Fallout Equestria : Monarch of a new world - Chapter 2 - A whole new world

So much to see, so much to do!

If only you could survive long enough to get it all done.

“I ain’t never see no alicorn show emotions like that, let alone cry.” Long John says, pawing at the ground. Night Wish is standing a few paces to my right, looking down at me worriedly.

I sob dryly into my hooves, unable to cry anymore. And who wouldn’t? Canterlot, all of those ponies, and the princesses, killed. I was only able to hear a small account of the gruesome details of Equestria’s end before I broke out in tears and Long John became silent. 200 years of waiting and I can’t recall a second of it. Was that how long I waited in that bubble? And where is Shining in all this? My memories of the moments before Shining put me in the barrier have come back to me, but not without the fog of time spread on it like a dirt stain on white cloth. Cries from outside, the window crashing in on him, and his final words to me. ‘I love you’

The thought is too much. I break down in tears again.

Night Wish walks over to my side, kneels next to me and rests her head on my back. Her mane falls onto my neck and along my own coat

~windfall tickling my coat on a warm spring night.~

and I can feel something, like an echo of... of.. something. But Night Wish can feel it also, because she gasps and jumps back when we touch. I saw something too, some glimpse of a moment and the nostalgia that usually comes with memories of foalhood. I feel the echo everywhere. I feel it bouncing from Long John, Redwind, and Sunshine, along with the four others that are standing right outside of our room. I can see that each of the alicorns have turned their heads towards me, because I see it from each of their eyes. The confusion just starting to etch on John’s face. Sunshine and Redwind lifting their heads an inch off the ground, a small whine coming from the younger of them. All of this happens in the second that we touch, but I can feel all of it even with my head in my hooves. Then it is gone. I wish I could explain how it feels to know everything around you and then have it taken away, but there is little I can describe with words alone. The closest thing would be that it’s like seeing in color for one moment, only to have grays flood your vision the next.

But I can still feel it, the moment I saw. Almost like a memory I can feel the

~warm air on my coat, blowing my mane around me as I stare out into our lake. Ducklings swimming through the blazing water and the setting sun resting its lazy head on the hills in the distance. My head is on his chest, warm breath on my neck, and a sleeping foal tucked in a sheet between us.~

I raise my head towards Night Wish. Our eyes connect.

“You al-i-korns are all sorts of weird.” Long John says with a nicker of agreement from Redwind in the corner.

Me and Night Wish continue to stare into each others eyes, her’s strained and fearful, until she pulls away and walks where the other four alicorns are waiting. She turns back to me before she exits. “Long John has proven herself to not be a threat, so we will leave you with her until we return,” Her voice shakes as she says this, and her eyes dart from side to side without looking at me. I try to protest, but am unable to. My flight across the city and the commotion afterwards, along with not eating in 200 years has sapped all of my energy for the day.

I watch them leave with only a sigh of empathy, my chin resting on my hooves as I lie on the floor, mane plastered to my face and back along with strands peppered in mud and dirt from the floor. My body aches for energy, yet my stomach is bursting from over eating. My heart aches for Shining, and my mind cries for sleep.

I close my eyes for what seems like half a second, but when I open them again the lights are off and there is a blanket around me. I lift myself up, only to give up halfway and rest my head back on my aching hooves. I got back a lot of energy from the rest, and I can think a lot more clearly. My body doesn't ache nearly as much and my stomach has finally calmed down. I try and glance around the room but it is pitch black. I can still hear the patter of rain on the roof, and the constant drip of water on the floor from cracks in the ceiling. I produce a small light from my horn to give myself a view of the room.

Everything is where it was last night, except Long John is lying next to Sunshine in the corner of the room, both of them snoring loudly. From what I can tell I have only slept for a few hours. I continue to glance around the room until I see a sparkle in the corner.

When I look at where it came from I find myself staring into a pair of glowing pink eyes. Redwind is sitting half up looking at me lazily from across the room. I let out a small gasp of surprise and jump up on my forelegs. Red doesn’t react to my gasp, just continues to stare at me, his face emotionless and his posture uncaring. After a few minutes of this impromptu staring contest I am able to relax and rest my head in my hooves again, using the free time to think over what has happened.

