Everyday, dozens of ponies fall in the wasteland. For one pony, each death is the start of a new life. This is the tale of Gardener and his efforts to rebuild the wasteland, one tree at a time.
Art courtesy of Jetwave
Chapters (7)
- Member Since 11th Jul, 2011
- offline last seen Yesterday
Vanner
I'm just a regular person who enjoys writing, and encouraging others to write as well.
Vanner
Joined 11th Jul, 2011 ·
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Playing Mad Lib with Fallout: New Vegas? I do hope your further chapters do implement ponies a bit more than than simply replacing words with pony vocabulary.
But I digress, this is a well written piece: Very biblical sounding!
The main problem with first person stories like this that I've come across is characters are rarely willing to describe themselves. There's simply no call for it unless they are vain or noticing a glaring difference in their body or new outfit or something. I understand it is the prologue, and it is quite well written, so I hope to see more of this ^^ I just hope to actually see what Gardener looks like someday.
Well written and bittersweet.
Enjoyed it immensely though now that his story is finished my wish is to know her story.
Very well written, though there is one detail that kind of annoyed me... namely the simple fact that in the Fallout: Equestria setting, the clouds are a deliberate and maintained barrier made by the pegasi. It never changes. It never opens. Equestria hasn't seen more than the tiniest glimpses of the sun in two centuries.
finally found this fict again have to say it was gold
The gardener, hmmm? I see. I like the look of this. It's not as emotionally overpowering as FO: E is, but seeing as how it seems even the main character is mostly detached from his world, I can forgive that. What'll happen next? (I'm about to find out!)
good beginning. All I can think about though is "Bring out yer dead! Bring out yer dead!" from monty python. Heh heh heh...
Finally, someone who wasn't from a stable with some morality!
The wasteland is one effed up place, eh?
Yosh! Something amazing has happened. Charmed, I'm sure.
Spike needs to meet the gardener. Seriously.
4379 Technically true, but the Enclave stayed away from Manehatten until their attack on Friendship City and their attempted siege of TenPony Tower.It is likely that cloud cover could be sporadic on rare occasions. Also, we heard no real mention of Littlepip until right near the end, so it's likely that the Enclave had only just started to renew the cloud cover when she finally surfaced from her stable. Charm and the Gardener have also lived their entire lives under the wasteland sky, and Littlepip hasn't really asked anypony for a detailed weather chart of the past ten years. That is how long I expect the gardener to have been aroundfor the trees and wheat to be so substantial.
33752
The Enclave stayed away from Manehattan ON THE GROUND. As the original story says, the cloud cover has been maintained pretty much perfectly for the past 2 centuries, over all of Equestria, ever since Cloudsdale fell. The fact it was immediately covered up after the Toxic Rainboom only stresses this point.
It's indeed likely that cloud cover could be sporadic on rare occasions, as shown by the fact Littlepip saw stars when first coming out of her stable, but this fic seems to imply they get plenty of sunshine. What bothers me is that in this story, the sun is always mentioned as if there is no pegasus cloud cover at all. Seriously, just check it.
Wow this was amazing.
Everything about it; strong characters; succinct but powerful plot; conflict of all sorts; a highly climactic ending.
Everything just came together to produce a powerfully moving story.
I'll tell my friends.
So the morale of the story is... "Work hard and then die without being happy"? I'm kidding, this was absolutely amazing. Probably the best Fallout:Equestria thing I've read since the original story, although I haven't read Project Horizons.
For odd reasons makes me think of Yorick from LoL.
36119 the fact that they can tell if it is night or day implies that the cloud cover is relatively thin although it is there and if the clouds are thin enough the sun can permeate it and allow plants to grow.
331676 Eh what? I've never seen any amount of clouds that could obscure the ground to the point it looked like night, so that seems like a rather weak argument. Also, I never even implied it wouldn't be enough sunlight to let plants grow. That part doesn't even bother me; there is probably enough sunlight for plants.
But as I said before, just look through the story, and you see the Pegasus cloud cover is not only never mentioned, but the sunshine is described as if there is no pegasus cloud cover at all. I'm talking about sentences like "Perhaps the days of labor in the sun had simply been too much for her". That doesn't exactly imply any kind of permanent cloud cover, now does it?
Mind you, I really do like this story. It's just that single detail that annoys me.
This is a very well thought-out, written, and executed story. The main characters were interesting, and I feel that I understood Gardener's viewpoint and the reasons why he dedicated everything about him to a strict set of rules based upon giving to those in need, and working to make things better for the future.
I have been thinking, though, about whether or not Gardener's life and the story's ending is a message that warns of the dangers of focusing so much on the betterment of others that it'll ultimately be one's demise, or a message that reassures one that such dedication will only inspire others to do the same, thus helping heal the world, or even a combination of both.
