Chapter 7: The Fallen Amareica
“History does nothing; it does not possess immense riches, it does not fight battles. It is men, real, living, who do all this.”
- Karl Marx
Chapter 7: The Fallen Amareica
Carnage Moon POV
Roughly 1000 years ago…
“Carnage, no more sweets. You may be destined to be a great ruler, but that doesn’t mean your teeth can never fall out. I’ll keep these safe in my room and you can run off and have some fun. I’ll be busy this afternoon, so you are free for today.”
I gently nudged the door open with my snout till I could see mom’s bed across from me. I looked behind me one more time to make sure none of the guards had spotted me, and then shut the door. When I knocked that vase over, all the dummy guards went running off to find out what the noise was, while I could get my sweets. Mommy needs some better guards. These guys suck.
Sherbet lemons have always been my favourite sweets. I love the sour, sherbet taste. I could smell them, and because of that, I knew where mommy had hidden them. She had put them on top of her wardrobe. I couldn’t get up there because I still couldn’t fly well enough, though. I was never gonna be able to fly, at most I can only hover off the ground. I started to look around mommy’s bedroom for something to help.
Mom sure liked the colour blue, like me. Everywhere I looked there was blue and black. Mommy said that those colours represent our ponies, but not everypony under us was that colour. Mommy says some weird things sometimes. She keeps asking if I feel something sharp in my forelegs, and if I liked the taste of meat. I LOVE meat! Chicken, steak, pork, I love it all. I keep asking if mommy can take me to a meat tree, but she turns green and says when I’m older. Silly mommy. I don’t know why mommy doesn’t eat any, it’s really tasty.
Oh no, I have to stop thinking about food. I need to get those sweets. Sometimes it is hard to make out stuff in mommy’s room since everything was the same colour blue. I liked it, but my head sometimes bumped into a wall or a chair that I couldn’t see until I hit it. It was funny though, the chair I saw before me was tall enough to climb up. I was just strong enough to push the chair an inch towards the wardrobe. Now I could hover to my sweeties. One hoof, two hooves on the chair and I lifted myself up the seat. Then I heard something open. I thought mommy or a guard had walked in and I was busted, but when I looked back, I couldn’t see anypony there. The door wasn’t open, not even by a crack. I looked around until I saw the window was open, letting in the cold wind. I didn’t remember the window being open. I thought it was closed…
I felt a hoof cover my mouth and I was tugged off the chair till I hit the ground. I struggled against the hoof, but found I couldn’t fight off whoever this pony was. I didn’t know what to do. Mommy kept teaching me to fight bad ponies, but I couldn’t remember what to do. I could see the pony that was attacking me. He had a black hood and a big, bushy, white beard. He was a unicorn, and around his neck was a sun necklace. I think he was a solar pony, but I had never seen one before.
“So, the rumours are true, Luna has given birth to a colt. You are fortunate that you’re not my target, because I never harm an innocent.”
‘No! He’s going to hurt mommy!’ I tried to get out of his grip, but he was too strong. I flailed about desperately to escape because I didn’t know what to do. Mommy never told me what to do in this case.
“You’re a brave little colt,” he said glumly, “but I’m afraid your mother cannot continue among the living. Now hush, you shall soon be asleep.”
He took one of those weird smoke stick things out of his pocket and put it in his mouth. He kept his hoof in my mouth as he… lit… it…
FIRE!
‘Wha… no… I don’t like fire. I hate the sun, the sun is bad.’
“P-put it out,” I managed to get out through his hoof, but he only shook his head.
“Sorry, but I need a smoke before I continue. You will be out before long.”
‘No, you don’t understand, I don’t like… FIRE!’
‘Wait, what’s happ… FIRE!’
FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!
…
…
…
…
“GGGGGGAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
Ulysses POV
Present Day…
So far, everything had gone to plan. The train had faced no sudden bumps in the track. Nopony on board had been harmed or killed. As far as I could tell, we would soon be in Ponyville. Ponyville, an interesting name. Ponyville was named as such because it was founded during a time of instability between the Griffons and Ponies. An age old story. They called it Ponyville to establish that it was indeed a pony colony, and not a community for the griffons to ensnare. Now it’s just a ‘quirky’ name for a small community that has been steadily growing in population, and notoriety.
