Fallout Equestria: Alphabet soup

by Doomande

Zebras and the Last Day: Failure is not an Option by Trooper

“Bar Code, hey Bar Code” I hear my name being called from behind me in the crowded street. I turn and I see the familiar, yellow earth pony mare with green eyes and matching mane and tail trotting up beside me.

“Oh, Hey Persimmon Flower, how are you today?”

She smiles and tells me, “I am doing better today. But I am really worried about the news lately and I wanted to talk to you about it.”

I nod my head, then I look at my watch and see it is only 9 am. I have some extra time before I need to be at work so I ask, “Would you like to discuss it over some coffee?”

I see her hesitate at first. She then looks around and then says, “Yeah, ok, coffee sounds good.”

While I am glad she has agreed to coffee, I also understand her discomfort and nervousness at accepting my invitation. After all the war against my family’s homeland has been going on for almost 20 years now. That and ponies never were welcoming to us zebras. My family even tried to assimilate by giving me a pony sounding name rather than a true zebrican name. But this is Persimmon, I have known her since I was a colt in school. I know she is different from most ponies.

So, I lead her to the town's Pony Joe’s and buy us both coffees and baklava. After our order is up, we take a seat by the window and begin to talk.

She sips hers then takes a nibble of her baklava. I have always found her attractive, but I know that because of my stripes she would never date me.

“So, what do you want to talk about Persimmon?” I ask her then I take a sip of the scalding hot coffee.

As she takes a deep breath, I see her eyes scan the room. I take a quick look around, just like I did when in No Mare’s land, my eye stopping briefly when I see the poster hanging on the wall of the Ministry Mare Pinky Pie staring back with the legend, “I am watching you, Forever!” on it.

Finally, Persimmon says, “Johnny I am really worried that things are going to get really bad soon.”

“What do you mean?” I ask then I look around again to make sure no one is paying any attention to us as I sip my coffee.

She sighs and says, “My dad has made several deliveries out to New Gallop. He says the town store there is really buying up a lot of supplies and he is positive that they are hoarding them. I just don’t know why they would do such a thing.”

I nod my head and watch her first blow on the cup and then take another drink. Then I ask, “So why are you asking me about it?”

She says, “Because I trust you Bar and I know you do not think like most of the others around here.”

I feel irritated when she says this and asks cooly, “Do you think my being a zebra makes me think differently, is that it?”

She looks stunned at first then hurt as she says, “No Bar Code, that is not it at all. It is because you are a veteran. I mean, look at what all you have been through.”

I am embarrassed at my assumption, but my experiences have made me look at things differently. Then I realize she has mentioned New Gallop and she has my attention again. New Gallop used to be a quiet farming community about fifteen miles from here. Nothing to notice there, with its largest buildings being the set of grain silos that were built ten years ago.

However, that all changed a couple of years ago when the Equestrian military secretly built a megaspell launch complex under it, using one of the grain silos for a launcher. The mega spell is reported to be targeted for the city of Savanna. A metropolis of over 300,000 beings that I have been told by my parents is spread out on the plains of Zebraca. The residents of Targhee for the most part have no idea of what is going on there.

To buy myself time and to hide my embarrassment I take a bite of my baklava and drink some more of my coffee as it begins to cool. Finally, I ask her, “What are they getting and why do you think they are hoarding them?”

She looks out the window and tells me, “Mostly food stocks. But some other items such as ammunition, a couple of cases of hunting rifles and even several water talismans as well as filters for sewage systems. I mean, sure they have a sewage treatment plant, but how many years’ worth of filters do they really need?”

I nod my head as I take all this in. Then I hear three loud tones that switch to a long continuous tone come from the radio and I hear the announcer state, this has been a test of the Equestrian Emergency Broadcast system, this was only a test. If this had been a real emergency… I miss the rest of it as I shift my focus back onto Persimmon.

Persimmon and I begin to talk for a bit after this. Finally, I notice I need to get going so I can be ready for work at the factory for my shift. As I excuse myself, she tells me, “Bar, it has been so good to sit and talk with you again. It has been too long since we have done this.”

I smile and I think why not, I might as well take a chance, if things blow over, maybe, just maybe I can have a future. So, I ask her, “Persimmon, would you like to go out for a date next week? Maybe for dinner and a show on Tuesday?”

