Fallout Equestria: Stopping History 1

(A Fallout Equestria Side Story)

Twilight stood dumbstruck before the tall, black, pony surrounded by blue energy. As she laughed maniacally Twilight believed all hope was lost. But then when things seemed their darkest, her friends returned! Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and the rest of her friends galloped to her aid. Twilight realized that the Components of Harmony had been with her all along! Their personalities, bodies, flaws, and strengths all fit into the Harmony Machine and together the machine activated. It's ancient gears and lights came to life and with the brightest light of all colors it smite Nightmare Moon! Destroying the creature of darkness and returning Princess Luna to her normal self.

With the world saved from eternal night, the ponies threw a massive celebration for the Components of Harmony, and the newly returned Luna. The citizens of Ponyville cheered and laughed, all except for Twilight Sparkle...

"Cane? Hey Cane," A heavy voice called. The only response was a light, secluded, whisper.

"That's just it," The voice repeated, "Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends...I have to lea-"

"CANE!"

"AHHH," The voice screamed, blinking several times as he took the headphone piece out of his ears. His surroundings were no longer a beautiful party, but a dull, lifeless, gray. Princess Celestia was no longer informing him that he could stay in Ponyville with his new friends. He was no longer a hero to Equestria and beyond. He looked at the dark gray and brown Earth pony that stood before him with a mocking gaze. He wore a blue and yellow jacket like everyone else in the Stable, it read the number 88.

"Come on daydreamer, there's a welcome back party in the Atrium at the end of the month," The stallion spoke, "You're coming, aren't you?"

"Uh....uh...um," He replied. Although still shocked at first, his ear twitched at the word party. He rubbed his green mess of a mane with his hoof. His sky blue eyes blinked a couple times and he rubbed his muzzle with a groan. "I don't think I should," He sighed.

"Come on, it's a party, everypony loves it when you are at parties, and you know you love the attention. Like when you got drunk that one ti-"

Cane's ears drooped. "They like making fun of me," He quickly interjected, "I don't want that kind of attention."

"Sugar Cane," The other spoke almost in a fatherly tone, "Stormy Nights has been sick for over a year, everyone needs to be there for her. This won't be about ponies making fun of you, it will be about us welcoming back a mare we all miss."

"I guess so," Cane finally responded with a bit of a smile... it wouldn't last long.

"Besides," The pony added, his voice no longer filled with advice, "Everypony in the Stable knows you have the hots for her."

Sugar Cane urked and coughed at that comment, the other pony laughed and trotted out of the room. "I thought I wasn't going to be made fun of!"

"At the party," He corrected and laughed with a snort, "And I will see you there."

"Ugh! Yeah, see ya," Cane sighed and tapped his vanilla-gray hoof against the holotape player. With a glance he saw the other pony was gone and Sugar Cane sighed, "...Jackie....Jack-ass-erton...."

As pre-war Equestria filled his world once more Cane thought to himself.

"Mental note....think of better insulting names..."

- - -

Chapter 1 : You Can Keep Her

- - -

The old digital clock on the wall buzzed that it was 8:00, and with a light gray and green blur, Sugar Cane zoomed out of the maintenance bay. He had worked there every day since he was barely a young adult, and like every day before other ponies tried in vane to get out of the way from the one pony stampede.

"Look out!"

"Watch it!"

"Ow my tail!"

Cane with an expert use of hoof-work spun on one hoof, turned around, and continued running... only backwards. "Sorry," He called at the group of ponies he bowled through. Without turning back around he stopped before one of the doors along the gray/white hallway and he bucked it with his hind leg. The door to his room opened and with a spin he walked inside.

Unlike the dull colorless void that was the rest of Stable 88, Sugar Cane's room was a rainbow of posters and pictures. Some were old ads of Sparkle Cola or Stable Tec, while others were drawings that either he attempted or got actual artists from around the Stable to make for him. There was a wardrobe and mirror on one side of the room, the other side held a work desk that had several broken odds and ends on it. The only things on the desk that were intact was the slightly hidden photo of a blue and dark gray mare, and a strange green shackle with a computer screen on it. Cane ignored the strange, dust covered, device and picked the photo up with his mouth. He trotted to his bed which was more accurately a giant, old, trampoline with a blanket and pillow on it. He hopped on and jumped as high as he could for several minutes.