Some have called the place a charming getaway. Others claim it’s a death trap. I prefer to make my own judgements. As a courier though, gaining information on a place you must make your delivery can be invaluable, and has saved my life on more than one occasion. Despite what I heard though, I was confident the only threats we would encounter there are ponies from the outside, not the residents. It didn’t mean nopony would attempt to take the train while we were on it. Tales of outlaws like Kidd, Marsh Tone, and so on would have jumped at the chance long ago. But even now, there are those who would take the chance to rob a train as valuable as this. Still, I never took chances, only absolutes if I could.
I had remained awake the entirety of the previous night. Sleep could wait for now. If an ambush had come, we would have been defenceless against our attackers. When daylight broke, I proceeded to check each room to make sure we were intact, and wake up my new found associates. All the mares were accounted for, including Mimic, who had not taken the chance to escape. Guardian had been asleep on the roof of his car, Fade was wrapped up under his covers, the Doctor was already awake (or perhaps he had never fallen asleep), and this only left our leader. Being led was nothing new to me, but I haven’t had a true following for a very long time. I couldn’t say if I believed in what we were doing, but that wasn’t important. The only important things were accomplishing our goal, and getting my reward.
The door opened with little effort as the stallion in the room neglected to lock the door. Considering how powerful he was, it would be foolish for any thief to try and steal from him. His face told a story of great worry. He seemed stressed and annoyed in his sleep. Whether he was experiencing a nightmare, or just bad memories was anypony’s guess.
Mr. Carnage POV
“Welcome, to the Velvet room… oh dear, my apologies, I believed you were somepony, or rather, somebody else. Off you go, back to realm of the conscious.”
Ulysses POV
He awoke suddenly and turned his head to look at me. He could likely sense I was in the room with him. He seemed confused for a moment as he looked around the room, like he was meant to be somewhere else.
“What a very long nose,” he muttered under his breath.
“You think my nose is long?” I asked in confusion. “It’s a snout, for your information.”
“Oh not you, I meant… the bizarre stallion in my dream… that could’ve come out better.” He blinked at me a couple of times before he came to the obvious realisation. “Anyway, what are you doing in my room?”
“I came to tell you that we will be in Ponyville shortly. I have awoken the others, and you were the last one left.” He rubbed his eyes and looked out the window to find daylight was upon us. His eyes then went to the clock on the wall to find it was nearly seven o’clock. I turned to take my leave so he could recuperate, but he stopped me before I stepped out of the room.
“Have you been awake all night?” I turned around again to address him.
“Yes. I did not require sleep. I remained awake so I could prevent an ambush if the situation occurred. It did not, in case you were wondering.”
“Is that why you have a shotgun instead of a sniper this time?” He pointed a hoof at the weapon on my back. Shotguns were better when you were close up to an opponent. Considering where we were headed, I decided this was the ideal weapon to use.
“Since we are heading to a village where there will be little sniping opportunities, and a higher risk of close combat, I chose my shotgun. I also took the train ride into consideration before picking this particular weapon.”
He looked me over for a moment, but didn’t move from his prone position on the bed. His face was one of pain and misery, the likes of which matched mine. I didn’t know what to make of him, and he didn’t know what to make of me. I had come to the conclusion that in a fight, he would win. There was little doubt that he outmatched all of us. The only way to do it would be to take him out quickly. One shot to the head with a sniper would do the job. His face scrunched up slightly as he glared at my gun.
“You disapprove of my weapon?” I asked.
“Guns make me nervous, always have. Try not to use that around the Doctor…”
“I am aware. He highly disapproves of them. You seem troubled though.” His eyes widened slightly, but quickly returned to a neutral expression. “Bad dreams. Haunted faces from your past. It is written all over your face.”
“You sound like a guy who knows from personal experience.” There was small silence between us. Although not intentionally, I instinctively stared him down. Some have told me my stare comes off as staring straight through a pony. Like I was looking at the essence of their soul.
“I have seen… things. I have lived a life filled with violence and bloodshed.”
“So have I, friend, so have I.”
“Yes, you came from the old world. Our histories are somewhat similar.” He finally sat up and leaned against the wall beside his bed. His stretched his neck until we heard a click.
