Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

by Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 2: Shiny and Ancient

Fallout Equestria: Fly Away

By Freeflyingwolf

Chapter 2: Shiny and Ancient

”But that Rainbow one kicked me.”

Awaking in a strange place caused Sunshy to jerk from the remnants of his sleep. Wide awake, he stared around at the room he occupied with his manticore friends. The two continued to sleep, though Big Sol did move his head to lie on the little colt’s back, and Celly squirmed in her sleep before settling down.

As the rays of sun filtered through the dirty window, the pegasus stared around the room. It was cleaner than it had been in two hundred years, he guessed. The dust was cleared, one could see the floor, there were books and other items were set up against the walls or anywhere out of the way.

Sadness swept over the colt as he remembered yesterday. He was stranded from home. He fell from the clouds, so now he was stranded in the Wasteland. Even worse, he was stranded in the Everfree Forest. It was full of monsters that would snap up a snack like him in a moment.

The warm, if smelly, breath of a manticore swept over his face. Sunshy looked away and stuck his tongue out at the gross smell. He didn’t know what it was that he smelled, and he would rather not know. Somehow, he had the sneaking suspicion that he would find out.

That was right; he had no need to be afraid! He had a giant lion-scorpion-bat monster to protect him!

Big Sol lifted his head up, stretched out his body like the cat, cracked his jaw yawning, and stretched out his wings. Moments later, Celly mimicked her father, save for her wings. Sol licked the heads of both children before standing and shaking off the last remnants of sleep.

A growl caught everyone’s attention. They all looked down to Sunshy, who flattened his ears in embarrassment. His stomach was clenching and hurting; all he had eaten had been upchucked yesterday and he had nothing after that. The excitement of venturing with two manticores had driven food from his mind.

The long tongue swept over the entirety of his back before Sol walked to the door and pushed it open with his large paw. The two young ones blocked their eyes from the strong sunlight. Once their eyes adjusted, the pony and baby manticore were nudged out the door.

It was a bright new day in the Everfree forest. The bloatsprites were flying, some mutated bird screeched at them with the sound of claws on a chalkboard, and the giant manticore pounced upon a wandering radhog.

Sunshy gasped, paled, and froze in shock from the sight. Sol had pounced on the much smaller monster, dug his claws into its hide, bit its neck and twisted his head. This all happened within the span of a few seconds.

Heartbreak evident on his face, Sunshy walked over to the dead radhog and sent a prayer to Celestia and Luna for it. Walking away from the corpse, he was comforted in the fact that at least it died fast. Curious, he watched Celly walk past and tear a chunk of flesh from the radhog. Wow, why was it suddenly hot and black and stars, oh Goddesses, he was passing out.

Waking up, Sunshy was deeply offended to find that someone had moved the sky. It was above him and that wasn’t right. He was a pegasus, the sky was under him, not above. Oh, wait, he was on the ground, lying down, actually. The sky…wow.

Sunshy found himself breathless as he stared up. The sky was…rather beautiful. While he was more or less immune to the beauty of direct sunlight, it was so….different seeing it from the ground. There were clouds dotting the bright blue sky, some making shapes if Sunshy used his imagination. How was he scared of it before? A lion cub’s face peered down at him, mewling in confusion and worry.

Trying not to look at her bloodied muzzle, Sunshy rolled onto his hooves and walked away from the squelchy sounds. Once he could no longer hear the carnivores devouring their meal, the colt stared at the dark green grass. The books in school said that grass was edible to ponies. Grass seemed to be the one thing that they did not grow up in the clouds.

Nervous and indecisive, Sunshy fidgeted in place. His tummy rumbled again, impatient for food. Courage built up as much as it could in the tiny, timid body. Breath held, eyes closed, wings tight against his body, Sunshy shot his head down with his mouth open. His muzzle clamped around a clump of grass, his head shot up, and he started chewing.

Cerulean eyes cracked open in faint curiosity. Dark green grass of the Everfree Forest was….not bad. Vegetables like carrots were much better, and fruit was just spectacular. Grass…Sunshy raised a hoof and waved it in a so-so manner, cocking his head. It wasn’t delicious, but it wasn’t inedible. Swallowing his mouthful, the little colt looked up to the trees. What about leaves?

