All my life I had been in the presence of ponies more powerful than I. My father, being a drill sergeant, was used to having other ponies under his command, a mindset he didn’t leave at the academy when he was home. Even at his most relaxed my father had a commanding presence, his every action demanding attention and his words spoken with an authority that was impossible to ignore. Having lived in such a presence for most of my life I was fairly used to it, in fact it was one of the few situations I thrived in. I knew how to read ponies like my father, which was what helped me scrape out of most of the problems my time in the Wasteland had thrown at me.

But never in my life had I seen a pony like this. In fact I wasn’t even sure he WAS a pony, the way he stood and held his spear spoke more of a zebra martial artist than a pony, but I had never heard of a zebra or pony so big! The gold armored stallion absolutely towered over me, and would probably even dwarf Apparatchik. The buzzing, electric power that coursed over the ridges and grooves in the plating made my every hair stand on end. Craning my neck I stared into the eyes of the leonine helmet, that is I would have if I could see the eyes. The sockets were covered by golden plating, and yet I felt a bone deep assurance that he could see me clear as day.

Painful groaning drew me from my reverie. Tearing my eyes away from the spear wielding pony, I could barely see Clarity picking herself up from where she had fallen behind him. “Clarity.” I said, moving only my lips. The tip of the spear was practically brushing my nose so I dared not move anything else. “Go help Scout, he’s hurt badly.” The image of him being blasted by what I now knew to be lightening was still fresh, along with the pungent smells of ozone and burnt flesh.

Clarity stood fully, wincing in pain. The giant pony had somehow struck her, and now a nasty bruise was coloring her side. When she looked up at the sound of my voice she froze, eyes wide as she stared at the golden pony. I couldn’t turn around to check Scout’s condition, but I was certain he didn’t have much time to spare. “Clarity!” I said, trying to mimic the harshness my father used when he gave a command. Clarity twitched violently as if struck, turning her wide eyed stare on me. “Go help Scout!” I ordered.

“Oh, r-right.” Shifting her gaze between the golden pony and I, she scurried towards Scout and out of my field of vision.

With that taken care of, I looked back to the pony holding me hostage. Frankly, I was terrified. He had already displayed incredible skill with that spear and his movements had been faster than I could follow. At this range I stood absolutely no chance of dodging that spear should he choose to attack, and even if I did that strange lightening magic of his would kill me long before I could make something out of it. Still, I had already shown command with Clarity, I couldn’t afford to show any kind of weakness now.

So, fighting hard to keep my voice even and my knees from trembling, I said. “Is this how your king always asks for help? By sacking innocent towns?”

“We came here searching another, but they had already fled.” The golden pony said evenly. “It was good fortune that you were found, else this would have been in vain.”

“Well I’m so happy to make all this death worth it.” I growled sardonically, glaring up into the covered eye sockets. “Now what do you want?”

“It is not for me to say.” The golden pony relaxed his stance, lowering the spear. “I am to escort you to my King’s throne, where he will tell you the nature of the proposal.”

Taking into account the barding the raiders had been using, I had a sneaking suspicion I knew the answer to my next question, but I asked anyway. “And who is your King?”

The leonine helmet ducked respectively and the pony’s voice carried a solemn tone. “He is the Lord of Stalliongrad, the Shadow King. And I am one of his Lords, Coming Storm.” Having my suspicions confirmed did nothing to ease my trepidation. I had no idea what the leader of an army of raiders would want from me, especially after I insulted him by escaping one of his best ponies. The fact that he had sent ponies looking for me, even if I was a secondary objective, was disconcerting, that they were out to recruit me rather than kill me was downright terrifying. After all, what could I have that a King, even a King of raiders, couldn’t get?

For some reason Coming Storm had kept his head bowed while I pondered this. Eventually, he spoke up, gaining my attention. “I will escort you to my King.” He said with an unshakable certainty. “Whether it be by force or your own will is yours to choose.”

I looked back at my friends, for the first time feeling safe to turn away from the towering knight. Clarity was gently wrapping Scout’s burns in magical bandages, several empty healing potion vials were scattered about her hooves. My earth pony friend was breathing steadily, but unconscious and Clarity could not move with any ease thanks to her bruised side. We were in no shape to resist, but even so I knew we were valuable, or at least I was. Coming Storm hadn’t attacked me, even though it would have been simplicity itself for him to knock me out and drag me along. Looking around at the destroyed town of Scrap River, the ash coming down like light snow, I decided to use some of that value.

“Call off your forces.” I told Coming Storm, turning back to him. “Stop attacking the town and I’ll come with you.” After a second I added. “Peaceably.”

I expected an argument, or at least some hesitation. Instead the giant pony nodded and said, “It will be done” before disappearing, a golden trail of light zipping deeper into the gulch.

I was startled by the sudden darkness. I had almost forgotten that it was the dead of night, and with the light from the electrified golden armor gone darkness had settled back over the area. After taking a quick second for my eyes to adjust, I rushed over to Clarity and Scout. “Is he okay?” I asked, looking at Clarity expectantly. Taking note of her bruised side I added, “Are you?”

The crystal unicorn waved her glowing horn over Scout’s bandages, her magic making them illuminate slightly. “He’ll be fine, but he needs to rest if the magic is going to heal him.” She winced, drinking the dregs from a mostly empty potion bottle. “And I’ll be okay in a minute.”

I sighed in relief, giving myself a moment to relax before addressing Clarity again. “Do you think you can get him out of here?”

She looked at me like I’d gone mad. “Are you kidding? We’ll never escape that…thing!” She said, gesturing in the direction Coming Storm had gone. “Unless you can fly us away we will never…”

I shook my head, cutting her off. “No, I’m staying behind. It’s the two of you that need to go.”

That just made her seem more convinced than ever that I’d snapped. “No, no way! Sleet, we just found you, and we are not leaving you with that!”

“I’ll be fine, his King needs me. He wouldn’t do anything to put what his King wants in jeopardy, you two on the other hoof.” I glanced poignantly at their injuries. “Are less valuable.” Clarity winced at being referred to as “valuable”. Given her former status, I did not blame her, but my analysis was correct. Judging by the actions of his enforcer, the Shadow King saw my friends as expendable, and I wouldn’t put it past Coming Storm to use them as hostages to ensure my cooperation. Before I could express that, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, Coming Storm was returning. “Listen, you need to get Scout and go!” I knelt to pick up the earth pony and put him on Clarity’s back.

