Fallout: Equestria - Pink Eyes Reviews: Chapters 4 and 5 · 7:31pm Jul 2nd, 2017

Video Made by Me.

Well, we're back here again.

Yeah, sorry about being off on my schedule lately, I'm going to try and get caught up this week for real this time. But in the meantime, we have this week's review that should've been last week.

I'm this fic needs no real introduction, but here we go, its time once again for Mimezinga's Pink Eyes.

So lets begin.

---Chapter 4: Vola Mio Mini Pony---

“That's impossible: ghouls are super stoopid zombies that eat ponies! You are ugly but mighty fine ponies, you can't be ghouls! If you're not telling me where the ghouls are I'm going to look for them on my own! BLEH!” Puppysmiles stuck out her tongue.

Real smooth Puppysmiles.

Soft Air and Peach Blossom explain to her that not all ghouls are like that, which is fair, but you're trying to explain this to a foal who doesn't know the details of life in the Wasteland. Peach says that this isn't some magical land and calls Equestria the worst sinkhole ever. This scares Puppysmiles, and we get this line:

Peach stomped a hoof on the ground. “Stop playing the innocent foal! You're a monster like us! Stop pretending! Now!”

Okay Peach, while Puppysmiles can be a little annoying, you're being a jerk. Puppysmiles recoils at that, saying she'll behave if Peach stops doing that, but the Ghoul just keeps demanding that she wake up. Thankfully Soft Air seems to be a lot calmer and tries to calm Peach down, telling her that she doesn't think Puppysmiles is faking it. Of course to Peach this all raises the question as to how she's 200 years old but is still this naive to the ways of the world.

Puppysmiles, understandably upset by this whole thing, lets out a wail that affects all the Ghouls in the camp, and Sand Box hugged Puppysmiles to calm her down. Peach is confused by what's going on, and Soft Air just says it plainly that she had made the filly cry and that it'll make it easy for Puppysmiles to see them as the bad guys.

Sand Box manages to calm Puppysmiles down and she finally seems to accept that they're Ghouls so... yay? Peach asks her about the reason she had come here and Puppysmiles answers:

The filly in yellow scratched her helmet thinking about this brand new question, but she couldn't seem to find a proper answer. “I think... this is because those pretty ponies promised me a piggy ride on a two headed cow if I came here, took a look around and go back and tell. They were also speaking of how great it would be if the ghouls were totally gone.” Puppysmiles paused for a moment, trying to remember the rest of the story. “Oh, right, so I said that I was going to deal with the meanie ghouls but they told no. I replied that I was big enough to shoo a ghoul away whatever it was and they made me promise to just come here and take a look... but I crossed my hooves so that promise doesn't count.” The filly smiled widely, clearly proud of herself. “I was smarter than them!”

Sand Box asks Peach to go get another pony named Dr. Get Well (subtle name) and asks Soft Air to keep an eye on Puppysmiles and get a toy for her out of her office.

Puppy is given a Pinkie Pie plush that she decides to name Silky Tail and wishes that she could give the plush a kiss, but of course can't since she's in that suit. Soft Air takes out a holotape and Puppysmiles is a little confused by what it is, but the Ghoul puts it into her suit and it seems to be some sort of file but it can't be read right now. It seems that the irradiated salt cube also keeps the talisman from working right, which explains why Mr. Voice hasn't been talking. It seems that Puppysmiles tends to get lonely, which is why she's missed Mr. Voice since he's been consistently with her during this journey so far.

But of course we can't ever just have an easy time, an argument is overheard. It seems that the cascade is accelerating and they're working on ways to deal with the situation. It seems that the cube is going to do... something bad that's not really clear, explode maybe? Puppysmiles asks Soft Air what's going on but she doesn't tell her, instead asking if she wants to see a gift shop in the northern hall.

So, what, we're at Disneyworld now?

We catch the tail end of some story that Puppysmiles was telling, and Soft Air asks her about Watcher but she says its boring and that she'd rather tell the story of when she ate a butterfly. It seems though that she's already told the story since Soft Air knows the opening.

When they reach the Gift Shop Sand Box is waiting and says that they shouldn't go this far into the Glow because there could be feral ghouls in the area. They learn about when Puppysmiles managed to take out some of the Ferals and it seems that Sand Box needs Puppy's help with something. Puppysmiles suggests that they disguise the Ghouls so that they can move around freely, but it seems that Sand Box wants her for something else, they're leaving the Glow. Puppysmiles freaks out saying that the Glow is their home and they're good ponies so why should they have to leave?

