Banjo Shaped Scrapbook

by Banjo64

Fallout: Equestria Reaction

Twilight sighed as she waited for her friends to finish reading the letter.

“... and so, we have decided to invite you all to a private screening of our up-coming movie! Sweet!” cheered Rainbow Dash.

“I don’t know, Rainbow. This movie is rated for adults only, and I for one have never heard of this Fallout series,” said Rarity.

“Oh, come on Rarity! It’s a free movie night! It’s sure to be fun!” added Pinkie.

“The movie sounds kind of scary though,” said Fluttershy.

“Yeah, though Ah could have sworn Ah heard about this movie somewhere, but Ah’m not sure,” added Applejack.

“It probably wasn’t the movie Applejack. The Fallout franchise has been around for almost forty years now,” said Twilight.

“Forty years?! OK, even if we aren’t all eggheads, why the hay have none of us heard about it before if it’s been around that long?” asked Rainbow in surprise.

Twilight shook her head.

“It only started gaining mainstream popularity about two years ago. I’ll be honest with you girls, I’m not certain if we should go see this movie. I know the franchise pretty well, and I’ve always enjoyed it, but it’s not a happy story. It deals with some really, really serious material. The sort of things you don’t talk about in public. Not to mention the series has always been the source of some controversy,” admitted Twilight.

“Controversy?” asked Rarity.

“Yes. The series was inspired by a political piece that was written by a particularly paranoid diplomat during our first contact with zebras. It was a horror story about what would happen if Equestria developed connections with the strange and ‘backwards’ zebra nations. In short, it said that if we did, it would lead to a war that would destroy all life on the planet,” said Twilight.

Twilight’s friends paused to consider this.

“So… it’s some political story then? That sounds kind of boring, and a little mean to zebras,” said Pinkie.

“For the record, the piece was largely dismissed as needless fear mongering and was utterly disregarded. We’ve since developed friendly relationships with zebra nations, even if we mostly keep to ourselves. But the idea of ponies and zebras going to war and destroying the world inspired a few writers to try and write the idea into a poetic story about the dangers of war and fear, which lead the creation of the Fallout series. And for the record, yes, the zebra nations are aware of the series but have made it clear that they don’t find it offensive in any way,” explained Twilight.

“Ah. So it’s a tragedy then, warnin’ ponies about what could happen if we lose sight of ourselves,” deducted Applejack.

“Sort of. You see, the entire reason it's called Fallout is because it takes place hundreds of years after this hypothetical war. It’s the story of survivors in a harsh wasteland trying to survive and stay true to their morals as the world around them threatens to tear them apart,” said Twilight.

“Sounds like it’ll be awesome then. Well, aside from the whole everypony dies part, but we’re all adults here. We can all look at that sort of thing and not break down into crying fits. Hay, didn’t you visit a different timeline where this sort of thing really happened?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Yes, and it’s also why I didn’t bring this invitation up with Starlight. I don’t think she needs a reminder of the world she almost created,” said Twilight with a sigh.

“That’s probably a good idea,” mumbled Fluttershy.

“Anyway, as Rainbow said, we’re all adults here. We know about the darkest aspects of civilization. We can handle a little violence and strong language. But that’s not the reason I’m hesitating over seeing the movie. The problem is that this movie is based on the new reboot that takes into account recent developments,” said Twilight.

“Recent developments? Wait… are you talking about...” said Pinkie Pie.

“Yes. The reboot takes into account Princess Luna’s return, and more importantly, our roles as Equestria’s heroes several times over. Now, we all know that we’ve had our likenesses plastered all over posters and such since saving Equestria, and not always in flattering ways. But this story, it has a lot of details showing how the six of us, though we had good intentions, are partially responsible for this supposed end of the world,” said Twilight.

The girls looked at each other in horror.

“I’ve already read the book myself, so I can say that it makes us look like tragic figureheads rather than evil warmongers or something. But we’re still going to see fictional versions of ourselves that showcase some of our worse flaws. And I do mean our flaws. The writers made sure to match our depictions as closely to reality as they could manage. Of course, it was written before I became a Princess, so some details are sure to be a bit outdated if the movie stays true to the book, but you get the point,” said Twilight.