“But Sleet we can’t just leave you!” She protested.

“Yes you can! Staying with me is a death sentence!” I snapped, glaring up at her. “Now help me get Scout so you two can…”

Before I could finish my sentence I felt a hoof grab and my neck and pull. My head was yanked down until I was face to face with Scout’s glaring visage. “No.” He growled.

Our gazes were locked for a second longer before Scout’s burst of strength gave out and he collapsed again, unconscious. By then it was too late, with a crack of thunder Coming Storm returned. I stood and turned to face him, the mighty golden pony was on all fours for the first time since his arrival, spear strapped to his back. “It is done.” He said, his voice reverberating through the helmet. “The town is spared. Are you prepared to depart?”

I didn’t see much choice in the matter. I turned and looked down at Scout, Watcher’s words echoing in my head. Ponies weren’t meant to go it alone. Sighing, I bent down and picked up Scout, laying his unconscious form over my back. He was heavy, especially with the battle-saddle, but I could manage. While I settled him into position, I took one last look around the town and out of one of the toppled piles of scrap I saw movement. A small pink pony, barely old enough to be a mare, backed out of a collapsed doorway, dragging a larger pony by their tail. She looked battered, bruised, and there was a recently healed gash on her shoulder.

It was the same little pony I had sold medical supplies to not several hours ago. I watched, transfixed as she scampered over to the larger pony’s head. The larger pony was a mare whose autumn yellow coat I could barely see through blood and ash. The little pony propped up the mare’s head and clumsily poured a healing potion down her throat. After several seconds the mare coughed, opened her eyes, and smiled up at the relieved filly. I turned back to Coming Storm, a hint of a smile on my face, and nodded. “Yeah, we’re ready.”

The trip to Stalliongrad was surprisingly uneventful. Scout had said the Wastes were worse after dark, but I supposed that the various terrors were smart enough not to attack the giant golden lightening pony and the group following him, even if one of us was out cold. I at one point asked what was to keep the army of raiders, which could be barely seen marching some distance behind us, from sacking another village. Our small group trotted faster than the army, and I was worried that they would lose control once we were out of sight. “I understand your fears, but they are unfounded.” Coming Storm had replied. “There are leaders among them other than I who are honor bound as I am. They shall keep the rabble in check.” While I didn’t put much stock in raider honor, Coming Storm had been cooperative with my demand that Scrap River be spared and he obviously ran a tight cloud ship. I couldn’t imagine anypony would be insane enough to disobey him.

Scout came to just as the blood soaked wall of Stalliongrad came into view. Coming Storm went on ahead to “announce our presence” while we tended to Scout. I gently lowered him while Clarity removed the bandages. To my astonishment, his wounds were fully healed. Even with the healing potions and bandages, it should have taken more than one night for the terrible electrical burns to fade. Turning to Clarity I asked, “Did you do that?” gesturing to Scout’s healed burns.

The crystal pony smiled, her skin sparkling a bit with pride. “Sister taught me a few basic spells before we left to look for you, like that shield spell. I didn’t have the time to master the healing one, so I put what I knew together with a crystal pony trick.”

Her horn glowed and I felt a fierce itching on my neck. I had applied a bandage to where I had been cut during the battle, and suddenly it had exploded in sensation. Spasming, I tore the bandage off the scratch at it, but just as suddenly as the itching started it stopped. I felt my neck where the found had been and found it gone! “How did you…”

“Even when we weren’t influencing the emotions of the nation, we couldn’t let ourselves fall into depression.” Clarity explained. “So we learned a trick call resonance, it allows crystal ponies to share their emotions and empower them. This let us foster and grow positive ones.” The more she spoke of her home, the more crystal-like her body became. “I modified the magic slightly, allowing me to make healing magic work more efficiently.”

The effects were certainly impressive. Scout stood gingerly at first, but once he didn’t experience any pain he quickly straightened. “How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Better.” He said, looking around. Spotting Stalliongrad and Coming Storm he asked. “What did I miss?” Clarity and I filled him in on what happened while he had been out cold. The survivalist didn’t like the idea of returning to Stalliongrad, especially as the Shadow King’s ‘guests’. “This is definitely some sort of trap.”

“Yeah, but why?” I asked. “Coming Storm had plenty of opportunities to kill us. Unless Iron Curtain or the King wanted to do some personally then why capture us?”

“Can’t say…” He grumbled. “And who is this ‘Coming Storm’ anyway?”

“He’s a pony without a purpose.” Clarity said in that strange cryptic way she used to describe what she saw of a pony’s true nature. “Storm isn’t just his name, it’s what he is. He is power without direction.” She shuddered, hunching her shoulders. “And his strength is terrifying. I can barely see him through the lightening.”

“If he doesn’t have a purpose then why follow a King?” I asked, gazing at Stalliongrad. “If who you are is without direction then why tie yourself to an authority like that?” Clarity didn’t have an answer for that.

Coming Storm retuned soon after that, his appearance heralded by a bolt of lightning and crack of thunder. I had to wonder if his armor allowed him to move that quickly or if it was just natural for him. The second option was significantly more worrying, anypony that could move that quickly on his own even encumbered was frightening. Come to think of it, what kind of pony was he? He was most certainly not a unicorn, not unless he has the world’s stubbiest horn. He was large and strong enough to be an exceptional earth pony, but that didn’t explain the lightening. Unless it was an enchantment on the armor, then that and his name pointed to pegasus, but that made even less sense. Unless he was a throw-back born on the surface (in which case once such powerful weather manipulation powers manifested the Enclave would undoubtedly come for him) then that meant he was a traitor. The only problem with that was that any traitors were well known amongst the citizenry, names like Deadshot Calamity were household for all the wrong reasons, and I had never heard of a “Coming Storm” when I lived above the clouds.

My contemplations were interrupted when Coming Storm spoke. “My King has been notified of your arrival, and is eager to speak with you.” With that he turned and strode towards the ruined, bloody city, the three of us following closely behind.

Stalliongrad was the last place I wanted to return to. We entered through a gate I had ignored during my first visit, the massive steel portal was grotesquely painted with vulgar warnings to stay away. The first thing that hit me was the sickeningly familiar smell, the odor of rotted and diseased meat clung to the air like smoke. I held a wing over my nose, I had never put them away after the battle and it felt useless to hide them from a pony who already knew I was a pegasus.