Yellow wings fluttered, letting a tiny filly float up to the leaves of the trees. Feeling brave for the first time in his life, Sunshy reached out and took a large bite of leaves. Chewing, he found it tasted different from the grass, but in the same level of so-so.

A mewl got the pegasus’s attention. He glanced over his shoulder to see Celly staring up to him, her wings outstretched. Sunshy landed down on the ground next to her and checked her bandages. They were clean, for the most part, as the healing potion had slowed the bleeding. He was happy to see that her muzzle was clean. Still smelled, though.

“Good, you’re doing just fine, Celly.” Sunshy smiled at her and received a nuzzle against his face.

A low growl was the only warning they received before the father appeared. Big Sol stared at them with obvious disappointment. Only bad children left their parent’s sight. Both children lowered their heads and looked ashamed. Sol’s head reached out to them and picked up Celly by her middle with his mouth. After setting her on his back, he turned back to Sunshy and reached out to him with his mouth open.

Fear spiked through his tiny body and part of the colt wanted to bolt. But before he could, the jaws clamped around his midsection. The teeth were sharp and poked at his sides, but they did not puncture. In fact, Sol was holding him rather gently, as if he was his own as he set Sunshy on his back, next to his own daughter. Celly cuddled up to him, rubbing her cheek against his neck. Sunshy smiled. He had a new family.

Sol walked with his children on his back, his wings slightly raised to shield them from the view of anything living in the forest. The two lied together on the large creature’s back, basking in the spotty sunlight and staring at anything they could see.

Celestia’s sun slowly rose into the sky as Sol walked with his children on his back. Celly had fallen fast asleep to the rhythm of her father’s trotting. However, Sunshy was still wide awake and staring all around. Everything was so fascinating; he wished he had a notepad and pencil to take notes.

Boatflies were hostile and shot barbs at anything, frogs ate them, Lupis Minors looked like glowing blue baby wolves with some star pattern inside them, and nothing wanted to mess with a manticore. Well, except for the stupid boatflies, as they didn’t know any better but to shoot barbs at anything that move. Also, Manticore stingers could pierce right through their soft bodies.

As the sun hung in the center of the sky, something shiny caught Sunshy’s attention. Curious, he flapped his wings and flew over to what was glinting in the light. Landing next to it, he found something small and clear poking out of the ground. Sunshy dug at it with his hooves, giggled and squirmed at the strange feeling dirt had, but then went back to digging it out. Sol continued on, not noticing the small absence of his adopted son.

A diamond came out of the ground. Sunshy stomped excitedly in place, squealed, and picked up the precious jewel in his mouth. Glancing up, he saw the entrance to a low cave. Inside, he saw more glittering and shining objects. Hope perked inside the colt, as did his ears. He trotted forward into the cave, placing the diamond in his mouth and taking a fresh apple Big Sol and picked for him out of his saddle.

Humming tunelessly, Sunshy dug at the ground every time he found something peeking out of the ground or ceiling. Though he was not very strong, the dirt did not resist him much. The gems he found were kept in one of his saddle bags. He had to reorganize his things, but it was worth it. The sheer amount of rubies, diamonds, topaz, gold, and just about everything shiny under Celestia’s sun in this cave was close to overflowing.

A little later, Sunshy noticed something he had never seen before. It looked like a giant circle made of metal, with stout arms reaching out. It took him a moment to realize it was in the shape of a gear. In the center was the painted number 15. Curiosity got the better of the colt. He slowly approached the door, noticing a lever off to the left of it. There were lights all around it; part of him noted that was how the cave was lit so well inside.

SLAM!!

Sunshy fell onto his rump hard, spilling some of his hard-earned jewels onto the cave floor. A giant…agiantredtailwithpinkspikesofdeaththatcouldspearhim.

Heat filled the colt’s body and darkness crept into the edges of his vision as splotches of color blinked before him. He was just about to pass out again before he screamed at the darkness and feeling of going up. Something big had grabbed him, something so big he fit in the palm of the hand and the fingers could close around him.

