For Equestria.
PonyVille
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, and she could faintly see her breath in the freezing Cryo-Pod. The small window was glazed over with Ice, but just clear enough that Twilight could see into the pod across from her. She spotted the distinct rainbow colored mane of her pegasi friend, Rainbow Dash. She looked around the tiny space, balling her fists and giving the pod a good whack. She heard over the loudspeaker outside, “Cryo-Pod malfunction, releasing resident.” With that, her pod door opened and out she fell, struggling to get up after 200 years of forced sleep. She propped up on her knee and hoisted her form into the air, glancing around the subterranean room. Six pods filled the space. She jumped to the adjacent pod window, peering inside at her friend’s comatose form. She pulled a red lever on the control panel next to the capsule. “Manual Override Initiated. Waking Resident.” The announcer spoke again, and the familiar color of Rainbow Dash’s Cerise eyes slowly opened. Her pod released the door, swinging upward. Twilight hugged her half-awake companion.
“Dashie!” Twilight said, glad to have her friend awake.
“H-Huh…?” Dash looked around before returning Twilight’s hug. “W-...What happened...How long was I out…?”
“We.” She corrected. “I think...It’s been 200 years…”
“Wait wait! Hold the phone, You’re telling me, We’re all 200 years older?!” She looked to Twi like she’d grown a second head.
“I believe so, yes.” She released Rainbow.
Dash got out of her pod, and looked around at the room they were confined in. “Where’s AJ? Fluttershy?”
“I think they’re in the other pods. Lets go check.” The 2 released their friends from the capsules they were enclosed in, exchanging hugs and ‘happy to see you’ greetings. The Mane 6 congregated to the center of the room, and Twilight explained what she thought had happened.
“Okay. Vault-Tec put us under for 200 years in these pods. Last I remember, while skimming the contract, it said these pods were never meant to malfunction. Mine opened on it’s own, that’s how I got Rainbow out. And then you guys.” She breathed, still recovering from her coma.
“Ah, Twi, y’all sayin’ we’re 200 years older than we were? Y’all sure?” Applejack straightened her cowboy hat and look at Twilight sideways.
“Yeah...That would be odd if we were...How would we be alive…?” Fluttershy added weekly.
“This Vault suit is so un-trendy. It itches too!” Rarity complained tugging on the tight fitting blue and yellow bodysuit.
“Guys, We have to work together. We have to get out of this Vault. We have homes and friends to return to. Spread out, see if you can find a door or something.” Twi instructed.
With that, the group broke off into pairs. After a minute or so of looking, Rainbow Dash called from one end of the room, “I found a door!”
The group formed around the door, and Twilight led the band through the hallway behind it. Their standard boots thumped on the Vault’s tile floor. Trash and debris were strewn about the seemingly deserted underground safehouse. Twilight laid eyes on a mutant-ishly large roach, holding the others back with a protective arm. “Hold on, this thing looks-”
She was cut off by a blood-curdling scream from Rarity. “EEEUUUUGH! THAT’S FUCKING DISGUSTING!” She screamed, alerting 5 more of the bugs to drop from the ceiling. They skittered towards the band of 6, triggering AJ, Rainbow, and Twilight to batter the bugs with clenched fists. Making short work of the overgrown pests, they wiped bug innards from their hands.
“Rarity, next time, keep your mouth shut.” Rainbow felt the need to scold the unicorn.
“I absolutely despise bugs!” She opened her mouth like she was throwing up. “Euuugh…” She shivered.
“C’mon. Let’s keep moving.” Twilight redirected the quarreling 2.
Moving quickly through the Vault, and dealing with the occasional group of roaches, they had made it to the entrance. 6 bleached skeletons lie on the floor, with an odd device around their arms. Twilight took on and strapped it around her arm. The device powered up. “Guys, grab one. It says this is the way to open the door.” Following suit, each one grabbed a Pip-Boy.
While Twilight worked the Vault Door control console, Rainbow had walked and came back with 6 identical 10 millimeter pistols, with ammunition to spare. “Guys, here, I found these in a supply closet. There’s also one of these needle things for each of us. Said they were called Stimpaks.” Rainbow handed each of her friends a pistol, ammo, and a Stimpak.
Twilight finally hit the right button, which popped the glass cover over the Vault Door Override. She looked at her friends, receiving a nod from each. With a press of the button and a blare of an alarm, the huge, lead lined door heaved open. They walked across the bridge to the elevator, boarding and heading up to their homes. Or so they thought.
Light blinded the band of 6, as they were shown a landscape they never thought to see. All traces of green were gone. Everything was a sickly and withered color brown. Trees were barren, grass was all but extinct. Then they laid eyes on their homes. Ponyville was completely destroyed.