On the one hand, Gardener made it his personal mission to be more than a mortal pony, and to instead be a perfect role model. He found pride in Charm becoming a successor to him, and in fact, better than him in his duties. But he denied himself even simple comforts, and I believe that this "business-only" attitude is the first thing that set the ending of this story in motion. Ironically, Charm's reaction to Gardener's extreme devotion to his work also contributed to the end. An effect became another cause to the ultimate effect, if that makes any sense. Charm's actions (despite being caused by Gardener's decisions) makes her partially responsible, too. It's quite a strange situation, neither of the two would have any blame to take if they both chose differently, but instead, both are to blame, neither are 100% in the wrong, yet Gardener blames himself, and Charm blames herself.
This says to me that having your heart set on just one thing, and allowing your goal to control your entire life, will pretty much lead to nothing but misery. It says to me that sometimes you have to accept a little defeat in order to attain that big win in the long run. In Gardener's case that little defeat would be to allow himself to experience for himself the same love he sees Casa and Guacho share with another pony. In Charm's case, her defeat would be to not try to force another pony's emotions, and instead let them come around in their own time.
In contrast, however, Gardener's devotion to his work and the virtue of generosity that he held on to inspired a great deal of other ponies to follow his examples. His influence is seen throughout the region, his notoriety makes him recognisable, and to some Raiders, something to be fearful of. His blood, sweat, and tears all matter, and it all begins to pay off after he decides that it is time for him to move on. Charm herself begins to become renowned for her following in Gardener's steps as well as for her own talents. Charm is very likely to inspire and influence the Wastes much like Gardener, and may even surpass him in that in the years to come, too.
So here we have the idea that devotion can be a very powerful source of inspiration, and to become such an important figure is a very prestigious and rare privilege, probably warranting the very religious dedication and disposal of all comforts in order to remain a 'pure' symbol of all that one stands for.
Perhaps the theme is a combination of both. A message that nobody can ever hope to be perfect without effectively ridding themselves of everything that makes them pony, or human, in the reader's case, and that being pony (or human) and indulging in a few comforts is not a total sin. A more paraphrased and possibly meaningless message could be: There is no black or white in a world of grey, only shades lighter and darker than others.
Gardener, and later Charm, started believing that they must strive to be the best, to be the 'white' in the world of grey, and that even a slight mis-step can tarnish that goal and have them stuck permanently as an extremely light shade of grey at best. The only way to truly change the world, however, is to make it all become a lighter shade of grey, not just single hoofedly drop a blob of pure white in the canvas and expect it to change everything. Even with the purest of hearts, that blob, that pony's influence, will end up mixing with the darker shades around it. The result will be grey, but it will be a damn sight lighter than before, and that is what counts.
I fear my rambling may seem incomprehensible. I do hope that is makes a little sense, and that my analysis seems to hold water. I really enjoyed this story, and for it to prompt such an in-depth essay from me speaks volumes about that.
When I first saw FoE story marked as complete with a total length of under an average chapter I got a little bit skeptical. Bur wow. Direct, rather powerful and not sugarcoated in purple prose I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. And even though some people described Gardener as an angsty preacher, I thought the character building of preacher was on point, providing sufficient background though other characters were left rather one dimensional. Definitely deserves more views.
First of all wow... I think this is one of the best written Fo:E stories I have read. I do not say that it is the best because it could use some more meat in the character department, more talking and acting instead of just jumping towards the next scene, not meaning that it is to fast paced or anything, it is just so different from what else I have read by now do I think. I must also say that you are one of the best to set a setting. Instead of the normal setting, the post apocalyptic "shit we are at the point of no return, what shall we do what ever shall we do", do you ad some western over it, some western that are in the games but I haven´t seen like this before.
I must admit that I began reading the story because I thought it would be a fast and easy read, another story to add to the collection of Fo:E stories read, but I must say that I am positive surprised, really positive surprised, and can´t understand why I haven´t heard of this story before now
The only bad thing I saw was that there was some human terms in the story.
Girl here "The young girl cried in pain as the unicorn approached me, The girl whimpered, nearly tripping backwards over myself trying to escape the girl." hand here "On the other hand" and feet here, but that is a nitpick "and sat at my feet."
Still looking good, and nice to see where we are on the timeline
Some small mistakes:
"and thanked the pegasus with a several bottles of apple whiskey." You have a a to many here
"on the other hand" Hands are not something ponies have
"From outside I heard a the quiet steps of ponies" You have no need for the a here
Wow did not see this happen, but it is logical now that I think over it.
Nitpicks:
"I had once found a picture a of a mare long since past" you have a a to many, the one before of
"There were ponies still who needed me still" You could erase the last still and get a better flowing sentence
I liked your story.
A beautiful story, really.
This was the first fallout equestria story I read, great way to discover this fandom within a fandom.
10/10. Would preach in churches.
The idea of a single individual in a fallout wasteland, who respected the dead when no one else would, made me wonder - as I hope was the author's intention - if I could better myself to be like Gardener. This is not a grand adventure like other side stories, but the journey of Gardener, in his point of view, is one that everyone should read. Cheers, Vanner.
