//------------------------------// // And It All Came Crashing Down // Story: Fallout Equestria: Price of Paradise // by DiceArt //------------------------------// Fallout Equestria: Price of Paradise Ponies... ponies never change. Since the dawn of pony kind, when our ancestors first discovered the path of magic and friendship, of sunshine and rainbows, magic has flooded the world, spreading happiness to all. That all changed a few months after Princess Luna’s return from her thousand year imprisonment on the moon. When she returned, something came back with her that slowly started to poison and corrupt the nature of magic, sowing threads of distrust between pony and zebra kind. Eventually, just as it had been born, the magical land of Equestria would die in the rainbow glow of magical energy. Our story, however, takes us far from the deadly wasteland to an island paradise as of yet untouched by the ravages of war. This island, a relic of the old world, has begun to take on a life of its own and is threatening to unleash its deadly secrets upon an unsuspecting world. Now it’s up to small band of friends to prevent this horror from spreading; whether they like it or not, their fate has been inextricably tied to the fate of the wasteland itself. (Author’s note: this is my first attempt at writing a fan-fic and I would greatly appreciate feedback and\or story suggestions. Thanks to Kkat and Somber for their stories inspiring me to write this. Thanks also to Twitch, Tyler, Kashin, and Umbra for helping me organize my thoughts into something coherent and solid.) Chapter 1 And It All Came Crashing Down "Here chick, chick, chick! Brawk~br~br~brawk!" "What are you doing?" "Call'n for the chicken." Patch sat at his post in the medical station, staring blankly at the ocean through the window of his office. Small, mutated, tropical fish swam lazily back and forth in the murky, radioactive water. He had always admired the fish for their vibrant colors. The Stable was always so gray, so sterile, and so drab. The fish offered some of the only variety around. Why was I born with a gray mane? He thought. Gray is so boring! Why couldn’t my mane be as colorful as those fish? Patch sighed; scratching his horn as he slowly pulled his attention away from the rainbow colored fish and back towards his computer monitor. Looking at his reflection on the monitor a grin started to creep across his face. Well okay so I’m not all gray. I’m just a little bit blue too. He thought to himself as he brushed a hoof across his coat. Another slow, boring day in Stable 36. Stable 36 was unique in the fact that it was one of the few underwater Stables implemented before the megaspells cast the world into eternal chaos. Stable 36 had been designated by Stable-Tec as a “marine research station”, though Patch personally thought that they only did that to give the poor ponies stuck in these underwater sea labs something to keep their sanity in check. The current Overmare was fairly lenient and only operations vital for the Stable’s continued existence were ever enforced. All in all, life in 36 was good. Boring, but good. In a few hours, the day crew would come in, and he’d be off duty, and that meant recreation time. “I wonder what video they’re playing in the commons today,” he asked aloud to himself. He heard his pencil drop to the floor; picking it up telekinetically he placed it back on the table only to have it roll off again. Fishing his pencil out from under the desk a second time, he noticed the coffee in the cup next to the computer monitor was leaning slightly to the left. . . Then the noise came, the sound of metal slowly shearing. The whole medical bay had started to come loose from the sea floor. Panic began to set in as Patch quickly made his way to the door controls. He had to seal the room now or any second radioactive water would come flooding in. The door slid shut with a ~psht~ sealing the room air tight. After that he made his way over to the supply lockers near the back end of the room and began riffling through them. “No, no, no, no! Damn it! Where are the rebreathers?! I know we have some... Ah ha here they are!” Grabbing one with telekinesis he slipped it over his muzzle. The room began to shake as it turned on its side causing the unicorn buck to slam into the side of wall and knocking the wind out of him. Fortunately for him the furniture and fixtures of the medical bay were bolted to the floor. His luck however did not save him from being buried by a deluge of unsecure surgical and medical equipment. A sharp pain running up his side alerted him to a scalpel that had embedded itself in his flank during the fall. Gasping he reached out telekinetically fumbling at the scalpel slowly pulling it free. “C-Celestia’s radiant horn! That... bucking... hurt!” He tried to get up pushing the debris away magically, but the room still hadn’t set, and soon he found himself sliding backwards towards what had been the ceiling. Then just as suddenly as it had begun the room stopped moving. Stable procedure called for him to activate his PipBuck's tracking system so that the Stable’s rescue divers would be able to find any residents trapped in a collapsed or sunk section, but he was a clever pony. Knowing that the air supply in the room was limited, and that the rebreather wouldn’t start working until he was under water left him with precious few hours of air left and only one way to save his sorry flank. First things first he thought I