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        After a few hours Long John starts to stir awake, only then does Red finally shift his gaze. I see something in his eyes when he looks at his wife, some spark of emotion. I catch a ghost of a smile on his face, horribly scarred and twitching in the effort, but it is there for a split moment. Small streams of light pour in through the ceiling, and a cool morning breeze passes through every now and again.

The rain stopped less than an hour ago.

        Long John looks around the room blindly, mumbling something to herself, and stands up to stretch. Sunshine wiggles his legs to where his mother was, grabbing at air, then lifts his head with slits for eyes to her moving figure. Bones pop with every movement as she plops herself on the same crate as yesterday and flicks on the switch with her magic that lights the room around us. Long John rubs her eyes, stretches her hooves over her head, then stares at me blankly, eerily similar to her husband. "So, you are still here. Ah was hoping you would act as mysterious as your friends and disappear in the middle of the night." She says with a smile on her face that makes me guess she is joking.

        I try my best to smile back. "Unfortunately with Equestria destroyed I don't have anywhere to go." I try to joke, but it only makes me choke up again. I force myself to continue smiling and block out any images of long gone loved ones from my head.

        Long John laughs and slaps her knee. "Ah, that's fine missy, you are a lot better company for an al-i-corn than I thought I would ever get. Hay barrels, I didn't think I would have al-i-corns for company in the first place. You also seem to not rile up my boys here, which is somethin' I ain't never seen."  Sunshine trots over to his mother’s side, chain rattling behind him, and lies down on the floor next to her. Long John reaches a hoof down and rubs his neck.

        "I don't think they are the same as me." I say to Long John. "The alicorns, I mean. To tell you the truth, they don't even feel natural. They act so oddly, and it’s almost as if they have a single mind. I haven't even heard most of them talk other than Night Wish. They always call me 'Goddess' for some reason too."

        "So, you're sayin' you are different from them ones out there?" Long John asks. She rubs her hoof against her face in a sarcastic manner then nods. "I can see that. For one, you didn't try and blow me up the moment you saw me, and I have to thank you for that. Also, you tried to stop your friends from blowin' me up, which I have to thank you for again." Long John says with a chuckle. "Heck, you even talk! Last night was the first time I have seen one of you devils talk before. They are always trying to speak into yer mind.  Anyway, miss... miss uh.. Huh, I don't even think I know your name. I never thought to ask. Do al-i-korns even have names?"

        "We certainly do," I giggle. "My name is Cadence."

        Long John stares at me in silence, eyes squinting in doubt. "As in princess Cadence? As in the lost princess of Equestria?"

I give a small nod. “I don’t know what you mean by ‘Lost princess of Equestria’ but yes, I am Princess Cadence”

        Long John looks at me for a moment longer before her eyes widened and her posture straightens. “Luna fuck me with the moon, it is you! Ponies have been looking for you for years and noponies seen head or hair!” Long John stands up and starts pacing the room in excitement as she talks. Her voice trails off as she continues, more thinking aloud than talking to anyone in particular. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice sooner, you sleeping in my home and all. Oh sweet Celestia, I pointed a shotgun at the princess. I even gave her the stale box of sugar apple bombs!” Her voice raises and she sits down with her head in her hooves. Sunshine looks up at his mom with confusion, his ears raising as her voice continues to increase its volume. Redwind looks at me with scrutinizing eyes, examining my every detail.

        I am a little confused in the turn of events. The world has been destroyed, thousands of ponies killed and Long John is talking about royalty. However, I am used to it.

Equestria has always been blinded by royalty. Even when pressing matters are needed to be taken care of ponies take precious time to bow, nod, or say “Welcome princess.” During the war I would visit hospitals after large battles in an attempt to help with patients, boost moral, or check on one of my friends. But while walking along the halls ponies would get out of bed to bow, even if they were in terrible pain. Doctors would halt mid operation, mid stitch, to salute or bow. It got to the point where I was hurting things more by stopping by. Equestria had been that way from the beginning, and it has carried on since.

        “Long John, it’s okay. Royalty doesn’t matter when the palace is empty.  Right now I am trying to find Shining. Also, those sugar apple bombs were delicious.” I give a reassuring smile in an attempt to calm her down. “Now please, sit down.”