She smiles at me with her ears forward and tells me, “Yes, I have waited for you to ask me out for so long. I can’t wait.” She then hugs me and gives me a kiss on the cheek where I am missing my eye and am scared from the shell that fell short and killed two of my squadmates and wounded me, effectively ending my military career and sending me home.

I then lift her chin with my hoof and gently kiss her on her muzzle. Then I tell her, “I will see you then, if not sooner Persimmon.” Then we both head our separate ways, me toward my apartment on the south side of town and her to her job at the hospital as a nurse.

As I am approaching my apartment near the edge of town, I do my usual look at the small metal sided warehouse across the street. I see there is a yellow can of paint set on the window ledge of the office. It is the signal I have both waited for and dreaded.

I get ready to call into work, but I now know it will not matter. So, I head to the west side of town and to the safehouse we use there. I knock on the door and I am met by a zony mare who I have only known by the name Zilla. As far as I know that is not her real name as she has a cutie mark and not a glyphmark like myself or the other members of the teams. She looks at me and tells me, “It is about time, you are the last to arrive. We have been waiting for you and were just about to write you off.”

I say nothing but only nod my head in understanding.

As she leads me to the basement, I notice that while the house is furnished, it is not lived in. I shake my head at this as I hear the music playing on the radio.

Once we are in the basement, she moves a lever and a secret door is revealed. She opens the door and tells me to follow her into the tunnel behind it.

As we enter, I see the other members of my strike team as well as seeing the members of the backup team that I have known about, but never met before.

When she sees me our team leader Xandra nods her head and tells me, “About damn time. I thought when you became a soldier you were taught to always be early.”

I feel slight resentment at being reminded I was once a soldier. I hate the fact I was once forced into that role and I am only here to try and prevent an even larger slaughter of innocents. But I answer her neutrally with, “I am sorry Captain. I was detained by an acquaintance of mine. She was concerned about what her father told her about the happenings on our target.”

I see her eyebrow raise and she asks, “Anything we can use?”

I shake my head, “Not much other than they are stockpiling supplies, including hunting rifles and ammo for them. Mainly just food stocks.”

She and the others nod. Then she looks at the map on the wall. We all gather around her as she tells us, “We have received the message from Roam, we are to destroy or disable the megaspell facility at New Gallop before they can launch.”

Xandra then begins to inform us of our planned method of attack as well as our egress route and where our rendezvous point is, in case we get separated.

She then tells us, “Zeke, you and I will provide the support for our team's Balefire Egg launcher set. She looks at me and tells me, Bar Code, you will be the loader and will carry six of the balefire eggs. Zachary, you will be the gunner and carry the launcher itself,” She pauses and looks at the second team, “Xhoses, your team will be set up the same as mine, you determine who is where. OK, lets move. The weapons and kits are already in the vehicles in the garages for both houses we entered through. Team one, on me. Team two, good luck and I will see you at the target.”

As we get up to leave, we all say a brief prayer for guidance and success in our mission. I additionally add a prayer for Persimmon and now regret not having taken the chance to ask her out much sooner.

As we are coming out of the basement, I notice the music show on the radio and smile. It seems they are not expecting anything yet.

As our team gets into the van. Zeke and I both climb into the back and gear up. We have the equipment ready for the others so that once we arrive, they can quickly kit up. As we pass the driveway for the other safehouse I see them begin to pull out of the garage as well. Both vans are marked as Equestrian Telegraph and Telephone service vehicle to reduce suspicions of the two vehicles with crews being out in a rural area in case we are stopped.

As we are driving, we get a flat tire and I get out along with Zeke to fix it. We are both wearing the Brown coveralls of the ET&T service techs. I wipe the dirt and grease off my hoofs onto my coveralls when we are done, and we are on our way again.

Moving down the two-lane highway, I begin to hear sirens from the surrounding communities. Then I hear over the vans radio, three deep tones followed by a high pitched one followed by, This is the Equestria Emergency Alert System, The Equestrian Air Defense Command has detected the launch of another twenty balefire missiles as well as multiple Megaspells targeted at the Equestrian mainland. This is an attack warning, repeat this is an attack warning. This means an actual attack has been detected and that protective action should be taken immediately. The following cities have been targeted Cloudsdale, Fillydelphia, Manehatten, Seaddle, Baltimare, Hoofington, Canterlot. and Dise. All those who are in 100 miles of a targeted area need to report to their stable. If a stable is not available, take shelter in a basement or the lowest level of a sturdy building. Stay away from windows, doorways, and outside walls. Take a magically powered radio with you to your shelter to listen for further updates. Stay inside your stable or shelter until the all-clear is given. If you do not do so you may be exposed to magical radiation fallout. Fallout is a byproduct of balefire explosions and megaspells. Prolonged exposure to fallout may lead to sickness or death. Stay tuned to local media for further updates.