I expected the ruins to be bristling with raiders, but other than the two guards than worked the gate the streets were deserted. “Where is everypony?” I commented, my voice muffled slightly by my feathers.

“There were campaigns to attend to other than Scrap River.” Coming Storm said. “My fellow Lords took their forces to make our King’s will manifest.” The golden knight increased his pace, trotting down a relatively clear street. “Make haste, my King wishes not to wait.”

We trotted briskly through the ruined streets. Though there were next to no raiders to be found, there were plenty of signs of their presence. Graffiti, in paint and otherwise, coated what walls were still standing and peaks into ruins showed disgusting living spaces. This was the scenery we were presented with for a good thirty minutes of trotting, but as we got deeper into the city I began to notice a change.

Up until this point the ruins had been left as is, just as crumbled and broken as the day the bombs fell. But now we were starting to see improvements, walls shored up with salvaged planks of wood and scrap metal forming rough buildings out of ruins. I remembered the huge shantytown I had seen near the center of the city during my fly by when I first came here, now I was seeing it from ground level. The work was extensive, to the point where there were signs of a makeshift infrastructure with walkways between buildings and entire roads being cleared of rubble.

I wasn’t the only one to notice. “Is it just me, or is everything getting…cleaner?” Clarity asked, looking around. “The buildings, the roads, even the ponies.” We hadn’t seen many raiders in the ruins outside the shantytown, but the ones we had had been typical specimens. Dirty, slavering psychopaths mixed with hard, soulless thugs that glared at us as we passed by. Now ponies walked about the town like they weren’t living just a few hundred yards from raider territory! They weren’t in much better physical condition, most of them were dressed in dirty rags and were rail thin with hunger. Still, living in what amounted to a slum or not, these ponies were definitely not raiders. I wasn’t ready to call them completely sane, you would have to be some kind of crazy to live in the eye of such a storm, but it was a serious improvement.

The citizens bowed respectfully when Coming Storm strode past. The golden giant hardly noticed so focused was he on his goal. Clarity on the other hand watched them with a mix of fascination and concern, I could only imagine what her talent was showing her. I slowed my pace a bit, walking next to Scout who was watching a mother pull her foals out of the knight’s way. “Did you know about any of this?” I whispered.

“No.” He said, shaking his head. “I don’t think anypony outside Stalliongrad knows.”

I furrowed my brow. “But that’s impossible. How could you keep actual civilization hidden, even if it was behind a wall of raiders? Wouldn’t they have to trade?”

“The raiders must be for more than keeping other ponies out. Maybe these ponies get a cut of whatever they loot.”

The thought of being dependent on raiders was nauseating, but judging by the physical state of the citizens the situation wasn’t as lucrative as it could be. At least, that’s what I initially thought until I looked up at the sound of grinding stone. We had passed into yet another improved district of the city, though it was difficult to see through the dust in the air. Squinting my eyes I flapped my wings to clear the air, the gut wrenching smells having subsided a while ago, and caught sight of a team of unicorns with their horns aglow. An earth pony wearing a metal helmet was waving his hooves and bellowing orders that I couldn’t hear over the grinding.

I followed the bright glow of magic, finding the source high above the other ramshackle buildings. It was near impossible to see through the dust, which the forepony must have noticed because he gave a cry that was followed by a gust of magically generated wind pushing the dust away. What I saw made my jaw drop, heedless of the heavy dust getting in my mouth. Huge block of concrete were being levitated in unicorn magic and being reshaped. Some sort of spell was fitting the rubble together like a giant’s jigsaw puzzle and once a chuck was complete it was attached to the ever-growing building they were working on. Once it was attached, another blast of magic secured it and kicked up another cloud of dust.

So stunned was I that I forgot to keep flapping my wings. The dust returned so my next breath inhaled enough to make me start coughing and spitting, breaking my concentration on the reconstruction. After a few seconds of watching me hack up a lung, Scout (who had pulled his Stable barding up around his muzzle) handed me a canteen. Once I’d rinsed and spit I returned the canteen sheepishly, just in time to catch the tail end of a conversation between Coming Storm and the forepony. “…almost finished with the district. We should have this block done by the end of the week.” The helmeted earth pony was saying.

“Excellent, the King will be pleased with your progress.” Coming Storm said. “Such diligence earns reward. Continue to please and you shall know them.”

The forepony nodded eagerly before turning back to his work crew, redoubling his shouts. I turned away, galloping up to Coming Storm before I could inhale more dust. “What was that all about?” I asked once we’d left the chocking cloud.

“My King would see Equestria returned to its former glory.” He said, a note of pride entering his voice. “We, his subjects, work towards that end.”

Even with the horrors committed in his name still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but be impressed with what the Shadow King had accomplished. Once we’d pasted through the dust cloud, we could see Stalliongrad proper. If I didn’t know better I’d have that the city had survive the apocalypse untouched. Fully reconstructed buildings rose above flat, smooth roads with lights burning in their windows. Ponies bustled about the city, looking noticeably more fed and healthy than the raiders and beggars further out in the ruins. In truth it looked like and actual pre-war city!

This was remarkable! Even this small portion of the vast metropolis had been completely restored! This must have been very recent, I had seen nothing like this when I had scouted over the city just a week ago. It wasn’t perfect, the population was rather low so not every building was inhabited and the full reconstructed portion of the city was a small one. Still, two hundred years after it had been destroyed, Equestrian civilization was regaining its full strength.

The fully reconstructed sector wasn’t terribly large, just a few city blocks. We trotted into the main square, the very center of the city. Rising from the square was what I only assumed was the Shadow King’s castle. The square quickly cleared of its few occupants as we approached the ancient building. Great stone blocks formed the imposing walls of the fortress with turrets poking up towards the clouds at the four corners. We stood before a huge gateway of black steel, a large bar locking it in place. “My Lord’s domain.” Coming Storm said reverently, striding forward. He stood in the strange zebra-like pose, pulling his spear off his back. He held the weapon close to his bosom, electricity crackling over his form, until with a mighty cry he trust the spear upward into the locking bar. With a mighty boom of thunder that I felt deep in my chest, the locking bar swung upward and the gateway creaked open.

The interior was pitch black, not even the meager daylight could enter the darkness. I looked back to Scout and Clarity who had been silent for some time. They both tried to look brave but I could see otherwise, Clarity was barely glittering and Scout’s stance suggested he was more ready to run away from the darkness than into it, I couldn’t blame them even if I wanted to. “I’m sorry.” I murmured “Sorry I dragged you two into this.”