“That sounds like the lead into a story. Go ahead then.” I did not carry a lot with me. I had my mask, my trenchcoat, and my guns. Specifically, my sniper, shotgun and assault rifle. You would not find the average pony possessing these kind of weapons. Only the guard or other forms of military. The gun ban instigated by Celestia years ago had done its job. Still, you would rarely find a guard carrying a firearm as they preferred swords or spears. I reached into my pocket and pulled out something I always kept with me. The story about the day everything changed.
“This was the day everything changed.” I gave him the article which he began to study intently. I had looked over it enough times to remember what it held on the paper. There was a large picture of a cloud that resembled the shape of a mushroom rising from the ground. Surrounding the picture was text talking about the cloud and the incidents leading up to its appearance. It was not smoke, it was dust and fallout created by a large explosion. At the top of the page was the headline in big, bold letters.
‘Millions dead, terrifying new weapon developed?’
Judging by his sudden look of anger, I assumed he came to the conclusion that I had something to do with the bomb. I thought it would best to explain before he jumped to false conclusions.
“The place in the picture is called the Divide,” I began. “Three hundred years ago, a small group of the population declared their independence from Equestria. They were a mixture of Pegasi, Earth and Unicorn ponies all looking to free themselves from Celestia’s rule. History has forgotten why, but not their flag or what it all led too.” I turned around so the symbol on the back of my coat was visible to him. It started as a blue circle with a star in the centre. At the bottom of the circle were red and white lines coming off of it. “Amareica, was what they called that land. They travelled many miles west till they discovered it. A spot not claimed by any other nation. However, tensions soon rose, and the land was split into three factions. Despite it all, a great land was born in the centre. Thirty years ago, I was born in the legion. They called their land Dusk, after a great war general from the Luna/Celestia war. The legion bred all to be warriors, and I was made a scout to keep watch of our enemies.”
“Who were your enemies?” He asked me. The sincerity in his curiosity was blindingly obvious. His anger was gone, and now he wished to know the whole story. Just like a leader should act. Never act in anger, act with a clear mind, even when it comes to revenge.
“The NCR. Both my land and theirs were symbols of the old world. Does this flag look familiar to you?” I could feel his eyes on my back as he studied the flag for a moment. I knew if he truly was who he claimed, he would recognise its origin. His eyes lit up as he nearly exploded from his bed, but he remained in a sitting position.
“It’s the old Luna republic flag. Only recolored. The circle used to be blue and the lines were black and purple.” I turned around so I was facing him again. He seemed strangely excited, perhaps he forgot about the tragedy.
“One day, I went scouting for the positions of our enemies when I came across the Divide.”
“The Divide?”
“It was a neutral state from the warring factions. They all wore their manes as dreads like I do. It was a nation taking its first breath. It was a prosperous community, and I decided to make it my home. I left the Legion and joined the community. For two years it had the potential to become a true homeland to me. Surrounded by symbols of the old world before the Celestia/Luna war. A purer time, a golden time of peace. More prosperous than it is now. However, the NCR discovered the Divide and annexed it. Soon the Legion discovered it as well, and a war over the divide began. The Divide… it became like old military. Can still smell the pride. And the fear. Hope of the old world, wrapped in fencing, covered in storm.”
“That must have been tough,” he said sympathetically.
“No need to destroy the bear. Just cut its throat. The Legion believed if they took the divide, they would take the NCR’s main supply source.” Myself and Carnage were both soldiers since the day we entered this world. I lived among memories of the old world, while he was born in it.
“So what did you do next?”
“I made plans. I began to form a small group that would assist me in turning away the Legion, but also undo the damage the NCR did. Then she came.”
“Who?”
“The Courier. That was all I ever knew her by. A courier is somepony hired to deliver specific packages and items to dangerous or nearly unreachable places. She fascinated me. During the war for the Divide, she came and left a package in the square. It bore a symbol of the old world. Then she left as quickly as she arrived. The next day, I became more interested in her purpose there, so I followed her trail. Then it happened.” I pointed at the picture in the article. “The survivors said the device she left behind began to speak and then something struck from the sky. In the middle of a furious battle, the bomb struck the Divide and killed the entire population of Amarerica. The NCR, the Legion, and the Divide were all dead. I was caught in the edge of the blast, and it caused me irreparable damage.” I then pointed to my mask. “There were many photographers and journalists who came to observe the battles. A few of them saw me and rushed me off to the nearest hospital where they gave me this mask. If I remove it for too long, I will die. The fallout of the bomb ruined my lungs and destroyed my wing. However, from all that destruction came realisation. I learned one of the greatest lessons one can ever learn.”
