Fallout Equestria : Monarch of a New World - Chapter 3 - Welcome to Canterlot

A lovely stroll

through a dead city.

        “You can’t go out there alone Cadence. Not only is the place covered in pink goop that’ll burn your pretty little hide to a burnt husk, but ghouls are roaming around that will tear you to pieces once they catch a whiff of yah!” Long John says as I move towards the door.

         She is following close behind, her hoof extended as if she is going to force me to stay. “I’m sorry Long John, but I need to get back to my home. There might be something that can tell me where Shining Armor is, and I didn’t get a chance to look the place over before I left. Didn’t you say that ghouls aren’t all bad?”

         Long John scowls as I turn her words back on her. “Just because some ponies aren’t murderers don’t mean you should put your life in everypony’s hooves.”

         “Well,” I say, trying to think of someway to convince her to let me leave, “how about you go with me then? I’m sure you could help me get there without a problem and even if we do find some ghouls you can convince them to leave us alone.”

         “Agh.” Long John grunts and rubs her forehead with a hoof. “You don't convince ferals of nothing when they are gone to the point that those ponies are." She stares at floor, thinking over the situation. "But fine, princess. You better learn real quick that Equestria has changed from when you were last out here.” The ghoul pony walks to a set of crates in the corner closest to the door. She pushes the stack to the side and reveals a hidden space in the wall. Inside are mounds of supplies. Boxes filled with medical equipment, a small armies worth of guns and piles of books. The room is the size of a closet with a sink and mirror on the left wall and... a toilet on the right. Celestia damnit. Long John lights up her horn and floats one of the books from the stack, a small pistol from the wall and two saddle bags, one of which she puts on herself and the other she gives to me along with the pistol and book. “Here, take this and put it on. Use the saddle bag for keepin’ what you need, the pistol to kill what you don’t like and the book to tell you when you need to do either. This book,” she taps the cover as she gives it to me, “will save your hide more than any conversation you could have with me.”

        The book is made of a soft, easily bendable paper and is as thick as my hoof, with the words The Wasteland Survival Guide : By Ditzy Doo printed on the front. She flips through the page with her magic to expose countless words and hoof drawn pictures of weapons, technology, and disgusting creatures that couldn't possibly exist. “The Wasteland Survival Guide.” I say, testing the words. She thrusts the pistol into my face, and when I don’t try and grab it she grunts and slides it into a holster on the side of my bag. “A pistol?” I ask as she slips it into a holster on my bag.

        “Mare, if I need three shotguns to defend myself in my own home, you ought to be thinking there are things out there that don’t play nice. A pistol won’t do much to most of those things, but you’re getting it for free so I better not hear any complaining.” She finishes tightening my saddle bag and proceeds to fill it with medical supplies, food and a hoof full of small bullets with a few empty clips. Long John floats one of them out and brings it in front of me along with an empty clip. “Quick crash course before we head out. This here is a 10mm bullet. It goes into the clip like this.” She pushes the bullet into the slide, then proceeds to do it eleven more times until she can’t put any more in. She floats out the gun and slides the clip into it. She shows me the safety, the trigger and how to cock the gun.

        Now, I am not an idiot when it comes to guns. Shining had taught me to fire them during the war, around when the whispers of balefire bombs started coming up in hushed voices. I am actually quite decent at it. What is giving me pause is the thought of firing it at something other than a wooden target.

        After Showing me how to fire the pistol, which she demonstrates by firing it into her own wall and scaring the fluff out of me, she shows me what medical supplies she is putting into my bag. “We got healing potions, med-x, magical bandages, rad-away, rad-x, buck, a few party time mint-als, and my personal favorite, Dash.” She chuckles.

        I gawk as she slips the drugs into my bag one after the other. “You can’t be serious. Some of that stuff is dangerous! You can’t expect me to carry around Mint-als and buck, and, and Dash!" I stutter as I think of the thousands of ponies admitted to hospitals around Equestria from dash overdoses. "That stuff is highly addictive and can kill me!”

        Long John continues to fill my bag with drugs, seeming to ignore me as she talks. “There are times in the wasteland when things are too difficult to think around, or you need to talk somepony out of doing something stupid. I can’t see no harm in taking some mint-als if it means saving somepony’s life, can you?”

