Fallout: Equestria - The Gates to Hell Reviews: Prolague, Chapter I, Chapter II

Video made by me.

Okay guys, sorry about the long delay on this review, but the time has finally come.

I admit, I don't know a lot about this fanfic so I'm of course going into it blind. There is a section that says to read it before the fanfic, which talks about the setting being based on Detroit... honestly I find this a bit redundant since you can just do this with worldbuilding, but that's just me.

Yep, this week i'll be reviewing Quantum Mechanic's The Gates to Hell, since like I said I don't know a lot about them, lets get this started, and open the gates.

---Prolague---

Yeah, I think someone needs to go back and change their title, I'm pretty sure they meant "prologue," but moving on.

We have a short prologue so lets start with that:

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria,

There came a disease. One that ravaged and torn the once lush and green utopia that is known as Equestria. It was twisted and warped into the grotesque and malevolent horror that it is after 200 years of fermenting in a petri dish of the Wastelands and all of the plagued things that live in it. The dominant equine species that owned the land was extinguished in an extinction event of their own making beneath the necrotic green and gold glow of the zebra's balefire bomb. The candle of Equestria was blown out.

However, in the massive undertaking that is called Stable-Tec, the ponies of Equestria prevented what should have been the permanent extermination of their own species. They accomplished this by the use of underground shelters known as "Stables" that not only keep the horrors of the outside out, but to keep the ponies that were inside in until further notice. Everything was running under the false idea that the world above them was nothing more than a decimated and suffocating landscape that should be avoided at all costs by residents of Stable 37. Even if you were born under that idea, there had to be more reasons that such was true right? All anypony knew is that Stables were safe and the Wasteland was instant death. But where would anyone be now if someone did not decide to break down the barrier that held them back and ask the simple question of "Why is this like this?"

Sometimes though, it is hard to distinguish between curiosity, stupidity, and nobility. In the Equestrian Wasteland though, it is as easy to distinguish as night and day.

And that is where this story begins. A story of a pegasus stallion who once lead of humble life as an electrician but soon got himself caught up in a series of events that would not only define himself, but also forge the future of life outside of a Stable, whether he wanted to or not.

Fallout: Equestria - The Gates to Hell

Well, its short, but it gets the point across without any major spelling errors. It does a good job of setting up the universe for anyone who is just getting into this story as opposed to a long time Fallout: Equestria fan, so points there and it also sets up some basic information about the main character.

The only real problem is that it doesn't give us anything new, but that's a fairly minor detail and this can be elaborated on in the fic itself. Its a good start to the fic, so lets just move on.

---Chapter I: The Gates of Stable 37---

Dry. The air, like always was dry. So dry that breathing it in would make your tongue a piece of sandpaper and your lungs as if they were limestone. It was always like this with Stable 37’s main electrical generators. I knew they were climate controlled to keep the room from being humid but I always felt uncomfortable taking one breath after another in the room full of buzzing electrical instruments. Usually it was a job for a unicorn, but I was called on duty because of the fact that there were high wires that a pegasus could get to easier and not risk being electrocuted from touching them. Being a pegasus is useful for many things, but worthless for others. The ability to fly, is an upside. Not being able to use magic however, was a massive downside.

So, I'm confused, was it dry or not?

Anyway, this is where we get introduced to our main character Quantum, by having another pony named Piston call his name. We learn a little about his family that his parents are named Nova and Quasar and his sister is named Nebulae, and that his family has a tradition of being named after things related to space, time, energy, or matter... so basically science things.

You know after seeing this so much I'm shocked that someone's actually bringing it up.

Anyway, he goes to talk to Piston who is mad at him because of an incident the week before where Piston was told that Quantum would be fixing the wiring in a corridor where a lighting fixture had collapsed. Apparently one of the other electricians had messed up the job, and Quantum is now going to have to deal with it, and of course our hero isn't thrilled with that.

