Equestria, a land filled with peaceful ponies.

An unnamed zebra nation that shared its borders with Equestria.

Both lived in peace for a long time, though they weren’t aware of each other...yet.

When the first zebra arrived in Equestria, panic spread among its inhabitants. Nopony dared to try socializing with the stranger for they were not sure on how she will react to them. It was only when a certain group of ponies at least try to understand this stranger that the rest of ponykind accepted the zebras. This was the first time the two nations accepted each other's’ differences and opened up their borders for each to come. It was a good time...but not for long.

As the two nations trade, more and more trade sanctions arose involving the natural resources of the two superpowers. Relations would soon be strained as minor conflicts broke out between the two nations. Slowly, the two nations would lose their trust as various events happened. The one event that would completely shatter all hopes of reconciliation of the two would be the Littlehorn Massacre. It all started with a misunderstanding, a zebra refugee convoy had to pass close to the school but were immediately fired upon by the Equestrians. Though the ponies realized their mistake and stopped firing, casualties has been already sustained by the zebra. In retaliation, a trained zebra commando stealthily entered the school and deployed a Pink Cloud Talisman, killing everything in the building at that time. This event lead to Celestia’s abdication of the throne. This was the breaking point of the two nations. Peace was no longer an option.

Everything went downhill after that event. The new ruler asks six ponies to be a part of her wartime government, thus the Ministries were created and Equestria was changed forever. Each ministry would do different things that would help Equestria and its inhabitants. We’ll not dwell on the Ministries but they were an important part of Equestria’s history.

One of the Ministries invented the Megaspell, an underlying spell framework that allows smaller spells to be augmented in scope and intensity. It was made with the intention of stopping the war as its original purpose was to effectively heal everything and ensuring no one dies and the war ends in a stalemate. The schematics were released to the zebras by the said Ministry in hopes of ending the war. This did not happen though as the zebras managed to manipulate the Megaspell and change its effects for mass destruction.

At this point of time, Stable-Tec was founded by 3 mares. The purpose of this company was to save lives in an event of a Megaspell attack by building fallout shelters called “Stables”. The Stables were built underground or in the sides of the mountains and about one-hundred and one Stables were built. Though the Stables were initially built for preserving lives, it also had a different function.

The zebras soon realized they were at a losing end, as Equestria was more advanced than them, and believed that Equestria was under the influence of the stars, due to certain events and misunderstandings. They also believed that should the Equestrians win, they will kill all of the zebras. With no other options left, they launched an all-out megaspell strike against Equestria.

Many cities were destroyed and many lives were lost. Equestria became an inhabitable and irradiated wasteland. The said can be said to the Zebra nation as they were counter-attacked by the far more and advanced Megaspells of Equestria. Despite the effects and damages of the Megaspells, a lot of lives, even if it's just little compared to the population of Equestria before the war, were saved thanks to Stable-Tec. Most Stables served their purpose to preserving life in case of a Megaspell attack as the surface slowly rot away.

200 years later, not much changed. Land, water, and air still contained some radiation. Some parts of Equestria were barren, no signs of life anywhere. But still, there was change nonetheless. The survivors of the war and their offsprings managed to live in the surface and built communities. They learned how to cooperate with others to survive. Other problems soon appeared, from mutated species to raiders and slavers, the new generation of Equestria would have to face a very grim future. It’s back to square one for everyone.

I stared at the crowd in front of me, all of the ponies that flocked around me just to listen to my stories. Most of them were young stallions, interested about the events that happens in the wasteland. I was used to this, it became a hobby of mine. After all, I needed an audience to listen to me. Most of the time, I have problems trying to voice out my thoughts so story-telling might just help me.

I continue to stare at the crowd. I already told them about pre-war Equestria and that seemed to make them happy. The thought of living in that time was exciting indeed. But now, they wait for me to open my mouth. They wait for me to speak. I smiled at them, amused that they would sit for hours just to listen to me talk. They could do other things, like explore the world around them.

I decided to give them what they wanted. It would be torture to keep them waiting. I open my mouth and their ears perks up.

“Everyone has a beginning. They could have started in the wastes, in the Stables, or even in the small towns around the surface. Heck, they could even have started at the clouds too. Anyways, everyone also has a choice to make. Should they do this or should they do that? Should they shoot or should they talk? The choices are endless, right?”

They all nodded their head and continued to wait for more.

“Now, since what I said applies to everyone, including me, I think it’s time to tell a story I saved for this moment. Are you still listening?”

They nodded their heads eagerly and their eyes were filled with excitement.

“Good. This time, I’ll tell you all my story. I’ll tell you all about my encounters in the wasteland and all of my adventures with my companions. From the very start to the very beginning….to this point of my life.”