“What is that then?”
“One pony, can change the course of history.” I allowed the words to settle in for a moment. His face scrunched up again in thought, and then a look of realisation. I could read him again so I took the initiative. “Yes, the Courier. All she had to do was leave that package in the divide, and it changed everything for me and the now lost country of Amareica. The package was a beacon for the bomb, a bomb from the old world.” Looking at the picture again, that made some sense. But I didn’t remember any kind of weapon like this. Just from the sound of the damage it could do, I would certainly remember something like this. The weapon must be magic infused, but with what I could not say.
“The Doctor has talked about technology that was purposely removed after the Luna/Celestia war. I overheard while I was resting when you guys brought me to your base. Is this how you know?”
“No, I discovered it. I became a courier myself soon after the incident. My scouting skills matched the job’s requirements, and I became fascinated as to what it was like. A year later, I came across a certain package that directed me towards the mares and stallions behind the bomb. They called it a nuke. An old device that was never used. It was developed by Celestia’s scientists, but she deemed the device… sadistic, and ordered it to be locked away for eternity. It turned out that you couldn’t simply dismantle them once they was assembled.”
“Why did they do it? I mean we’re not exactly ponies with clean consciences, but I can’t…”
“The Templars. It was the Templars. It was a direct order from their leader. That name still eludes me, though. Nopony is allowed to address him by name in any fashion. Not by mouth or written letter. He is only known as Grand Templar. They did it as a test. They wanted to use it against Celestia so they tested it against a smaller country. However, it takes over a year to power a new one up so it will be ready to use. I arrived just in time. I killed them. All of them. Everypony directly involved in the launching of the nuke that destroyed the Divide. I collapsed the entrance to the silos so nopony could use the nukes again.”
“So, that’s why you joined the Illusive Pony,” he began to conclude. “You want the location of the one pony involved left, the leader of the Templars.”
“No, however, that has become a reason I have continued to stay. He has offered me something else.”
“What else could you want?”
“I told you, the Couriers actions destroyed the Divide. Apart from the Templar leader, she is the only pony left for me to find. The Illusive Pony knows more than he lets on, and one thing he claims is that he knows is her name and her location.”
“Didn’t you find anything from the Templars?”
“No, they contacted her through word of mouth and any other information only addressed her as Courier. Not even a location to where she lived.”
“So what? Find her and kill her?”
“No, I have other plans for her.” The way I said it unnerved him slightly. “In the end, the road that will bring me and her face to face will not be about revenge or hate. It’s the message she carried. The one in that package whether she knew it or not.”
Before he could ask anymore questions, and his insatiable curiosity told me he wanted to, the train’s whistle blew loudly for all of us to hear. The forward motion of the machine began to slow and all its passengers were able to feel it. As I turned my head towards the window, I could see the edge of a small village surrounded by green grass, hills and trees.
“We have arrived.”
Mimic POV
Meanwhile...
I could feel the train finally stop and I knew the inevitable was upon me. It was time for me to prove my worth. Vinyl had been talking to me for the past five minutes and I was now phasing her out. I could see that everyling else was picking themselves up from the floor or their bed where they were resting. Shadow was putting her armour back on, Silver was checking over her equipment again, and Spitfire was doing some sort of morning exercise routine. I didn’t really know what to do with myself so I kind of just stood over to the side, quietly. That was, until Vinyl came over.
I wasn’t really sure why she was talking to me. Either she was really friendly, or she was incredibly polite and didn’t want me to feel excluded. I already knew I was the odd one out of a bunch of weirdo’s. It was like being the only triangle egg in a bunch of square eggs. Maybe I could practice some disguises, but I didn’t want to weird anypony out further by changing how I looked loads of times. I hated being useless. No matter what hive you were raised in, it was drilled into your head that being unproductive was not Changeling. That wasn’t a problem really, as long as you did something. There were construction workers, architects, artists, even actors. I wanted to be like them, not a glorified soldier.