        Long John Slows her rapid pacing and glances over at me. She looks as if she is on the verge of a panic attack, but after a moment she calms down and takes a seat next to Sunshine who curls up to his mother like a puppy. She strokes his destroyed mane and whispers, “She is so kind Sunny, so nice with us even with what we have become.” She stares at her child as tears fill her eyes.

        After a minutes of silence I force myself to my feet, and ask, “You wouldn’t mind if I used the restroom would you?” The conversation has come to a lull and I need to find a place to think. I have been surrounded by ponies from the moment I had woken up. Not only that, but I really have to pee. Long John gives a little nod before resting her head on Sunshines neck.

        I exit the room, making sure to close the door on the way out, and walk down the small hallway that leads to the front of the store. I trying a door along the way that turns out to be a supply closet filled with mannequins. Goddess I hate these things. They remind me of the gala and the countless dress shops I would be dragged to weeks before it would actually start. Countless lines of these things sporting flashy dresses, scarves, and socks. Always socks. I search the front room for any doors hidden behind the piles of trash, giving the mannequins a large amount of space, but I’m unable to find anything. I give the hallway in the back another glance to see if I missed a door but I find nothing, and decide that I am going to have to go outside to look for a place to go.

        The door opens with the screech of rusted metal and opens to the same destroyed ruins of Canterlot I saw yesterday. The sky is covered in clouds for miles in every direction, but the street is still bright as the sun bleeds through the thick stretch of clouds. Across the street is a row of identical storefronts with windows that are warped and bubbly with a deep shade of pink boiled into them. I can’t see through them other than what is placed directly against it from the other side or painted on them. The walls of the buildings are intact but they sag inward as if slowly collapsing. The streets are cracked and seem to be bleeding a pink goo into the water that is left from last night’s downpour.

        It finally comes to my attention that this could be what’s left of the pink fog from earlier. I look around, searching for any trace of it in the air, but I can’t find anything in the area around me. I glance back down at the puddle and see small strands of pink coming from cracks in the ground, but it seems to only be a small amount, nothing that could easily fill the air at the rate it is going, even if it were to continue for days.

I catch sight of my own reflection in the water as I turn to walk away. My mane is a mess, strands pop out randomly and it’s frizzled from the rain. I lift my hoof and push my hair around in an attempt to get it organized, but I can do little without something to make it wet and I would rather not put that pink water on my head. Other than my mane I look the same; light pink coat, a little ruffled from sleeping on the floor, along with blue tipped wings. Mane and tail the colors blond, magenta, and violet in vertical streaks and a light pink horn atop my head. My crown is somewhere at my house, though I only wear it for public events along with the rest of my formal wear. On my flank is my cutie mark, a heart shaped diamond with small ribbon decals on either side. I continue to glance at myself in the pool of pink, surrounded by the destroyed buildings of Canterlot. I look so... out of place. Here I am in this destroyed world, away from my beloved and alone except for a crazed and scarred mare with her animalistic husband and mute child. Is this really where I am suppose to be? Is any of this real?

        I need a place to sit, I think to myself. I glance around, looking for a bench but instead find a statue huddled on the ground near me that looks remarkably like a mare. She is crouching next to a storefront, a coffee shop from what it looks like, and is grasping at her neck as if she is trying to free a pair of hooves that are strangling her. I look down the street, confused that I hadn’t seen this before now, and see countless amounts of others along either side of the street, hiding in alleys, scrambling into stores, or huddling in groups as defined as if they were the real thing. How could I have missed them yesterday? I take a closer look at the statue crouching next to me. The mares face is strained in fear and pain, each tendon on her neck as tight as piano wire and each hair on her mane defined to the point of realism. The statue looks past any ponies craftsmareship, almost as if she were alive. Could this be what that pink mist did to ponies who were exposed to it for too long? Stuck in place for all eternity, reliving your pain for all to see?

        I stand up and walk along the street, examining all of the ponies frozen in time hoping to learn something about their last moments, hoping to see a reason why all of these innocent ponies should die, but only find the endless fear and pain etched into each of their beings. After a few minutes of walking from one side of the street to the other I break down when I find a group of colts and fillies huddled together on the side of the street, all of them clutching their throats in a vain attempt to keep the toxic gas out of their lungs.

