//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Everypony's Gone // Story: Fallout Equestria: The Beginning // by ColdWarBrony //------------------------------//         Gone… They’re all gone…  The Unicorn mare stared out the living room window, unable to tear her eyes away from the terrible beauty that the balefire clouds in the distance possessed. Another bright flash of light in the distance. A moment later, the roar of the explosion; the sound of a million pony lives ending in a single instant.         “Mommy?... Why are you crying?...” Asked her little colt.         The mare continued staring out the window, the tears continuing to fall from her eyes. She wanted to find words to comfort her foal. She wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright, that mommy would keep him safe. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything at first. What could she say? The world was ending.         “M-Mommy?... What’s that sound?...” The little colt asked as another distant explosion made the ground tremble.         She just stared out the window, not even hearing her foal starting to cry behind her.         “Mommy, I’m scared! W-What are those scary clouds over there?...” The foal hugged the mare’s hind leg tightly, trying to get her attention. “W-Why are you so sad?...” He whimpered, burying his face in her coat.         “S-sweetie…. I…” She clenched her teeth tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t keep you safe…” *        *        * Three Hours Earlier: As Violet Swing rode the train home for the weekend, she never considered that it might be her last day at work. Life was completely normal in the city where she worked. Nopony had any idea what was about to happen to them. Sighing, the mare stared out the window at the beautiful Equestrian landscape rolling past. It had been a very long day at work. Everypony was stressed out about something. The war with the Zebras had been going on for years now. Everyone knew somepony who was a soldier. For Violet, that somepony had been her husband. Two years ago, he’d joined up with the Equestrian Army. He’d served in many of the major battles as a tank driver. He always wrote the most beautiful letters to her.  A year after he’d joined, Violet received a telegram saying that he’d been Killed In Action somewhere. There was no body. He was now nothing more than a memory. At least Crimson, her foal, had been too young at the time to really understand. It was better that way. Still, she wished that the colt had gotten to know and spend time with his father. Other than her little foal, she had no immediate family. She had relatives in Fillydelphia, but hadn’t spoken with them since her husband had been killed. During the day, she worked as a secretary at the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. That job paid well enough to support her and her child. She lived in the mountains outside the city, and had a good view of the surrounding areas. *        *        * Present:         Violet Swing sat there on the floor, the little foal cradled in her arms. He’d cried himself to sleep in her arms some time ago, but she was still awake. It had been more than nine hours since the first bomb fell. Even now, the silence and tranquility of the night was broken occasionally by a bright flash and distant boom of another detonation.         How had the ponies of Equestria allowed this to happen? How had the Princesses allowed this to happen? What had Equestria come to? None of it mattered now anyway. Enough balefire bombs had been dropped that the landscape would soon become heavily irradiated. Before her husband had gone off to war, he’d made sure that the house was stocked with food, water, medical supplies, and plenty of RadAway. Sure, there was more than enough right now, but eventually the supplies would run out. The radiation would kill them faster than starvation or thirst would. She squeezed her eyes shut as she thought about this. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked down at the little colt in her arms. He didn’t deserve to die like this. Sweet Celestia, how many colts and filles had died already?         But she was still alive. Despite the hundreds, if not thousands of balefire bombs that had detonated, she was still alive. Were there other survivors? Yes, without question. There had to be. She stroked her foal’s mane gently. “There have to be…” She whispered softly.         Gently laying the colt down on the couch, she went into her bedroom, and flipped the light switch with her magic. No power. Should have guessed… She went over to her dresser, and produced a light from her horn, the soft magical glow illuminating the framed picture of their family on top of it.         