So we get an explanation as to what's going on:

Sand Box adjusted his glasses. “Indeed. We already knew that the cube is not stable: during the years it absorbed and released the radiation from the megaspell following a cyclic pattern; As I already explained, during the last months this cycle accelerated. I think that the cube reached a point of non return and in less than five hours it's going to release.”
Soft Air's expression darkened. “Well, this is not leaving exactly a lot of time. So, what now? I reckon that the Friend Force One still needs more than a little work. Are you sure about this release thing? What will be released, any idea?” The ghoul already knew the answer, but he still had the hope of being wrong.
“I'm not sure about that. Could be the biggest mag pulse ever or the original balefire that was embedded into the zebra's warhead: when the missile hit the Dome the cube absorbed the matrix of the spell. The problem is that we are speaking of a huge chunk of pure salt that wasn't designed for some anti-megaspell defense; its behavior is highly unpredictable at best, a death sentence for Salt Cube City at worst.”

It seems that Sand Box intends to fly the airship on their own instead of using the autopilot. He wants Puppysmiles to use the suit's AI system to regulate the systems of the airship. There is a brief suggestion of just evacuating the area and letting it blow, but Sand Box shoots it down because it would hurt innocent ponies as well. They get the details for who's going to do what on the ship worked out, and its time for Puppysmiles to learn her role.

Puppysmiles gets a flashback to when her mom took her around Route 52 where she was given an identification code to give when asked for it. In the present time she's being asked for it and the password which she gives and is let in to the Control Room, where there is apparently a lot of error messages.

As she enters the control room, a familiar voice returns:

“Warning. Mild radiation detected. Threat level: negligible. Activating all systems.”

Yep, Mr. Voice is back and Puppysmiles is of course happy. Puppysmiles gives a very brief summary of what's been happening while Mr. Voice updates the systems. However she's interrupted by a ringing phone and she answers it and says this:

“Hallo? Mom's not here and I'm too little so I can't take a note. Can you call at dinner, pretty please?”

Awww... so cute.

Anyway, its Sand Box who tells her that its important that she stays in the control room of course. It turns out that he had given her a hack tool that she hadn't used since, well, she had the access codes, but he doesn't know that and tells her to wait there for him to call her back.

There's a moment of quiet as she looks around before the update to her suit is finished, and instead of Mr. Voice a new Voice comes up.

“Hi there miss Days! We have a little bit of a situation here, all the screens are gone for good and we miss... uh.... 100% of the personnel. They haven’t been to work for... woah, that's a lot of time! The bigwigs should seriously consider a little turnover here... Oh but don't worry! I can operate everything just fine from your personal console!”

Puppysmiles is confused by what's going on and the voice introduces itself as Pinkie Seven, an AI system programmed not to try and take over the world or become a judging god machine, we really need more AIs like that in fiction don't we? She also looks into what happened with the Pinkbot a couple of chapters back and after finding out what happened at Carnival she decides to never speak of the Pinkbot project again, makes sense to me.

Puppysmiles mentions the airship and asks what happened to Mr. Voice, and Pinkie Seven clearly doesn't want to go back into the mainframe. Well at least this AI system seems to be nice, that's always good. Pinkie asks her if she's Rainy Days since, well, she appears to be Puppysmiles, and her presence is not authorized.

Yeah... it seems that sending a filly to do this job may not have been a great idea since Pinkie doesn't think she should be there. She does ask how Puppysmiles is related to Rainy Days, and Puppysmiles of course says she's her mother and asks where she is of course.

Video belongs to Konami.