      I shake my head, though I know it’s still wrong.

        “How about when you have a broken leg and you can’t possibly force yourself through the pain to drag your broken body to safety? Would you really keep yourself in that much pain when you could take some buck and live?”

        I cringe at her gruesome example, but nod my head again. Her logic seems sound, and if the world has come to it I guess I can see a reason to use it, but only in the most desperate of situations.

        “And dash makes you high as fuck! I take this shit whenever Celestia decides to screw me over real good some days.” She laughs and shoves some more dash into my bag.

        “Long John!” I shout, trying to grab some of the dash.

        She holds the dash in the bag so I can’t float it out. “Princess you better not be turning down a gift. I am giving this stuff to you out of the goodness of my heart, I don’t care what you do with it. You go sell it to some addict for all I care, but don’t be rude enough to turn this down. Ah recommend keeping this stuff though, it might help you stay sane when the wasteland tries to tear your mind apart.”  She sighs as she closes the flap to my bag and goes back into the closet.  “Just make sure you’re safe when you take it.”

        I glance back at the pocket that has the dash and cringe at the thought of taking such terrible drugs.

(((((())))))

        Long John brings out a few books and magazines out of the storage room, including a huge hard cover book called ‘Big Book of Arcane Sciences’. “Now, when you’re not fighting for your life it’s always good to be readin’ that Survival guide or,” She floats a magazine in front of me labeled ‘Guns and bullets’ with the picture of a revolver on the front, “one of these. All of this stuff is filled with info that can save your life, be it knowing how to fix a clogged pipe or knowing the best way to defuse a ruby powered balefire bomb over a sapphire one.” She slips the books into the bag, except for the Book of Arcane Sciences which she puts on the opposite side of the others to balance out the weight. Long John starts to fill up her own bag which nearly doubles her height. On the sides are her three shotguns, each with their own hoof crafted holster. I get a glance of her filling an entire pocket with dash which she claim is “Just in case." Yeah, just in case we want to have a block party. I think to myself while I roll my eyes.

        My bag is double my weight with the amount of supplies John put into it, and when I try to move my legs buckle and I topple over. Long John glances down at me and sighs before helping me unpack some of the extra supplies. In the end I leave behind a large chunk of food, which I convince her is unneeded because of the short distance to my house, along with the Arcane Book of Sciences which easily takes off an extra 20 pounds.

        When my saddlebag is situated Long John walks over to Sunshine and takes off his collar. The colt scratches at his neck, and once he notices that is gone he runs around the room, smiling like a foal in Sugarcube Corner. Sunshine doesn't have a cutie mark on his side. I can’t tell if its because his skin is so destroyed from radiation or if he was too young to get it.

        I giggle as he runs past and circles back to his mother, who he nuzzles warmly. Their burt and decayed flesh scrape against each others, some flaking off and floating to the ground, but it doesn't take away from the heart warming moment. Long John fits him with his own small bag and puts on some spikes shoes on his front and back hoofs.

        After she closes the closet and returns the crates to their original place she stands in front of the door. “Okay,” John says, looking at both of us, “everypony ready?”

        I glance back at Redwind and ask, “What about him?”

        Long John glares at Red, then says, “He doesn’t get off his chain no more.” Her voice hints of anger, but it is her eyes that tell the story. They are fill with rage so potent that it flows from her eyes like tears. “And I recommend you don’t go near him if you have the choice.”

(((((())))))

        I stagger behind Long John as we trot down a familiar row of houses heading toward the mountainside. Sunshine is running and jumping off of obstacles around us, doing flips and spins if the object is high enough. The buildings around us are similar to what we have been seeing since we left the shop, half destroyed, collapsing in on themselves, or burnt down completely. Carriages litter the street around us blocking our view of anything more than a few feet in either direction, but Sunshine stays on top of the closest one to look for danger. We left mid-morning and it is around three in the afternoon now, though I can’t be certain with the sun behind the clouds. I recognize the street we are on as being Hoofbeat Boulevard, no less than a ten minute trot to my home.

