M.A.N.E.

by BRBrony9

Surface Tension

Applejack poked her head through the hatch ring, looked around, then climbed warily up, pulling herself onto the earth that covered the shelter. She looked around for the comforting red lump of her brother, who stood nearby. He was just about the only thing she recognised. The farmhouse was gone. Not just flattened, but completely gone, the wooden structure scoured from its concrete foundations and sprayed across the yard and the grass behind like confetti. A similar fate appeared to have befallen the barn, for there was no sign of it, or the water tower that used to stand on a small hillock to the rear of the farm. Most of the trees in the orchard had been blown down, although there were still a few standing, and most of the trees that screened the road from the edge of the farm were still upright, minus their upper branches, protected from the full force of the blast by a slight rise in the ground in front of them. Applejack's mouth fell open. It was as though she gazed out on an alien landscape. A giant anvil of black smoke rose above the town, blotting out the sun and the northern and eastern horizons.

'Sweet Celestia...' she breathed softly. There was nothing left of the farm; their livelihood, their business and their home. Judging by the smoke and flames to the north, there was not much left of the town either. She slammed the shelter hatch closed and trotted over to stand by her brother, who was looking up at the smoke. After they stood rooted to the spot for a couple of minutes, Big Mac spoke.

'Ah don't think we'll be able ta get into tha town,' he said grimly, 'but we can help ponies around the edge.' Applejack was seized by a sudden panic.

'We have ta try! Mah friends are in there!' she shouted.

'Ah know, mine are too,' Big Mac replied. 'But ah don't think we'll be able ta get into the town centre.' Applejack looked up at the smoky plume again, then back down at her brother.

'We can try,' she said quietly. He nodded.

'We can try,' he repeated. Then he turned and started off towards the dirt driveway that led to the front gate of the farm. Applejack followed him. She could hear a distant rumbling that could have been the crackling of the flames. It made her desperately nervous. There was another sound too, a cacophony of distant moans and wails that could have been the voices of the dying, had they not been the only ponies on the farm. It sounded almost like the air raid sirens; no, not them, but sirens nonetheless.

'Do ya hear that?' she asked as they hurried across the bark-strewn farmyard. Big Mac nodded. They skirted the concrete slab that had formed the base of the farmhouse. A few mangled pipes jutted up from the smooth surface; until half an hour ago they had been connected to the farmhouse plumbing. They trotted towards the gate. The insect-like buzz of distant wails was growing louder.

The wooden sign at the gate that read 'Welcome To Sweet Apple Acres' lay flat in the mud, cracked down the middle and missing several letters. The two siblings stepped onto the dirt track that led from the farm to the main road. From here they could see down the gently sloping hill to the town below.

Ponyville lay under a sea of roiling black smoke. Flames licked at the sky from countless locations, as if they were staring at a colossal fireplace. Applejack looked for recognisable buildings; the town hall, the old hospital, the twin chimneys of the plastics factory. The only thing she recognised was the squat bulk of the library, the trunk of which seemed to be intact.

'Let's go,' her brother growled. Applejack hesitated. From what she could see, there would be nothing they could do. But she followed him anyway. They ran down the track, their hooves kicking up dirt. The moaning wails were unmistakably getting nearer, a cluster of sounds, like a swarm of angry hornets. Applejack followed Big Mac to the road. Here again she hesitated.

'Where do we go?' she asked. 'Who do we try an' help?' Big Mac looked around for an answer.

'Ah don't know,' he replied. 'Whoever we can find...'

The wailing came nearer, mournful moans punctuated by the occasional blasts of what sounded like foghorns. Applejack looked towards the source, her right, down the road, away from town.

'What in tarnation is that?' she shouted. Her question was answered a few seconds later. A car rounded the corner in the road, followed closely by a bulky red fire engine, a blizzard of lights on its roof and grille blinking like flashbulbs. Behind it came a longer fire truck, its ladder bouncing sharply as it bumped around the potholed corner. Another followed, then another, and another. Applejack watched from the roadside as they rolled closer, a string of vehicles painted red and trimmed with white.