Scout took a deep breath, set his mouth in a hard line, and started walking towards the darkness. “We’re the ones who came after you, you didn’t drag us into anything.”

Clarity nodded, following him. “He’s right. You helped us and now we are helping you.” She gave me a wry grin as she passed. “Even if you’re being a stubborn mule about it.”

I watched, amazed as these two ponies who I really only barely knew and yet had set off into unknown peril to help me, trotted towards the murky castle. Scout stopped when he noticed I wasn’t following, turned around and waved a hoof at me to hurry up. I quickly cantered over to them and we entered the darkness together.

As we passed him, I looked to Coming Storm and asked “Aren’t you coming with us?”

The giant golden pony stood sentry next to the entryway, spear in hoof and helmet forward. “My King wished to speak with you three privately, I will not be joining you. You will not lose your way, simply go straight ahead.” That was all he said before the doors closed behind us with a thunderous boom that echoed long after the door shut.

I couldn’t see my hoof in front of my face. The interior was completely lightless to the point that when Scout turned on his PipBuck light it hurt my eyes. The soft green glow of the device faintly illuminated the cavernous room, there was no furnishing save an unlit chandelier hanging from the vaulted ceiling. “This is a King’s castle?” I asked quietly, but even speaking softly my voice echoed loudly, the stone distorting my words weirdly. “I’d think he’d have servants or guards or something.”

“He doesn’t need guards.” Clarity whispered, her echoes mixing with mine to create a strange and creepy wail. “The raiders keep them safe, and everypony out there fears him. They are too scared to even think of rising up.

The room was cold, bitterly so, and that comment only made it colder. Shivering, I pulled my coat tighter with one hoof and hovered forward as per Coming Storm’s instructions, no sense in waiting. My wing beats were silent, but my friend’s hooves were not, the clopping sound of hoof on stone sounded frighteningly like cracking bones. No natural acoustics were causing this, some magic had to be at play. I expressed as much to my companions, but they still looked just as freaked out as I felt, knowing didn’t stop this level of creepiness. Clarity tried humming a happy little melody about laughing away fears, but the demonic echoes distorted it to the point where we just kept quiet.

Keeping straight, we came to a door made of sturdy black wood. Even though it looked heavy it opened easily to my touch, revealing a winding staircase going deep into the earth. “Great,” I muttered, my voice adding to the spine chilling chorus of echoes. “Underground.”

Hesitantly I fluttered into the stairwell, hunching my shoulders against the cold. The darkness was getting to me, I couldn’t see where we were going until I was practically running into the curving wall. I tried to find the curve and follow it, but either the darkness was disorienting me more than I thought or the wall was actually shifting to get in my way. Either way, constantly almost plowing into the wall was getting on my nerves, my shoulders constantly grew tenser as we descended.

What was also getting to me was the noise. That Goddesses damned clippty cloppity from Hell was echoing in my mind as much as it was in the stairwell and made me imagine hordes of zombie ponies boiling up from the stairs towards us.

“How long are these fucking stairs?” Scout growled, his anger sounding like a dragon’s rumble as it echoed.

“I don’t know, but could you not talk? These echoes are unbearable.” I hissed back.

“I just wish I had some light.” Clarity muttered darkly. The stairway was narrow, so we were progressing in single file with the crystal unicorn bringing up the rear. “I can barely see.”

“You’re a unicorn, just light up your horn!” Scout shot at her.

“I can’t! My magic isn’t working! Something in the damn place is blocking it!”

The echoes were getting louder and more twisted as their voices rose. The dreadful sounds felt like they were grinding away at my brain, destroying rational thought in favor of base emotion. Those emotions were rage and fear, and if I didn’t get out of here soon then I was going to snap! I stopped and whirled around. “Will you two shut up!?” I yelled, the echo of “up” fading away into a mournful wail.

They fell silent and after several seconds blessed silence fill the stairwell. My friends looked no less haggard than I felt, Scout had deep bags under his eyes which kept twitching every which way as if he expected danger to hit from every direction at once. Clarity’s body had crystalized in sharp, angry lines rather than her usual glittery brilliance and the light she gave off was a dull red. I took a deep breath, one of the few echoes that wasn’t corrupted, and spoke as calmly as I could. “We need to stay cool, talk to the King, and get the Hell out of here as quick as we can.” Surprisingly, my voice didn’t echo crazily, but I had no time to dwell on that. “Arguing will just keep us stuck here longer.” My calming tone seemed to be having an effect, my companions slowly loosened up. “Now, you two switch places so Scout’s lamp can illuminate more and then we’ll…”

“Um, Sleet?” Scout interrupted, pointing behind me. Looking where he pointed, I saw the bottom of the stairwell, a simply wooden door waiting for us. I was about to question what I Equestria had just happened when Scout’s PipBuck went dark.

“Scout? Clarity?” I called, looking around fruitlessly.

“I’m still here.” Scout’s voice said next to me.

“Me too.” Clarity confirmed from the other side.

“Okay, hold still.” I landed, spread my wings, and wrapped them around my two friends. “Stay close, I have no idea what the Hell is going on.” Tightening my wings a little hugged them close.

“You aren’t giving us much choice.” Scout muttered from under my feathers.

Ignoring him, I reached out with a hoof and felt for the door. I could feel Scout and Clarity breathing next to me as I fumbled around in the abyssal darkness. I felt the door, but no knob. My searching became more frantic as panic gripped my chest, where was the doorknob? It had had one, right? Were we trapped down here in this darkness forever? “Sleet.” Clarity whispered, grabbing my hoof in hers. “Remember what you said, calm down.”

I nodded before realizing she couldn’t see me. “You’re right.” I gasped, willing my heartbeat to slow. Reaching out again, I easily found the knob and opened the door. We stepped inside.

In the abyss we could clearly see only one thing, which I assumed to be the Shadow King’s throne. The great chair looked like it was made up of broken black ice, huge chunks of the stuff just jutting from the ground. A vaguely pony shaped blob of darkness sat in the chair, though it was hard to make out as the shadows twisted in an unfelt wind. I felt my friends tense up. “Um.” I said cautiously. “Hello?”