"Yesh," He spoke to himself, his voice muffled with the picture still held in his muzzle. "Shtorm ish comin' bach!" He blushed happily, recalling the countless dates he had with the gray maned, blue coated, mare, with the lightning yellow streak along her hair. Well...more accurately they were just hanging out most of the time. That was also a lie, he simply said hi to her every chance he got, often failing to make conversation, she was nice enough to say hi back sometimes.

That was before she got sick. The doctor was never clear what had happened, some weird sickness that only she got, possibly a radiation leak in her room caused it? Still, whatever illness struck the popular young mare, the rest of Stable 88 was immediately there for her. While other ponies had only paid respects for the first week of her sickness, Cane had visited the clinic every day after work for a month and a half. They never let him inside, though they did pass on his "Get Well Soon" letters to Stormy Nights when he brought them. Eventually, enough was enough for the head doctor and he told him to stop visiting just in case whatever Stormy caught was contagious. Sugar Cane refused at first but quickly left when the Stable Security was called to remove him.

But that was then, now Cane had his chance! Stormy Nights would return! He would express his true feelings for her. He would not leave her side. He would be confident.

Knock Knock Knock

There was a hiss as Cane's door opened, along with the soft voice of whoever was intruding on his moment. "Hello? Sugar Cane?"

With an eep, Cane slurped the photo of his beloved into his mouth, his bouncing came to a halt. He turned politely and smiled to whoever was there, though his mouth was stuffed like a squirrel's. The intruder took a few steps inside, blue coated fur and a wonderfully combed mane of gray and lightning. The cutie mark of a moon behind clouds sealed her identity as the door hissed to a close.

"Hi Cane," Stormy Skies spoke casually, "If I had known you were busy eating I would have come at a better time."

Cane's blue eyes dilated in terror. They looked down, then up, and he swallowed the contents of his mouth, shivering a bit at the taste and texture of the crumpled photo. He coughed a little, letting out several, "Uh's," and, "Ums," trying to find the right words. Stormy ignored his stupor and walked nonchalantly about his room.

"I wanted to thank you for all those nice cards you sent me since I," She began and paused, "...went away..."

Sugar Cane's mind started to catch up, and he tried his best to regain his composure. "....I was just having a snack," He lied, "So no harm done...Oh! Yes! The cards! I just wanted you to be okay."

Stormy Skies was looking at all the pictures on the wall.

"I would have done it for anypony," Sugar Cane added, lying again.

"Aw, aren't you a sweet heart," She spoke, looking at him with a smile.

"Well the doc says I have a high blood sugar level," Cane spoke blushing and rubbing the back of his head. Stormy laughed, though Cane hadn't been joking.

"So listen," Stormy spoke, returning to look about his room once more. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor before everypony in this Stable knows I'm out of the medical clinic." She stopped at his desk, noting the assortment of items on it, everything from computer bits, paint, hair dye, and work tools.

"Sure, anything," Cane replied eagerly.

"But you have to keep it a secret," She added, turning around quickly and staring down the love struck pony.

"Uh...sure," He began, raising an eyebrow.

"Not sure," She said, speaking a bit louder and stepping closer. Cane although the bigger of the two stepped back. "Promise me you won't tell a soul."

Sugar Cane finally noticed the saddle pack that Stormy Nights wore over her back. He sighed realizing whatever this was about could be really serious, maybe even dangerous... on the other hoof it would earn him major brownie points with Stormy. He raised his blue eyes and locked his gaze into Stormy's.

"I promise"

Stormy sighed with relief and took off her pack. "Okay, you can come out," She said.

"Who are y-," Cane began to ask, then noticed the pack started to rustle and move around. Stormy looked away blushing. Curiously, Cane leaned towards the pack, with his nose he lifted away the cover. Inside a small pair of green, wide, eyes looked back at him. In unison, Cane, and the creature inside the pack yelped and backed away from each other.