The car sped past them, a grim-faced stallion at the wheel and an equally stalwart pony in the front passenger seat speaking into a radio and sparing them but a single glance. The fire engine roared past, a white number 54 painted on its front bumper and side door, its engine thrumming and its siren wailing. Behind it came the ladder truck, airhorn blaring like a train, a large Equestrian flag flying from its back end, fluttering in the breeze. Applejack watched with a curious mixture of pride and helplessness as the firefighting vehicles thundered past. She glanced back up at the pillar of smoke overhanging the town, and couldn't help but feel that the fireponies would be as helpless as she was once they got there.

She watched them roll by- a string of engines and ladder trucks, followed by a group of more unusual vehicles, most of which she had never seen before and the functions of which she would have been at a loss to identify had they not been written on the sides. She read the names as they passed by; 'Hazardous Materials Company 1,' 'Foam Tender Unit,' 'Mask Service Unit,' 'Mobile Command Vehicle' and several others. They all sounded impressive, but she doubted they could have much impact on what was left of the town. The very last vehicle in the convoy, a regular, familiar fire engine, slowed to a stop in front of them with a hiss of brakes. The side window was rolled down, and a helmeted head popped out.

'You folks ok?' the firepony asked. 'Need any help?'

'We're fine,' Big Mac replied. 'In fact we were lookin' ta see if we could help down in town.' The firepony looked them up and down, then nodded.

'Well I think we're gonna need all the strong hooves we can get. If you want to help, climb aboard.' The rear crew door of the engine opened. Applejack climbed up into the cab behind the driver. It smelled faintly of rubber, from the masks and tubes of the breathing apparatus that hung on the rear bulkhead. There were four fireponies in the rear cab, wearing their high-collared bunker gear, their helmets clutched in their laps. There was just enough room for Applejack and her brother to squeeze in. Big Mac shut the door behind him and the fire engine started off with a jerk.

'Welcome aboard,' one of the fireponies grunted sardonically. 'One way ticket straight into Tartarus.' Applejack could see out of the windscreen from her seat, and his comment seemed all too apt- all she could see was fire and smoke.

Rarity followed the rest of the group up the concrete steps and out through the door. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the light, and when they did she wished they hadn't. Devastation, all around her. The three-storey shop that had been directly across the street from the shelter entrance had crumbled like a broken biscuit into a shattered ruin of brick and wood. Looking to her left and right, Rarity could see that the rest of the street had succumbed in a similar fashion. Fires burned in several of the collapsed houses. Not a building remained standing. The trees in the park had been smashed to the ground, the foliage blackened. The town hall was a crumpled, smouldering mess. Rarity gaped in astonishment. She covered her mouth with a hoof when she saw the bodies in the street; three of them, charred and steaming like a freshly prepared meal. One of them was quite clearly that of a young foal. She suddenly felt nauseous, partly from the sight and partly from the knowledge that the burned bodies, or any of the countless others that would be buried in the rubble, could be those of her friends. Their coats and skin were so badly burned it was difficult to even tell what colour they had been. She turned her head away, scanning the burning horizon instead. The sky was blotted out, as if they were under a giant blanket.

Rarity followed the group, stepping onto the cobbled street. Some of the stones had been cracked, others shattered. The roadway was strewn with rubble, fragments of brick, glass, metal and wood. She had to place her hooves carefully. Officer Hawk split the group of wide-eyed ponies in half. Rarity was in his group, along with Lyra.

'Remember, when you hear the whistle, get back to the shelter!' he called, then turned to address his group. 'Spread out, check the buildings.' He looked at the nervous Rarity and Lyra. 'You two, stick with me,' he gestured at them. 'You come with us too.' He nodded at a burly Earth pony stallion. They gathered round him. All Rarity could hear was the crackling of the flames and the occasional shudder as the rubble shifted. Hawk pointed at what remained of the ruined shop across the street.