Twilight’s library had been split in half, leaving it irreparable. Twilight, for the first time in 200 years, fell to her knees, and bawled. She sobbed, and waved off her friends as they tried to comfort her. “...Go...see what’s left of your homes...Meet back here…” She sputtered through sobs and sharp breaths. So started the tragic road of recovery, and the long journey to cope with the depressing reality that lay before them. In her Library, was the draconic skeleton of her beloved assistant Spike.
Rainbow Dash took off with a swoop of her wings, trying to spot her cloud house. A patch of off white in the distance caught here eye. As he got closer, her eyes shrunk and widened, her mouth dropping open. Her cloud house, on the outskirts, lay toppled on its side and destroyed. She landed inside the broken ruins, her eyes welling up with tears. She squeezed them shut, and yelled in pain, anger, hatred, and sadness. She slammed her fist against the wall of her house. She sat against the wall and, much like Twilight, cried until her tear ducts ran dry. Scootaloo wasn't there.
Rarity’s eyes were stained with ruined Mascara as her boutique had gotten it’s top blown off. Her dresses were strewn about, dirty and ripped, with all her shelves of fabric knocked over. She broke, sobbing hysterically on the floor of the former “Carousel Boutique”. SweetieBell wasn't there.
AppleJack ran as fast as her farm-pony hooves could carry her. The entirety of Sweet Apple Acres, laid to waste. The barn, broken. The house, sheared in 2 by the shockwave. The Orchard, barren and with most trees felled or decayed. Slowly trotting into the ruined abode, the skeleton of her older brother, Big Mac, lay reaching for the door. Her grandmother shared Big Mac’s doom. AppleBloom wasn't there.
Fluttershy shared a similar sentiment at her forest cottage, seeing that the greenery on top had been vaporized. Her house was filled with rubble. A felled tree trunk lay lodged in the wall of her once quiet and humble cottage. Her breaking point was reached when she rested her gaze on a tiny skeleton. Angel.
Pinkie Pie was trying to remain jubilant in the face of tragedy. If she broke too, things were really done for. Her bakery was decapitated like most of Ponyville’s houses. The inside was trashed, her sweet creations rotten, and a sickly green. All her baking supplies had been looted. Pinkie’s radiant smile was all but murdered. Her face died away to a depressed and sorrowful. Gummy was none but a pile of bones.
3 hours had passed since the 6 disbanded and went to face the harsh truth. Twilight sat in the center of Ponyville, on the remains of the city hall. “...We lost everything…” She couldn’t help but think about what her friends were finding. Rainbow, Rarity, AJ, Fluttershy, Pinkie, all probably were destroyed inside. Their lifelong companions had most likely been murdered by a force unable to be stopped. Their lives ripped from their grasp. The Elements of Harmony were supposed to protect them against anything. By holding this power, Twilight thought they could protect Ponyville. They were so very wrong. The tight grip on the reality they held so dear was snatched from them like a baby’s toy. One by one, her friends returned, all with shattered hearts, dull eyes, and depressed forms. “...Girls…?” Twilight said, in reference to what they lost.
“My home. Fallen from the sky.” Rainbow Dash sniffed. “Scootaloo...wasn't there…”
“Sweet Apple Acres...Fuckin’ ruined. Everehthin’ was gone. AppleBloom...She weren't there.” AppleJack kicked the ground.
“...M-My...Boutique...All my dresses...ruined…” Rarity could barely speak. Black lines of Mascara were plastered down her face. “S-SweetieBell...she...wasn't there…”
“...My cottage...It was...so dead...All my animals...And…” She started to sob again. “...A-Angel...Was...D-D-Dead…” Rainbow Dash scooted closer to her and hugged her close.
Pinkie Pie’s face was that of pure and unadulterated sorrow. “My whole bakery. All my treats, my baking supplies. Gummy. Gone. Rotten. Just like me.” She sniffed.
Twilight looked at her friends and stood up. “...Girls, I know we’ve lost a lot. But we haven’t lost everything.” Her face was firm. “We haven’t lost each other. We’re still here. We’re still friends.” Cue an epic soundtrack, maybe the Avengers Theme. No, seriously, put that on. “As long as we can still say we have each other, we are still strong. We are still the Elements of Harmony, we are the Warriors of the Fallen, and We...Will not give up.” One by one her friends looked to her with faces of determination, pride, vengeance, justice, and strength. “We will stand. Not for what was. Not for what is. We will stand for what is to be.” Her friends stood. “Who’s with me.” Twilight outstretched her arm.
Rainbow Dash joined. “I am. For Scootaloo”
AppleJack next. “Ah am, Sugarcube. For AppleBloom”
Rarity. “Me three, darling. For SweetieBell.”
Fluttershy. “For Angel.”
Pinkie stood. “For Gummy.”
Twilight nodded firmly. “For Equestria.”