot and putrid air right into her face, blowing her mane back. It opened its maw, and licked her face. Twilight thought, That tongue is as hard as a rock! The shred serpent, after nearly five minutes of staying perfectly still, turned around and slithered back down the hallway it had come out of. Steph and Twilight stood there, still as a statue for a few minutes longer, in case it came back. When it didn’t, the two of them sighed, and snuck back to Drew, who was still hiding in the lobby. “So, that was a shred serpent?” Twilight asked quietly. The two humans nodded, which made Twilight sigh. A stiff wind blew into the lobby, causing her slightly dried over ear wound to sting, which made her cringe in pain. “I knew we were forgetting something.” Steph facepalmed. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a syringe and a dark red bottle with the words “Disinfectant” printed on the front in black. “This may sting.” “What ma- gah!” Twilight yelped in pain. She held in her whimpers as best she could while Steph rubbed on the disinfectant against her wound with a cotton ball. When the wound was fully covered, Steph put the bottle away and grabbed the syringe. With no form of a warning, she jabbed the needle into Twilight’s ear wound and injected the medicine. When every last drop was injected, Steph removed and pocketed the syringe. “Are you done?” Twilight asked with her eyes still shut tight. Steph chuckled and said, “Yep, I’m all done.” Twilight opened her eyes warily, before sighing and muttering, “It wasn’t that bad.” She looked at the two of them and asked, “So, what do we do now?” Drew, who was leaning against the lobby desk, hoped to his feet and said, “Back to North 16th and Madison!” Both females of the group groaned and followed the jogging man. It didn’t take long as he was only a few meters away from the building. “Why’d you stop?” Steph asked. Drew did nothing but point off in the distance. Steph looked in that direction and muttered, “Oh…” Twilight could have sworn that she heard some weird noise in the background, but was too entranced by what she saw. It was ghouls. A lot of ghouls. There was one in particular that had on a red leather jacket, black slacks, and a single glove. The ghoul was in the front, with at least twenty other ghouls behind him in a box formation. Then, they did something that Twilight would have never expected. They started dancing. The front ghoul spun in place rapidly before he suddenly stopped, grabbed his… groin area, and pelvic thrusted three times. He spun again, stopped, then walked backwards in a way that made him look as though he was gliding on air. He did same thing again in the opposite direction. He stopped when he was at the center-front of the group, who was providing background dancing. Another rapid spin, stop, then he started doing something that resembled jogging in place as he sang, “Cause this is Thriller! Thriller night! And no one’s gonna save ya from the beast about ta strike! You know it’s Thriller! Thriller night! Fighting for ya life to get her. Thriller! Get her! Thriller! Tonight!” The ghouls ran at them and stopped with a small jazz hand. The ghoul with the red jacket looked at the small group and asked, “Well?” Drew said, “I’ll give it an eight.” Steph clicked her tongue and said, “Nine.” Twilight muttered, “Eight point five.” The ghoul shrugged and said, “Fair enough.” He made a motion with his arm as he said, “Come on guys. To Broadway!” When the ghouls left, Twilight blinked and asked, “What just happened?” Drew shook his head and said, “I have no idea.” “Me neither.” Steph replied, “Just another day in the wild wasteland I suppose.” Author's Note I am so so so so so sorry about how late this is. I am trying to get back into the groove of writing again but It's been a slow going process. I've just felt like a dick recently and have been up for the past eight hours typing this up, so it'll more than likely suck @$$. This should hopefully tide everyone over while I try to find my muse once more.
Prologue -- Introduction of the New York WastesA cracked radio turned on in a rundown bar, an ensemble of trumpets blaring through the speakers. A man’s voice started singing, Oh, the weather outside is frightful. But the fire is, so delightful. Since we’ve no place to go… Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The scene widened out to reveal what seemed to be the aftermath of a warzone. Buildings were crumpled and in utter disrepair. Cars were scorched and overturned. All the while, snow and ash covered the ground, with more snow falling lightly, finally letting up after 200 years. It doesn’t show signs of stoppin’. And I brought some corn for poppin’. Lights are turned down low… Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. The scene focused on a pack of snow white canines, feeding on a group of unlucky travelers. One of their members looked up, a chunk of meat still in its mouth, when suddenly, its head exploded. The other canines stopped their feast and stared at their fallen comrade. Another of their heads exploded, soon followed by another and another. The final canine started running towards the closest cover: an overturned charter bus. This proved worthless, as its head exploded as well. The scene transitioned on the still smoking barrel of a silenced sniper rifle with winter camouflage coloration. The wielder moved it to a more comfortable position. By the form of the armor, it was apparent that the sniper was male. The next scene showed the entirety of a ruined city. In the distance, on an island, was a giant torch still held by a green hand, almost entirely covered by snow and ice. =-=-=-=-= War. War never changes. When atomic fire consumed the earth, those who survived did so in great underground vaults. When they opened, their inhabitants set out across the ruins of the old world to build new societies, establishing villages, forming tribes. As decades passed, what had been New York united under three different banners: a Viking helm, a halo, and a duo of crossed shotguns. These three tribes maintained dominance over their own personal slice of New York. As they grew, so did their needs. Land was taken and lost in bloody conflict, resulting in a three-way war between the tribes. This chapter of mankind’s blood filled story is centered on a sniper that is a member of the Hunters tribe. He’s led a semi-normal life, that is, until she came. Who was this mysterious companion of his? She would have to be seen to be believed… =-=-=-=-= The sniper sighed as he sat back down in the rusted chair. He rested his sniper rifle across his lap and reached into a pocket. With a little bit of rummaging around, he pulled out a slightly burnt wooden case, a picture, yellowed with age, of a long lost island nation on top. He opened the box with little difficulty and pulled out a cigar. Laying the box to the side, he sniffed the cigar. Reaching to the side of his left boot, he pulled out a combat knife. With it, he cut the head of the cigar. He put the knife back into his boot and pulled out a flare. He popped the cap off of it and stroked the flare against the wall, lighting it. With the lit flare, he lit his cigar and threw the flare out into the snowy street below. Taking a couple puffs of his cigar, the man leaned back in his chair and laid his feet on top of some bricks that made up a short wall, a frame on the sides that use to house a window. When he was about to fall asleep, a bright flash of light and a loud bang echoed from nowhere. The sniper flew to his feet and brought his rifle to his eye and looked around. He panned left to right, in the windows of buildings to the streets far below. Until he saw it… It appeared to be a runt Brahmin with an unusual growth on its head. It was even more unusual due to the fact that it was a bright shade of purple, a color that was very rarely seen in any of the wastes nowadays. His stomach rumbled. And with a lick of his chapped lips, the sniper took aim… …and pulled the trigger. Author's Note Wanna hear a song that describes anything Fallout related? CLICK HERE!