Pinkie Seven figures out a solution in making it bring your daughter to work day, well that works I suppose. Before Pinkie can say anything else though, Sand Box calls her back and some of the ponies want to say goodbye before they leave. Peach apologizes for scolding her like she did and we get this really nice bit of dialogue:

The ghoul mare sighed in relief. “Thank Celestia, I couldn't do this with that weight on me. Please remember this, Puppy: Equestria is an unforgiving place, you have to treasure your friends because they will be very few. I... I regret that we didn't have time to know better each other, but I know that you are going to be safe, so I have no regrets.”
“Are you going away? I can come and visit you when you arrive, okay? We will trow a party!”
Peach took some moment before talking again. “Yes... yes Puppy, if we will meet again one day, we will ‘trow’ a super party... sorry I have to go.”
The phone went mute for some moment before another voice started talking. “Hey Puppy, Soft Air here. Please follow Sand's instructions very well, we’re all counting on you here!”
“Hi Soft! Mister Voice now is miss Voice! Isn't that funny?”
“What are you talking about? Aw, doesn't matter, I have to tell you something: I knew your mother. Now please don't panic, I have little time and you really need to listen.”
“You... why didn't you tell me that earlier!?”
“I... I wanted to do that but all this megaspell thing dropped on me before I could. I'm telling you now, so please listen: I was under her command, third class technician Soft Air of the Third Armored Company Steel Flanks. Do you remember that tape I gave to you?”
“Uh... the black stuff that does other stuff?” Puppy tried hard to remember.
“Yes, that one: it is the location of our field headquarters; it's located south of Salt Cube City, in the marshes. If you can find any clue about the chief it will be there. So, when you have finished in the control room just set the 165Th Brigade field Headquarters as primary objective and follow the pink arrow on the compass. Did you understand everything?”
“I.. yes, sure: go head quartet, find mom! Thank you mister Soft Air you are the best pony!”
“I think you misspelled Pinkie Pie,” P7 chimed in.
“Oh, and one last thing, Puppy: in your journey you are going to learn things that will hurt you. It's unavoidable, but I know that you are a brave pony so... please, don't forget these days and the days before the megaspells. Equestria now is a scorched dying land, but you know that it wasn't always like this. Don't let the wastelands scorch you heart, too; watching you I still can see the sun shining in the sky.”
“Uh... why is everypony saying sad things? You are only going for a little fly, it's not that we will never meet again; me and mommy are totally coming for a visit when you will find a new home.”
“I... You are incredible, Puppy. You make me miss my sister so much... Be safe and never forget to smile. Soft Air, closing.”
“Puppy, Sand Box here. Are you listening to me?” The elder ghoul’s voice interrupted the conversation.
“Ah... yes Boss... say, we are going meet again, right?”
The was a long pause, then the voice of the ghoul arrived calm and somehow very sad. “I'm sure that in the end we will meet again and we will be together, if you want this to happen. Never lose hope, Puppy.” There was another pause before the Ghoul Leader started talking again: “We need you to open the roof and give the green for the take off. Now, repeat what I say: activate Voice Console, Authorization code SB01, chief researcher. Pass code Agatha. Override priority list from one to eleven...”

Its a great scene really, it shows how Puppysmiles has touched the lives of these characters and gives Puppysmiles some hope for being able to find her mom. They know they're going to die but they want to help Puppysmiles from being too sad, its a wonderful scene and Mimezinga did a great job.

We cut to Salt Cube City where a pony named Sage Brush is standing watch wondering if they should've sent Puppysmiles into the dome after all. And with that the dome starts to open up, making Sage wonder what the heck is going on. For obvious reasons this is causing a commotion in Salt Cube City, causing a panic and even getting this line:

Video belongs to someone.

Sage aims his rifle at the hole as there's an explosion of confetti and a voice comes over the loudspeakers:

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” The voice came from the speakers of the dome: it sounded crackly and fuzzy but where one loudspeaker failed another fifty kept the pace. “Glory to our beloved and magnificent princesses Luna and Celestia! It's with immense honor that today I'm here to assist the launch of the newest and most incredible technological jump in the field of mass transportation! Thanks to the Friend Force One and her many sisters that will follow, Equestria will never seem so small to you!”

Puppysmiles then comes over the loudspeakers, and she says:

Video belongs to Hasbro.

Anyway, with that she wishes the ghouls a good trip as they fly off on a massive airship that flies off, leaving Sage wondering why they didn't just do that before. When the shift change comes they realize that the glow from the dome is gone, but before they can dwell on it much more there's a loud sound.

Immediately after the sound came the rumble. At first it was nearly impossible to percieve, but in a matter of seconds it became an earthquake and with it arrived a solid wall of dust that hit Downtown, flattening most of the tents in the market but barely scratching the heavier structures.
“Wh-what was that?” Sage rubbed his eyes, trying to open them.
“I don't know... the ghoul’s flying machine exploded? It seemed something like a gigantic spell going...” The mare realized what this implied. “Oh fuck. A megaspell. They had a damn megaspell on that flying thing!”