'Come on, we're checking it out.' Hawk lead the hesitant trio across the street. Rarity tried to look away from the smouldering corpse that lay in their path, but found a morbid horror locked her eyes upon it. The bile rose in her throat. What had once been a pony was now little more than a hunk of meat, as if they had stood in the path of a dragon's fiery breath. Rarity froze in her tracks as she stared, unable to tear her gaze away. The sight was one thing, but the sickly smell of roasted flesh was quite another, and as she breathed deeply in panic the stench entered her nostrils, along with the acrid smoke from a dozen fires. She turned away from the group and vomited convulsively onto the pavement. Her legs began to wobble as she threw up, until Lyra put a steadying hoof around her.

'It's ok,' she said quietly. 'I think we're all gonna be throwing up at some point. Best to get it out of the way.' Rarity looked up at her with wide, panicked eyes, and Lyra forced a smile. She was wearing a leather saddlebag, and she reached into it and pulled out a tissue. Rarity took it and wiped the flecks of vomit from around her mouth.

'T-thank you...' she mumbled. The rest of their group had pulled ahead of them and were now on the other side of the road.

'Come on, we should catch up,' Lyra said, taking her by the hoof and leading her across the road around the corpses. Rarity closed her eyes as they passed and held her breath, but the cloying stench found its way inside anyway, and she could taste it on the back of her throat. The rubble creaked and groaned as it settled.

Hawk was at the edge of the collapsed shop already, peering into the rubble with his flashlight. The earth pony stallion stood next to him calling out in a deep voice.

'Anypony in there? Is there anypony trapped?' He received no reply, but they kept looking anyway. Rarity and Lyra joined the two stallions. A spiral of grey smoke was drifting lazily up from the collapsed shop. Rarity stood on the cracked pavement, looking up at the clear blue sky. Minutes earlier, death had been raining down from it. Now it looked as peaceful as ever. She wondered if that was it; if it was all over. Or was there a second wave of missiles, already on their way, streaking through the upper atmosphere? Rainbow Dash had talked about manned aircraft, too; bombers similar to the ones the Equestrian Air Force possessed, that would take several hours to arrive but which could each drop a dozen nuclear bombs. She shuddered and returned her gaze to the ruins.

Hawk shook his head.

'There's nopony alive in there. Move on to the next building!' He waved a hoof at the next structure along the road; what had once been a florist's shop. The four ponies trotted over to it and the earth stallion repeated his calls. Rarity was shocked when she heard a faint moan in reply.

'Oh good heavens...' she whispered. Hawk nodded and knelt down by the rubble, leaning over.

'Can you hear us?' Another moan answered him.

'Start digging,' he ordered. 'Be careful what you move, we don't want to cause any further collapse. Just lift bricks and wood.' Lyra sprang into action, moving some of the debris with her magic. The earth pony and Hawk used their hooves, scrabbling desperately at the mounds of rubble. Rarity copied Lyra's actions. After a few minutes of frenzied activity, a hoof could be seen sticking up from the rubble. It twitched a little. Rarity reached out and took it as the others continued to work, digging deeper into the pile. She squeezed the hoof comfortingly.

After a little more frantic digging, they uncovered the face of the trapped pony, peeping pathetically through a gap in two thick wooden support beams. Rarity gasped. It was Rose, also known as Roseluck, the florist, her face and mane caked in brick dust.

'Rose! Oh, good heavens, darling...' Rarity moaned, squeezing her hoof a little tighter. 'It's going to be alright. We'll get you out of there in a minute...' Even as she spoke she knew her tone of voice made her words sound insincere- not surprising, since she didn't believe them herself. Rose was trapped under bricks and thick wooden support beams, caught in a pocket of clear space that was altogether too small for her body. She had been crushed into the pocket, her body contorted unnaturally. She whimpered a little, barely able to speak at all thanks to the brick dust she had inhaled. She coughed weakly, and Rarity squeezed her hoof again as the others continued to try and extricate the trapped mare.