have to patch this wound. There’s no way am I going to attempt what I’m about to do with an open cut. Focusing his horn he began to work a simple healing cantrip that would bind the wound together for a short period of time, and then he covered the wound with some magical bandages... Hopefully that would be enough to keep the wound closed as it would be impossible to swim for long if it opened. “Buck me.” He groaned as he looked towards the window... The shore... he could see it. That doesn’t make any sense! I thought we were sinking! How in the name of Celestia is this possible!? Looking out and seeing the surface for the first time caused the buck’s mouth to hang agape. He knew that the Stable he was raised in was on an Island not the main land, but he had not expected the sight that was beyond the window. He was awe struck.  The island was huge; all the text books in the Stable had shown was the rough shape of the island. Lush over growth coated the land mass, thinning as it approached a volcanic mountain, puffing smoke to the north. He wished he could see more of the vibrant landscape, a world of real color and life he had been denied all his life through the dense canopy. Suddenly the room lurched and started moving west towards a menacing domed shaped object on the far side of the island. “I don’t like the look of that. I think it’s time to get out of here.” Forcing himself to look away from the window he made his way to door. After hacking through the doors emergency subroutines he was able to get it to open. Taking a deep breath he looked down the hallway startled to see where his lab had been ripped away from the Stable. Carefully he made his way to the jagged edge of the hall and peered over it. “Okay! I did not expect to be this high in the air!” A little shaken he backed away from the edge. “Calm down you can do this! Just jump you can make it! Nothing but water beneath you Patch! I hope...” He said his voice shrilled with terror. Taking a deep breath he backed further down the hall closing his eyes he broke into a gallop. “3. . . 2 . . . 1. . . Cannonball!” He screamed as he jumped off the ledge tucking his legs in as he fell. ~Sppploosh~! Pain rushed through his spine; apparently just being water didn’t stop it from feeling like a brick wall. His legs were stinging with pain as he began kicking. The rip current caught him dragging him under; he was going to be pulled out to sea by the tide. He kicked harder reaching out for anything he could latch onto telekinetically. No such luck for him. His day had gone from another boring day at the office to a fight for survival in ten seconds flat. Even with the rebreather he was losing energy fast. As he spent the last bit of his remaining strength fighting the current everything started fading to black... oooOOOooo A young buck sat in front of a mirror with an older mare busy behind him fussing with his messy gray mane. “I’m so proud of you honey!” She beamed at him. “You’re the first in our family to ever be selected to work in the medical section!” She said as she brushed the buck’s mane from his face. “And here I thought for sure they would assign you to mop the floors when you got your cutie mark, I was so worried,” her brow furrowed. “If your father were still alive I’m sure he would be so proud of you! As for me I can’t wait to tell the girls that my son Patch Work is a doctor! Now, sit still I want your mane to be just right when you go to receive your PipBuck. I have the luckiest son!” oooOOOooo Patch woke to a cool breeze and the feeling of drying sand on his coat. He groaned as he struggled to his hooves, muttering “Luckiest? My left hoof,” as he stood. Stripping off his now tattered, scrubs, he started scanning his unfamiliar surroundings. The coast was littered with an assortment of strange yet beautiful flora. “Well at least this place is more colorful than home,” he chuckled at his own joke, then furrowed his brow. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to see home again.” Shaking off the caked on sand he began to check himself over for any serious injury taking note of the scalpel wound on his left flank, but other than a few scrapes and bruises he seemed to be fine. "Alright now to figure out where I am.” On either side of him the coast stretched almost till it met with the horizon. In front of him was thick tropical foliage, the most notable being the incredibly large mangrove trees, near the mouth of a river delta that fed into the sea. A Phoenix was perched on the mangrove closest to the shore pruning its feathers. “So beautiful,” Patch whispered before the lovely creature took notice of him and flew away from him into the jungle. The sounds of several tropical birds came from the huge jungle before him. The songs played off each other making an enchanting melody. Patch had only ever heard bird songs on an audio tape they had back in the Stable. It was literally nothing compared to the music which danced in his ears now. The snap of a branch drew his attention back to the reality with the sudden, unshakable feeling of a thousand of hungry eyes watching him. The music didn’t sound nearly as inviting as it had before. That jungle was definitely no place for a defenseless pony like himself to wander into.  “I’d better stay on the coast no telling what dangers live in an untamed place like that. Probably better to avoid the western part of the Island too. That’s where I saw that dome thing right? So which way is east?” An idea came to him to check the position of the sun by looking up but when he did, he suddenly had the urge to vomit. Never in all his years in the Stable had he ever thought that the sky he read about in literature would be so, so huge. He felt another shudder rising in his gut. There had been too much cloud cover to tell where the sun was in the sky anyway. No he would just have to pick a direction and hope for the best. After walking along the beach for what seemed like hours the sky started to darken. I suppose I’ll need to set up some sort of camp for the night. He mused as he started gathering the things he thought he would need, never straying too far from the shore nor too close to the jungle. It took him awhile but he managed to accumulate a small pile of drift wood, one of the more sturdy pieces set aside for use as a club if need be, and a large leaf to lay on. Organizing the pile of wood in to the vague shape of a campfire he focused on his horn for a spark. His horn started to glow but no magic jumped from it to the wood. Focusing harder he broke into a sweat as his horn started to flash as an over glow grew around the first. Finally with a great amount of effort a small spark jumped from his horn to the wood. Sweaty and wheezing Patch laid down on the leaf. He frowned as his stomach growled. He would have to take care of that tomorrow. *        *        * Patch stretched as he rolled off the cot he was laying on, waking with a start. “I’m up! I’m awake. Is it time for my shift?” Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he realized he wasn’t in the Stable.”Oh... it wasn’t a dream. Where am I now?” he said with a frown on his face. It was obvious somepony had moved him during the night. Reaching out telekinetically for anything he could use in case he needed to defend himself he discovered that his horn did not want to work.  An exotic aroma wafted into the room filling his nose... His stomach grumbled. He still hadn’t eaten and the intoxicating smell was too much to resist. His eyes slowly glazed over drool leaking out from his mouth he glided to the door way peeking around the corner. Through the door way he could see a striped mare busy at work over a large boiling pot of the most delicious smelling stew he had ever had the pleasure of sniffing. Slowly, he crept out of the door way, unsure as to whether the zebra was friendly or not. Her ears perked up “You are as a sneaky as new born foal. Stop playing around and come grab a bowl,” she said, flicking her tail as she turned around and smiled. “It is good to see that you’re awake. You sleeping outside was a big mistake.” Her accent was an exotic tone that he had never heard before. Sheepishly nodding his head as the striped mare passed him a bowl of what could only be described as thick vegetable and fruit stew. Setting it down and taking a big whiff of lovely smelling soup before chowing down... Sweet ambrosia! Nourishment at last! his stomach squealed like a little colt in his head. Finishing quickly he looked up at his stunned, striped, hostess  “More please?” He begged with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could manage. She chuckled “All you need is but to ask, and I shall be glad to fill you a flask.” After finishing several servings of the brew Patch leaned against the wall his stomach now happily distended. “Sorry I didn’t think to introduce myself before scarfing down your food... Name’s Patch Work. What’s yours?” His hunger satiated his brain was now allowed to have other more pressing questions enter his thoughts like Where in the blue abyss am I? and She’s kinda of cute now that I’m getting a good look at her. He had to pull his eyes away from where they were starting to drift. He’d just met this mare no need to make a complete jackpony out of himself. “I’m known as Xenalin by my family. But Xen is what you may call me. If you’d like I can show you round. We may not have much in this tiny town but I think you’ll like what we have found,” she said nodding towards the door. “Do zebras speak in rhyme all the time?” Patch asked and then cocked his eyebrow. Great now I’m mimicking her, what am I a foal? *        *        * They made their way through the small shanty town. Some of the buildings, like the one Patch had woken up in, were old prewar bungalows. Some were constructed from scrap metal and drifted wood, and others were thatched huts. The biggest building appeared to be made out of a beached cargo ship; the paint had long ago faded to the color of rust. A mixture of ponies and zebras wondered about from place to place some of them wearing PipBucks like Patch. “Not Stable quality, but this is quite the impressive sight, didn’t think there would be any sorta civilization like this out here.” Patch said letting out a low whistle. “So what was in that soup that made it so delicious?” Smiling a coy grin Xen looked at Patch and winked “Herbs and spice make the brew nice.” giggling a bit she continued walking. Patch’s PipBuck lit up, a notification displayed on its screen. Something had activated its auto mapping function. He lifted his leg to get a better look at the display, it appeared to be a map of the island, a tab pointed out that Patch’s current location was at a town called Zhu’s Hope. Xen made her way to the beached cargo vessel. “Come with me Patch through the ships hatch. Mayor pony Brine wants to meet you in the prewar...” but before Xen could complete her rhyme the sound of thunder rang out