He goes to where it had collapsed and one of the engineers of course asked when he'd fix it and he says that he'd need some parts before he can do that. He goes to check the breaker in the main office, but thankfully the power to the corridor is on standby so after sending in his report he shut it off. We also meet High Octane, Quantum's apprentice, who is the only other pony in his field so that's a nice little introduction, so now we get a look at the damage that's already been done.

Yeah things are in bad shape but its actually not that bad compared to the alternative at least. We also learn that Quantum seems to have this uncanny ability to figure out how much it would cost to replace something... not sure why this is even a thing when you'd think keeping it working would be more important than money in a Stable, but fine. Anyway, they're going to have to custom order the part and one uneventful week later the part arrives... gripping. And we get this line:

The only real reason why it would take so long was because the unicorns actually had to make the metal with their magic and thus further proving that unicorns are completely overpowered. They never think about the pegasus or the earth pony who has the misfortune of having to be the ones that handle their dirty work.

I'm sensing a little bit of bitterness, what do you guys think?

Anyway, as we've learned by now, Quantum is the only Pegasus in Stable 37 so as a result the Overmare tends to worry about him a lot. Quantum and High Octane get it all installed and Quantum heads back to his quarters and gets settled in. Apparently this Stable tends to have problems since there was also some issues with water pressure, fun, and he goes to sleep.

He wakes up hungry and comments that he has a long standing rivalry with gravity since it seems to want to keep him on the ground. He gets ready for the day and picks up a noise as he heads out, following it to the Stable Door. He takes a screwdriver and hammer to the console and cracks it open, finding an emergency override system, which for some reason he's now tempted to pull... something weird is going on here.

Right. I'm officially losing it. I turned on a dime and began to trot away trying to dispose of the switch from my memory banks. I stopped and glanced back. It was there. A way out. Out of the stable and out into the real world. A world beyond the dreary concrete asylum. A world untouched by ponies after the zebras decimated it some two centuries ago. Would it be safe? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to just...

Yep, what a great world it is outside with slavers and raiders and Celestia knows what else.

Anyway, Quantum decides against it, besides its not a very good reason anyway, he hasn't had to chase after a mare he loves or find a new water talisman yet. That's when he realizes that there's probably a way in from the outside as well, which brings him back to the override lever, and he leaves, and then comes back again.

Video belongs to Monty Python.

Okay, this time he... actually does pull it, well at least he finally did something and settled on it, so the door is now opening.

"ALERT! Stable 37 door opened. Begin emergency evacuation of Stable 37 Personnel!"

Real smooth Quantum.

Anyway, he runs out of the Stable and, well, falls asleep after the door closes again... what a great start to his journey.

---Chapter II: The Gates of Blood---

Real subtle title guys.

Unknown. Many fear it as it is something no one can or will understand. Once we know what it is, it no longer is The Unknown. Its is now something. That "something" then makes you want to know more about this "something" and then you gain a better understanding of it. Once that happens, it is now just a "thing". You give the "thing" a name and now you think you know what the "thing" is now and what it does and why you think it does what it does. There was one thing that people do not understand about the "thing" they think they know now. You truly never know what something is fully. Every little bit of everything is unknown.

Not a bad start, anyway after that Quantum is woken up by the alarm on his PipBuck, and a rather unpleasant smell, but its still dark out, so he turns on his PipBuck's flashlight, and finds himself surrounded by skeletons of dead ponies. He found another PipBuck attached to a mostly rotted corpse, and it finally sinks in where he is and he throws up.

