Fallout Equestria: Causality
Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Doctor Who. They are properties of Hasbro and BBC respectively
Thanks to KKat for writing Fallout Equestria, of which this is a spinoff story
The nightmare repeats itself.
Ponies screaming, fire burning.
All around, I see them. Huddling for warmth, trying to find shelter in the emptiness that used to be a city, dying agonizing deaths from the magical radiation scattered across the landscape.
The acrid scent of smoke permeates the world.
And I am trapped.
I can't move and can't breathe. Instead, I lay under this pile of rubble.
Dying. My lungs are crushed. My spine mangled beyond repair.
Again, and again; each time regenerating into a new form, each life fading into a distant memory.
Is this really a dream? Or is it my reality?
I awaken.
The pleasing scent of grass - actual grass! - fills my nostrils. It's positively invigorating. I breathe in deeply through my nose, sensing hints of pollen, pine needles, and dirt. Fresh, delicious dirt! I could positively write a sonnet on the wonders of nutrient-rich, decaying organic matter.
Gone is the metallic smell of gore. Gone is the choking dust that filled the empty void that once was a city, suffocating me again and again. I can feel sunshine against my back, the soft rays gently warming my cold, forsaken flesh. Have I gone mad? Where, or when, am I?
I can move.
YES! I can move! With unfamiliar, barely coordinated movements, I feel my hooves around, finding purchase in the soft loam underneath. My muscles strain as I push myself up, wobbling as I attempt to stand. Heaving ragged, painful breaths, I wait for my body to get used to the exertion. A simple task, trying to stand, but it feels as though I've just ran thousands of leagues.
Why is it still so dark?
Oh yes, my eyes are closed. Silly me.
I crack open my eyelids, and the light blinds me. Squeezing them shut, I take a deep breath before forcing them open fully. For a few agonizing seconds, I can't see a thing. Have I gone blind? I blink a few times, but there is no change.
My fears are unfounded. Finally adjusting to the brilliance of the world surrounding me, my sight returns.
It's beautiful. Color. Color everywhere. Vibrant greens and yellows. The deepest azure. Shapes begin coming into focus, and for the first time I realize I am in a clearing.
All around me is pure, untouched wilderness. The forest extends into the distance, far beyond what I can see. Here and there, gaps in the treeline reveal shimmering glimpses of a river, an immense snake draping itself over the land. Miles away, an immense snow capped spire juts out of the landscape, a silent titan overseeing the scene.
And the sky! Blue, pure blue. Not a cloud in sight.
Insects buzz and birds chirp, sounds I haven't heard in centuries. An involuntary tremor shudders through my body as I remember the screams and cries that served as their replacement. My legs give way.
I collapse onto the ground, overcome with exhaustion, but inside me I feel an immense happiness. Joy I haven't felt in millennia. I laugh. A jubilant cry, testifying to my survival. My existence! I feel - very, very tired. I think I'll take a nap now.
As my consciousness fades away, a single thought overrides all of the others.
I can fix it.
This time.
She will be safe.
But who am I?