'It's alright, darling,' she whispered. 'It'll be alright.'

Rose shook her head, an almost imperceptible movement. Her breathing was weak and rapid, and the fast pulse Rarity could feel in her hoof was thready. She knows she is dying.

A lump formed in Rarity's throat. Though she knew Rose, she was more of an acquaintance than a close friend, but Rarity could not help but imagine her companions trapped in similar circumstances, or lying shriveled up and steaming in the streets. She closed her eyes for a few seconds to try and block out such thoughts, but it just made them worse. She gave another squeeze to the hoof of the trapped mare, who coughed again, a sickening, gurgling sound. Her hoof felt cold.

Hawk turned away from her and began to speak quietly to the earth stallion. Rarity could overhear them, and the news was not good.

'We can't shift all this debris,' Hawk said. 'It's too heavy, even for unicorn magic. We'd need heavy lifting gear. Even if we did get her out, she would probably die from crush syndrome. Her hind legs are completely trapped. She's probably going to die any minute anyway.'

Rarity held onto her hoof with both of her own now, giving her a reassuring, albeit false, smile. Hawk was right- Rose was completely penned in, and her breathing was getting even weaker. She was going into shock, and there was nothing they could do to help her. Her eyes began to close, then flicker open, then close again. Rarity kept holding onto her hoof tightly. Suddenly she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and looked round.

Lyra was standing beside her. She noticed the others had stopped digging, stopped trying to reach her. Lyra looked at Rarity with a grim expression.

'There's nothing we can do for her, Rarity,' she said. 'I'm sorry. Hawk says we have to move on. She's unconscious now; she won't be in any more pain.'

Rarity swallowed hard, glancing between the mint-green mare and the one turned brown by brick dust. Slowly, she began to let go, laying Rose's hoof down gently on the rubble and standing up, her legs weak. She turned away from Rose, her eyes red, both from tears and irritation from the dust and smoke. She nodded slowly at Lyra.

Hawk pointed to the next building along, which Rarity realised with a shudder of horror had once been Sugarcube Corner. The cakes were out of town, but Pinkie had been working there, and she had asked Rainbow Dash to help her...

The four ponies clambered down from the rubble and moved quickly along the street to the ruined bakery. An acrid stench was filling her nostrils; the smoke from the fires in the oil tanks were spreading across the town, bringing the raw tang of burning hydrocarbons. She followed the others up to where the front door of the shop had once been. The three story structure had protruded above the surrounding buildings, and had caught the blast; unlike the florist's shop, most of Sugarcube Corner had been spread across the street beyond it like matchwood, only the ground floor having collapsed in on itself. Still, there was very little left of the building that would be recognisable as such.

'Can anypony hear me?' Hawk shouted as loud as he could, poking his muzzle down near to the pile of wood. 'Anypony in there? Hello?'

To Rarity's surprise, he got an answer, and it was a voice she recognised.

'Hey! Hey, we're down here! I-in the basement, Sugarcube Corner basement!' The unmistakable, slightly crackly voice of Rainbow Dash.

'Rainbow! Darling, are you alright? It's me, it's Rarity!' She shouted. 'I-is Pinkie with you?'

'Rarity? Thank Celestia you're ok!' Dash replied, the relief in her voice obvious. 'We're both here, we're not hurt, but we're stuck.'

'Well don't worry, we're going to get you out! Just hold on!' She called, immediately beginning to lift shattered wood from the ruins. Lyra quickly joined in, and Hawk and the earth pony scrabbled through the debris with their hooves. After a few minutes of desperate work, an opening became visible, a gap in the ceiling of the basement where the collapsing building had punched through the stone.