Wanting to get away from the area around him he heads up a flight of stairs, and he gets his very first look at the world above ground:

The world was immense. It was the biggest thing I have ever seen. There were no walls and a ceiling of grey that I instinctually recognized as the sky. Even if I was a pegasus that lived under the ground for twenty-three years I've seen enough pictures of the sky from story books back in Stable 37 in order for me to recognize what the real thing looked like. It, however, was not the brilliant light cyan blue that the pictures always depicted it as; moreover it was a solid slate grey colored blanket sheet that seemed to span off in all directions for what seemed to be infinity. I finally looked back down in front of me to observe the land that only my hooves touched and what my wings defied. It was a very expansive and very flat patch of grayish-white. Yellowed grass sprouted from the ground unevenly as the flat ground soon dipped up and down making hills and, very far off but still visible, mountains. Large nearly bare trees dotted the landscape and many more smaller ones did so as well. They were an unhealthy brown as a few orange and yellow leaves still clung to the branches.

So yeah, fun place he's found himself in, but hey its the Wasteland, not like we really expected it to be green and cheerful. Of course the clicking sound on his PipBuck starts up, and he takes to the skies, enjoying the feeling of flying without the restraint of the Stable ceiling for the first time. He lands in a spot that doesn't have a lot of radiation and picks a direction and starts heading that way.

After an hour he finds himself at, well, what's left of a city. Yeah its pretty much in ruins at this point, but what else would you expect at this point? He doesn't find any signs of life other than a few Radroaches and discovers SATS. He finds an old hotel with a locked door which he tries to open with just his screwdriver, causing it to break.

Video belongs to Fox.

Anyway, he decides to try an Angle Grinder and starts cutting through the door lock instead... not very subtle but I'll give him points for originality at least. But of course because we can't have an easy day, this happens:

"Well aren't ye proud of yerself?" the raspy voice of the being next to me said coldly.

He turns and finds himself face to face with a weapon being held by a really, really unpleasant sounding pony, maybe a Raider, I'm not sure. The Stallion asks what he's doing down here since he's a Pegasus, and Quantum is confused by that because he assumed Pegasi were all over, which confuses this guy who asks if he's an idiot. More ponies arrive, one of them identifying the first one as Lucky Draw, they know the door is unlocked, but they're wondering how he did it since, well, he's not a Unicorn.

Wow, real geniuses we have here.

While the ponies were distracted Quantum gathers up his Angle Grinder and tries to fly off, and then he gets noticed and shot at because, well, he did just try to escape, how dare he do that! Yeah, he got shot in the wing and is now in a lot of pain since, well, that tends to happen when you just get shot, but he runs off into the ruins of a skyscraper with the Raiders after him.

He finds some basic equipment and starts fashioning together a plan as he starts fixing his wing. He tries to look outside, and gets shot at again, go figure. The Raiders know he's in there and tells him to surrender and they'll let him live, but probably enslave him, nice guys.

Then we get this line, and I love it:

Is this unicorn stupid or something? I honestly was thinking that he either was stupid or is just playing games with me. I had no idea what he was getting at if he wasn't joking and I did not want to find out any time soon.

I've always found it odd when a villain tries to get a hero to surrender (or vice-versa) and its nice to see someone point out how odd the idea is.

The Raiders at this point storm into the building as Quantum pushes a filing cabinet at them to buy some time, which kills them, wow bought a lot of time didn't you? Except a yellow Unicorn shows up by Quantum's side, but she doesn't seem to want to hurt him at least and even gives him a healing potion, introducing herself as Iron Melody.

Of course Iron Melody doesn't stay long but she gives him the basic overview of the area that its mostly divided among 5 groups: Slavers, Raiders, Ghouls, Steel Rangers, and Survivors. Small correction to my comments earlier, they were Slavers not Raiders, but that's a minor detail and they're jerks either way. We basically just get your standard overview of groups you get in Fallout: Equestria, using the term Survivors for ponies who are, just trying to survive, that's a new one name-wise but okay.