We are getting close to the town when I see that team two's van has broken down and we stop.

Xandra face hoofs and tells them, “Grab your gear and get in, we need to hurry. The attack is already inbound, that means they will be rushing to launch, we have to stop it, lives are depending on us.”

Zach and I help pull the others and their gear into the back with us. It is crowded, but we know we will not be in here long, so we tolerate it.

We are just at the crossroads north of New Gallop when we stop alongside the road again. We quickly get out of the van and grab our gear. We form our teams on the move with our team moving in from the north while the second strike team approaches from the east.

We advance using the lush fields as cover. Then we are near the town and we can see the chain link fence that has been erected around most of it. We can also see what looks like a guard post. I also notice several remote gun turrets along the perimeter. One on each corner and as well as one near the gates into the town.

From my blind side I hear three silenced shots from Xandra’s rifle, and I see the guards go down. We are once again advancing toward the town and we begin to take fire from the remote turrets and are forced to find cover.

We are trying to crawl forward again in the hopes of reaching the guard shake and shutting down the turrets when I see the first of the Security Bots come rolling towards us. We begin to fire and Then I hear gun fire from team two as they try to engage them from the side.

Finally, Zeke yells, “Captain, permission to use a Balefire Egg on those damned bots?”

Still shooting she yells, “Yes, but save some for the target.”

I hear this and dig out a balefire egg and load it while Zeke determines where he wants to aim. Then he stands up, exposing himself and launches it. I hear the thunk of the launcher, I close my eye to keep from being blinded by the flash of its going off. But when I reopen my eye, I see two security bots are destroyed. The other two are temporarily stunned as their spell matrixes reset.

I prepare to dig out a second egg when I am momentarily blinded by a bright flash and a strange loud sound. I am still seeing stars when I look up and I see the mega-spell making its way into the sky, beginning its trajectory towards its target.

We, we have failed in our mission. The lives of all those beings were in our hooves and we failed. Hundreds of thousands will soon be gone; and it is all our fault. We were too late.

I see Xandra pound her fore hoof into the ground and then hear over the radio headsets we each are wearing, “Recall, meet at the rendezvous.”

We all grab our weapons and slowly fall back to the van with our heads hanging low and shame in our hearts.

On the way back to the truck I begin to see lights flaring brightly in the distance around us. From the east I know when Fillydelphia is hit. Then when Manehatten dies. This is followed by the destruction of Cloudsdale to the west and the almost continuous flashes coming from the direction of Canterlot. If not for the shaded goggles, we are all wearing we would have been blinded.

Once we are in the vehicle, we begin to talk about what to do now. Then we hear the now familiar tones on the radio as the now crying broadcaster announces, This is a civil danger warning, the following message is being transmitted at the request of the Equestrian government. The Equestrian Air Defense has detected the launch of several hundred more Zebrican Balefire missiles and megaspells. This is an attack warning, repeat this is an attack warning. An attack warning means an actual attack has been launched and immediate action must be taken. Due to the high number of launches, it is not possible to determine exact targets. Therefore, all residents of Equestria are strongly advised to find a Stable now. If no such shelter exists in your area take what shelter you can in an inside room or basement with no windows. Then there is silence briefly on the radio and the announcer’s voice cracks as he says, May the Goddesses bless us all. May Celestia protect and Luna Defend all of you, Goodbye and Goddesses speed.

Then we hear a loud screeching over the radio, and the broadcast ends with nothing but static.

I hear several of my comrades crying as we drive back to the safehouse in Targhee. We pull into the garage and the door is closed behind us.

As we get out of the van, we see Zilla behind us and she says, “Back into the hideout, now, we don’t have much time, the fallout from the bombs is already getting too high.”

As the others begin to head that way, I tell Xandra, “I need to check a few things for our report back to Roam.”