'We can see into the basement, girls! It won't be long now!' Rarity called. She peered down into the hole as they worked. After a few more minutes the hole was wide enough for a pony to enter and descend into the darkness.

'Rarity!'

The unicorn looked around, surprised to hear her name being called from behind. She became even more surprised when she saw who had spoke.

'Twilight, darling! Oh, thank heavens you're alright!' She rushed over and embraced the purple mare who was walking towards them through the rubble-strewn street. She hugged back.

'Rarity...you're alright! What are you doing up here?' Twilight asked, glancing over her shoulder.

'Oh...Rainbow and Pinkie...they're trapped, in the basement,' she explained. Twilight looked aghast.

'A-are they alright? Are they hurt?' she asked.

'They said they weren't hurt, they're just trapped,' Rarity replied.

'Oh, thank goodness...well we have to get them out! Where is Fluttershy? She was with you, right?'

'Yes. She's in the shelter still. She's not hurt, just very scared. Too scared to come up here with the rescue party,' Rarity explained, as the two mares got back to work digging with their magic.

'Oh, good...we're alright, she's alright, Pinkie and Rainbow are alright, so is Spike. Have you seen Applejack?'

'No...' Rarity shook her head. 'She must still be over at the farm. I don't know what things are like over there. I'd go look for her, but...' she glanced at Hawk, 'we don't have long, in case the fallout reaches us. I don't think we could make it to the farm and back in time.'

'Well...they have a bomb shelter there. I'm sure they're fine...' Twilight continued to dig, until a minute later the hole was a little more stable. Hawk stood up.

'Somepony needs to go down there and free them. It should be a unicorn, in case they are trapped by something that is too heavy to lift by hoof.' He looked at the three unicorns, who glanced at each other.

'I'll go,' Twilight said, looking at Rarity and Lyra. 'I'm a little smaller than you two.' She made her way over to the hole. Hawk shone his flashlight down into it, and she lowered herself down, as if she was lowering herself into a bath. A few loose fragments of wood trickled down with her, and the rubble around her groaned unsettlingly.

Above the groans, Rarity could hear another, distant noise, a throbbing hum, and above that a pulsating whine, almost like a siren. She peered down into the hole as Twilight made her way to the bottom, placing her hooves gently on the stone floor of the basement.

'Where are you girls?' she called, her horn glowing with magical light, illuminating her surroundings.

'Twilight!?' both the trapped mares responded immediately, recognising her voice. 'Twi, thank Celestia you're ok!' Dash called. 'We're over here, behind the crates.' She knocked on one of them hard with a hoof to guide Twilight. The purple mare quickly made her way over to the stack of boxes, examining them. One of the thick, wooden support beams that had held up the basement's ceiling had fallen across the opening the two mares had used to crawl into shelter. Twilight studied it for a few moments.

'I can't lift it...it would probably bring down most of this rubble on us,' she shouted.

'Can you cut it?' Hawk called down to her. She shook her head.

'I don't have a saw! I could burn through it with my magic, but it would just set it on fire, and these boxes, too. Officer, is there a saw in the shelter?'

'No!' Hawk replied. 'You'd need a hardware store or something, and I don't think the nearest one is still standing, somehow.'

Rarity looked on with a worried expression. The distant sounds were getting louder and angrier. She looked up at the clear sky, fearfully, scanning for any aircraft that might be overhead.

'Look!' Lyra shouted, pointing down the road with her hoof. Rarity followed her gesture and looked to the south. She could see lights, flashing lights, dozens of them, moving along the road from what used to be Sweet Apple Acres.

'That must be the firefighting column!' cried Hawk, fumbling with his radio. 'I'd forgotten about them...' He spoke into the radio. 'Any firefighting units on this frequency, this is the Ponyville Police Department. Do you read me, over?' After a few seconds of static, he got a reply.

'Ponyville, this is Task Force 1, Chief Firebrand. We read you. What's the situation down there? Can you advise us?'