        My house is set inside of the mountain so it took us a good two hours of trotting to get from one side of Canterlot to the other. Usually it would take little more than half an hour to make the trip before the balefire bombs, but with so much debris, pools of acidic pink liquid and Long John’s constant looting of every other store along the way, most of which I had shopped at or knew the owner of, we get a little delayed.

        The weight of my pack was taking its toll on me earlier but now it has gotten almost unbearable. Long John refuses to take a break unless we are searching for supplies, which she makes me help with so that I can learn how to ‘scavenge’ as she calls it. “Long John,” I say between breaths. My lungs are killing me and my side feels like a knife has been poked into it. “Can we please take a short break? I’m not used to carrying this much weight.”

        “Is that the best excuse you can come up with princess? Can’t make it a few miles before giving up? Your husband is the Captain of the Canterlot guard and you can’t keep up with a 200 year old mare.” Long John says, but stops beside a carriage and grabs some food out of her saddle bag despite her remark. “Fine, we can have a lunch break if you need to.” She calls Sunshine over and gives him a box of sugar apple bombs which he gulps down with as much vigor as had did the day before.

        I take a seat next to her on the ground, glad that I can finally rest my legs. “Was.” I say as I search my bag for something appetizing.  “He was the captain of the guard before he got too old for it.”

        Long John shrugs, then opens up a can of beans and gobbles it as quickly as her son. She glances at me midway through destroying the can's contents and asks, “what are you doing?”

        I look up from my bag with confusion. “What do you mean? I’m looking for something to eat.”

        “Yeah,” she says as she points at her can of beans, “you’re looking for food when I’m almost half done with mine. Yer taking too long! Just pick something and eat it up, wasting time gets you killed in the wastes.”

        “Just... pick something and eat it?” I ask. The question seems silly after I hear myself say it.

        She gives a slow nod.

         I pick a box at random, some balefire berry blast cereal, and open it up.

        Long John sets her empty can on the ground, then glances at me and face hoofs. “Celestia above, what are you doin’ now?”

I stop mid chew to look at her, then swallow and reply, “What is it? I’m eating like you said.”

        “Princess, what else did I tell you?” I raise an eyebrow. After a moment she sighs and says, “not to waste time, that’s what. You’re sitting there all civil, eating your food one crumb at a time while we get it over with. Eating isn’t for pleasure anymore mare, yer eating to survive.”

        Sunshine lifts his head from his torn open box of sugar apple bombs, crumbs covering his face as he licks his lips clean. I giggle as he tries to reach a piece that is stuck to his nose with his tongue. Long John stands up and continues down the road, Sunshine following behind only to jump onto the roof of a nearby carriage. “Wait!” I say, shoving food into my mouth as I zip up my saddle bags.

        I chase after them as I scoop cereal out of the box and into my mouth using my magic, but I-

Thunk!

        “Celestia damnit!” I scream as I fall to the ground, landing on my face.

        I cradle my horn and look to the carriage behind me to search for what I tripped on and find myself staring into the decayed face of a ghoul pony, his dead eyes looking back into mine. It screeches with such primal ferocity that my knees fall out from under me. He claws his way out from under the carriage, mouth foaming pink and muscles twitching as he scrambles towards me.

        Within a moment Long John is in front of me shoving the ghoul away and into the side of a shop window before floating out her shotgun.

Boom! Chck-Chck

        The ghouls face becomes a cloud of pink goop. Little droplets rain down all around, one landing on my stomach and sizzling its way into my flesh. I bat at the burning skin like a fire, but I only rub it around more. “Cadence, stop screaming!” Long John yells as she shakes me. I continue to bat at the flame until it finally goes away leaving only an itch and a ruined patch of scorched coat.

        I take in a heavy, shuddering breath to calm myself down but end up making myself go into a coughing spurt. I huddle into a ball and start to rock myself, trying my best to hold it together.

        “Princess you get your flank moving NOW!” Long John says, aiming her shotgun into the distance using her magic. She floats out another one of her guns, aiming it in a different direction, then fires them both.