She gives what supplies she can spare and tells him to avoid the Bridges before leaving. He wishes that she had stayed because she had been the closest thing to a friend he ever had. He heads out again and finds himself back at the Hotel that he had cut the lock out of before and heads inside. He also apparently tends to talk to inanimate objects, that's not weird at all, but that's the least of his worries, since this is what he finds inside:

I stepped over the lock and pushed open the door where it gave a creak of protest. I stepped in, turned on the lamp function on my PipBuck, and immediately the room was filled with the familiar green glow of the hoof micro computer. My eyes narrowed. The walls were not glowing green with the same light as my PipBuck. They were glowing red. The walls were covered in blood and gore that resembled stuff out of my worst nightmares. Half mutilated corpses hung from the ceiling bound in rusting chains that were near disintegration themselves. Like before with the Slavers, the stench of the room hit me like a concrete wall and made my stomach churn. My body soon could not keep the contents of my stomach in my stomach anymore and I heaved. Nothing came up. I already wasted it on the skeleton hallway and I soon realized that I was very hungry and he only thing that kept me from falling over dead now was Adrenaline. I staggered to myself a bit as I mouthed to myself,

"Oh sweet Celestia have mercy..."

Yeah... I'm gonna guess this is Raider territory since Slavers aren't this... wasteful. There are more ponies upstairs doing... things that Quantum doesn't want to think about so thank goodness I don't have to skip it. He runs into a crazed pony and nearly gets shot again, and he starts working on ways to take her out. And what was that plan? Jump her... yeah, not exactly a feet of tactical brilliance but I'll take it.

She gets up and says she wondered what a Pegasus tasted like, and of course Quantum doesn't take that well... I like this guy. He grabs a bat and beats her to death with it, and then it sinks in that he had just killed another pony. He shakes it off since it was self defense and picks up the shotgun and grabs what equipment he can.

After loading the last five shells into the shotgun, I held it in my wings and turned to run for the door and leave this damned place. I was about to start sprinting before a soft wimpier pierced the sound of silence and I turned to see what it was. It was a filly. A orange coated filly with a pink mane and tail who didn't even have a cutie mark. Her small teary green eyes looked up at me and she mumbled,

"Are you a Reaper?"

Dear Celestia this is messed up because he realized that the Raiders had raped this poor filly, this always feels, wrong to me of course, but they are Raiders, what would you expect? She tells him that there are seven more foals locked up, and we get this bit:

"Stay out of sight. I'm gonna' get you all out of here. You can bet on it."

She gave me a weak smile that suggested that she had heard that sentence all too often before and nodded with just as much weakness. I turned around and flew down the stairway in hopes that some more Raiders were down there. I wanted to give them a piece of my mind and a few more pieces of lead.

And that's the end of the chapter.

---Character Analysis: Quantum---

Wow, that's quite the manestyle, when did this suddenly become an anime?

Well, I'll admit this is an interesting character, he's smart, he knows his trade, and he's good at improvising. At the end of chapter II he was willing to help a foal that he had just met, which shows that he's ultimately a good pony.

That being said he's not perfect, he has this recurring envy of Unicorns for one thing, and then there's the reason for him leaving the Stable... that he doesn't really have one. Most protagonists have to leave for a specific reason, but Quantum just left because he, opened the door and was afraid of how they'd react.

Does he have a history of opening doors that he shouldn't or something? Seriously, give us more of a reason than that at least, its kinda weak.

Anyway, other than that he's an interesting character and I look forward to seeing more of him later.

---Final Thoughts---

These two chapters are... not bad but they're not really the best either.

A lot of the characterization is solid, but it takes forever to get anywhere with the story and the first chapter is just a whole bunch of day to day stuff in the Stable that doesn't really lead anywhere as of yet. Its not a bad story, but it has a weak start.

Chapter II is better, but it just ends kind of abruptly. There's a lot of good ideas here, but the fanfic is off to a really slow start. I can't really judge the rest of the fic yet, so read it for yourself and decide.

The Prologue gets a score of 3/5.
Chapter I gets a score of 3/5.
Chapter II gets a score of 4/5.

Original Fanfic

Fallout: Equestria belongs to KKat.
Fallout: Equestria - The Gates of Hell belongs to Quantum Mechanic.

Next time, the gates to hell have been opened, now lets see what follows with it.

Video made by me.