The same green eyes from my dream opened where the shadow’s head would be, wisps of purple energy leaking from the corners, this time I could see the bloody red irises that went along with them. “No.” Clarity breathed, abject terror in her voice. “No, no, no.” The darkness in the room was drawn towards the shadow, solidifying it and forming blurry hooves a head and body. As the muzzle extended it split into a grin of razor sharp teeth. Shiny metal armor with a lush red cape with white fur trim materialized on the pony along with a thin crown that looked to be studded here and there with teeth and a red setting for a smooth gray stone. The body lightened to gray while mane and tail remained flowing shadows. The final part of the body to form was the horn. Most unicorn horns are spiraling ivory, looking a bit like drills. This…thing’s horn was smooth, curved like a fang and stained with red near the wicked tip. The materialization complete, the green faded from the dark pony’s eyes, leaving a startlingly white sclera.

I had experienced terror before, had woken up next to my murdered family and been chased by zombies. Over the past week I had looked death and worse in the eye, and while I didn’t laugh at it I had survived. I had kept my head and gotten myself to safety each time. But against this stallion, such a thing was impossible. Looking at him obliterated all thought, bone deep fear gripped my heart and lungs in a vice and a cold clammy sweat soaked me. Adrenaline burned in my veins, telling me, begging me to run, but my hooves were out of my control as surly as if I had sunken into the stone floor. I wasn’t just feeling fear, I was looking at it.

The mouth of razor teeth opened, revealing a long forked tongue as he spoke. “I am pleased that you have finally arrived.” His voice was deep, hollow, and booming like the echoes from before. “And how courteous.” He turned a hungry, demonic glare on Clarity who I could now see thanks to the retreat of the darkness. My crystal companion had lost most of her color, causing her fleshy skin to look gray and sick. Her eyes were partially hidden behind her mane which was equally lifeless and had fallen into her face. Still I could see the look of unspeakable horror she wore, as if every horror story she had ever been told as a filly had come to life in front of her. “You brought me a gift.”

Slowly, painfully, he picked himself up from the throne. His movements were accompanied by a sound similar to grinding glass that set my teeth on edge. Tendrils of darkness snaked from his body, stuck to the throne like black clouds. He began to walk towards us. The thundering cracks of gunshots erupted from my side, I felt the rush of bullets barely missing my wings as Scout unloaded the full clip of his battle saddle towards the dark pony. He was screaming. Around the bit of his battle saddle Scout was crying out in horror as he shot.

The bullets did nothing, passing harmlessly through the monster, the Shadow King. Even when they struck his cloak and armor didn’t slow until they impacted the throne. When the stream of bullets ran dry, Scout dropped the bit, his breathing shaky. “W-what a-a-are you?” He asked, showing only shreds of his usual stoicism.

Clarity answered for the dark pony, her voice tiny and pathetic. “King Sombra.”

“Ah, good. The slaves still know their master.” The monster, King Sombra I supposed, growled. “My last return was so tragically short lived, and to have the very world burn not long after, I worried I would be lost to history.” He stopped in front of the cowering Clarity, smiling hungrily down at her.

Most of my mind was gibbering with horror, but a tiny yet incessant part told me to get his attention off Clarity. The mare looked like she was going to have a heart attack from his presence, and the way he called her a slave angered me just enough to speak through the fear. “W-w-ha” I swallowed hard. “Why did you bring us here?”

Even though they weren’t glowing green, his red eyes sent a chill down my spine when they turned on me. “My knight explained, I have a proposition for you. You perform a task for me, and I give you just reward.”

“Why me though?” Each word was a struggle. My throat clenched involuntarily making my words sounds choked. “You have your knights and your army. What can I do that they can’t?”

“You can give back to me something long since lost. You have proven to have the wit and will to overcome the many trials of this blasted hellscape, and I believe you more capable than any in my kingdom to complete this task.” He turned to Clarity, stroking her cheek with one hoof. The crystal mare cringed from the touch. “Your task is to restore the Crystal Empire to its former glory.”

The three of us shared a stunned reaction, even Clarity forgot to be scared for a second. “What?” I asked incredulously. “How am I supposed to accomplish that? And why?”

“That, my little pony, is for you to figure out. As for why.” He turned away from us and gazed upon his throne which I was now noticing wasn’t ice, but crystal. His expression became surprisingly nonthreatening, almost nostalgic. “You have seen the Hell Equestria has become, and you have seen my armies.” King Sombra growled, baring his pointed teeth. “I detest such debased weakness, their madness has no order or control, and such filth is common in this new world. With the Empire’s power I,” He paused. “we, can purge the madness from Equestria and restore the soul of this nation.”

I remembered what Clarity had said about the Empire’s power, how it could spread love and happiness across the whole of Equestria. With such power raiders, slavers, and other horrible ponies would lose their capacity for such atrocities. To cleanse the depravity and despair from the world, I thought of Scrap River burning under Sombra’s army, and Cat O’ Nine Tails buying and selling ponies. I could stop them, without killing them or stooping to their level, if I could restore the Crystal Empire. The pieces of a plan were starting to fall into place.

Before I could speak again, Scout found his voice. “And why should she?” He asked.

King Sombra tuned his terrifying visage on him, but the earth pony had found his bravery again and set his jaw defiantly. “You mean other than saving the souls of her fellow ponies?” He gave a low, rumbling growl that I think was a laugh. “I understand she is having troubles with her own kind?” He stared poignantly at my wings and addressed me. “Restoring the Empire will go a long way towards fixing what is broken in Equestria, but I doubt your Enclave will so readily forget your crimes. I can offer you asylum from them, safety and security as the new world is brought in.”

I took a deep breath, feeling not unlike when I was about to step around that corner and confront Cat O’ Nine Tails, and said. “Very well, I’ll do it.”

After receiving assurance from the King that we were safe to pass through his domain unmolested, we left the dark chamber as Sombra returned to his throne. As the wooden door closed behind us, the reclining figure once again broke apart into darkness and shadow which spread over the room like a thick veil. Fortunately the echoes were gone as we ascended the winding staircase and left through the main chamber. I guessed that they were a part of the King’s magic as now that we were on his side he spared us the experience.

As we approached the exit, the great doors slowly creaked open allowing the weak Wasteland sunlight to enter the chamber. Even filtered through the clouds, the light was enough to sting my eyes after the time spent in total darkness. The towering figure of Coming Storm glared like a lighthouse after the castle. “I am pleased to hear that you accepted my King’s proposition.” He said in his reverberating voice. “It is an honor to count you amongst our number.”