Boom! Boom!Chck-Chck Chck-Chck

        She cocks them and yells at me once again. “Cadence we have to move now, damnit!” She smacks me on the side of the head, and when I don’t react she does it again, this time so hard that my vision darkens and buzzing to start up in my ear. It takes a moment for my perception to come back, but once it does I hear a chorus of moans and screeches around us, along with not-so-distant hoof stomps. I glance around and see at least ten ghouls charging at us from the north, and another four coming from the south. “Get the fuck up!” She screams, tearing me off the ground with her magic and pushing me between two carriages.

      I stumble as she shoves me forward, barely catching myself, and scramble down the road that quickly turns into a desperate sprint for my life. Sunshine hops down from one of the carriages in front of me, landing on a pony’s head as it crawls out of a hole. He gives the stump of a head another quick stomp, causing the twitching body to grow still, then runs down the road ahead of me. Long John continues to fire wildly behind us, and by the time we make it to the end of the street I can hear the soft clicks of her guns firing with empty chambers. We take a left at the end of the street and keep running until I spot my house. The sight stops me in my tracks.

        My once beautiful two story home is now a pile of rubble on the face of the hill, little of the second story being where it should and instead being scattered around the house as if some beast had torn it to pieces. No way only the elements could have destroyed the house as it is, leaving nothing more than the bottom floors and a toilet hanging in the air by only a few pipes and a ruined support beam. The damage had seemed so minor and unnoticeable when I had first woken up, but now it is impossible to miss the massive amount of destruction.

        "Move you idjit!"

        Long John crashes into my back, forcing me to move towards the house with Sunshine and her following close behind. I can hear the cries getting closer by the second as I force the door open, little bits of decayed cloth fighting back every inch of the way from under the door. I give it a final shove and we pile inside the small hallway Long John closes the door behind us and braces it against the moaning herd. “Cadence, refill my shotguns and get your pistol ready.” She tosses me her guns and points to where the rest of the ammo was. “Sunshine honey, go search the rest of the house to make sure we are alone.”

        I clumsily slide 6 shells into each of the guns as Sunshine runs deeper into the house, then float them back over to her. “Okay princess, I need you to-”

        The ghouls give a push against the door, opening it enough for them to slip their hooves through. Long John takes the moment to fire at their exposed limbs, but all that happens when she pulls the trigger is a soft click. There is a moment of silence before she gives the guns a cock and fires them again, this time resulting in a ear shattering boom from each of the barrels. The door closes again as the bodies slide to the ground. “You forgot to cock them, didn’t you?”

        I give a small nod.

        There is a moment of silence as she stares me down. “What I need you to do,” she says between clenched teeth “is get yer gun out and shoot ‘em in the head once you can see ‘em. It’s simple, but you need to not freak out on me. Can you do that?”

        “Sure.” I say doubtfully.

        “Not sure, princess, I need to know that you will have my back when I open the door.” There is another shove against the door, but Long John is able to close it before they can push it any farther.

        I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I need to stay calm. I need to help.

        “Okay, I’m ready.” I force myself to say bringing out my pistol and aiming it towards the door.

        Long John opens the door and a wave of ghouls pours through. I fire my gun wildly at the group as John fires her 3 shotguns point blank at each of their heads, exploding them in an instant. Pink goop and flesh fly through the air as we unload on the group. One breaks through the heap of bodies that concentrates around the door and lunges at me. It pushes me to the ground and bites into the side of my hoof as I try and push it away. I scream as blood pours from my hoof and burning pink saliva seeps into my bloodstream. I float my gun to the side of his head and fire franticly, trying my best to get it off. It stops biting down after the third shot, but I continue to unload whatever bullets are left in the clip until I can’t fire any more.

        The air is silent. The only sounds are my rapidly beating heart, uneasy breathing or sizzling flesh. I push the limp body off of me, and only just in time. The ghouls head starts to seep pink mist from its countless bullet holes. I glance around the hallway, searching for any danger but find nothing other than Long John searching the corpses.

        Every inch of my skin burns and my hoof is completely numb below the bite. “Long John.” I say weakly. “I just killed somepony.” I am barely able to get the words out of my mouth before I fall unconscious.