Where could they go? Equestria was gone. It would soon be blanketed with deadly radiation. Could they make it to one of those underground Stables? No. They’d all been sealed when the bombs fell. If they had any chance of survival, they needed to leave this place. They were awfully close to the city, and the radiation would soon become too much to survive.         Taking her saddle bags out of the closet, she went to the cellar, where she began to fill them with supplies. Food, water, and as much RadAway as she could fit. She was almost ready to go, when she thought of something.         Going back upstairs to her room, she went over to the dresser again, opening the top drawer. The glow of her magic illuminated the silver .44 revolver her husband had given to her as a gift before he shipped out. Taking a deep breath, she took the revolver, along with its ammo, and slipped it into her saddlebags.         She then slipped on the yellow radiation suit that she’d had for just such an occasion. Funny… She thought. Even without knowing, she’d always been preparing for it. The drills, the newspaper articles, advertisements. Now that it was happening, she was on the verge of breaking down.         Only one thing left to do now. Wearing the radiation suit and carrying her saddlebags, she trotted out to where her little Crimson was still sound asleep on the couch. She smiled a bit. He looked so peaceful. She hated to wake him, but there was no choice. She went down to nuzzle him gently, kissing his nose lightly.         The colt stirred a bit, opening his eyes a little.         “Honey?...” Violet said softly. “I need you to wake up now…” She hugged him as he slowly got up, yawning.         “Why is it so dark, mommy?...” He asked, squinting in the low light.         “Sweetie… We need to go away for a little while…” She smiled. “I need you to drink this, okay?...” She opened up a packet of RadAway, and held it to his lips. He drank it all, but made a face at the bitter orange flavor. “Good job… Now I’m gonna help you put this on, alright? You need to wear it so you don’t get sick…” She brought out the foal sized radiation suit, and started to put it on him.         “This is uncomfortable, mommy! Do I really have to wear it?” The foal whined as she pulled the suit down over his little head.         “Hush now, sweetie… It’ll only be for a little while. You’ll be sick if you take it off outside…” She finished by zipping the suit closed, and putting the mask on his face. “I know it’s uncomfortable, but you NEED to wear it… Do you promise to keep it on?”         “I promise.” Came his muffled voice from behind the mask.                  “Good…” She gulped down her own packet of RadAway, and with her magic, pulled her own mask down over her face. “Stay real close to me, okay hon?...”         “Okay, mommy…” The Colt whimpered.         She turned and walked over to the front door. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, and stepped outside. Once Crimson was outside, she closed the door and locked it. As if I’ll ever come back here… She looked out onto the landscape, and tears started to well up in her eyes. The city… the COUNTRY…. As far as her eyes could see, there were flames. Equestria looked like it was on fire. How many ponies were dead? Hundreds of thousands, probably millions.         Turning to the path that lead down the other side of the mountain, she started her descent. Crimson followed behind her, having to trot in order to keep up.         By the next morning, Crimson had gotten tired, and so she carried him, not wanting to stop. Having gotten no sleep the previous night, she was quite exhausted as well. She didn’t realize where she was going until it was too late. As she stopped to catch her breath, she realized that the ground beneath her hooves was scorched black. She looked around and gasped. All around her were the burned out shells of destroyed buildings. A flaming sky carriage lay on its side a short distance away. And everywhere she looked, there were bodies. These ponies were so badly burned that she couldn’t even tell they were ponies at first. Their flesh was charred and black, and crispy to the touch.         She fought the urge to scream as she looked around at them. She started to run as fast as she could. She had to get away. Nothing had prepared her for this. Nothing could have prepared her for this.         She ran for miles, only wanting to get away from those awful sights. She payed no attention to where she was running. She didn’t care. She needed to get away. Eventually, she collapsed from exhaustion, passing out completely. *        *        *         “M-Mommy?... Mommy, wake up!” Was the first thing Violet heard as she slowly opened her eyes. She curled up into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut. “Mommy?...” came the Colt’s voice again.         “Leave me here, Crimson... “ She whimpered, tears running down her cheeks. “Please let me die....” She said softly to nopony in particular. “Please just let me die…” She sniffled.                  “M-mommy?... W-What are you talking about?...” The little Colt shook her gently. “Mommy?....” He whimpered, shaking her a bit harder.         Is this when you give up?... Asked her husband’s voice in her head. You’re going to leave him all alone?... Without you?...         “I can’t do this…” She whimpered, clenching her teeth.         You’re better than this, Violet… I know you are…         “I CAN’T!” She cried.         Get up, Violet…         “Mommy?....” The colt backed away a bit, starting to tear up.         Slowly, Violet pulled herself back up onto her hooves, panting a bit and crying silently. She went over to Crimson, and pulled him into a tight embrace, sobbing as she hugged him to her. He closed his eyes and hugged back. He’d taken off his mask at some point while she was asleep. And he’d removed hers as well.         “Oh, Crimson…” She pulled two packets of RadAway from her saddlebags. “What did I tell you?”         “I’m sorry…” He looked down, his red mane falling across his brown eyes. His father’s eyes.         “It’s okay… But remember what Mommy told you…” She held the packet of RadAway to his lips, and he drank it down without protest. Then, she drank hers as well, as she pulled his mask back down onto his face. With both of their MBC masks on, they continued South. *        *        *         There was almost no sound as they walked through the forest. No birds chirping, or wind rustling the dying leaves. But occasionally, there were bursts of gunfire in the distance. This concerned Violet a great deal. Was it Zebras? this close to Canterlot? They were in the forest West of Fillydelphia, just South of Foal Mountain. They hadn’t seen anypony since they’d left home.         As they started coming to the edge of the forest, Violet could swear she heard voices up ahead. As they drew closer, she saw a single large Ministry of Peace tent. There were about 40 ponies in and around it. Some Ministry of Peace workers, and the rest either soldiers or refugees, probably from Fillydelphia. Everypony looked stressed and a bit shocked. Inside the tent were  wounded ponies being treated. Some with severe radiation sickness, and some with severe third degree burns.         “Fillydelphia?...” One of the MoP workers asked. She was a young mare; a white coat, with a light blue mane, wearing a yellow radiation suit.         “No.” Violet replied. “Hollow Shades… What is this place?...” She asked, looking around at all the ponies and crates of supplies.         “An aid station I guess…” The young mare said in a nervous voice. “The Ministry of Peace… Oh sweet Celestia… Whatever's left of the Ministry has these set up everywhere… I… I lost contact with them a few hours ago…” She gulped a bit, looking around anxiously.         “Is… Is there anywhere left?...” Violet asked softly.         “I… I don’t know… I don’t know anything anymore..” She whimpered. “M-My family… oh sweet Celestia, my family…” She sniffed.         Violet looked around the aid station. Everywhere, ponies were crying, or trying to comfort each other. A soldier leaning against a crate of supplies, sobbing uncontrollably into her hooves; one mare who was horribly burned calling out for her foals; foals calling out for their mothers.         A group of soldiers carrying wounded civilians arrived. “Hey, we’ve got more wounded out here!” One Stallion called out to the MoP medics.         “Bring them in here.” One of the doctors called back. “Nurse, triage these patients and figure out who we can help.”         “Yes, doctor!”         Only now did the full weight of the situation start to register. “Oh…. This is…” She turned away, pulling Crimson close to her.         “Why are those ponies yelling, mommy?...” He asked.         “Because… Because those ponies are hurt… and they wanna help them to get better…” She tried her best to smile.         Violet heard the noise of motorized vehicles down the road a bit. Everypony around the aid station went quiet as the sound became louder. Soon, an Equestrian armored column came into view, followed up by an infantry company. Everypony started to cheer as the tanks got closer, their magical engines growling like savage animals.         The lead tank stopped on the road next to the aid station, and the commander climbed up out of the top hatch.         “Who's in command here?” She asked. A green Earth pony stallion came out of the crowd, limping a little with a bandaged left foreleg.         “Staff Sergeant Jester, ma’am.” He saluted, wincing as he put weight on his left leg.         “I need to get going as soon as possible, so I want your men to load all the medical supplies you have into the carriages, and follow us.” The mare in the tank said.         “...Pardon me?...” The stallion looked confused.         “Listen, sergeant. I don’t have time for this. Get your soldiers to load up the medical supplies, and do it quickly. I don’t have all day!” Ponies started to look worried now. Weren’t these ponies supposed to be helping them?         “These ponies here need this stuff!” The Earth pony said, stomping his hoof.         “Are you disobeying an order, sergeant?” The mare looked angry now.         “...Disobeying... an order?... An order from who?! Look around you! There’s nothing left! The war is over!” The stallion yelled.         The mare growled, and pointed the machine gun at him. “The war isn’t over until every last one of those striped bastards is wiped from the face of the earth!”         “There’s no EARTH left to wipe them from!” The stallion shouted. “The only e-” He was cut off as the mare fired a burst from her machine gun, sweeping it across him and the ponies around. The rounds tore through his flesh like a hot knife through butter, tearing him apart in front of Violet’s eyes. Everypony started to scream, panicking. At the commander’s order, her own soldiers began loading the supplies into carriages on their own. The other soldiers did nothing to stop them, simply staring in disbelief. Soon, the convoy started to move on again, in the direction of Fillydelphia. The lead tank commander spat on the dead stallion’s body before climbing back inside the turret and closing the hatch. “We’re dead… We’re all dead…” The white mare from before sobbed close by, staring into space. What has Equestria come to?... Violet stared in disbelief at the scene before her, holding Crimson to her chest tightly, making sure he couldn’t see. As the last of the convoy went past, some of the soldiers cast pitying glances down at the refugees, but none did anything to help. There was no point in staying now. There was no safety here. She’d just watched Equestrian soldiers stealing the life of their own people. Putting Crimson on her back, she started to run again, away from the rioting ponies, and the army that had once fought to protect Equestria’s citizens. She ran and ran, trying not to think about what had just happened. The image of the bullets passing through the stallion’s body were burned into her memory. S-So much… blood…   She ran until she came to a railway. Off to the East, she could see the pillars of smoke rising up from Fillydelphia. To the West, she saw Canterlot. The city looked mostly intact. Maybe it’d survived the attack? Then she noticed the pink cloud around it. She had no idea what it was, but it seemed to be coming from the city. It can’t be good, whatever it is… She thought, as she looked around. Then she spotted what she was looking for. A small log cabin lay about 100 yards from where she stood. There was a light inside too. She quickly made her way over to it, glancing around nervously. She raised her hoof and knocked on the door. “Anypony… home?...” She panted, still catching her breath from the long run. The door opened a tiny bit, and a young Pegasus mare stood inside, staring at her. “I don’t mean to be any trouble…” Violet panted. “But… I’ve just come from Foal Mountain… Please… I have a kid with me…” She stared at the pegasus mare. “Step inside, quickly.” The mare opened the door for her. “Thank you so much…” Violet stepped inside, letting Crimson hop down onto the floor. The pegasus closed the door behind them, glancing around first to make sure they were alone. The mare had a light brown coat and a darker brown mane. Her cutie mark was a heart with an arrow through it. “Did you run all the way here?...” She asked in a soft voice. “Not the whole way…” Violet said, shrugging off her saddlebags. “I... we… came across this Ministry of Peace aid station…” She went on to tell the Pegasus mare about what had happened. The soldiers stealing medical supplies from helpless ponies. “Oh dear… this… this really is the end, isn’t it?...” The Pegasus sighed. “I hope not…” Violet nuzzled Crimson’s mane gently as he slept. “I… I need to believe that there’s still hope… I have to be strong… for him…” “...You look tired… You should probably rest up…” The mare suggested. “Yeah…” Violet sighed. “I never got your name…” “Chocolate Valentine…” She blushed a bit. “Call me Val…” “Val… that’s a nice name…” She yawned. “You and your little one can have my bed if you want….” The Pegasus smiled. “Thanks…” Violet smiled, gently picking up Crimson in her magic and setting him on the soft mattress. She climbed in herself after that, and held her little foal gently. “Goodnight…” The Pegasus smiled, turning off the light. “Night…” Violet replied softly. Soon, she was fast asleep, exhausted from the day’s hardships. ______________________________________________________________________________