My feathers ruffled uncomfortably at that. “I agreed to do a job, not sign on for the King’s army.” I said a bit more harshly than I intended, I was still a bit shaken by the creepy castle. At least I was in better shape than Clarity. The poor mare had been paralyzed with fear even after Sombra retreated to his throne. Scout had to guide her from the throne room and it wasn’t until we hit the top of the stairs that she started to move on her own.

The knight inclined his head. “Not all who serve a King wield a sword. You are still an ally to my King and to myself.” He walked to the side, permitting us to leave the oppressive darkness. “Even so, you should make haste when leaving Stalliongrad. Not all who protect this kingdom have yet been informed of your status. It would be wise to leave with the path clear.”

Great, just what we needed, more raiders chomping at our hooves. I shook the dark thoughts as I stepped out into the light, already feeling an uplifting rush from being under the sky again. “You aren’t going to escort us out?” I asked in a much more even tone.

“I have other duties to attend to, I trust you will not lose your way.” With a nod, he wished us luck and trotted off into greater Stalliongrad.

“He’s right, we should get moving.” I said, settling into a quick trot. “Getting to the Empire alone will be difficult, we should probably…”

“Sleet.” Scout interrupted in a firm tone.

I turned to see that my companions had barely moved from in front of the giant doors. Clarity looked wretched, her eyes lost and fearful as she leaned weakly against Scout. Cursing under my breath, I galloped over to them. “Get her into the light.” I said, taking position on the other side of her. Together, Scout and I moved her out of the shadow of the castle.

The light had a similar, if weaker, effect on Clarity that being outside had on me. She took a deep breath, and looked up at me. “Sleet, what did you just do?” She asked in a wavering voice. “Do you know who that was? What you just agreed to?” Our progress was faltering as Scout and I tried to keep Clarity upright. We shambled to the far side of the square and gently lowered her to sit against a wall. I had pieced together some idea of who Sombra was, based on what Clarity had told me about the Empire and how he reacted to her. She continued to speak, confirming my fears as strength slowly returning to her voice. “He’s the one who enslaved the crystal ponies twelve hundred years ago! And you just told him you would give us back to him!”

I was taken aback by the accusation. “I never said that!”

Clarity’s fear was slowly being replaced by anger. “The crystal ponies are tied to the Empire, the only reason we don’t live there now is because of how damaged it is. If it was restored, then we would have no real choice but to return to it, and if Som-“ She choked on the name. “If he is given control of it then, then he will control us.”

My gut churned with each word, but I fought down the rising doubt. Kneeling in front of the distraught mare, I spoke calmingly. “Clarity, I know this looks bad but I need you to trust me on this, I have an idea. I’m going to need your help first, can you help me?” It took a few seconds of shaky breathing, but she nodded. “Okay, you say he took over twelve hundred years ago, but I know that the Empire was a part of Equestria during the war. That means that Sombra wasn’t in control during that time, so he must have been defeated somehow. Can you tell me how?”

“I’m not-“ She swallowed hard. “I’m not really supposed to tell fleshies…”

Fighting not to roll my eyes, I shot Scout a pleading look instead. The earth pony nodded, reaching into his saddle bags. He pulled out a familiar blood stained feather, holding it up. “My feather…” I muttered.

“Then it was yours.” Scout said. Addressing Clarity he continued “See? I told you Sleet saved us from those robots. She saved us then, she saved you from Cat O’ Nine Tails, and she saved me from Iron Curtain.” He gave me a smile. “This isn’t typical for me, but I trust her.”

I felt my ears heat up, getting my praises sung was not something I was used to, especially when most of those accomplishments came from fixing my screw ups. Still, it worked, Clarity sighed and relented. “Alright, I’ll tell you.” She closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts. “A powerful artifact known as the Crystal Heart rests in the center of the Empire. The Heart is what collects and channels the light and love from the ponies who live in the Empire and project it across Equestria.” Now THAT was fascinating. I had been curious as to what the magic that powered the Empire was ever since Clarity mentioned it, and knowing that it was an artifact helped solidify my growing idea.

Clarity continued her tale, telling us about how Celestia and Luna vanquished Sombra by turning his body into shadows and sealing him in the glacial ice. This made my heart sink, I didn’t have the Goddesses power not matter how capable other ponies thought I was. At least that explained why he was still alive today, with no mortal body he wouldn’t die of old age. But the story wasn’t over. She told us of Sombra’s curse on the Empire that banished it along with him, and how it and Sombra returned after a thousand years.

“It’s said that Celestia sent Equestria’s greatest heroes, the legendary Crystal Princess, and a mighty dragon to combat his return. Even then, he nearly triumphed until the dragon found the Heart and returned it to the Princess.” For the first time since we left the castle, Clarity smiled and her crystal skin glittered. “My father told me stories about how the Princess and the dragon flew right over his head, snatching the Heart just as it was about to fall into his grasp. With the Heart returned, the crystal ponies rejoiced and the light from the Heart destroyed him.” She shuddered, hunching her shoulders. “Or at least, we thought it destroyed him. Now the Heart is corrupted by the radiation from the balefire bombs and only projects death and sickness.”

I sat back, mulling over what she said. The pieces of the plan I had been forming fell more rapidly into place. I felt myself growing giddy, this might just work! “Yes.” I said, smiling. “Yes, we can work with this.”

Clarity looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Work with WHAT?!” She asked incredulously. “We can’t give him the Empire, Sleet! Even if we restored the Heart he’d just steal it again, and there aren’t enough crystal ponies to activate it in the first place!”

I opened my mouth to explain her fears away when something Sombra said hit me, You have proven to have the wit and will to overcome the many trials of this blasted hellscape, and I believe you more capable than any in my kingdom to complete this task. How had he known what I had done to “prove” myself? Obviously he had been watching me somehow, the time he spoke to me in a dream was testament enough to that. I couldn’t very well go spouting what my plans to betray him were not a hundred yards from his castle! “Scout, can you turn the radio on for me?” I asked innocently. He looked perplexed, but acquiesced, turning on the DJ’s station on which a slow, sad song was playing. I didn’t pay much attention to the words, only needing the noise, although the lyric “whispers in the darkness” caught my attention. “Your PipBuck light too.” I added.

Scout flicked on the lamp with a whir, the soft green glow banishing the few shadows around us. “Okay, now I’m pretty certain he can’t hear us.” I muttered, keeping my voice low anyway. Turning to Clarity I asked “You said that resonance can be used to build positive emotion, and that you could use that magic to empower medicinal magic, right?” She nodded. “Then would it be possible to build a big charge of positive energy laced with an anti-radiation spell, cast it on the Heart, and restore it to its natural condition?”