---Chapter 5: Chickens---

Video belongs to someone.

The chapter starts out with Puppysmiles riding on a Brahmin who seems more annoyed than anything else with having the filly riding on her back (their back?). A Unicorn pony tells the Brahmin to finish the ride for her and then take her to his office. Some ponies in town are very nervous about Puppysmiles, believing her to be cursed or something and, well after what's been happening you can't really blame them. Some of the ponies wonder exactly what's up with Puppysmiles but you can't really blame them for that since she doesn't seem to eat or anything.

Puppysmiles finishes up her ride and heads into the office to talk to Mr. White. She goes inside and Mr. White refers to her as Miss. Days, since well her mother's name is Rainy Days so that makes sense. Puppysmiles asks if she can leave now since she has a new destination to head towards, but Mr. White has one more question he wants to ask.

White sighed and lowered the hat in front of his eyes. “Sure, obviously... but I'd like to ask you one last thing. What was that glow inside the Dome?”

Puppysmiles tells him what she knows in her own way, he's a bit surprised that the ghouls had taken the irradiated salt cube away like that and tells her that she did a good job. She says that she's heading south, and it seems that means she's heading into the most dangerous area of the Big 52 called the Marshes, knowing that she's going into a dangerous place he gives her a scooter and a warning, nice guy.

So the next part starts with her moving down the road out of town on her scooter, as she heads down the road she runs into Watcher once again. He of course wants to know what happened in the Dome and with the explosion, and she tells him basically what happened, also we learn that Pinkie Seven was left behind, make of that what you want.

Puppysmiles has also apparently really gotten into the whole scooter thing since she's saying things like scootastic and scootasure, do you ever feel like you're being set up for Scootaloo jokes?

Of course part of the roof came down on top of Puppysmiles... maybe she really is cursed. There is then the sound of gunshots but they don't hit anywhere near the two and Watcher leaves and tells her to hide from the firefight, though she thought he said firefly so... I've got nothing really.

Anyway, she looks up to see flying shapes in the middle of a mid-air firefight (or would that be a dogfight?), she's confused at first until Mr. Voice tells her that they're Griffons. She tries to get one of their attention, and he gets shot by one of the other Griffons, and she thinks he's a chicken.

Seriously, are you trying to get me to make a Scootaloo joke? I will not do it, I don't like Scootaloo Chicken jokes.

Anyway, one of them is dead and she tries to wake him up, to try and get their attention Puppysmiles asks for the item that makes a lot of noise.

“Warning. Object Puppysmiles cannot be retrieved from inventory.”

This round goes to Mr. Voice, I like that AI.

She of course isn't happy with this but says that she needs the weapon that Mr. White had given her, a 9mm Semiautomatic Pistol. She tries to shoot at the Griffons above her, only to have it get sent out of her hooves because of the recoil. Another Griffon gets taken out, and Puppy realizes that they're not actually playing and the Griffons are actually dead.

Puppysmiles actually yells at the Griffons to stop fighting because somepony could get hurt. She chases after them and finds one dead and the other one is in bad shape. He gives her a weapon to give to his daughter Henrietta before he dies. She tells him that she hopes that he gets better soon and heads off on her scooter.

Never change Puppysmiles.

She asks Mr. Voice why ponies hurt each other but he doesn't give her much of an answer, so instead she decides that they should go look for Henrietta as her father requested. Apparently she's in the same location that Puppysmiles was already heading, so that's convenient at least, so she starts walking again towards her destination.

The next section starts out with Puppysmiles having apparently stepped on a mine, but at least she's still alive. She asks what that means but then decides that it would be better to hear it from Miss. Voice so they call her up as the suit repairs itself. Pinkie Seven of course asks what's going on, and Pinkie Seven of course also asks about the scooter and calls it scootastic.

Oh dear Celestia there's two of them now.

Anyway, Puppysmiles Pinkie Swears to get Pinkie Seven a body so that she could use the scooter, but then we get back on the important subject of Puppy almost being blown up by a mine. There is actually a nice little nod to the old Minesweeper game, wow that really brings me back.