'The situation...uh...' he looked around at the ruined town. 'The situation is...unmanageable. Major structural damage, numerous buildings have suffered complete collapse. Casualties unknown, but presumed extremely heavy, over.' Rarity winced.

'10-4. What about access? We are approaching the town from the south, on the Fillymore road. Can we get into the town from this direction?' Hawk scanned the road ahead of the firefighting column. Though most of it was lined with trees and, as it made its way into town, buildings, it was aligned in such a way that the blast wave had knocked everything down parallel with it, keeping the actual roadway mostly clear of obstructions.

'Chief, you should be able to drive straight into the town square, the road looks to be clear,' Hawk said, the radio hissing and squealing and the Chief's reply coming back somewhat broken up.

'10-4, Ponyville. Do you have any priorities for us? We're keeping a close eye on radiation levels. We might not have long to operate before we need to take cover.' Hawk glanced at the ruins of Sugarcube Corner before replying.

'Uh, roger that. We have a total collapse of the town hall. The mayor and the emergency staff are presumed trapped in the operations centre in the basement. We also have two ponies trapped in the basement of the Sugarcube Corner bakery on Mane Street, we need cutting gear. Anything north of the town centre can be pretty much written off, plus I don't think you could get your trucks in there. We also have a partial collapse and major fire in the, uh...' he peered through the coiling smoke drifting across the roadway, trying to determine its source. 'In the furniture store on Mane Street.' The radio buzzed for a few more seconds.

'10-4. We'll send the collapse rig and one of the Rescue companies to the town hall. The other Rescue company will assist at the bakery. Is the lake in the park still accessible?' Hawk radioed back that he thought it was. 'Alright, good. We'll draft water from there. I assume the mains pressure will be shot to hell.' Rarity watched as the column drew closer, glancing back at the hole in the rubble every few seconds.

'It's alright, girls!' she called down. 'The fire department will be here in a minute!' Sure enough, a minute later the lead vehicles rolled by, lights flickering. Rarity watched the vehicles and the grim-faced ponies inside. Midway down the column, one of the bulky Heavy Rescue vehicles pulled out of line and came to a halt near where she was standing, the crew climbing down from the cab and out of the walk-in compartment at the rear. A few more vehicles rolled by, some pulling up near the shelter and others continuing on through the curtain of smoke towards where the town hall used to stand proud. Rarity watched in sickened horror as one of the engines, turning off to stop near the shelter entrance, ran over one of the horribly burned bodies. She quickly turned away.

Several of the pumpers stopped near the burning furniture store and their crews ran out the fast attack hose lines from their bumpers, quickly getting water onto the blaze from their onboard tanks. Once those were dry, however, there would be no more water available, unless they were lucky and the pressure in the water mains remained good, which was unlikely. The high-volume pumping vehicle had been purchased by the department for just such an occurance, and it pulled into the entrance to the park. The pumps on board could be removed from the load bed of the truck and submersed in any suitable water source, the lake within the park in this case, to provide a large and reliable source of water in the event of a problem with the mains, or an incident occurring in an area that was not on the water grid.

The last few vehicles in the column rumbled by, and Rarity turned back to the rubble. The crew of the Rescue company were clambering over the mess now; one of them had a large circular saw on his back. The Captain of the company was conversing with officer Hawk. Rarity peered down into the hole, but was startled by yet another shout from behind her. She turned around, but saw nothing except the last few fire engines driving by. The very last vehicle in the column suddenly applied its brakes and came to a hissing halt just beyond the ruined bakery. Rarity glanced idly at it, but a few seconds later her eyes widened as a familiar orange pony appeared, walking around the front of the cab and followed by an equally familiar stallion.

'Applejack!' she cried joyfully, as the two mares began to run towards each other. 'Big Mac! Oh, thank heavens!' She quickly hugged Applejack tightly. 'You're alright! I-is your family...?'