"Come out," Stormy urged, and the set of green eyes obeyed. They were attached to a sky blue coated filly. The tiniest one Cane had ever seen... maybe as big as a football he imagined. Her mane was a dirty blond that was all but hidden under a baseball cap that was way too big for the filly. "This is Sugar Cane," Stormy continued, he's going to take care of you the next few days while I figure things out."

"Hi there," Cane said, laying down to eye level with the filly. Stormy Nights' words hit him and he stood right back up. "Wait... what?"

"It's mine," Stormy sighed, "You have no idea how hard it was to keep the doctors at the clinic from keeping quiet about it... but now there's this welcome party for my return and I can't just say, hi everypony, look I have a foal now!"

"Yeah...but..."

"So for now at least, just take care of 'em for me, okay? While I figure things out about what to do with her. And don't let anypony else see her, got it?"

"Uh..."

"You did promise me already, after all."

Sugar Cane frowned and nodded.

"Great," Stormy exclaimed, "I'll leave you two to get to know each other, I have a lot to get done." Before so much as a goodbye or a "I'll check on you guys in an hour" the mare was gone with the hiss of the mechanical door.

Cane had sat there for maybe an hour or so, staring into space, thinking.

'Where did this filly come from?'

'Why couldn't Stormy admit she existed to the rest of the Stable?'

'Why did she treat her like an it?'

'It had been over a year since Stormy was sick...and this filly was already a few months old.'

'The stable promoted reproduction, it was something very important in keeping their community alive for 200 years underground.'

'Of course marriage was important to the Overmare as well...marriage... before having a family...'

'Where did this filly come from?'

It had clicked within the first few minutes of thought, though Cane did not want to believe it. Stormy was gone for over a year, this filly was hers, and there was only one way to make a filly or foal. Sugar Cane sighed. At some point a year ago Stormy Nights found somepony. Sugar Cane's ears drooped and he laid his head against the floor with a sigh.

"...are you okay," A soft whisper of a voice spoke.

"I'll be fine," Cane humphed, then turned his attention to the voice. It was the little filly. She had been sitting there and staring at him as long as he had been in thought. "Hey, you can talk," He realized, his ears perked a bit.

"I'm sorry, I'll keep quiet," The filly whimpered.

"What? No, don't be sorry, I was the one that should have been talking to you in the first place," Cane reassured her, "Let's start over. I'm Sugar Cane, Cane for short. What's your name?"

The filly looked at the ground and shrugged.

"Stormy didn't name you?"

She shook her head.

"Uh..." Sugar Cane frowned and looked for something else to talk about.

'Talk about!'

"How'd you learn to talk," He asked, changing the conversation.

The small filly paused, her eyes moved about in thought, "I... listened... to ponies..."

"And you caught up speaking just like that? Amazing!"

"Stormy doesn't think so."

"Well," Cane began, thinking a bit, "...maybe if you start calling her Mom instead, she'll take a better liking to you."

"She hates that even more," the filly whimpered.

Now it was starting to click in Cane's mind.

'Stormy isn't going to figure things out, she's hoping I'll just take the kid off of her hooves!'

Whatever love Cane felt for the mare, it was long gone, nopony should be abandoned like this. He looked down at the filly and noticed the cap on her.

'Maybe she didn't feel all that bad for the young pony if she was willing to give her a hat to wear. Maybe I'm just misjudging her...she is in a bad situation...'

"....g...give her time," Cane spoke, patting her head with his hoof, "I bet she'll come around." On the third pat his hoof hit the brim of the filly's cap and it flipped off her head. No longer hidden was the filly's mess of yellow hair...and a horn poking out from her forehead. "WOAH," Cane yelled backing away in surprise, the filly jumped back with a yelp.

"Please, don't hate me," She whimpered, fumbling for her cap. Her eyes welled up in tears and she put the cap on as tightly as possible, her horn poked a bit through the fabric of the hat.

Cane got up and slowly approached the filly.

