//------------------------------// // Broken Pieces of the Past // Story: Fallout Equestria: Stable 3: Underground Horrors // by NightmareTRXY32 //------------------------------// Flashback to the Ministry of Peace Main office 200 years ago. "Id love to get together soon Rarity,", Fluttershy's cracked as she spoke to her friend over the speaker of the terminal in her office. "It's been so long since we've had a spa day,", she finished lamenting into the microphone. "I know Darling,", Rarity said, trying to maintain some form of positivity in her voice. It was hard doing that lately, what with the war raging and everything. It had been a few years since they had seen each other. She knew it felt like a part of her had died when this war broke out. "Well, thanks for trying to be there for me,", Fluttershy said, a hint of remorse present in her voice. She had tried to be more assertive, but there were times she just wanted to run back to her cottage and her animal friends, and hide under her bed. After a long pause the line on the other end when dead. All she heard was nothing but constant static. Fluttershy tried calling Rarity back, but all she got in response was dead air. It was like something had caused the transmission to fail. Then she heard something coming from outside the window to her office. Something that reminded her of a story that her mother had read to her when she was a filly and still living in Cloudsdale. That was when she heard the sirens blaring outside of her office window, the sound was just like what she remembered from that story her mother had read to her. She turned to look outside just in time to watch something that seemed like it was right out of a horror story. Something that clawed at her soul. She could only stand there in that building of brick and mortar and watch as several mega spells hit the outskirts of Fillydelphia. No.. No.., the timid pegasus quietly thought to herself. This cannot be happening, not now she kept thinking. But it was. She had to get out of here. She watched in horror though as one of them detonated just down the street from her office building. She tried to scream out to anypony that was down to run, but they couldn't hear her. She was just another silent witness to the atrocities that were heaped upon her own kind. She tried to scream again but to no avail. As she finally got to the elevator and made the trip downstairs, she kept thinking to herself that this war should have been over years ago, that something should have happened to stop it before it started. Fluttershy could feel the building shake from the concussion of the blasts going off. it was like living in a nightmare that was never going to end. If she could make it to the bunker, she'd be safe. She had no idea what would happen if she made it that far. She knew that some of their friends like Lyra and Octavia and a few others had made it to one of the Stables located just outside of Ponyville but didn't know if anypony else had made it to any of the others nearby. She looked outside of the nearby window when she finally got to the bottom floor of her office and could only stand there frozen in shock just in time to bear witness to hundreds of ponies disappearing in a blinding flash of light. They were just blinked out of existence in a huge and blinding flash of green and orange light. She could feel another piece of her die inside just thinking about it. Fluttershy had always tried to be the reserved one, albeit her timid nature eventually allowed her to finally become more assertive and sure of herself down the road. But experiencing this was something else for sure. Seeing the carnage unfolding across Equestria was enough to finally break her. How would she feel if she found out that someone close to her was somehow reincarnated in a newer body? How would Fluttershy react if they ever had the chance to see each other again? She was going to find out soon. She had been accepted into one of the local Stables due to her status as a member of the Ministry and because of her time as an Element bearer. She didn't realize that they were going to cryogenically freeze her for almost 150 years. Fluttershy woke up to hear hoofsteps. her Cryochamber had opened a few years ahead of schedule and she found herself alone in the Stable. Skeletons were scattered all over the place. She clutched her chest, hoping that this was nothing more than a horrible dream. It wasn't. Fluttershy turned the corner in time to see a grey and dark maned pegasus approaching her. It was like looking into a mirror. The mare in front of her looked just like her Rainbow Dash. Her first friend and the only mare that she had ever truly loved since then. What's more is that this mare seemed to know her name as well. It was as if fate had brought the two of them back together for one final time. Fluttershy reached a hoof out to touch this mare's cheek. She wasn't hallucinating. She couldn't believe it at first. She felt her back legs give out on her. The mare in front of her caught her in her forehooves. The two of them could only stare into the other's eyes. "Fluttershy.. Is it really you?" the mare asked the timid pegasus. "yes.. Yes Dashie, It's me," Fluttershy regained her balance. Why did she call her Dashie though? They looked similar, but she realized this mare wasn't Rainbow Dash but more likely a possible descendant. It didn't faze her though, the mare did something Fluttershy wasn't expecting. She pulled her into a kiss. The two of them melted in the other's hooves. "Yea, its me kind of, don't ask how. I just know i woke up in a new body and a new name. But it's still me in here. For the most part. I guess you could say we survived the end of the world. I just wish the others were