Panting hard, Sunshy cowered and covered his head with his hooves as the light came back on. Daring a peek through his pink mane, he could scarcely make out the shape of…oh Goddesses…a…a dragon. The scaled fire-breathing reptile stared down at the colt, somewhat impressed it had not leaked on him in fear. Sunshy felt he was very close to changing that.

“H…h…hi.” Sunshy squeaked out. Momma had always told him to talk to others. If you talk to them, and they talk back, you can either make a friend or distract them long enough to run away.

“What is your name?” The giant lizard questioned in a rather booming voice.

“S…suh…Sunshy.” It wanted to know about him, so maybe it did not want to eat him. Or maybe it wanted to know his name before it ate him for some reason.

Sunshy lowered his hooves and stared at the dragon with one covered and uncovered eye. It was mega garhugic—gargantuan, huge, gigantic all in one. The dragon reached the top of the cave, which seemed to be the distance from the ground to the sky. Okay, maybe an exaggeration for a pony who had never seen many large things before. He had, however, been told of the SPP, machines that grew their sky crops that went all the way to the surface. He guessed the cave was as big as that.

Judging by the lackluster color of the red scales and the pools of gold wisdom called eyes, the dragon was ancient. It was probably a full-grown adult before the war, two hundred years ago. No wonder it was old. That did not, in any way, diminish its scariness factor. It still had large bat wings and scales and claws the size of a house and gigantic gold eyes with slit pupils and…and…a sad face?

”Oh…” The dragon was…sad. Its hand lowered to the ground, allowing Sunshy to jump off and go about his merry way as if this never happened. Of course, he did not—oh, part of him wanted to bolt, sure—but…

“Why are you sad?” Just seeing the dragon unhappy affected him. His kind heart would not let anything stay unhappy if he could help it. Sunshy sat up on the dragon’s hand, causing some more gems to spill out.

The dragon seemed shocked that question. A moment of hesitation later, he raised its hand back so Sunshy was not just a colorful speck to it. Sunshy decided it was a boy; no girl could have a voice that deep. At least he hoped so.

”You look like Fluttershy.” The dragon answered. That was not surprising to Sunshy; heard it all before. ”She told me to stay in the cave and guard it. Guard the ponies and zebra that lived inside that Stable.”

“That’s what that is?” Sunshy wondered, looking back to the cog-shaped door. He had heard all sorts of things about them, but never seen one. Nopony bothered mentioning what they even looked like. Not the right question, silly, his mind told him. The yellow colt’s neck almost snapped he whipped his head back to the dragon. Both bright cerulean eyes stared up at the ancient one. “You knew Fluttershy?”

”Yes,” the dragon nodded, ”She told me off for trying to nap in a cave over her town. But I understood what I did was wrong, so I left. I went back for my jewels so that white and purple one couldn’t take them, though.”

“When was that?” Sunshy had found his one true joy; learning about Fluttershy. It wasn’t so much idol worship as it was…clearing her name. The inventor of the Megaspell got a lot of nasty mudslinging. As he looked like her, the taunts that she killed Equestria were flung at Sunshy. So he did everything he could to find ways to clear her name. Like talking to ancient dragons.

”Many years before the war between pony and zebra. My brothers and sisters fought for the zebras, but I stayed out of it. I knew it was foolish to fight in a war for other creatures. I was young to them back then, so they did not listen to me.”

“Now you’re probably the oldest living dragon left.” Stupid Sunshy, that was rude! “Oh! I-I didn’t—“

”No offense taken, Sunshy. I am ancient.”

“So…” Sunshy kicked his hoof and looked down in an aloof way. “What do you know about Fluttershy?” Smooth…

The dragon seemed to be choking! Smoke spewed from its nostrils as its chest heaved up and down while it made a choking sound. Sunshy couldn’t use the Neighmlick Maneuver on such a giant thing! Then he noticed the mouth pulled back in a rather scary smile. Oh! He was being laughed at…again.