'We're all fine, sugarcube,' AJ replied. 'Ah sure am glad ta see you. H-have ya heard from the others?'

'Yes, yes, they're all alive!' Applejack sighed deeply with relief. 'Fluttershy is in the shelter still. Twilight is down there,' she gestured at the ruins, 'helping Rainbow and Pinkie. They're trapped.'

'Pinkie and...Dashie...?' Applejack asked, her expression changing instantly to one of concern. 'A-are they hurt?'

'No, no. They said they're fine, but they're stuck. The fireponies are going to cut them out,' Rarity explained to her, and her expression softened a little. The pony with the saw had descended into the hole, and a loud buzzing could be heard from below, indicating he had started his work.

Further down the street, the blowing smoke began to lighten somewhat as the fireponies applied water to the burning building. Hawk was still talking into his radio, conversing with the fire chief, having moved away from the hole and the noise of the saw.

'I've got no contact with any other police units,' he continued. 'Only my partner. We haven't been able to get out yet, we've been trying to make rescues in the area around the shelter. I've got no information on the rest of the town. We need to get some ponies over to the hospitals to check them out, and also the hoofball stadium. If it's intact we can proceed with the emergency evacuation plan.' A few minutes later the sound of the saw ceased. The fireponies clustered around the hole and began to pull Twilight out. She was followed by Pinkie, and then Rainbow. Both of them were covered in plaster dust, but were unhurt. AJ and Rarity hurried over to them. Applejack pulled Rainbow into a tight hug. Rarity was about to do the same to Pinkie when she stopped, noticing the dust, but then decided she must already be filthy from digging through the rubble, and hugged her anyway.

'Applejack...thank Celestia...' Rainbow hugged the orange mare back tightly. Pinkie did the same to Rarity.

'Where's Fluttershy?' she asked. Rarity explained. 'So we're all ok? Oh, that's great...' Pinkie sighed happily, coughing a little from all the dust.

'We are, but...' Rarity looked around, 'the rest of the town isn't...'

Comments

[Emerald Harp]

We have only read the first chapter of the story, and we are hooked!

This is the first Cold War type story we have read so far on this site and we think it's a good one.
Favorite and Like.

[BRBrony9]

3910832 Glad you like it! I had noticed a distinct lack of this kind of story so I thought I would try and fill in the gap

[Word Bearer]

this is the prequel to Fallout Equestria

[EchoWolf31]

Well done. I haven't seen a story that captures the cold war feel and then the escalation to nuclear war.

[bluemoon1996]

Seems appropriate

[PLMROTOK]

I love this story! Finally a cold war/nuclear war fic! I could have never done it as good as this you're awesome!

[Kabelsalad]

Oh dear god. It's Threads all over again. Congratulations, sir; you have succeeded on making me literally quake in my boots.

[BRBrony9]

5464375

Just my intention! I love Threads, as much as one can love such a depressing film, and that's exactly what I was aiming for. In fact, I stole a bit of dialogue from it! 'Forget the first aid kit and fetch me something to cover him up with...' Glad you like it! Other things have taken my attention, but someday i hope to continue the story.

[Brass Case]

It's a good one so far. My only issue is... Why is Pinkie acting like a 6 year old? I doubt she'd be ignorant to the prospect of death, or have little to no sense of preservation when the bombs fall, and might even understand how it works. I imagine Rainbow being the ignorant one, not caring about what it does but only that it goes boom and makes a huge fireball. That alone kinda cracks the illusion. Beyond that, love the bit 'bout the apples wanting a bomb shelter. If you aren't prepared, you may as well be dead.

[BRBrony9]

5638329
Well, because that's how Pinkie always acts! Remember how she just laughed at the prospect of death/capture/whatever in the forest in the first episode? She even had a song about it. Rainbow's obsessed with the Wonderbolts, and in this story that extends to the rest of the military, which is why she knows more about the bombs than the others.

[ponies r awesome]

I can't wait for more.