here Flutters." Fluttershy could only smile now. New body or not, they were together again. "What happened, i mean after we drifted apart, i mean,"Fluttershy was still coming to terms with the fact that their friends and everypony else they had ever known had died but the two of them had somehow survived for the last 200 years. It was all so surreal for her. "I ended up getting drafted into the war, got beaten up a bit, and was told by Twilight that she could clone me a new body. I didn't think she would of actually done it, but i guess i was wrong,", the answer took Fluttershy by surprise. Of course this was Twilight they were talking about. She was always determined when it came to science. It was still a shame what had happened to her and Pinkie's relationship. The two had grown distant after Pinkie got herself addicted to Mintals. The last conversation that Fluttershy had ever had with Twilight didn't go as well as she had wanted back then. Twilight seemed distant, almost disconnected from those around her towards the end of the war. Fluttershy found it hard to talk to her sometimes. "Twilight", Fluttershy said in an all too familiar tone," Are you alright?" She was really worried about her. Twilight could tell and tried to reassure the mare. "I'm Fine Fluttershy, I've just been busy with work is all," She sounded somewhat annoyed and she probably figured that Fluttershy could tell by the change in her voice over the terminal link. It was the voices and sounds in the background that caught Fluttershy's attention. "Commence Launch sequence," a voice could be heard saying in the background. What was she working on Fluttershy thought to herself. And why was it filling the mare with dread? "What's happening in the background Twilight?", FLuttershy started feeling worried that Twilight was doing something dangerous. "It's something that Princess Celestia gave me authorization to work on", Twilight said through the Terminal's speaker. That didn't really help Fluttershy feel any easier to be honest. It had to be something related to war effort. Most of Twilight's work had been deemed classified lately. After her break up with Pinkie she threw herself into her work. The pink pony's death had affected all of them. But Twilight took it the worst of them all. The only other one that she found herself caring about was Rainbow Dash, but that ended up changing her for the worse. She had become jealous of Fluttershy and Dash's relationship. So much that she decided the only she could have Rainbow to herself someday was if she cloned her. Her answer to Fluttershy's question though left the mare still feeling unsettled. After a short pause Fluttershy finally got a more satisfactory answer out of her friend. And it chilled her soul. "To be honest I'm working on a Nuclear Missile." Fluttershy nearly fainted on her end when she heard Twilight speak that last word. A Nuclear Missile. She had remembered her lunches with Lyra and recalled the eccentric unicorn had mentioned that word as well. She had been doing research into humans and had found a video cassette that documented their history. The entire race had wiped itself out in a Nuclear war before Ponies became the dominant species in Equestria. "It's also augmented with Alicorn Magic, which brings up the nuclear yield significantly," Twilight finished. She felt that last explanation was satisfactory. "Oh by Celestia, isn't that taking things too far?" Fluttershy found herself chewing on a lock of her hair in hear as she kept talking over the terminal's intercom. What her friend said next was enough to take the oxygen out of the room. "War is hell Fluttershy." When she said, Twilight's voice was devoid of warmth. Those words had nearly seared themselves into Fluttershy's mind after all this time. There was no love in Twilight's voice. Just a coldness that sent a chill through Fluttershy's heart. Fluttershy realized that the Twilight that had been her friend for so many years was now a completely stranger to her. The cracks in their friendship had begun to show after Pinkie's death. They might have kept in touch afterwards, but it was never going to be like it used to be. They had been through so much, but Fluttershy came to accept it was never going to return to the way it was. She wanted to cry right then and there but decided to save that for later. They had started to drift apart as soon as they had been given their individual Ministries. They'd have lunch every so often. But it never felt the same. And they each knew it. Fluttershy wasn't sure how much longer her heart could take this abuse. That's what it felt like inside. She wanted to reach through the Terminal and slap the mare. She wanted to yell at Twilight to stop this madness. She could almost picture herself right there in front of her old friend, telling her that this wasn't the way to handle things. This was no longer the Twilight Sparkle that had touted Friendship as being a powerful force. That mare had died years ago Fluttershy thought to herself. This was just a shadow and a mockery of her former friend. She had tried to deny it for years, but the revelation dawned on her in the end. "Please, don't go through with that Twilight,"Fluttershy pleaded,"It'll bring too much suffering."She finished. "Like there isn't enough of that already,", Twilight barked over the Terminal's speaker. " No, this ends Flutters,"Twilight drove those words into Fluttershy's heart like a stake. She was going to be the one to end the world on her terms. She took it one step further before the line went dead on her end. "I Will not be stopped, not till the Zebrahan nation is engulfed in nuclear Hellfire. They either surrender, or i will burn their world to ashes." The line went dead after that.