”Only what any pony can tell you. It was not like we were best friends.” Disappointment engulfed Sunshy. The dragon was suddenly flustered at that. Damn, but that colt was too adorable without trying. Seeing his sadness made the dragon sad. ”Well…not best friends, but we were friends before the war. And I can tell you that she came to me only months before the Megaspells hit.” Yellow ears perked up and big eyes slid to look at golden ones, ”She kindly asked if her friends could use my cave to build a Stable. Once it was built, she asked if I would stay here, protect those inside when they got here. I had no reason to object.”

“How did you survive the radiation? The cave’s mouth is rather large.” Sunshy wondered, a little less upset.

”Thick scales.” The dragon snorted out a puff of smoke and grinned. ”I think that was why Fluttershy asked me to stay. When I saw the bombs go off, I dove in front of the door. She must have known I would protect them as she asked. It’s rather hard not to do as she says…” Golden eyes glazed and partly misted over. They snapped down when the dragon felt something soft pressing against his arm. Sunshy’s eyes were misty, too. The dragon used his free hand to wipe away the forming tears.

“H…how long before those in the Stable came out?” Sunshy asked while blinking away the tears, trying to change the topic to something less hurtful.

”Only fifty or so years ago. I was quite surprised to find that zebras and ponies can have babies.” At the shock he received from the innocent little colt, the dragon felt ashamed that he said something like that.

“Wow! We never learned that in biology! Why do you look like that? Oh! Oh, don’t worry; I know how babies are made. No damage done.” Sunshy waved a hoof, dispelling the dragon’s shame. “I’m an adult! Look, I have a cutie mark and everything!”

The dragon had to squint to see the tiny picture on the flank of the colt. It was rather easy, as Sunshy had stood and was poised sideways so that it was easier for the dragon to see and he could see the dragon’s reaction.

“A manticore with a…marshmallow?” The dragon’s face moved closer, trying to get a good view.

“No, silly! It’s a roll of bandage, see? I’m good at healing others and I’m good with animals, too.”

At that, the ancient reptile fell silent. He pulled his head back and stared down at Sunshy. After a while, the yellow face turned orange from blushing. He started squirming; being the center of attention was not his forte and he did not like it when other stared.

“So much like her…” He finally muttered in a normal indoor voice. It must have been a whisper to the dragon.

“I know. Everyone tells me that.” Sunshy responded blandly. Really, it got old fast. But the dragon was shaking his head.

“No, not just…not just in looks. You’re so kindhearted, just like her.” A smile tugged at the maw. “I’ll tell you what a baby friend of mine tells all sorts of other ponies. Find a virtue, some armor, knowledge, and most importantly, friends.”

“Can kindness be my virtue?” Sunshy asked in a way-too-adorably diabetes-infecting teeth-rotting cute manner. With his mane covering his face in a shy way, too! The dragon thought he would die of a heart attack of over-cute. The best way to die.

“I’m sure it is. You already have friends and intelligence. Only if you want to go to the wasteland will you need boarding. I don’t recommend it; there are nasty ponies out there.”

“So every other pegasus keeps telling me.” Sunshy kicked at a diamond halfheartedly. It didn’t even leave the dragon’s hand…he really hated how weak he was.

“Not all ponies are bad, so many are trying to do good in this world. I have something for you, to prove it.”

When he finished talking, the nice dragon lowered his hand and let Sunshy off. Then he turned and walked a few feet and then shrank!! Oh, wait, no…he had been standing on a gigantic pile of gems. So he wasn’t actually as tall as the sky. Right, Sunshy knew that. Oh joy, was that a crown?!

The dragon came back to find Sunshy covered head to tail in jewelry, his saddlebags removed to make room for more things draping over his back. With a heavy hoof covered in gold jewel-encrusted bracelets, the little colt lifted a crown much too large away from his eyes. The dragon smiled down at him like he was the cutest thing in all of Equestria. Not showing teeth, thankfully.

“I have a weakness for shiny.” Sunshy admitted as he began removing the dragon’s jewelry.

“Thank you.” The dragon said as he lied down on top of his mountainous pile of shiny things. So much shiny…

“No need; I would never steal something, especially not from a dragon.” Sunshy replied while trying to get a rather difficult bracelet off.