across the island, whatever made the noise had also torn large hole through the cloud cover... *        *        * I was flying home from a game of hoof ball between some of my friends. I remember it was the day my sister was due home from basic training. The sun was shining brightly over head, it was a beautiful day, and nothing was going to ruin it... Or at least that’s how it was supposed to be before those sick, freaks tested their new toy. It all started with the crack of thunder. I remember the pain, lancing through my right wing. Then the clouds, I especially remember the clouds. I remember how they parted before me, denying the sanctuary they had provided all my life. I remember falling past the curtain that had protected me from the horrors of the surface, screaming in vain for help that never came. I remember hitting the water, of it battering me as if it were a wall of solid ice. And, most of all, I remember that I hate that day. I will always hate that day, the day I lost my life. *        *        * Have you ever heard the saying “be careful what you wish for”? No? It’s one of those lessons you should’ve learned early on. One of the lessons you’d learn about in cautionary pony tails. It’s in the same vain of lessons as “the road to ruin is paved with good intentions,” and “Look before you leap.” I’m usually a quick study, but some how this lesson seemed to have evaded me. Now I was paying for it in spades... Next question. Have you ever wondered what it feels like to have a piano dropped on your head? No? Well neither do I, but I would hazard to guess it feels much the same as doing a free fall swan dive from 22,000 ft. Slowly my consciousness returned to me. Pain, my entire body writhed with agony. My right wing was the only thing not hurting and that’s only because I couldn't feel it. “Did s’mpony catch the number of that wagon that hit me” I mumbled as I tried to sit up. Bad move, fresh pain spasmed through me. “W~Where am I?” I gasped at no pony in particular, slowly lying back down, hoping that would cause the pain to subside. It didn’t. “You’re in a small town called Zhu’s Hope.” A pale blue buck said as he walked into the room. “I’d tell you more about it, but I only recently got here myself. I’ve done what I can to treat your wounds with what little medical supplies they had here, but your body suffered a lot of damage in that fall. It’s going to be awhile before you’re fully recovered, and I don’t know if you’ll every regain use of your wing. My medical knowledge concerning the anatomy of pegasi wings is at best lacking. I set the bone as best I could, and placed it in a splint. What you need most of all right now is rest. I’m going to cast a small spell that will help you get some sleep. Please, don’t panic,” he said as his horn glowed a soft blue light and started towards me. “What? No I need to get ho...” I tried to struggle to get out of the cot but the closer he got the more my energy seem to fade... Not that I had much energy to begin with. Once he was close enough to me he pressed his horn against my head and repeated the phrase “Please. Don’t panic,” adding. “I’m a doctor.” Ah sweet blissful sleep. At least it would be blissful if I weren’t so pissed off. What the fuck is going on here? One minute I’m on my way home the next I’m in immense amount of pain, and some stupid surface pony is telling me not to panic? Why the hell shouldn't I be panicking. I have every right to panic. And if I were awake that’s what I would do immediately after beating that stupid bucks face in... Oh, look. Is that blackness coming up to greet me? oooOOOooo Soaring in the open skies, nothing but white below me, blue sky and golden sun above... I remember this. It was first day I was allowed to fly on my own. Stopping, I hovered for a moment before resting my wings by riding on a thermal current. My father taught me that you could use thermals to conserve your energy on long flights, but this wasn’t a long flight, it was more of a joy ride and I was using them to take in the lovely scenery with out having to split my focus. After awhile of enjoying the feeling of riding the warm breeze I landed on an especially comfy looking, cumulus cloud. My elder sister was waiting for me there.         “So Silva, I can see yer happy to have graduated flight school.” She said as I settled into the soft fluff next to her. “Mom thought you’d be at the closing ceremony, but me an dad knew different.”She nudged me with her wing. ” He’s waiting for you at home says he has something he wants to give ya so you better not keeping him waiting too long.”  She rolled onto her back and stretched. “So have you given it any more thought? I’m definitely signing up, but it’d be nice to have my little sister around so that I’d have somepony I could talk too.” “I dunno, I mean it is tempting, but I don’t think I’m cut out for the military, Saber. And somepony got’sta keep an eye out on our folks. They ain’t getting any younger.” I faked a frown before grinning widely. “Buuuut~ if you really want me too I suppose I can try for it with you. After all who knows what sort of trouble you’d get into without me there to watch you’re sorry flank.” We laughed for a bit rolling around on the clouds before taking off and heading for home. oooOOOooo Home. Would I ever see it again?  