She nods her head and I make my way to the backyard of the house. As I hear the increasing speed of the clicks from the magical radiation, I note which way the winds are blowing and judge about what speed they are. Then I look up at the sky and I begin to see clouds beginning to rapidly cover the sky. I am stunned as I realize this means that the Pegasus have begun to close the sky. As I watch I see several of the pegasus that live in Targhee begin to fly higher and higher away in their attempt to escape the fate of the rest of us.

I sit there in a chair as I watch this and I realize I have my flask in my saddle back, I take a Radway and then I take a sip from my flask at first. I decide after the sip, what the Tartarus, no use in saving it, so I finish the rest. Then I think of what I have just lost. I am seeing my homeland die, not my parents homeland, but mine. Equestria that I love and was raised in. I helped the zebra nation because I wanted to save lives, and I have failed. I wanted to date a sweet and beautiful mare and now I will not get the chance. I sit here for a while more mourning, and then I head inside and make my report.

As I enter the main room in the tunnels, I see most of them sitting there in shock. A couple of the are tending wounds I had not noticed earlier. It is then that I hear Xevera the mare from team two ask Xandra, “Why did you stop? We could have destroyed that base and killed more ponies.”

I watch and listen as Xandra takes a deep breath and tells her, “Lieutenant, what good would that have done? They had already launched their megaspell. You know as well as I do, that this facility can not reload it, so why should we have continued.”

Xevera responds with, “but we could have punished them for what they did. We could have made them pay.”

Xandra tiredly responds, “But at what cost? Is the cost of your soul worth the price of vengeance?” She looks down and shakes her head, “I am sorry. To save others I would have paid with all of our lives,” she looks back up and continues, “But I will not waste or take lives unnecessarily. Our mission failed, but we, as Zebras, we have not failed entirely, not as long as we maintain some of our equinity.”

I see Xevera has tears in her eyes as she sits down by the others and waits for the end. I then give my report to the Captain. She smiles and tells me, “Thank you, I will send this off to Roam. You did good soldier. Thank you for all you have done and tried to do.”

I nod my head, “Thank you ma’am. I appreciate it.” I look down and I tell her, “The sad thing for me ma’am, is I finally asked the pony mare I have had feelings for since school to go for a date and she said yes this morning. Now this.”

She nods her head and tells me, “You know you do not have to stay here with the rest of us. Go, go find her and spend what time you can with her.”

I feel the tears in my eyes as I tell her, “Thank you Captain. I will never forget you.”

She smiles sadly and tells me, “I will see you on the other side. May the spirits not interfere with you.”

I then notice that some of my comrades are completely despondent as I leave and give a last farewell wave to them. I know I will never see them alive again. Then I close the door. Take a Rad way and a Rad Ex to buy me some more time and begin to head for the hospital.

As I walk, I know I am still picking up more rads and I begin to worry how long I can take this. I come around a corner and I begin to see groups of ponies making their way towards the hospital. I have my carbine that I have not yet fired from the mission still strapped to my back, but I am not willing to give it up yet.

When I catch up with the first group of ponies, I see several of them have bandages over their eyes. Others just stare vacantly ahead as they are led down the streets. From the direction of Canterlot we are still able to hear the blast of the balefire missiles as they strike the city’s shields. This is accompanied by what sounds like thunder a short time after every blast. As far away as we are, I can only imagine how big those blasts must be.

I see one pony walking blindly by themselves and I approach them, asking, “Do you want me to help get you to the hospital?”

The older mare looks around for the source of my voice and tells me, “Please, I was walking with my husband, but we got separated. My name is Fantasy Fudge, what is yours?”

I know her name but with the cover of dust on her coat, I had not realized it was her. “Hi Misses Fudge, it’s me, Bar Code.”

I see her think briefly and she says, “Oh Bar Code, I remember you, you and your sister used to come into my shop all the time.”

I smile at the memory and think of how the loss of my sister in no mares’ land has led me to this point. I then tell her, “That was us. Thank you so much for all the kindness you showed us.”

As we continue to walk, she asks, “How come I never see her anymore?”

I sigh and I feel a tear start to blur my eye as my voice breaks when I tell her, “She was killed five years ago. Her unit got overrun.”

“I am so sorry to hear that. Please forgive me for not knowing and causing you pain by having to talk about it.”

“It’s ok, Misses Fudge, thank you for caring enough to ask about her. Most don’t”

Soon we are at the door of the hospital and I find that it is blocked off with guards there. I also see that they have some of the staff outside and they are triaging the wounded as they come in. There I see Persimmon and I approach her.