        How could this happen? All of the years spent negotiating with the zebras trying to end the war, all of the countless nights spent trying to figure out a peaceful way to end the violence for such a horrible outcome. What kind of world is this? Innocent foals killed...

        I couldn’t stop it. I tried so hard, but the war continued on until its inevitable end.

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        I looked through at least 20 stores on this street, but all were either locked or filled with that pink water. So, in a desperate attempt to relieve myself, I found a small alley between two stores and convinced myself that it is certainly better than doing it out in the open. I summon up what pride I have and throw it to the wind as I pee behind a dumpster. It takes little more than a minute, but it is an excellent welcome to the world that I am now in.

        I decide I have given myself enough time to think, and Long John enough time to calm down, so I head back to the store. The mannequins watch me as I trot to the back room and I give each of them a glare as I pass. The door is still closed like I had left it, but I don't hear any noise coming from inside the room. I give the door a small push and see Long John lying her head on Sunshines side. Redwind lifts his head for a moment to peer lazily at me before lying back down, making sure to keeping an eye on the door as he rests. Sunshine gives me a sideways glance as I walk over to his mothers side

        I have things I need to ask, I think to myself. I need to know more about what happened to Equestria. I need to know about Twilight and her friends and where Shining Armor could be. Long John is facing the wall with her flank angled towards me. I can finally see her cutie mark, a set of sticks held together with rope. What an odd mare.

I give John’s flank a little nudge with my hoof and in less than a second she has me pinned to the ground, hooves wrapped around my neck choking the life out of me. She yells at me as I gasp for air, “Don’t you dare touch me! Don’t you dare! I swore to Celestia and Luna above that I would fucking kill you if you tried that again!” Her eyes are cloudy and she seems to be looking through me to somepony else. I try to talk to her, try to tell her to stop but all I can do is lay there as I slowly run out of oxygen. I flail my hooves trying to get her off but I can do little against the strength of the burnt guard pony. My vision darkens as time passes and her hold only strengthens. I prepare myself to use my horn as a last ditch effort to get her off. Shining had taught me how to use it in combat if worst came to worst, but I had never done it to actually hurt somepony. How could I? She was a mother, even if she was crazy, and I could tell she was a good pony.

Long John screams in pain, and even as my vision continues to darken I can see that she swings her head around to look behind her. Her grip loosens, then she lets go all together. I gag and cough as I push air into my lungs. My throat seems to be clogged but I force myself to breath deeply and quickly. My horn becomes dark as I glance at Long John who has turned to face Sunshine. Her right leg is a bloody mess as if somepony had bitten the skin off of her thigh. “Sunshine...” Her voice is full of sadness and betrayal as she speaks to her son, “Why would you do this to your mommy? I’m tryin’ to protect you.”

        Sunshine lets out grunt and turns at me, to which his mother’s clouded gaze turns to as well. In a moment her eyes regain clarity and she gasps. “Wha... What have ‘ah...” she says, bringing a hoof to her face. I cough as air catches in my throat, then go into an entire spurt of them as my lungs seemed to be forced through my throat. Long John walks over to me and bows down, her hoof extended and her forehead pressed against the ground. “Princess, ah don’t know what tah say. I am unbelievably sorry for what ah did, I just wasn’t myself. You just touched me and ah... ah reacted.” I can feel her shame and regret as if it were my own, can feel how sorry she is. I can tell that she didn’t try to hurt me, that it was an accident. Still, I take a step back from her after I catch my breath.

        “I...” I try to talk but just end up going into another spurt of coughs. John raises her head from the ground. I can’t look into her eyes without seeing the clouded look of a killer that was there before. I glance over at Redwind who is now standing up and glaring at Long John, his eyes are full of anger. Sunshine gets up and bows next to his mother, then looks up at me. His small stump of a tail is wagging slightly and his half bitten ear pressed against his skull. Not even his burnt features can mask the cuteness he is trying to display.

        “It’s okay.” I say, trying my best to smile as the air grinds its way into my lungs. I manage a look at John and see that she is relieved, but she hasn't stopped bowing yet. “I know you didn't mean to.”