This was so fucking good, and I saw it coming, and goddammit, I cried so hard diamonds came out.
I just want to thank you for this thing. It's not so heroic, sure, but it is... right. I borrowed some motives from it and for all this I want to say thank you.
33167
"I'm feeling better now. No, really, I'm not dead yet."
Lyra: "Hands?!"
4344141 Really? You sure look it, buddy.
442289 is your comment a fanfic? Its really long.
No. I haven't actually read it yet. I was just scrolling to the bottom of the page when I saw a spur long comment, and felt I had to point out its lengthiness.
Now that I think about it, I don't think anyone ever said who it was that wielded the element of generosity for the Gardens of Equestria. Charm seems a likely candidate. Or maybe her apprentice, if the pattern continues.
This story is beautiful.
442289 Extremely well-written and explained. I could not have stated these points with any more hope of clarity nor precision. The Gardener's mistake is that he had no ability to accept that he was a simple pony, and that no matter how dedicated, perseverent, generous, or pious that he may have tried to be, he would have never reached perfection... he never accepted what makes us mortal, and in his absolution of belief he cancelled out what would have really made him happy and, I daresay, to further spread his influence and devotion to others with the aid of Charm.
They could have changed the Wasteland together, but instead they chose the route of hardship. And as a result, Charm will most likely never find love nor passion again, as she will aspire to become just like her "father that she never had".
But as for the author, I send my deepest kudos for such a well-executed story. Characters had depth and feeling to them, and it was amazing to watch them grow like they did.
Great story , very creative and out side of box
i not see a lot of story that talk about simple pony try to do simple thing and make it this good
though i really hope he would live but what happen is understandable.
also good character design as well , they have their strength and weakness
wonder why i not heard of this story faster
Just wanted to drop a line and say that I enjoyed this very much.
It got me at the end, just like all the other FoEs I've read... just once I'd like to see a protagonist have a decent ending? (I know, I know... FoE can't have happy endings lol)
But I did thoroughly enjoy the read.
Thanks!
Your book has been advertised on the new facebook group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/foebooks/ :)
Celestia smiles upon you. Reading of this fic inspired me not only to draw or continue the story. For example, I've took dictionaries and wrote this comment.
The toils of this poor creature are interesting to observe. I could almost say I feel a sort of emotion you might consider analogous to "pitty" for him. I must know more!
(looks like I'm binge reading tonight!)
Really good story. I do fear, however, that Gardener's virtue was of the corrupted variety.
He gave of himself the way Rarity did in the last days before the end. They both gave so much there wasn't anything left to give more. Gardener is an idea all wasteland ponies should strive to achieve, but in a more tempered manner.
He should have taught of generosity, not offered it blindly. Yes, he did preach, but he knew that the words were lost on the people that listened. He should have instead taught how to do what he did - how to make bonemeal, how to find good spots for crops. He should have hired hooves to tend to the garden, giving jobs, caps and experience to those that desperately needed it. It is one thing to offer someone a fish, and entirely another to teach them to fish.
Don't get me wrong - I loved the character and the story. I'm just sad it had to tumble down into being a tragedy of a lone pony struggling against the nature of the wasteland itself.
7944851
Every character has a fatal flaw, and Gardener's was that he wasn't able to teach generosity. His mentality of "I have to give of myself," was, in a way, selfish. He was never the element of generosity and consequently, the only pony he ever taught to give was Charm. Let us hope she's a better teacher, and that the next Gardener could see the world grow again.
7953585
The ending was so amazing, you did a great job on it.
After getting a few recommendations to read this, I finally checked it out and absolutely loved it.
The ending was especially interesting. Not a happy ending, but not exactly the saddest outcome either. Overall this was a great read!
This is one of the newer stories I have heard good things about and I must say, it does live up to the reputation. I adore it.
I would ask for a distinction when the perspective changes. Other than that, kudos. It is beautiful and you successfully made me cry.
Wow this was amazing
Bravo on making me cry like a baby. All my praise has already been said, but to make me like a story this bittersweet is a real feat
But I’m still going To imagine my own ending where charm managed to save him and they both grow and learn from their mistakes
Spoiler Warning
Celestia and Luna know, I wanna say so much to this story.
It really tears into my heart in a diffrent way. Attacking right where I could have seen myself, when Life had taken a diffrent route with me and I maybe got a bit more encouragement in Life
The Story is good, to one Fault, which is the main part I dont like
Gardeners Generosity leads him to a moraly right choice and action for him. But in the End, only serves to kill him further down the Line
I dont like that bad ending, neither the emotional Scar he left on his Love. I wished for him to give in at least once and give the mare the greatest and most valueable thing you can have in the wasteland
Love...
For his sake and hers
But such are the tragedies of the Wasteland.
I still thank you very much for the Story. It did spin my mind into motion and I do like such a tight and little story with so much to say and represent.