(((((())))))

        I wake up gagging. A thick, grape flavored drink is being forced down my throat. I try to cough it up but somepony’s hoof keeps the bottle on my mouth. After I drink it energy flows through my body and my pain slowly drifts away. I open my eyes to see Long John sitting with me, a healing potion floating away from my mouth.

        Long John smiles. “There you are. You went out for awhile. Gave you a healing potion earlier, but thought it would be good to give you another.”

         I push my hooves under me and stand up, noting that I have feeling back in the hoof that the ghoul had bitten me. “How long was I out?” I say, leaning against a wall to stop myself from falling over.

        “Three hours.” Long John says. “While you were out we did a little scavenging. Hope you don’t mind.”

        I sigh at the thought of my house being looted while I was out. “Well, what did you find?”        

        “Surprisingly a lot for a pre-war house, looks like almost nopony looted the place since the bombs dropped. Medical supplies are where they should be and not a single lock is broken.”  Long John says. Sunshine trots into the room dragging a towel with a pile of my valuables on it. Earlier in the day I would have told him to put them back, but after being chased around Canterlot by a pack of crazed zombie ponies my priority have changed remarkably. Long John starts to talk again when I turn my gaze back. “But, while there hasn’t been anypony looting, there certainly was something that happened here. Can you walk?” She asks, standing up herself and motioning towards the living room.

        I nod my head and follow her.

         “There are a lot of scorch marks that don’t look look like something balefire or pink cloud could do. They look magical.” She stands next to a hole that is in the side of the wall slightly smaller than an averaged sized pony. The scorch marks pulsate a pink energy and seem to randomly burst into magical flames. She points to another hole that is the same, then another. I count at least seven different holes in the living room wall.

        The holes are odd, certainly, but a more pressing matter holds my attention. “Did you find anything about Shining armor?” I ask urgently.

        “If it’s a body you’re askin’ about, then no, we ain’t found one yet. We found a lot of opened food cans and healing potions in the kitchen that makes me think somepony stayed here at one time or another. There is some type of pink shell thing in the back, I was guessin’ that is the cocoon thing you were talking about earlier. We also found this.” She reaches into her saddlebag and pulls out a smooth pink ball that I recognize to be a memory orb. “It was layin underneath some debris next to the cocoon.”

        I reach my hoof out and lightly take the orb from her, cradling it against my side to keep it safe. “Thank you very much Long John, this could be exactly what I was looking for. Would you mind if I take a moment to look through it?” I ask, not taking my eyes off the orb.

        “Sure, just don’t take too long. I want us to get back before sundown.” She trots off to where Sunshine is looking through the pile of loot.

        This is it, I think to myself. This is what I was looking for

        I take a deep breath, then reach out with my magic to the orb. There is a quick spark of connection before everything is dark.

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

        The smell is the first thing that my mind can comprehend when I enter the memory. The terrible, unholy smell of the pink fog.

        Within a moment I can see my beloved Shining Armor. His mane is in shreds, his coat burnt and melted. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days. On his head is a memory recorder, a crown with a small hole that his horn fits through. I am stuck looking directly into Shining’s beautiful blue eyes, but in my peripherals I can see the outer edge of the kitchen mirror. He looks like he is frowning, but after a moment I notice that it is his face sagging altogether. There is a thin concentration of pink around him.

        He takes in a deep breath, then starts to speak. “I don’t know what to say.” His voice is terrible. It sounds like he gargled saltwater mixed with metal shavings. “I love you so much. I didn't realize how much you meant to me. I don’t know if you will get this, hell I don’t even know if you’re going to ever wake up.

        “It’s been... It’s been two days.” Shining slumps down more and more as he talks, his posture ruined by the insistent pull of the fog. “I don’t know what to do." His voice cracks and his eyes grow wide, pupils dilate and his ragged breathing gaining speed. "This... This shit is everywhere! I can't take this much more. It's so painful, my bones grind against each other every time I move, like this mist is causing everything in my body to stop working. And it burns Cadence, everything burns!” His vision darkens, and when it comes back he is patting himself frantically as if putting out a fire. His breathing is rapid.

