Fallout Equestria : New Bridle : High Kingdom

by RoyrenRoxx

Introduction; Only the Dead

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

-George Santayana, Soliloques in England

INTRODUCTION

War. War never changes.

Far in the south, at the very borders of where Equestria ends and great deserts begin, sits a port city overshadowing the lands. Resting on the Eeltongue Peninsula, not much could be said for its surroundings. Bordered by treacherous seas, arid sands, and infertile plains, it’s a wonder that not only could a city survive, but thrive in such poor circumstances. With a train line that led directly to the heart of Equestria, ports that brought in fare from Zebra and Minotaur lands, and land paths that led to Saddle Arabia, New Bridle was the very heart of southern trade not just for its mother nation, but all surrounding nations. Merchants came of all colors and sizes, dwellers came from all corners of the world. Disasters struck, armies marched, famine settled, but New Bridle stayed strong. With roots so thickly rooted in empires across the map, the city was almost immune to plagues other cities suffered. Then the Great War came, and New Bridle, for the first time in its history, suffered isolation. When the Ministry’s embargos began, and all trade routes were cut, it was no surprise that the great city began to starve.

With no natural resource capable of sustaining its population, famine weakened the spirits of its people, and turned the hearts of those who had too many mouths to feed. Already, the city’s diverse culture suffered tremendously; what had been a melting pot of various races and ethnics boiled into chaos, civil disputes threatening what the Great War did not. There was hope for survival, however - New Bridle drew the direct care of the Shining Stallions. Four high-ranked colts under the leadership of Shining Armor, they traveled south from the Crystal Empire to secure the city from enemy forces. With them they brought four great crystals the size of a dragon’s head, imported directly from the Empire itself. Lifted on tall pylons at each corner of the city, the crystals made summoning a shield just as strong as Canterlot’s possible, but massive enough to make covering all of New Bridle valid, granted at least one pony manned each crystal tower. The shield was vital to keeping Equestria’s enemies out of New Bridle, but proved to be a deterrent to all ponies who wished to leave, effectively placing residents under ‘city-arrest’.

Come the artillery fire of the Blackhind Siege, the naval invasion of the East Sea Serpents, and even the grace of a Great Star Eater, New Bridle survived under the protection of its great crystal magical shield. Freight lines that once brought cargo North through Prancesylvania now brought soldiers South, supplying the War - but not the people - with mechanical efficiency. The Eeltongue Channel that separated the Saddle Sands from New Bridle stopped Zebra advances charging straight through the lands, forcing Zebras to either go precariously across heavily mined waters, or file single-file through the crags between the Saddle Sands and the Heavyhoof Plains. For a city-turned-fortress so close to the front lines, New Bridle was invaluable, preventing enemy forces from invading any closer to Equestria’s center. The only true fault New Bridle had came from within - though its buildings were safe from the war’s shells, its people were not immune to hunger. A darker force began stirring below the city’s surface.

By the third year of the Great War, New Bridle no longer held the title of Equestria’s largest trade city, and suffered the greatest famine in Equestrian history. Starving for trade once more, sickened by embargo and isolation, the city succumbed to promises made by the Zebra nation to open ports to foreign lands again, as long as it closed the Prancesylvanian train lines and stopped the flow of Equestrian forces. The same day that New Bridle announced it’s new alliance, Zebra armies marched through the streets under the protection of New Bridle’s great crystal shield itself. Such an act was blasphemy for the Shining Stallions, but all four members had disappeared shortly before the city’s surrender without a trace. A new ruling class rose, never seen by day, known for their dark skin and carnivorous appetites. And though their rule was unquestioned, it never lasted for long.

In history, the city’s betrayal would never have been seen as the necessity it was, only as a cowardly and traitorous act. Though the act had saved the day, it was followed by the terrible night that the Equestrian megaspells fell.

Branded a city of traitors, no mercy came from the North. The city was never hit by the Zebra Balefire Bombs, but instead faced the wrath of Equestia’s own megaspells. New Bridle’s shield, unable to stand against their destructive power, shattered at the first blow. Buildings survived the blast, but the city was left derelict. Outside the shield zone, the land was levelled for a hundred miles, haunted by the Pink and its strange form, Equestrian Purple. The end of New Bridle’s glory had finally come. It was left an empty skeleton, and seemed to be no longer desired by anybody, anymore.

But though New Bridle died, its denizens never left for good.

Two hundred years later, out of the sewer veins and crusted subway bones the city’s inhabitants returned, restoring the dead citadel with the forgotten thunder of guns and cries of the wounded. Established deep between the city’s ribs, Sewer Ponies rose from gutters to pillage New Bridle’s grave with hooves and talons alike, seeking the sole reward of survival. Others, such as the Dot Metro Vault Ponies, began to look past just simply surviving, attempting to recreate some form of old world societies in the city’s leftover corpse, granted these societies placed the Dot Metros on top. Hugging the remnants of greatness shattered in shambles down alleys and passageways, a group called the Shining Reclaimers battled with the much stronger, better equipped Steel Rangers to regain forgotten artifacts and ancient technology. And, though poorly supplied and lacking influence, New Bridle Followers, known as Brillowers, struggled to create safe haven for all ponies alike, even after their numbers became more and more bloodied in attempts to scout the darkest parts of the city for life-saving supplies.

While other groups exist, they not only proved to be lesser known, but the extent of their power in New Bridle was a mystery. Informants in the waterways tipped scales for various factions, as a quiet brotherhood of mercenaries left nothing, not even shadows, in the wake of a fresh kill on moonless nights. The most tantalizing of these hidden factions have yet proven their resilience to whispers of gossip or clenched teeth of interrogation. Though their names are unknown, their presence is unmistakable. Most terrifying are the rumors of a dark occult ruling class dating back from before New Bridle’s fall, capable of infiltrating any faction, having mastered the skill of stealing faces at the cost of devouring hearts. Though who they are, or what they want, is unclear, it’s rumored they’re willing to cure any sickness or woe, free of charge, to anyone who wishes for it. Granted, it just takes a little changing, all in the name of making one’s life complete.