“Wait, we never talked with any movie ponies. How the hay did they manage to get us right?” asked Rainbow.

“Remember those questionnaires Princess Celestia sent us in the mail? We might not boast wildly about our adventures, but there are those who take inspiration from them. The Princess wanted us to fill out those form so that, if somepony decided to write a story about us, they’d be able to do so with some degree of accuracy,” explained Twilight with an eyeroll.

“Oh. Right, forgot about those,” admitted Rainbow.

“And they want to give us a private showing of this less than flattering depiction?” asked Rarity in disbelief.

“Well, it’s a good story. A dark story with lots of messy stuff, but still a good one. I’m certain we’d all find something to enjoy if we watched it (yes, even you Fluttershy), but I don’t want you girls to suffer through it if any of you think it’s going to make you uncomfortable,” finished Twilight.

Again, everypony paused to think.

“Does it have a happy ending?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“It has some sad parts to it, but ultimately yes. It has a happy ending,” answered Twilight with a nod.

“Then I think we’ll all be able to take it, knowing that it’ll all end in sunshines and rainbows,” said Pinkie Pie.

Twilight smiled and giggled at the (possibly) unintended reference.

“Well, how about the rest of you? Do you still want to see the movie?” asked Twilight.

“Hay yeah! If it’s about adventures in a war-torn future, I’m definitely going to see it!” declared Rainbow.

“Ah might as well too. Ah think we’ve all aware that it’s a good idea sometimes to back up and look at yourself in the mirror. We might even learn a thing or two from this,” said Applejack.

“Well, I suppose I could handle it. I mean, it’s a private showing, so I could just leave if it gets too scary,” said Fluttershy.

“Oh don’t give us that, Fluttershy. I’ve seen the comic books you read. You enjoy the violent stuff when you know it’s not real,” said Rainbow with a jab of her hoof.

Fluttershy didn’t respond, but she did squeak and blush.

“I believe I shall attend as well then. It’d be quite rude to be the only one to turn down the invitation,” said Rarity.

“Alright then, it's decided. We’re all going to see Fallout: the Movie,” announced Twilight.

It was a shame Spike wouldn’t be joining them, but if the movie was anything like the book, then it was certainly going to have content she didn’t want the baby dragon to see.

Author's Note:

Sigh... my muse has to be one of the most fickle muses in existence. When I finished reading Fo:E, it naturally went haywire and came up with about three different ideas for a spin off and demanded I write at least one of them. The end result I opted to actually write was... less than popular. But to be fair, I was kind of late to party, and my fic really wasn't much of a typical Fo:E spin off. But it wasn't the only idea I had.

One thing that really got me inspired was an old comic [Link Here] that treated Fo:E as a work of fiction within Equestria. I really like the idea, and thought about how to expand on it.

Option 1 was this scrap: a "mane six reaction" sort of deal. How would they respond to being portrayed in such a flawed manner? But it quickly became apparent that it would boil down to just a lot of "how terrible, but I'm glad it's only fictional." So, all I wrote was this intro setting the stage. There's also a reaction to the prologue, but I only realized after I wrote it that commentary style fics are against site rules, so I won't be posting that one.

Option 2, which I never wrote, was a sort of behind the scenes deal, describing the events that resulted in the big Fallout reboot after Nightmare Moon's return and how it exploded in popularity. But... the idea fell apart fairly quickly after I realized I wasn't comfortable creating a fictional pony version of KKat. Not to mention the focus on the corporate side of things would have made it just as effective with out Fallout: Equestria , so I never went anywhere with that one.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

I have been meaning to read your full Fo:E story. This idea could work, but I think the best way to handle it would be the aftereffects, seeing the girls take a look at themselves and thinking about just how accurate their portrayals in the movie were.

[Yourtasteinhorsesisawful]

I picked one of the chapters of the story at random and ended up with this one. It's a pretty good idea and I enjoy the setup and what you managed to write.
FOME's suggestion seems like a good way to handle things, if you should ever feel like revisiting this for a longer story.