Fallout: Equestria - Zero

by BLsquared

Chapter 1 - Rude Awakening

Fallout: Equestria

Zero

Written by BLsquared

Chapter 1 - Rude Awakening

I awoke from a sleep which had felt to have lasted for an eternity. My eyes adjusted to the gentle blue glow coming from the monitor across the room, and I noted my surroundings. I was in an open capsule, and above me were some robotic arms retracting into the ceiling. There was only one exit: a door not far from the foot of the capsule that was my bed. Below the screen was a metal desk with various metal parts and tools on it, in addition to a keyboard and a few slots.

"Good, you are awake," the monitor said. It now had a white "X" on it. "The repairs to your armor are 100% complete."

A look at my black underarmor and metallic red overarmor confirmed his statement. Although, my normally yellow mane appeared more orange than usual.

"How long was I out?" I inquired.

"It took me approximately 100 years to complete your repairs. That was one massive beating you took, and I was alone using what spare parts I could find," was his reply.

My mind flashbacked to a large glowing pink sword hovering over me. Wait, don't I recognize this voice? Why does my head hurt when I try to remember stuff?

"Who are you? Don't I know you?" I casually asked.

"Well, I guess you suffered memory loss from the damage you took during that battle. You may call me X. Do you remember who you are?"

"Not really."

"You are Zero, the-"

The ceiling shook violently, cutting X off. There was a moment of silence.

X's voice was suddenly in a panic. "We've been discovered! Quick, you need to get out of here!"

There was another tremor, and what sounded like an explosion.

"But first," X continued, calming down, "you need your weapons."

Handles popped out of two of the slots in the desk. "Use the green crystal in your helmet to levitate them; hopefully you can recall how to defend yourself."

I levitated both white weapons into holsters on my hips. One of them resembled a pistol, while the other was just a handle.

"Now, go upstairs to the surface. You may encounter drones, so be careful. Goodbye, Zero, and may we meet again."

I nodded, and headed out the door. It opened up to a long spiral staircase that only proceeded upwards. Bald blue and cyan ponies could be seen near the top. Except that they weren't ponies, because ponies don't have large glowing red X's for faces. Those must be the drones. I drew the pistol as I ascended up the spiral. My white pistol, shrouded with a green glow, fired several yellow shots at the drones, but that didn't stop them. They just kept on coming. A few had spotted me and were aiming their back-mounted energy rifles at their target. Suddenly, I felt time slow as I dodged the volleys of yellow energy bolts and replied with a few of my own. One was hit in the face, and another's weapon detonated. There goes four of them. Still six left. Time returned to normal, and we were coming up to each other fast, so I decided to just dash though the enemies. Confused, they turned around to see me head for the giant blasted hole in the wall that was situated at the top of the stairs. That must explain the tremors. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate the fifteen more drones guarding the makeshift entrance. Unloading my firearm into them only wasted my ammo; these guys were equipped with riot shields. It's time to test out the other weapon. I drew the handle, and a long glowing green triangle blade ignited out the top. Left and right I slashed at the enemies that now surrounded me. My blade left red hot incisions in their bodies, revealing the drones' mechanical internals. Almost there. Just a few more. They had completely surrounded me by now, but I was determined to escape. Not that I had a choice. The drones did not speak, nor did they react to being sliced straight through. They are just heartless machines, after all.

With the many destroyed drones behind me, I exited the building and found myself in the ruins of a city. It was still populated, as I saw ponies and zebras walking the streets.

"Welcome to back to Neo Arcadia, Zero. Have a nice sleep?"

I turned to my right to see a yellow maned white pegasus clad in green armor. He had a gem encrusted into his helmet similar to my own, except his was red.

"I was wondering when someone would finally revive you, " he went on. "Fortunately, I was able to track down your crystal's signature when it came online."

Was this guy behind the attack?

"Did you send the drones?" I demanded.

"But of course; Master X wanted you found and brought to him at all costs. I was afraid that you would not come along peacefully, so I brought some security."

X. Was this the same one that repaired me? It could be logical...

Magic green hoofcuffs were suddenly materialised around my hooves, and the pegasus inspected my gear. I found myself unable to draw my weapons, I guess due to the effects of the cuffs.

"Let's see here," He mumbled as he levitated my weapons himself with a green glow. "A standard issue Buster Pistol, and... What is this?" His green eyes lit up and a smile formed on his face as he activated my blade. "An energy saber. I have two myself; a very handy weapon."

He deativated the saber and placed the weapons back into my holsters. Raising his hoof to his muzzle, he reported, "Zero is in my custody. He and I will be returning to Area-X via Trans-Server."

He lowered his leg and looked toward me with a piercing stare, as though he expected me to say something.

"So, X will be there, huh?"

He waited there for a moment, and nodded with a sigh. "Come on, we need to get going."