And now I feel old, thank you Pink Eyes.

So anyway with that help Puppysmiles makes it across the minefield and to the base of the 165th Brigade. She tries to find Henrietta, but instead she finds a Manticore because, its the wasteland, there's a rule about not having an easy time or something I guess. She asks the Manticore if its seen her mom or a Griffon around here and it growls at her, suddenly afraid of the filly. She tries to get answers out of it but it hits her and sends her flying before leaving, ouch.

She looks around the base and finds a terminal that she tries to get into with her name as the password but it doesn't work. She finds the remains of a camp that comes up as belonging to her mom. However of course Rainy Days isn't there and she tries to get answers out of Mr. Voice to no avail so she calls up Pinkie Seven again, who says that she's at her last known location, but she's gone now.

I was going to make another Silent Hill joke here but I can't find the clip, so I'll just say, much like a certain hole.

Puppysmiles finally manages to get the audio recording play and its of her mom's voice:

“Day fourteen... I'm running -cough- out of rad away... the cloud seems to -cough- move -cough- but the whole place is still a death trap...”
The voice paused for some moment, there was the sound of somepony drinking.
“Damn, I hate this world and I hate -cough- zebras and the princesses... they killed us all... The only -cough- thing that keeps me from becoming -cough- crazy is that at least Puppy is safe in the stable...”
There was another long pause.
“I'm sorry, what hell hole of a world have I prought you into? I...”
The mare’s breaths came quick and shallow, she was crying. Puppy jumped on her hooves.
“Mom! Don't cry I'm fine! I'm alright mom! MOM! Please don't cry I... I will be a good pony but please don't cry! I... I can go back into that gray place and say the magic words and go inside right now! Please don't be mad at me!”
“I... I have to be strong. Puppy is safe, she is in the stable. I -cough- must believe this. Now, what about me... It seems that the south was -cough- only hit in a couple of main cities. The radiation there should be less -cough- dangerous but the trip is long and I don't think I -cough- have all that strength now...”
The tape interrupted for a few seconds then another voice file started again with Rainy Days speaking.
“Day sixteen... Fuck, I'm pissing blood but at least the coughing is gone. I need to move now or it will be too late.
This is for Party Star and Soft Air: if you are still alive and find this recording I'm moving south.
I'll try to reach the tunnel under Sugartop Mountain along the route 52. I'll be waiting for you there. I hope to find shelter in the maintenance rooms inside the tunnel, they should be shielded from the worst effects of radiation."
There was a short pause.
"Bloody Luna, it's snowing green again... Fuck you all, the ministries, the goddesses... What did you do to Equestria? This was a blessed land, why didn't you stop before it was too late? Puppy, I miss you so much... I'd gladly die if I could see you just one more time...”

Yeah, its 200 years old, but its the first time since starting that Puppysmiles gets to hear her mother's voice and it has the impact it would normally have. She's sad and just wants her mother there to hug her and tell her that everything will be okay. Mr. Voice says that the next place to look would be Tunnel Town.

As they start to get ready to leave however, someone else joins the party.

“Don't you dare move even a single hoof, you foal!” A high pitched voice interrupted Puppy. The filly turned herself toward the speaker and saw the silhouette of a winged creature that was a little smaller than an adult pegasus. “Now keep your hooves where I can see them and tell me what are you doing he-” ROAAAR!

The Manticore is back and is after the Griffon and the chapter ends with the two trapped.

---Final Thoughts---

This was a good couple of chapters, it really showcased not only Puppysmiles' character but also the impact she's had on the Wasteland, both good and bad.

The Ghouls from the Glow were also interesting because despite the fact that they were treated like monsters more often than not, they ultimately wanted to keep a lot of deaths from happening. Its an interesting duality and the whole section was handled perfectly, plus the goodbyes were brilliantly done.

We don't get to learn much about Henrietta yet, but that'll come as the fanfic continues and it should prove interesting. This is a really good story so far and I hope you all take the time to read it.

Chapter 4 gets a score of 5/5.
Chapter 5 gets a score of 5/5.

Read it Here

Fallout: Equestria belongs to KKat.
Fallout: Equestria - Pink Eyes belongs to Mimezinga.

Next time we leave the Big 52 and travel into the Crystal Wasteland once more to follow the adventures of a smart pony who can do some dumb things.