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It takes a little while, but I am able to get Long John to sit down and stop saying sorry. She is sitting on the crate she was on yesterday and Sunshine is curled up against her leg, resting his head on her hoof. Redwind is snoozing in the corner like he always does.

        I am able to steer the conversation away from what happened a few minutes ago to something I have been wondering ever since John had mentioned it. “You said earlier that you have become something 'else', what did you mean?”

        Long John glances at Sunshine by her leg, Redwind on her left, then looks at her own destroyed hooves. “We’re ghouls. Ponies who have been changed by the radiation. When the bombs hit they produced large amounts of it and spread the stuff all around Equestria. Wer’ a special kind though, some call us Canterlot ghouls. The pink mist that hit the city had a different effect than normal radiation, this stuff changed what we were made out of. If I get a cut blood won’t be coming out of it, I'll bleed that terrible pink mist. Same goes fer Sunshine and Redwind," She gives me a moment to absorb what she said. I think for a moment that she expects me to ask something, but she continues on anyway.

"Ghouls can survive longer than a normal pony too. Me and Red have been around for some 230 years, and Sunny will be hitting his 213th in a week or so. We don’t really grow, though. For Red and me that don’t mean much, but Sunny is always going to be my little colt.” She rubs his head with a lazy hoof. “Only problem with living forever, other than the bad skin, is that some ponies tend to loosen some screws with old age. You can keep the body moving for however long you want, but ponies aren't meant to live this long. After some time they go feral, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it. Sunny went within the first few years but he has never been bad, he always listens when I talk to him and does what I says, even if it’s a little slow. Red went next, some 50 or 60 years ago. So hard to remember what feels like only a few days ago.” She sighs.

The first thought that comes to my head is, What she’s saying is impossible.How could a pony live for over 200 years? Sure Celestia and Luna could do it, but they're alicorns. My mind is quick to ignore the impossibility, however, and asks, If what she is saying is true, what does that mean for Shining or Twilight?

“Feral ponies ain’t bad though, they’re still in there... somewhere. Whenever I talk to Sunshine he listens, I know he does! Red might still be a lazy sonofabitch, but I know he is still there watching over me when I sleep. And ah... I know I’m still here, I gotta be. Ah have to stay sane for these two, or Luna knows what might happen if I go.” She looks at me with pleading eyes as if asking if she is doing the right thing. “Ah think I’m the only thing holding them together. If I go, they won’t be there no more. And ah can’t leave ‘em, I just can’t. Sunny’s too young, too innocent to wander on his own, he needs guidance. I couldn’t think about leaving him to wasteland. His father is just as helpless. Bastard could burn for what he did, but I still remember him for how he was before he went. He was so sweet, always nice to everypony, even after the bombs dropped he gots’ people into the vault after we were safe. Ah think that’s why he changed so quickly, got so angry all of the sudden, he was exposed to the stuff for too long so it messed with his head." She goes silent, staring at the ground like she is ashamed. She only stays like that for a second before regaining her posture and having a sad smirk on her face. "Sunny was a youngin’ anyway, his head was full of mush from the day he was born, and that pink mist didn’t help nothing.” She says jokingly. She gives Sunshine a small tap on the head, and he looks up at her with his head tilted, wondering what he did wrong.

“You poor mare.” I say quietly to myself. How could any one pony live through so much and continue on from sheer force of will? “How did you do it?” I ask her. “How did you stay sane all of this time with the world around you crumbling?”

Long John glances up from Sunshine. Her eyes have gained a determination that nopony could break. “You gotta do it for your family. They’re all yah got in the end. If you can’t do it for them, why do it at all?”

Those words stir up a sense of hope and passion the likes I haven't felt before. A need to look for Shining and Twilight in this terrible world, and find out what happened to them.

*   *   *   *   *

Footnote - Level up! Level 3 reached!

New perk - Special touch - Physical contact with an alicorn allows you to see the area around you, along with a few other hidden benefits. But be careful, others can tell when you use this ability.

((Authors notes - I never thought I would be writing about a pink princess pony peeing behind a dumpster.

For the original story of Fallout Equestria please go to http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/04/story-fallout-equestria.html written by katt. It is an amazing story.

As always, if you have any comments or critiques post them in the comments below or send me a personal message. I write to improve, so if you liked the story, or hated it entirely tell me why.))