My second place entry for the Fallout: Equestria 500 members writing competition, choosing the theme "Before the bombs".

This isn't a tale of great heroism, of any great battle fought hard and won well. Deadbolt Tumbler never really had any driving force in his life, he didn't have a special somepony, he didn't even have any friends. He was content to do his job to the best of his abilities everyday and live out his life in peace as he always had, but the great war was now in full swing, and as it often does, fate decides to intervene. On the afternoon of his 18th birthday, he was drafted to fight for his country, throwing him into a world of new experiences that threaten to shatter his fragile perception of friends, love, and loss. Although he had written them off as nothing more than fables as a colt, he soon comes to see that the monsters from the tales of old, still roam the battlefields before him.

The wonderful youtuber Plagen Shiki has done a marvelous reading of this story! You can find it here if you'd like to listen as you read!

They're out of job, out of ammo, and out of New Mexico.

When machine replaced their job, they retaliate the only way they could. Shoot 'em all. Like any other plan made by their helmeted friend. It backfires. The flames burned them to another problem, and another land. A land that shares similarities to their Badlands. Dead trees, scorched sand, and exchange of gunfire. Equestrian Wasteland.

There, they walk a road to intervene an old grudge. The same hatred that sent the realm they reside into the hellhole it is now.

A normal night of exploration goes south - quite literally - as two friends since foalhood wind up crash-landing far from their home, left with only their wits, their clothes, and their own company in a strange, new land north of Vanhoover. With a far more populated and dangerous wasteland before them, and their entrance certainly not having gone unnoticed, they race to get back home - though with their mode of transport out of commission, and the weather getting worse by the day, their chances of seeing their fathers again grow slimmer and slimmer.

Empty Quiver is a sequel to Occupational Hazards - it isn't necessary to read beforehand, but it is highly encouraged!

Now with a page on TVTropes!

A young brony finds himself in a very inhospitable world that mimics one of his favorite shows. Wandering about, he runs into (quite literally) a camp of unscrupulous individuals, ran by a familiar face. Now, he has to figure out how the world works, and try not to drive himself (and the group of former Raiders) insane.

((Will touch on a lot of sexual subjects, yet will not go full on clop. Starts off in first person perspective, but may shift from character to character, or even change perspective entirely.))

Your past is something you have to live with. A reality of life. Every success, every decision, every mistake, will live in your past. They will always stay there. You cannot escape it.

This is the tale of a pony who thought his past was blown away by the winds of time. He is testing a new design of the Steel Ranger armor created as part of a mysterious project, when a series of events lands him underneath a collapsed outpost for 200 years. With hardly any memories and only the wasteland to greet him, Razor must set out with his new, and slightly unusual, friend, Paragon, to recover his lost past. However, your past can be filled with all kinds of secrets, secrets that can tear your world apart.

This is an unofficial side story (that means it is not endorsed, or probably even known, by kkat) to kkat's Fallout: Equestria. If you haven't read it (meaning Fallout: Equestria) yet, I definitely recommend it, and many plot details will be missed in this story. Huge thanks to HeroeDeLaVida for help with plot and characterization, and Fiendofthet for help with proofreading and editing. Couldn't do this without you guys!

Note: This story is currently being rewritten. I've finished chapters 1, 2, and 3, and am working on chapter 4. Because of this, this story is sort of on hiatus in that it will be a while before the next new chapter. Please bear with me as I'm updating the story.

Ponies... ponies never change. Since the dawn of pony kind, when our ancestors first discovered the path of magic and friendship, of sunshine and rainbows, magic has flooded the world, spreading happiness to all. That all changed a few months after Princess Luna's return from her thousand year imprisonment on the moon. When she returned, something came back with her that slowly started to poison and corrupt the nature of magic, sowing threads of distrust between pony and zebra kind. Eventually, just as it had been born, the magical land of Equestria would die in the rainbow glow of magical energy. Our story, however, takes us far from the deadly wasteland to an island paradise as of yet untouched by the ravages of war. This island, a relic of the old world, has begun to take on a life of its own and is threatening to unleash its deadly secrets upon an unsuspecting world. Now it's up to small band of friends to prevent this horror from spreading; whether they like it or not, their fate has been inextricably tied to the fate of the wasteland itself.

Wicked Cut, a Tribal pony learning to be civilized, faces exile from his hometown to 'learn how to be a better pony'. Can he survive the Wasteland long enough to gain the knowledge and experience he needs to earn his place? Set in a post-Battle of Sunshine and Rainbows Equestria, this story will follow its protagonist through caves grimly holding the last of their radiation, abandoned pre-war facilities, and even to the clouds above.

Fallout: Equestria is the largest and most popular television series of the decade. With the equally successful expanded universe seasons, a great secret is brought to light. Just what do the protagonists of each show do in their free time?

The answer? Be massive nerds.

Currently on hiatus due to lack of contribution.

Sometimes edited by the illustrious Unknownlight! (Unless mentioned otherwise.)

Featuring personalities from several amazing side-stories. Go check all of them out and give them a follow!
Frosty Winds from Memories
Mach from Outlaw
Riptide from Dark Shores
Inkwell from Rangers of Wintertrot
Frost Windchill from The Last Sentinel

Dovetail was a security officer in Stable 61 when that stable opened its door for the first time in 200 years. Chosen along with her best friend, Lilybloom, to be the first scouting party into the world above, these two mares will face their biggest hardships ever. Their tale will take them on the journey of their lives: from the comforts of their stable home all the way to the Frozen North and into legend.

Theme song is out! Thanks to the amazing Ethan Sight for it! Go listen to it here, and please support him by buying the song on itunes: |Link|

**While I’ve done my best to make this piece new-reader friendly, a familiarity with the amazing original work, Fallout: Equestria, by Kkat, may help your understanding of this story and the fantastic universe it is set in. Please check that out here if you so choose: |Link|**

Book One Cover art by SpiritofthwWolf (Me) and Piecee01

Edited by: TheHerpestOfTheDerp (First 4 Chapters), Eeveexpert (Chapter 5 and Forward)
Pre-read by: Eeveexpert

From neighboring stables, a pair of unlikely friends find themselves thrust into a wide, frightening new world, ripe with dangers and exciting adventures in store for them. Between the new friends they'll make on this expedition, and the new challenges they'll face in the irradiated icebox the North Equestrian wasteland is, they have to decide for themselves just how much it was worth it to leave their homes.

Co-written by myself and my close friend Minty Candy.

Now with a page on TVTropes!