        It takes him a few minutes to calm down, and as his eyes move around rapidly I am able to get a better view of the inside of the house. The walls bleeding pink, little droplets forming and turning into a mist when they get big enough. The door to the living room is barricaded shut, cloth covering it from the base to the ceiling. Bottle upon bottle of healing potions lining the ground. “It’s raining outside." He starts again. "I went to check on you earlier and saw it through the window. I think the fog clears when it rains.” Shining looks at the ground, takes a deep breath, then turns his gaze back to me. “I am making this recording because I am planning on leaving Canterlot and I can’t be sure if I can make it back before you wake up. I can’t stay here any longer. I have to constantly drink healing potions just so I can stand upright without vomiting. I can’t wake you up either. I put too much energy in the shield to open it back up again. It is for the best that you stay in there, I need you to stay safe.”

        He looks to the table behind him where a large amount of supplies are organized from right to left. A map of Equestria is set out, along with row after row of healing potions, both opened or unopened. How could he have so many of them? Among the supplies is a military issued saddlebag and his service rifle set up against the table. The map is an extremely detailed replication of Equestria that takes up almost the entire table with flight paths and wagon trails between each city and town marked out. There are hoof drawn markings placed all around including coordinates marked in red ink. Shining Armor puts a hoof on the center of the map where Canterlot is placed. “I’m going to leave through the tunnels under Canterlot and hopefully make it to the base of the mountain before it stops raining. I don’t know how far the pink mist goes, it could be all over Equestria, but I am going to try and get as far as I can while there is still a chance.” He drags his hoof to the left over a desert where coordinates are placed in red. “I’m going to make my way to a safehouse in the west then figure out what to do when I am there. I hope to Celestia you don’t wake up before I can get back, but if for some reason you do make your way there. It’s the safest place I can think of. It should have food and medical supplies along with radio equipment so that you can contact me. The coordinates are North 13°, West 35°.” He turns back to the mirror and smiles. It is warped and deformed but his beautiful smile still holds true. “Stay safe Cadence, and be careful. The world isn’t the same anymore. I love you.”

        I love you too, Shining Armor. 

<-=======ooO Ooo=======->

        The ground rumbles below me and there are voices around me. The world is hazy and darker than when I went into the memory orb. The rumbling only gets stronger as I regain consciousness.

        The voices get clear enough to identify as Long John’s and  Night Wish. I blink until my eyes are clear and push myself from the ground. The Memory orb rolls from my hooves, but I grab it with my telekinesis and float it into my saddle bag for safe keeping. Night Wish and Long John stand next to the window, the latter glancing outside nervously. Sunshine is against his mother leg holding it tightly. He makes a small squeak when he sees that I am awake. They look towards me in unison. Long John has fear etched into her face, and even Night Wish looks uneasy. The violet alicorn speaks first, a smile growing on her face as she trots to my side. “Oh Goddess, you have finally awoken! We must leave at once!”

        “What’s wrong?” I ask. The floor continues to rumble as I walk to the window, almost tripping over my hooves as I clumsily make my way over. My limbs are weak from being inside the memory orb for so long and my mind keeps going back to Shining, and the terrible condition that he was in. I don’t have time to finish the thought.

        “What’s wrong? Well princess, the fucking sky is falling down on us as we speak. Look for yourself.” She moves out of the way of the window and I step in her place. The sky has split apart revealing the sun in all of its glory. Canterlot is bright as a summer evening, making the destroyed city seem beautiful again. While most clouds have split apart to reveal the open sky, some have drifted downward towards the city. It takes my eyes a moment to look past the glare of the sun to see that they are not normal weather clouds but pegasus war ships descending upon the city with ominous speed. “Enclave." Long John says finality that makes my mane stand on end. "Wasn’t able to tell you about them earlier, didn’t think it mattered much. Nopony seen them flying around since... well since ponies seen you last, truth be told. To put the history lesson short, the pegasi decided they didn’t want nothing to do with us ground folk when the bombs fell, so they closed up the sky and been keepin' to themselves for a few hundred years or so. Night Wish here says that they ain’t coming down to say hello.”

        “They are coming to kill us all.” The alicorn says blatantly.

        “What!?” I scream. “Why would the pegasi want to do that?”