The feeling of something damp on my thigh brought me back from dream land. I woke up and groaned. I was still soar all over, but a least now the pain was some what dulled. Sitting up was still out of the question though. Eventually my eyes adjusted enough to the dim light that I could see the source of the disturbing wetness. Mr. doctor pony had decided to rest his head on the cot, and he was drooling copious amounts of spittle onto it. Tentatively I tested my hind legs to see if they would move. Success! Time for a wake up call Mr. doctor. Lets see how you like a buck to the head! My hoof slowly pushed his head off the cot. Okay, not what I had in mind, but what could expect out of a half dead filly? His head fell to the floor with a ~Thud~ before he could catch himself. “I’m up! I’m awake! Is it time for my shif... Buck me,” he groaned picking himself off the floor. “Why can’t I ever wake up back in the Stable.” Looking up he shook his head. “I see your up again. Feeling better?” Looking the buck square in the face I exploded. “Am I ‘feeling better’?! I’ll tell you how I’m ‘feeling’! I’m hurt, pissed off, hungry, confused, and I have some dumb surface buck drooling on me when I wake up. I how do you think I’m ‘feeling’?! Does that sound like ‘feeling better’ to you? Does it?!” He chuckled “Well at least you’re talking that’s a good sign. There doesn’t appear to have been any brain damage done either, but you’ll still need plenty of rest before I can let you out of bed. I’ll go and see if I can rustle up some grub for you,” his horn started glowing again. “stay here.” A shinning blue ball leapt from his horn to my chest. As the blob of magic seemed to melt into me, my body begun to grow numb. “Bugk you.” I slurred around my suddenly fat tongue. He barely even looked back as he left the room. After a few minutes of laying numbly on the cot my mind started to wander... Mom and Dad are probably worried out of their mind... No pony will come down here to rescue me... They all probably think I’m dead... Wonder if they’ll throw me a funeral... What would they burn to keep as my ashes? These surface ponies probably want to eat me or something too. That’s why they shot me down in the first place isn’t? Ah shut it brain, I don’t wanna think morbid thoughts. A few minutes later Mr. Doctor pony returned with a bowl of odd smelling soup. “Eat this. A friend of mine says it should help you feel better. Don’t ask me whats in it I’ve got no clue.” He noticed I was still under the effects of his spell when he tried feed me a spoon full. “Sorry bout that. it wasn’t supposed to last this long, let me fix that for you.” His horn lit up and another light blue orb leapt from it to me. Immediately the numbness that had been making it hard to move my body left. I almost wish it hadn’t because at the moment it did the pain that I’d almost forgotten about returned. “Luna’s glorious full moon!” I screamed involuntarily then blushed at my own swear. Mr. Doctor pony didn’t seem to mind it though. “You got a name Blue?” I asked trying to force my mind off the pain. “My name is Patch. What’s yours?” He said as he levitated the spoon full of the strange mixture my way again. Taking a whiff of the soup I decided it wouldn’t kill me and swallowed the spoon full. I gagged  but forced down the bitter brew. “Eeyuck! Whatever that is it tastes like something crawled in my mouth and died...” I started licking the bed sheet to get rid of the flavor... Bad idea the sheets tasted even worse... Chocking back my ‘lunch’, I gasped between dry heaves “My... name... is... Silva.” Curiously my body did start feel better. “Well Silva, I don’t think licking the sheet will kill the taste; I shudder to think where it's been. Why don’t you try something I was saving till later. Should do the trick nicely.” Patch said as he levitated a flask to me. Cautiously I sniffed the contents. So far so good this definitely smelled better than the bitter tasting soup. Wait what the hell am I doing... this food could be contaminated with all sorts of surface diseases...  Buck it all. I’m hungry. My wing is busted anyway so it’s not like I can get home anytime soon and I need to eat something... Greedily I took a swig from the container. My mouth was in paradise! The flavor of the flask’s contents more than washed away the bitterness of the soup. It had a fruity, sweet, tangy tasty, and its texture was like that of a thick cream. “I didn’t know surface ponies had such tasty food. I thought for sure that all there would only be 200 year old irradiated preserved food down here. You know like Twinkies.” I said as I smiled and took a second swig. Patch grinned “I don’t know much about the food situation, I’ve only been out of the Stable two days.” He stuck his tongue out faking a gag. “The thought 200 year old Twinkies makes my stomach turn.” His blue grey eye’s glazed over suddenly. “When I was in the Stable we had our own hydroponics bay, grew our own fresh fruits and veggies. Though those were mostly rare treats our true source of food came from repurposed kelp and algae. Speaking of food you’ll need to finish the rest of the soup. Doctors orders, no arguing. I’ll be back tomorrow to see if you can start moving on your own.” *        *        * Footnote: Level Up! New Quest Perk: Clipped Wings -- Your wings have been badly damaged, denying you the power of flight you’ll have to get them mended and strengthened before you’ll be able to take to the skies once again. Don’t worry karma will watch your back until then. +1 luck until your wings are fixed. New Perk: Daddies Lil’ Filly (rank 1): You take after your dad +5 repair +5 science.