Clarity considered it, her fear replaced by thoughtfulness. “It…might.” She said. “That still doesn’t take care of him.”

Now I was grinning wildly. “Oh but it does, because we’ll lure him up to the Empire when the Heart is purified! It should destroy him like it did two hundred years ago!” The plan was crazily audacious and relied on quite a few assumptions, but the way it made my heart beat with excitement made me believe it was the right idea.

I could tell that Clarity didn’t want to do it, she felt the risk of Sombra getting his hooves on the Empire again was too great, but my excitement was infectious. “O-okay.” She said hesitantly. “Okay, I’m in.”

“I’m in too.” Scout said as he helped Clarity to her hooves.

I smiled thankfully at both of them before looking to the sky as my feathers twitched. The gray cloud cover seemed even darker and the temperature was dropping. “We should get moving and find a place to take shelter for the night.” I said.

“Why? We could make good progress towards the Empire.” Scout asked.

“Because it’s about to snow.”

True to my prediction, fluffy white flakes began to come down at the three of us cautiously entered a dilapidated old building. Scout’s PipBuck labeled it the “Northern Weather Control Center Gamma”. The irony of taking shelter from a snowstorm in a place that used to control such phenomenon centuries ago was not lost on me. It was strange seeing the equipment, both familiar and strange. The arcanodevices were of pegasi design, meant to aid with weather control and seasonal change. The Enclave had no use for such devices with their current function, but pieces had been salvaged and repurposed over the years.

“It’s funny.” I commented. “I might have worked here if I was born two hundred years ago.”

“Then I’m guessing asking you to stop this snow is not going to work?” Scout asked, reloading his battle saddle as he prepped to survey the facility for any danger.

I shook my head. “I couldn’t stop the whole storm, and even if I could I may as well walk into Coltarado Heights with a neon sign hanging from my neck. We’re close to the SPP Tower that feeds the city, it’s lucky the Enclave can’t use the towers to spot us down here.”

“SPP?” Clarity asked as Scout moved deeper into the building, keeping low.

“The Sustainable Pegasus Project.” I explained. “Rainbow Dash had her Ministry set up a series of towers that reached up into the clouds. The towers have the capability to seed the clouds, allowing the Enclave to grow crops up in the sky. It’s what kept the their isolationism fueled for so long.”

“Seed the…clouds?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like, apples and corn and stuff?”

“And wheat, carrots, all sorts of stuff.” I affirmed. “It’s far from perfect. The amount that can be grown each year is limited, so population is appropriately restricted.” I saw Clarity’s perplexed expression and matched it. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

She shook her head. “You pegasi are weird.” She said, trotting after Scout who had called back the all-clear.

“Weird?” I repeated, tone incredulous, but Clarity had already rounded a corner. “Says the pony made of crystals…” I muttered, frowning as I followed her.

The Weather Control Center was completely abandoned, thank the Goddesses. I had grown sick of every building and ruin being filled with things trying to kill me. With the facility declared safe, we each set to our own tasks. Scout looted the place for any supplies he could find while Clarity and I cleared a place to sleep. With the two of us working at it, it wasn’t long before the place where we would camp for the night was ready.

Clarity was exhausted after the harrowing day and fell asleep almost immediately. Scout wasn’t back yet though, and I wasn’t yet ready to sleep so I decided to explore the Center, curious about pre-war weather control. Picking a random direction, I set off.

The hallways were plastered with faded posters of the pegasi war effort. Ponies in black and purple jumpsuits with a yellow lightning bolt design advertised the elite Shadowbolt unit. The squad of pegasi soared over a battlefield littered with demonic depictions of dead and dying zebras, black clouds crackling with electricity trailed behind them. Another poster featured a mare in the iconic Enclave power armor hovering protectively over a tiny city with a slogan written across the top. “Fear not Equestria, we will keep you safe!” I shook my head, nowadays the only ponies who wore that armor were Enclave, and they only protected themselves.

Climbing a metal staircase (why would a pegasus run facility need a staircase?), I found myself face to face with one of the grandest pieces of pre-war pegasi technology I had ever seen. The room was located in an open air dome atop the facility. The snow we were hiding from wasn’t coming down hard enough to be of concern yet, the fluffy flakes settling gently on my shoulders. The device consisted of a huge metal cylinder in the center of a steel hemispherical cage. Five large glass orbs surrounded the cylinder, empty of their contents. I stepped through a door in the cage, marveling at it. “It’s a weather factory…” I muttered, running my wing over the smooth metal casing. “A miniature weather factory.”

Spotting a glowing terminal on the outside of the cage, I galloped over to it and began tapping away at the keys. “This is the primary terminal for directing output…” I muttered, reading over the on screen text. “Rain, snow, hail, even rainbows. Thunder and lightning, this controlled everything!” Or, at least it did until the world ended and the facility fell into disrepair. Terminals that controlled the actual functioning of the factory were dead and the device itself was completely inert.

Still, this didn’t do much to belay my curiosity. I continued to explore what the terminal would tell me, everything from the area the facility controlled to… “Oh hello.” I said in surprise. Apparently the factory itself was still in good condition if the terminal was to be believed. All it needed was for the other control points to be reactivated and to be given a little juice, specifically some cloud to work with and power to run off of.

I pulled out my little frozen ball of cloud, contemplating it. Perhaps I could get this place running again? I didn’t see much good in doing so, the Enclave would undoubtedly notice and bring the hammer down on it quickly. Still, it was an interesting idea…

“Sleet?” Scout’s voice asked, breaking through my reverie. “What are you doing up here?”

“Huh?” I responded intelligently, turning to face my earth pony friend, snow falling from my mane. “Oh, I was just poking around…”

He looked at me suspiciously. “So you come to where there isn’t a roof? You remember that it’s snowing, right?” Now that he mentioned it, I was suddenly very aware of the snow piling up on my shoulders and head.

Shivering from the cold, I brushed the snow off. “Yeah, I remember. It’s not too bad.” A large flake landed on my nose, bringing me attention to the rapidly worsening snow. “Well, it wasn’t when I got here…”

“Well come on back inside, no sense in freezing to death.”

“I’ll be in in a minute.” I said, glancing at the terminal. “I still want to check something.”