I followed the green and white stranger down the street. It appeared that the ratio of ponies to zebras living here was around four-to-one. Many of the ponies were conversing with others, while the zebras kept to themselves. On each corner was a drone standing guard; they seemed to be ignored by the citizens. Down an alleyway, I observed a zebra running while being gunned down by a drone. That didn't sit right with me.

The pegasus noticed, and exclaimed, "Another Maverick? Why are so many stealing from us; we provide food, security, and housing. They should be grateful." He sighed. "Ever since the shortage..."

"Shortage of what?"

"Well, mainly food. We have been running off a huge stockpile that was found a few decades ago, and it is almost gone now. Ever since word got out of a possible shortage, many citizens have resorted to stealing from the richer of us."

"Why not farm the land?"

"Don't you remember; most of the area outside the city is either desert or raider territory. We've tried trading with the raiders, but I personally am against cooperating with such murderers. And, obviously, deserts are completely useless for growing anything."

"So, what exactly is a Maverick?"

"Mavericks are enemies of the state; criminals, you could say. Most of them rebel against our authority in an effort to establish peace. The amount of Mavericks in Neo Arcadia has risen dramatically within the past few years."

"Why was that Maverick shot down? Did he not have the right to prove his innocence before being sentenced to death?"

"Well, as Master X puts it, 'The fewer sinners to feed, the more bread for those who deserve it.' I'm not a big fan of that idea, but he is in charge, after all."

He sighed following his last statement. We soon approached the entrance for a small red building guarded by two drones. Upon entering, I noticed the large white pad on the floor. Connected by wires to the pad was a control panel. My captor punched a few buttons on its keypad, and the pad began to glow yellow. He motioned me to join him on the pad, and the world was bright white for two seconds.

When my vision had returned, we found ourselves in a long room. Must have been some form of a teleportation device. At the end of the red carpet was a silver throne occupied by an earth pony. This earth pony had similar armor to my own, but was colored blue rather than red. His blue and cyan helmet concealed his mane, and had a red gem on it. His elbow leaned on the throne's armrest, and his head rested on his hoof.

"Welcome back, Harpuia," he greeted the pegasus. "And with him, my old partner, Zero! My, it has been too long, old friend."

"Master X, what should I do with him?" was Harpuia's reply.

"First, you should uncuff him; that is no way to treat our guest." He looked at me with his blue eyes. "I apologise for Harpuia's attitude," Harpuia rolled his eyes, " he is probably afraid he's about to be replaced as Second-in-Command."

"I was thinking nothing of the sort!" Harpuia retorted. " My concern was whether or not he was still sane after all this time. He could have-"

"That's enough for now. Why don't you leave Zero and I to speak alone for a moment?"

Harpuia deactivated his hoofcuff spell and stormed through the doors behind me.

"So, Zero, where have you been all this time?"

X's question caused much pain to me, as I could remember little.

"I-I'm not completely certain, " I managed to muster up. "When I awakened, I was in some sort of capsule...in the sublevels of the city..."

"So, you have trouble recalling your memories? Very interesting. How far back can you remember?"

"Memories from before my awakening are blurred; I am uncertain as to why."

"As am I. You just up and disappeared all those years ago."

There was a long silence.

"Zero, are you in need of a job? Because, if so, I am willing to allow you to work with the Guardians to get back into the swing of things. Maybe you will someday have the opportunity to reclaim your position at my side."

I contemplated his proposal. I may not remember much of X. However, I feel that the X I once knew is somepony to stand by. He appears to be doing all he can to improve this city's conditions, and if I can help at this level, I definitely should.

"Alright. I accept your offer."

"Very good!", he grinned. "Now, could you send in Harpuia? I need to speak to him about our little arrangement. While I am conversing with him, feel free to ask Iris where to lead you to your quarters."

I nodded, and exited the same way that Harpuia had done earlier. On the other side of the large double doors, I was in a reception of sorts. There was a scarlet mare with a long brown mane. She sat behind a desk, reading a terminal screen through square framed glasses. Across from her stood Harpuia, who was lost in thought until I approached him. He looked annoyed to see me.

"X would like to speak with you, " I spoke calmly.

"I'm sure he would..." He sighed as he returned to X's throne room.

I turned to look at the mare. "Are you Iris?"

Startled, she replied, "Y-yes, I am. And you are?" She raised her brow.

"I am Zero, a guest of X's. He told me that you would have a room for me?"

"Oh, really? Then I assume he wants you to have that room. Follow me."

I walked behind her through several corridors and hallways, to arrive at a moderately sized bedroom.

"This is X's secondary living quarters. He never uses it, and thus the occasional dust and cobwebs," Iris explained. "I'm sure this is the room he wanted for you, being his guest."