"Stormy told me this isn't normal," She cried, "And that other ponies would hate me."

Towering over the filly, Sugar Cane brought a hoof to her hat and removed it.

"Please don't hate me!"

Cane looked at the strange horn on her head, it matched the color of her fur, though was tough like a hoof rather than flesh. The filly looked up at Cane and realized he was smiling.

"That's incredible," He spoke. The filly looked at him for a while and realized he was being truly sincere. She gave him a weak smile.

"You don't hate me," She asked.

"No, I shouldn't hate anypony I don't know," He replied.

"But....Stormy said that there are no other ponies with," She tapped a hoof to her horn, "These..."

"What does she know? I've heard an old story of two ponies that have horns on their heads," Sugar Cane spoke with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yup," Cane spoke, then smiled, "They had wings too. Wanna hear it?"

The little pony looked eagerly at the though of story time, then paused and asked, "What are wings?"

Cane chuckled and remembered that there was only so much a filly could pick up in a couple months, even one as smart as this. In all honesty if it weren't for old picture books, he wouldn't have known what wings were either. "They're like...extra legs I guess," He said, sitting upright and holding our his fore-hoofs outward, flapping them. "But these legs help you walk on the sky."

The filly didn't follow and looked at him confused.

"Kind of like this," Cane continued, jumping on his trampoline bed as high as he could without hitting the ceiling, "Except with wings you don't ever have to touch the ground!"

"Woah," The Filly exclaimed. "Do you think I can fly too?"

The filly had no wings, she was no Princess Celestia or Princess Luna like in the stories, but he still smiled and waved her over, still jumping. "Only one way to find out!"

The filly squeed and hopped onto the trampoline while Cane hopped off to give her room. She jumped higher and higher, springs and elastic helping her.

"THIS! IS! AWE! SOME," She spoke between hops, and Cane laughed, then noticed she was getting too high.

"Woah be careful," He warned, stepping closer.

"What?"

"You'll hit the ceiling," He yelled.

The filly turned her attention to the ceiling as her hoofs touched the bottom of the trampoline. She felt her weight being lifted and she was already rocketing towards the concrete sky. She screamed.

"Oh no," Sugar Cane yelled as he leaped to stop the filly from splatting against the ceiling. Too late, he missed and looked up at the skybound filly. Her horn glowed and she closed her eyes still screaming.

There was an explosion of sparks and the filly disappeared.

"WOAH!"

Cane looked dumbstruck at where the filly had been, though her screaming had never left the room. He noticed a weight on his back and Sugar Cane turned to see the filly on top of him, still screaming with her eyes closed. "What," He spoke looking at the filly, the ceiling, and then at the filly again. "How did she..." He groaned, rubbing his hoof against his head in confusion, then he nudged the filly with his muzzle. "Hey, you can open your eye's now."

The screaming slowed like a siren loosing it's voice, and the filly peaked an eye open. When she was silent she looked around and then at Sugar Cane. "...did I just fly?"

"I'm not sure," Cane sighed, honestly. He sat down and the filly jumped off his back, not noticing how her hair was slightly charred from the sparks of...whatever had just happened. She climbed back onto the trampoline and sat on it, then looked at Cane.

"Could you tell me that story," She spoke shakily, "On the ground...where it's safe..."

"Sure thing Sparky," The green haired pony replied with a smile and he walked to his work desk to retrieve a book. "Now I prefer listening to the holotape of this," He said, nudging a book off the desk shelf with his nose. "But I'll give reading it a try," He spoke, picking up the gray, leather bound, book with his teeth. He trotted back and sat next to the filly, in the back of his mind he had a million things to think about

'Stormy has a cuss ton of things to explain to me!'

He set the book down and opened the first page, though still deep in thought.

The filly nuzzled her head against Cane's side and stared at the pictures of the book.

Sugar Cane blinked and noticed the filly. He smiled.

'It can wait til later,' He thought and began the story.

"Once upon a time, in the land of Equestria...."

- - -

Footnote: Another huge tutorial/story setting quest!? Ugh it's like Fallout 3 all over again!