“Sleet…” He said dangerously. Looking back at him, I was surprised to see the anger in his face. Suddenly I remember that this was almost the exact same thing I had said to him before disappearing.

“I won’t run away again.” I said with the utmost sincerity. “I promise. I hated leaving the first time, and now that I know you two will hunt me down I know it’s futile to anyway.”

I meant for it to be a joke, but he didn’t take it like one. “Sleet, I know you think that being around you will get us killed, but Clarity and I are more capable than that. YOU are more capable than that. I understand the risks that traveling with you brings, and I accept them.” His tone left no room for compromise.

I sat there, staring at him as the snow settled around us. “Hey Scout?” I asked. “Why did you go after me?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. If you asked me a week ago I’d have said simple survival. The Enclave knows who I am and I’m as much a target for them as you are now. Being with you is actually my best chance of avoiding them, since you know them better than I do.” He shook his head. “That reason is close, but it’s not right. Traveling with you, even with all the stupid and unnecessary risks you took, had been more than just simply surviving. It felt more… accomplished than that.” He chuckled. “I know it doesn’t make much sense, but…”

“No,” I interrupted, smiling. “It does. And I’m really not going to leave again, I just want to squeeze this terminals for everything its worth.”

Scout nodded, turning to leave the room before stopping. "I'm curious." He said. "What was your plan when you left, anyway?"

"The DJ." I said, pointing to Scout's PipBuck. "I planned to find him and tell him that the Enclave was coming. If he could give the surfacers enough warning maybe they could organize a resistance or something." I paused, several uncomfortable realizations hitting me. Now that I thought about it, that plan had been really half baked, I had no idea where the DJ was or even his name! I was almost thankful that Sombra had given me this mission, it was certainly more directed than my previous course. "I have a question for you, why did you keep that feather?"

Scout shrugged. "It was the only real piece of evidence I had that you were out there somewhere. Your note didn't leave much to go by, Hell at that point I wasn't even sure you were alive. It was a sign that not only was I on the right track, but that it wasn't in vain." That said, he trotted from the room, calling over his shoulder. "Don't go freezing to death just to read a terminal!"

I turned back to the terminal, thinking about what he said. “Accomplished…” I muttered, wondering how running for ones life felt like it was accomplishing anything.

The snow storm was getting progressively worse, the weather pony in me was uncomfortable with the wild weather but even if I could halt the storm it wasn’t worth giving away our position to the Enclave. Instead I lost myself in the terminal, gathering more information about the weather generator and its functionality. I studied the screen for the Goddess know how long, so engrossed was I that I didn’t notice a little robot hover up to me. “Hello Sleet Gray.” The synthesized voice said. “You realize it is snowing, right?”

I jolted in surprise, fighting the instinct to reach for Black Powder. “Watcher!” I snapped. “What did I say about robots sneaking up on me?”

“I’m sorry.” The person behind the bot replied. “I can’t do much about the sprite-bot’s being so stealthy. The only other alternative is to play that terrible music.”

I nodded jerkily, when had I gotten so cold? “Whatever, what do you want?” I asked around chattering teeth.

“I wanted to check on you, after losing connection in Scrap River I was worried for your safety.”

“Of course.” I muttered, something nagging at me. I glared at the little robot as I hunched against the cold.

“Why else would I be here?” He (she, it, whatever) asked, somehow sounding perplexed.

“Checking how well your little plan worked?” I offered. “You sent Scout and Clarity into Scrap River not minutes before an army of raiders showed up, a situation suited to force the three of us to work together. In fact it rather handily proved your point of how much stronger we are as a whole than apart.”

“I didn’t know those raiders were coming.” Watcher said, though the inflectionless voice made his protests less effective. “Had I known, I would have encouraged you to leave the town.”

“Bullshit.” I said. “You’re Watcher, and from I’ve seen your name is well earned. You’re telling me that you didn’t see an entire army?”

“My method of watching is far from perfect, you saw as such.” I remembered the little bot suddenly losing connection and return to its usual motions just as the raiders appeared. “There is something about one of the Shadow King’s Lords that makes it hard to see when he’s around.”

Coming Storm, the ambient lightening coming from him must have shorted out the connection, I’d have to remember that. “Okay, let’s say I believe you, you can see that I’m safe so why approach me?” I decided to keep the tidbit I figured out to myself, when dealing with ponies who knew more than you anything you had up on them was a huge advantage.

“I came here to tell you a second critical piece of advice for surviving in the Wasteland. Obviously I didn’t get the chance earlier.”

I blinked. “That’s it? Just some advice? What is it, don’t get shot?”

I was answered with a synthetic chuckle. “No, I figure that would be common sense. The advice I have is meant more to save your spirit than your body.” If there could be levity in the bot’s tone, I felt that now is when it left. “My advice is to find your virtue.”

“My virtue? “ I asked, scrunching my eyebrows.

“Yes, Equestria’s greatest heroes each embodied one of the core tenants of pony life; loyalty, honesty, kindness, generosity, laughter, and magic. It was their virtues and their friendship that gave them the power to change the world.”

I looked up at the cloud cover far above. Night had fallen at some point, though I hadn’t really noticed. “I wonder if they could change this?” I muttered.

“They could.” Watcher replied. “Sadly, even the best of us can make mistakes. That is why it is more important than ever that ponies remember their virtues, so do not forever lose ourselves to the darkness.”

“Alright, so what? Pick one from the list and try it out, like finding your Cutie Mark?”

“Not exactly. The tenants are a good starting point, but virtues can be as unique as Cutie Marks.”

I chuckled humorlessly, maybe my virtue was mediocrity. “Hey Watcher?” I asked. “What’s your vir-“ The sprite-bot made a popping noise and patriotic music with gratuitous tuba emitted from the speakers. I watched as the little bot floated out the open air dome and into the night. Shivering, I trotted inside, my hooves crunching on the snow.
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Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk, Luna’s Eyes: You have grown acclimated to low-light conditions, your eyes more rapidly adjust to darkness and you can see better at night.

Author's Notes:

By my calculations it has been thirty one days since my last update so this is still on time! I'd like to thank everypony to for their comments and criticisms, much as I'd like to think I've masterplan'd this whole story to perfection there are a lot of things being pointed out I hadn't thought of! Thanks also go to Kkat for creating the original Fallout: Equestria and to my friend Mobius for proofreading. Hope everypony enjoys, see you next time!