“Well that too…Thank you for keeping me company. It has been so lonely these two centuries. Only mindless monsters ever poke their heads in. Zebras and ponies are…are gems all on their own.” A fire-laced sigh escaped the dragon.

“I…I can come and visit you. Or I could just live here, in that stable.” Sunshy offered. He knew what it was like to be isolated, ostracized. He was always alone in a crowd.

A toothy smile spread over the dragon’s face, but only sadness was in his eyes. “There is no need for that.”

“No, I mean…I don’t really have a home anymore.” Sunshy stared at the ground in sorrow.

“I see your wings…but no Dashite brand. How long have you been down here?”

“A day…D-Dashite brand?! Do you think the Enclave would brand me?! I-I’m not a traitor, I didn’t mean to come here!” The colt was panicking, scared out of his mind.

“They have for every other pegasus I’ve heard of. I would offer to fly you home…but I am too old to even fly. I am so sorry, Sunshy.” The dragon shared the poor colt’s sorrow.

“Bu-buh…I…I want my mommy!”

Sunshy fell onto his rump and wailed. He cried like a newborn colt. It all finally came crashing down upon him like a ton of bricks. He may never go home. He’d never see his mom or dad again. He’d never see their smiles, hear their voices tell him how proud they were of him, how much they loved him, watch them work, or they watch him grow up.

Little Sunshy cried hard and loud. It was all too much. He didn’t even notice Big Sol and Celly run to his side, ignoring the dragon. They had been at the mouth not long after he began conversing with it, but fear kept them at bay. Now…now a father had to comfort his crying child while a sister cuddled her brother.

Hours passed, the sun slid down and towards the horizon and the moon gained its brilliance. Still, Sunshy cried over his lost family. Once the yellow colt had calmed, the dragon held out a tiny device between a claw and ‘thumb’ claw. Sunshy wiped away his tears and sniffled before taking the offered gift. It wasn’t that big, about one-third or so of an adult pony’s leg. It was a shiny cylinder, hollow inside with padding. The outside had a glass case, as well as some buttons and knobs. Celly tried to attack it playfully while Big Sol stared warily at the dragon.

“It’s called a Pipbuck, built by Stable-Tech. All ponies in the Stables received one after their cutie mark appeared. Then they would hold a cuteciñera for the special child.”

“Did zebras get a cuteciñera?” Sunshy asked, looking to the dragon through slightly red and puffy eyes.

“Well, they have glyph marks instead of cutie marks, so I guess they get the zebra equivalent.”

“What do zebra pony babies have? Cutie marks or glyph marks?”

“A sort of combination, depending on the parents. From what I saw, a male zebra and female pony's child had a black and white cutie mark. Male pony and female zebra child had a colorful glyph mark. I’m surprised you didn’t ask how it works.”

“Would you tell me?” Sunshy looked over the device.

The dragon nodded and began telling him all of the features of the Pipbuck. Sunshy seemed enthralled learning about it, how it could measure health, administer any healing items, organize and describe everything in the saddlebags, help the owner repair items, keep notes, objections, and a map that grew as he or she traveled. It also had a feature called Eyes-Forward Sparkle, which shows the owner the direction he or she was travelling and if the creatures around are hostile or friendly. It could also function as a light source, and use S.A.T.S.—Stable-Tec Arcane Targeting Spell—which allowed the owner ample time to attack a hostile.

S.A.T.S. scared Sunshy; he didn’t want to use anything that could hurt others. It was not in his nature to fight. However, the dragon assured he did not ever have to use that. What he really wanted to show him was the radio feature.

“The radio waves can’t reach us in the Everfree Forest, but if you go to the edge, I’m sure you can get a signal.” The red and pink dragon smiled and patted the little one’s head.

“I never got your name.” Sunshy stated as he placed the Pipbuck into his saddle box.

“It’s Drakon. My parents weren’t very creative.” Drakon chuckled, unnerving the manticores.

“Thank you for everything, Drakon. I’ll come back tomorrow.” Sunshy promised as he walked out of the cave with his new family in tow.