“Hey, can you change into me?” As the train began to fully stop, Vinyl’s unusual question came into my skull. I turned to her and I couldn’t help but look at her as if she were crazy.
“Uh, yeah I guess,” I said noncommittally.
“Really? Can you do it now?” Instinctively, I did as she asked. The question rang back to the days I learned to change my appearance in the hive. The trainers would give us pictures of ponies and it was our job to transform into them in a second. Without thinking, I now looked exactly like Vinyl Scratch. Vinyl seemed ecstatic about this for some reason.
“Oh my gosh, do Shadow next!” Again, without thinking, I did as she asked. I was a perfect replica of Shadow without her armour. From the corner of my eye I could see Shadow glance at me for a moment, but she quickly walked out of the carriage. Another whistle had blown, which was a sign for us to get off. Before I could leave though, Vinyl wanted one more demonstration.
“Okay, one more. Do Silver.” In a second, I had the familiar white coat and red mane. “Do you sound like her though?”
“Hush you, my Poman accent is second to none,” I said with a smirk. It was harder to mimic others voices, but I was a natural at it.
“Well, hello me, you look lovely today.” Vinyl and I craned our necks towards the open door where Spitfire and Shadow had already left. Silver was standing there, looking straight at me. “Come on, it’s time to go.”
Vinyl nodded and sprinted straight out the door, eager to see her old home again. But as I made my way to the door, Silver stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. It was just me and her in the carriage.
“As cool as that trick is, I would prefer to talk to the real you, Mimic.” I changed back without any arguments, but I was a bit nervous about being alone with Silver. She seemed motherly, but I knew how dangerous she was. “How are you, Mimic?”
“I’m fine.” My voice cracked a little over how nervous I was. “Is there a reason you want to talk to me?” She nodded her head with a smile.
“Yes, you see I know how nervous you are. I just want you to know I’ll look out for you.” There was a catch. There was always a catch.
“What’s the deal then? Do you want something?”
“No. I get why you’re nervous. All I ask is that you don’t betray us, and that you do your best to help us find this Changeling. That’s all. In return, I’ll make sure nopony hurts you. Deal?”
“… Deal.”
“Excellent, let’s go then.”
She trotted over to the door and opened it for me. I thanked her, but I kept my suspicions. Maybe she was trying to protect the others. I think her and our leader had something going on, but I didn’t know enough so I decided not to ask. I didn’t want to risk upsetting her. The walk through the train was silent until we made it to the exit. Before we stepped through, I slipped into my Sun Drop disguise, and Silver said one thing to me.
“Welcome to Ponyville.”
The early morning sun was shining brightly in the sky. I could hear the chirping of birds and the gentle rustling of leaves. In the distance, a sweet looking town stood proudly amongst all the beauty, and Ponies beginning their workdays were milling about, talking to each other. The others were standing amongst themselves since they were the only ones at the station, and we were out of everyling’s line of sight. I took one more look around this place I had arrived. And when my jaw had been picked off the ground, I muttered to myself.
“I want to live here…”
???
“Manna, take a look at who just arrived.”
“… Yes, my dear Quatermane. It would appear what Nemo feared has come to fruition. The league has been reformed.”
“What should we do?”
“Watch for now. Then decide on our next course of action. The more things change…”
“… The more they stay the same.”
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I like Ulysses' backstory, your establishment of characters is great, (to me) it feels like they're established naturally rather than an exposition dump.
Also I'm a fallout fan, so there is more than you think (maybe).
So are we getting the Corn Stok that didn't find religion turning up?
3523490 I have rumblings for another story, but don't expect that in this one.
3526327 Not sure if this is positive or negative.
3527855 I think it was you who asked me for the link, and you said you loved the movie. Are you aware though that the film was based upon a graphic novel written by Alan Moore?
dude please send me a personal message when this is updated because this is epic
3528137 Well since you're following it you'll be updated anyway, but I'll try to remember.
I think that it was a brilliant way to write Ulysses's background, definitely not how I was expecting you to do it and in my opinion far more creative/thought out than most people would be able to do it.
All of my yes went into this chapter. I was curious how you would explain his backstory seeming how the Fallout universe and Equestria are as opposite as it gets. You actually did it incredibly well, keeping the backstory almost exact as it was, only altering it to fit the story, and you explained the details quite well. Great job
3523550 i love you.