She left, leaving me alone in this blue room. There was a wonderful view of the city from the large window across the door. Before heading to rest, I took some time to read some of the books on the bookshelf regarding Neo Arcadia's history. Apparently X and I were, at one time, hailed as the city's greatest heroes. But I disappeared, leaving X in charge for the past century. How or why I left is not mentioned, and there is not enough information to speculate. Better get some sleep, anyways.

Author's Note:

As of 6-29-14, this chapter was edited with some fixes regarding story and grammar. Thanks, G-man64!

Comments

[FUomega]

I'm not a mega men fan but ill give your story a try.

Chapter 1 stared out good and hope that the next chapter is too. Do not rush your story take your time.

[G-man64]

THIS HAS ALL MY SUPPORT!!!

I've wanted to do a Mega Man Fallout Equestria crossover for a while, just never have.

Have most of the baseline set up though.

Again, ALL MY YES!!!

[Dark Colt Sabata]

Hey, I did this idea on an RP, only that I did it with ZX instead. Great minds think alike, don't you think?

[Kinky Pie]

Looks interesting. I'll give it a read.

[Kinky Pie]

So wait, is it just suddenly ponified and everything?

[BLsquared]

@Kinky Pie,
Yes. I'm trying to implement the MMZ story and chatacters into Fo:E, with no humans. Sorry if this was unclear. Zero is based of off Capcom's character; Zero is not "visiting MLP" after amnesia.

@DarkColtSabata,
Yes, I guess they do, Lunar Boy. XD

@G-Man64,
Thank you so much!

@FUomega,
Thank you, I will.

[BLsquared]

@G-Man64,
I just looked at your plans.
Wow. You read the Archie comics, didn't you! Nice. And the Bonnes! You really had a great grasp on this.

[G-man64]

4602420
Quick tip since you're new here, up at the top there's a button that looks like this >>, click it it's reply and they'll be notified that you replied to the comment.

And yes I've read the comic (love it didn't miss a single one till last year (sucks too cause it was halfway through the Sonic crossover )), can't wait for the X arc they have planned.

In addition to reading the comic I've seen that 80's cartoon, the fan film, that Wish Upon a Star OVA, read the Mega Mix (best adaptation EVER!), have the Megas first two albums, have the anniversary collection, the X collection, every last Battlenetwork game, Starforce 2 and 3, ZX, have played Legends, have the Zero Collection.

Am I missing anything? What I'm saying is I love Mega Man... A lot.

[BLsquared]

4603359
Nice.
I've beaten all the NES and GB classic games, Zero Collection, ZX and Advent, Xtreme 2, EXE 3-5, 64, and all SF. I've gotten to the final battles of X1 and EXE 1, and to the final stages of X5.
I admit, though, to using an Action Replay on the Zero and ZX games, but only for unlimited subtanks and weapons.
I read a few of the MegaMix, but I was not used to reading Manga at the time. After finishing the EXE manga, however, I may pick it back up. Most of my knowlege of the Archie comics comes from reading reviews, since I have only one.
Also watched the fanfilm and OVA; the cartoon was too off for me.
Not very good in the X department or regarding EXE 2 and 6, but otherwise fine.
Huge Rockman fan myself.

[G-man64]

4604268
Always nice to see someone else whose as big a fan as myself.

Honestly if you can get the Mega and Giga Mix, they the absolute best adaptation of classic Mega Man.

I love the comics a lot (mainly because of humorous nods like Light referencing the Megas by saying, "I made you in my image. I built your heart and gave you eyes. I gave you power and a sense of justice beyond any compare... I gave you hands, a child's face... ...heh... Robot hair. But this burden, the burning in your heart I did not put there." or referencing Brentalfloss when Otto asked, "Hey where's 'ol blue and cyan with a gun for a hand? but the best reference was when they were making the Slide function and Light said, "But I still don't understand why it won't work on settings nine and ten." ) and it has amazing moments like during the first arc when Rock goes mad with all the power and begs Light to remove all his weapons even the buster (leading to that Megas reference).

But the Mega Mix, such beautiful story. Right from the beginning when Rock says, "Light make me a combat robot, even if you don't I'll still fight, I will save my brothers!" he knows if he goes out there without anything he'll die, but he wants to help so bad he won't let that stop him.

But undoublity the best part of the entire series, better then when Bass first came on the scene, better then battling the Yellow Devil MK. 2, BETTER THEN THE FINAL FIGHT WITH THE STARDROIDS!

Is Skull Man. Just such a beautiful story, I'm getting emotional just remembering it.

You thought (well you didn't because you haven't read it yet but I'd recommend it undoublity the best comic arc I've read so far) Spiritus Ex Machina was a good question about robots with souls, trust me the Grim Reaper of Resurrection. THAT'S the freaking story... I think I'll go re-read it just because I love it so much.