“I would love that, Sunshy.” Drakon called out them as they left. “You can scavenge the Stable for whatever the dwellers left behind.”

“Really?” Sunshy stopped dead in his tracks and looked back to Drakon. “But isn’t that stealing?”

“Not if I give you permission. Just be cautious, it’s been deserted since the dwellers left.”

“I’m guessing you’ve guarded it from scavengers.” The yellow colt smiled knowingly at him. The dragon smiled back at him.

Zecora’s hut was the first place the group went to after they left the dragon’s cave. Emotionally exhausted, Sunshy just wanted to flop down onto the ancient bed and sleep. Saddle bags were slid off and he went towards the mattress. On the way, the yellow colt noticed a spot on the floor sounded hollow. To see if he hadn’t just imagined it, he pressed on the spot a few more times.

Upon hearing it a few more times, Sunshy decided it was worth investigating. Big Sol came over, seeing his adopted son motioning to the spot. While he didn’t understand the words, Sol concluded that his son wanted him to attack that spot. So his scorpion tail attacked at lightning speed, breaking apart the section of the floor.

Sunshy scowled at Big Sol before looking down at the circular and splintered hole. Shock rippled through his small body upon seeing a small black box. The manticore stared down at it, placed his front paws down the hole, and pulled the box out. A note was taped to the side.

To whomever finds this after my time,

I only hope you are a friend of mine.

In the box I kept away

Something dear to me in my day.

If you truly want to know what is inside,

Find my key where it resides.

Do not fear to find it alone,

I will not let you groan.

Find my key inside a mask,

The one that says Have a laugh.

“The one that says have a laugh.” Sunshy wondered as he looked up from the note and scanned the tree’s room.

Despite the note, Sunshy groaned. There were so many masks! And a lot were happy faces! This was going to be impossible. Setting aside his pessimistic view, he got to work looking behind every mask. There was nothing but dirt behind any of them. How did he even know if the masks were in the right spot?!

A loud yowl caught Sunshy’s attention. He turned to see Celly holding out her paw to him, which was covered in splinters. The healer gasped heavily, grabbed a pair of tweezers from his saddle box, and ran to her side. Carefully, he plucked each tiny splinter from her paw; Sol had to hold her down as she squirmed from the pain. Once the splinters were taken out, Sunshy bandaged her paw, and then he redressed the rest of her wounds.

Only then did Sunshy look to the ground where the broken mask lay. In the middle of the splintered wreck was a shining golden key. The little colt examined the mask and found there had been a hollowed-out nose to hold the key. Another three masks were broken next to the one that held the key. The spots of green poison told him that Celly tried to help and got hurt.

Fluttering over the mess, Sunshy reached down and picked up the key with his mouth, trying to avoid splinters. Then he went to the safe, put the key in, and turned it with his front hooves. Inside the safe was a statuette of a young adult purple unicorn with a streak of pink and a streak of darker purple in her mane and tail. She posed proudly and smiled out in a warm and friendly manner.

“Twilight Sparkle.” Sunshy breathed as he reached into the safe and pulled the statuette out with deep care. A bolt of magic coursed through his body, and suddenly everything in his mind felt clearer, sharper, better. The colt looked down and saw an inscription on the side, “Be Smart!”

A yawn almost cracked Sunshy’s jaw. He fluttered over to the mattress and lied down, holding Zecora’s Twilight statuette close. Like last night, Celly lied next to him while Big Sol wrapped his body around them.

Level up! You are now level 2!

Perk Added! Swift Learner: You’re just one smart pony who loves to learn! This perk gives you additional +5% bonus whenever you earn experience points. Best to be taken early on to be used to the fullest.

Comments

[gapaot]

Nice so far. It look different from other stories, just like Pink Eyes, and it is good. I kinda prefer unusual FoE sidestories, not 'hard-strong-immortal-SOB' as everywhere. Srsly, Little Pip badass as fuck, BJ badass as fuck, everypony badass as fuck! Where's kindness?!

[Wildfiretiremile]

Better question is wheres rainbow dash srsly where the fuck did she go (not including foeph)