        “Why do you think I would know?” Long John says calmly. She gives Sunshine a hug and tightens the straps on his saddlebag. The poor colt looks scared to death. “It doesn’t matter. What you need to do is get Sunshine and yourself out of here while I go back for Redwind.” She kneels down to Sunshine and says to him, “Sunny, I love you so much, yah hear? You be good for Mrs. Cadence while I go find daddy. I’ll see you again soon, now go wait by the door while I talk with the grownups.” Sunshine nods and hugs his mother before trotting off to the front door. As he rounds the corner Long John looks me dead in the eyes. “I’m leaving him with you. You get him somewhere safe Cadence.”

         “Long John,” I say in a hushed voice so that Sunshine can’t hear. “If what Night Wish says is true there is no way you will make it to your home before those airships get here, let alone out of the city!”

        Long John stares daggers at me. “You don’t think I know that princess?” She says the last word with venom. “You think I like the idea of leaving my kin with some mare who wouldn’t have lasted a day without my help? Hell, leave him with alicorns? But I can’t get him out of here alone, and I can’t leave Redwind behind. I need you Cadence.

     I gasp. “No. No Long John you can’t do this. I can fly you over to him and we can all get out of here in time.” I think frantically, trying to find some way.

        “Mare you know you can’t fly me, Sunshine and all of your stuff in time. You need to leave now, or you won’t make it in time.” Long John smiles sadly, acceptance played out on her face.

        I turn to Night Wish. “There has to be something you can do.” I say hopefully.

        The alicorn speaks up after being silent for the majority of the conversation. ”Yes, I have the ability to teleport me or anypony the distance you require. However, I cannot teleport us all, nor could I teleport them back.”

        Long John laughs. “Hell, that’s a lot better than a desperate run. Give me some time to relax, maybe have a cup of coffee before Equestria explodes again.”

        I gasp and look over at Long John. “This is no time for joking, you could die! You have to come with us Long John!”

        Long John straightens up and seems to stare down at me, even if I am an inch or two taller.  The rumbling from outside shakes the house, cans falling from the counter in the kitchen and debris falling from the ceiling. “I’m not leaving him, you hear? That stallion risked his life for Sunshine and me and he don’t deserve to die alone. You’re going to look after Sunshine because you are a good pony and you haven’t been corrupted by this terrible world.” I am stunned into silence. Long John glances over to her. “Do it.”

        Night Wish asks, “Are you sure?”

        She nods, then looks at me. “He don’t talk much but he listens plenty. Feed him when he is hungry and don’t let him get hurt. I trust you princess, don’t let my colt die.”

        Night Wish’s horn lights up and a brilliant purple light engulfs the room, blinding me for a split second. I blink to keep myself from going blind, and when I open them again Long John is gone. I stare at the spot where she was until Night Wish speaks up. “We must leave now goddess, before it is too late.” I give a small nod and call out to Sunshine who is already peering into the room. I run to the kitchen, grabbing the tattered map I saw previously on the table from the memory orb, then convince the sobbing colt to get onto my back. "Hush now, it'll be okay." I say to Sunshine, convincing myself in the process.

        Night Wish and I rush out the front door, the air reverberating around us as we race through the air and out of the city of Canterlot. Out of my home. Out of my old life.

        Into the new world

(((((())))))

        We make it to a small group of destroyed building on the fields far outside of Canterlot by the time the raptors have surrounded the city. The hum of their weapons increases until it’s a screeching whir that makes me cringe and Sunshine cover his ears. In a split moment they start to fire round after round into the base of Canterlot. Within moments the city crumbles. The city cries in pain, and Equestria moans with it. The earth splits as the mountainside collapses.

Hundreds of homes.

Thousands of ponies.

Millions of dreams.

        The end of Canterlot. The end of Equestria.

        “Mommy.” Sunshine whispers.

*   *   *   *   *

Footnote - Level up! Level 4 reached!

New perk - Weapons handler - You seem to have no idea what to do with firearms, but you sure can aim them! You lose 5% to guns skill, but your accuracy increases drastically when using S.A.T.S.

((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.))

(( A big shoutout to my editor JEEMY. You are a goose.))