When she sees me, she gives me a hug and asks, “Are you ok?”

I nod my head, “So far, but we need to get out of the radiation.”

She nods her head, “The staff has been rotating so we can limit exposure. So far most of those patients we have received have only been blinded or received injuries as the results of falling when they were blinded.”

I am worried about her and asks, “Do you have anyplace safe to go? She looks around and tells me, “Inside the hospital, we have a private stable that was built. If things get too bad, we are going inside and closing the doors.”

I nod my head and tell her, “Persimmon, I think you are going to want to do that before too long. I have a feeling we are going to see a lot of radiation fallout soon.”

She nods her head and tells me, “I know, and who knows what all that is doing to our bodies.”

She is facing south, and I am facing east. My missing eye is pointing north when we see a bright flash from north of us. Persimmon says, “Goddesses that one was bright, it must have been fairly close, where do you think it was.”

I consider it briefly and tell her, “I think that was Manesville, you know with the carriage plant.”

I see her nod her head. Then she says, “I saw a megaspell launch come out of the area by New Gallop. How long before they try and hit that place do you think.”

I grimly tell her, “I don’t think you have to worry about it. Not with the spell gone.”

As we are talking I see more ponies still approaching. Again, most are just flash blind victims. I watch as she helps triage them. Then I hear one of them yell, “Why are you keeping us out here? Let us into the hospital.”

One of the doctors out here calmly tells them. We are limiting the number of ponies in the hospital right now. We will be needing to ration out the amount of care we can give. We can no longer expect the normal delivery of supplies like we are used to.”

I see some of the crowd start to surge forward. I unsling my weapon and fire it into the air. This not only gets them to back off, but it brings out several members of security to support us.

After this, things begin to quiet down for a while. I end up helping the staff of the hospital, in part by assisting with first aid that I learned in the army. I also assist in providing security so the medicos can work safely. We are far enough away from the blast that we are not getting overwhelmed with wounded and burned. Instead we only get those blinded.

As the day goes on and night begins to come, I see one of the guards come out and talk to the main doctor. He then looks at the small amount of injured left and walks to all the staff members telling them to slowly work their way inside.

The few patients still being worked on are turned over to their family members or brought inside. Once no one is really left we go inside the hospital. We all are led to the morgue and it is there that I see a stable door. There is no number on it like the ones from Stable-tec, instead it simply has a letter T painted on it. As we are brought inside, we are made to remove any articles we are still wearing and then taken to a decontamination station.

As I have had military training, I am taken to the security station. Once there the chief tells me, “Welcome onboard, we are short on security as it is and you meet our needs. I saw how you handled yourself out there and it is the only reason I let you in.”

I nod my head and ask, “What is it you need me for?”

He sighs and tells me, “Hopefully not much. But we just closed the door and will not be opening it again until radiation levels are at an acceptable level. We have some cameras set up inside the stable as well as outside that we will be monitoring.”

He points toward the bank of screens and as we look at them, I see a crowd of ponies begin to pillage the Super Duper Mart two blocks away. I soon see another group coming toward the hospital but they are quickly driven off by the machinegun turrets on corners of the hospital. I wish I could help them, but even now I see that they are out of control and it would be dangerous to set hoof into that mob.

I sit there for several more hours with the chief and finally he tells me, “Oh, go on over to the Personnel office. They should be able to assign you a stall and set you up. Tell them that I sent you.”

After I am done there and have a stall assigned, I find my way to the cafeteria for the first meal I have had since breakfast. After I get my tray filled and a cup of coffee I begin to decide where I will sit. It is then that I notice Persimmon laying down on a booth seat at one of the tables. I go over and sit across from her and begin to eat.

I am almost done with my meal when she wakes up and asks groggily, “Why didn’t you wake me?”

I smile at her and tell her, “Well I figured you needed the sleep.”

She gets up and stretches. Then she tells me, “I will be right back, I need some coffee.”

While she is gone I silently contemplate what all has happened since I got up this morning. I can not help but shake my head.

She returns shortly and as I am taking a drink of coffee she tells me, “Well, should we consider this our first date then?”

I cannot help but chuckle at that. Then I tell her, “I was so afraid today that I would never see you again. I had to find you.”

I see her smile brightly at me as she slips her forehoof across the table and she tells me, “Well mission accomplished Bar, and to tell the truth, I am really glad you did not fail in your mission.”

Author's Note:

By Trooper