//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Fallout Equestria: Eschaton Storm // by TheCopperDragonBard //------------------------------// Fizzlepop Berrytwist Fizzlepop merely walked forward, intending to reach her destination miles away. She didn't care about any pain she had in her hooves, or how long she had been travelling for- in fact, the only reason she even cared about going to the cities to begin with was because this one populated area was the closest of such locations for a good while. Fizzlepop had been a vagabond, of sorts, ever since the day she lost her horn; she would simply wander Equestria, collecting various oddities she discovered on her journeys to sell at markets, earning the money she needed to buy food and similar essentials. Granted, she had also been considering other career paths as well, as of late. She would frequently keep up-to-date with the news during her travels; from what it had seemed, there was a bit of hot water going on between Equestria and the zebra's newly-founded empire. Although the Royal Sisters had tried to keep things under control, war between the two kingdoms ultimately broke out, and now the two sides were fighting amongst each other. However, from what it seemed, Equestria seemed to be getting the upper hoof, and victory seemed to be imminent on their behalf. Even with triumph on the horizon, the broken-horned Unicorn was still greatly considering joining the Guard, doing her part in serving her country- even if such a time would be brief, with the zebra's defeat being only a matter of time. 'Hopefully the zebras will be smart and surrender while they still can. Surrendering and only losing a little- or even a lot- is much better than not doing so and losing everything.' Tempest's right forehoof struck a rock, causing her to trip over, causing the only item she collected in a good while, an ornate guitar, to fly off her back and clatter forward, emitting a hollow thunk as it landed on the gravel road. Concerned for the item's safety, she immediately dashed forward to access any damage done to the relic. The guitar in question was a string acoustic, carved from a dark brown, polished wood(cherry, she thought), with a shimmering black pickguard that had flecks of silver in it that formed the Pisces constellation. It was supposedly the guitar of a famous country singer and- well- guitarist named West Bard, and it could easily be worth hundreds of bits if it was the real thing- granted it's fall hadn't messed it up beyond that point. She grabbed the instrument, swiftly but carefully, and inspected it for any damage that would decrease it's value. A few scratches. Tempest released a breath of relief. It would only decrease the value by a couple of coins, at most. Slinging the artifact back over her shoulder, she continued walking on her way over to her destination. Eventually, she ascended a hill, one that overlooked the exact location she had been heading- Manehatten, a city of commerce and trade- the perfect place to do business. She began to continue on he way- and stopped. Over in the horizon, in the sky, she saw what seemed to be plane heading toward the city's way. That was odd... planes were typically used for military use. Most of the time, it was pegasi who performed aerial deliveries. The plane flew closer- and that's when she realized the horrifying truth. That was a military plane- a bomber, to be exact. What the Tartarus would a bomber be doing flying over the city? It wasn't descending towards the airports, heavily giving the implication that it was a hostile asset, and even then, why would the zebras try to attack the city when doing so would only cause them to lose even faster(and likely with less mercy offered)? They had to have been either insane or desperate to pull such a bold and direct move. However, what happened next completely caught her off guard... instead of dropping a steady stream of bombs over the city, all it deployed was a single, incorporeal, glowing ball. It fell upon the city, disappearing into the skyscrapers and office complexes- and a mere second later, a colossal explosion erupted from Manehatten, consuming the city in a flash of blinding light. Tempest had to look away quickly, shielding her eyes and turning her head away from the ball of light that radiated from the city. Of course, since her eyes were away from the city, she didn't even know what was coming- not that she would have been able to avoid it, anyway. A wave of agonizing energy washed through her; she hadn't even known until she had felt it. And that's when she started on fire. Her flesh and coat, starting alight with sickly green flames that wreathed her entire body, burning with the intensity of a thousand suns and inflicting the pain of a thousand hells, disintegrating her fur and charring her exposed flesh. She tried to turn her eyes back towards the city, to see what had become of it, but such proved to be a folly; the baleful energy tore at the left side of her face now that it was even more exposed to it than the rest of her body. The energy disintegrated her cheek, exposing the left side of her mouth, revealing a mouthful of teeth clenched in agony. Her left eye was immediately consumed by fire, melting the organ and cauterizing the socket simultaneously. Upon feeling half of her vision fail her, she turned back away immediately. Throughout the whole ordeal, she was in too much pain to scream, to voice her agony to the world. Another shockwave thundered the earth, though this time she was able to both hear and feel it. She was sent flying from the ground she had been standing on for what felt like one torturous eternity, a ball of fire and flesh hurling through the sky. In spite of all of this, it was only when she hit the ground that the pain overtaxed her being, and when her vision faded to darkness.