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Fanfic / Fallout Equestria: Survivor's Guilt

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It's not about what we did in the past, it's what we do to make up for them in the present.
Fluttershy

Fallout Equestria: Survivor's Guilt is a story set in the universe of Fallout: Equestria written by Ruin Queen of Oblivion, set roughly a decade after the events of the original story.

Starring Scootaloo, the former Vice President of Stable-Tec who was believed dead for over 200 years wakes up in the Equestrian Wasteland and has to find a place for herself in the new Equestria. She meets with other ponies around the Wasteland and uncovers truths about her own past that she had forgotten because of a spell, all the while trying to uncover what happened to her family.

But not all is well in the Wasteland, and a threat is looming on the horizon.


Fallout Equestria: Survivor's Guilt contains the following tropes:

  • Action Mom:
    • Vanilla Cream, the adopted mother of Scootaloo's descendant Serenity had previously fought against several dangerous enemies.
    • Scootaloo herself to an extent qualifies as she was a mother before being in stasis.
  • After the End: As you expect from a fanfic set in the universe of Fallout: Equestria, though it is after the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows so its not as prevalent.
  • All Just a Dream: Invoked but averted, Scootaloo has had two dreams of a possible life she could've had with Sweetie Belle if the Megaspells never went off where it seems like she may have dreamed up the Wasteland. However it was all just a dream sadly.
  • Alternate Continuity: It fits almost the entire continuity of the original fic to a T, except for Scootaloo still being alive.
  • Ammunition Backpack: Scootaloo uses a Battle Saddle so it kind of stands to reason
  • Anti-Hero: Scootaloo reprises her role as one because of her actions in the past.
  • The Atoner: Scootaloo genuinely regrets that her actions cost so many lives and has dedicated her life to making up for them.
  • Back from the Dead: To the Wasteland at least, Scootaloo was believed to be dead for years.
  • Call-Back: Its filled with ones to the original fic and other fics by the same author:
    • The fact that a Pegasus Skeleton was found that was believed to be Scootaloo's is referenced on several occasions.
    • There are references to the events of Fallout Equestria: Wasteland Jewel and another fic called Surviving Light.
  • The Cameo: Lots of characters from the original fic and other stories appear in the first story arc.
  • Character Blog: Two characters have Twitter accounts.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: The reveal that Winter Breeze is actually Scootaloo's descendant was a carefully crafted one going back to chapter 5 when an encrypted file was found among genealogical records, suggesting another surviving descendant.
  • Child Soldier: Serenity is a pretty minor example of this having fought against a Changeling invasion.
  • Cool Big Sis: Not Scootaloo herself, but her counterpart from the Equestria Girls world served as one to Serenity.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Scootaloo pretty much averts it by this point in the fic in her backstory, securing her as a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
  • Cyborg:
    • Vanilla Cream has several cybernetic enhancements for both prosthetic and practical uses.
    • Shooting Star, a Dashite living in Nomad City, has a cybernetic wing.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Scootaloo comes close to it when she finds out Rainbow Dash had died in Stable 13, but snaps out of it with the help of her friend Arc Light and meeting Rainbow's descendant Spectrum Flash.
  • Do Not Adjust Your Set: Much like they did in the original fanfic, the Enclave hijacks the radio waves at the end of chapter 6.
  • Dressing as the Enemy:
    • Played straight in chapter 12 when Scootaloo passes unnoticed as an Enclave soldier.
    • Subverted in chapter 19 while it works temporarily, Winter Breeze quickly sees through Scootaloo's disguise when she tries it again with a member of her Secret Service detail.
  • Driven to Suicide: In the original version of chapter 5 at least, it was quickly changed.
  • Easily Forgiven: Both averted and played straight with Scootaloo depending on the character.
  • Enemy Civil War: The Enclave Civil War that's alluded to several times.
  • The Exile: Scootaloo and Calamity both being Dashites.
  • Expy:
    • Tornado, an Enclave Alicorn, seems to share several qualities with Frank Horrigan from Fallout.
    • Scootaloo serves as a slight expy of the Sole Survivor from Fallout 4 in that she spent time in stasis and is looking for her family.
    • Xiraia reprises her role from Wasteland Jewel as an expy of Three Dog from Fallout 3.
    • President Winter Breeze is likely based on President John Henry Eden from Fallout 3.
  • Fake-Out Fade-Out: A literary version, chapter 6 was seemingly written to deliberately give the impression that it was the fanfic's finale, until the ending.
  • Footnote Fever: Yep, this is back from the original fic with levels and perks
  • Fun with Acronyms: The Stasis Auto-Doc or S.A.D. pods that are mentioned in chapter 16 and are implied to be how Scootaloo survived.
  • Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: The Project as mentioned in chapter 4 suffers from this mentality, the trope is even referenced.
  • Heroic BSoD: Scootaloo suffers a brief one in chapter 5.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: Yeah, Scootaloo is pretty much this from the start. While a lot of ponies actually are okay with her such as the NCR and the characters from the original fic, more will likely not like her. It should be clear at this point when one of the main characters was introduced by punching her in the face.
  • Homosexual Reproduction: Its confirmed to be a thing early into the fanfic by using a magical spell, apparently it was perfected in Stable 27 which reproduced only using this method.
  • Ironic Echo: Scootaloo uses the line "Ask yourself (insert thing here)" on Winter Breeze, a phrase she'd occasionally use.
  • It's All My Fault: Pretty much how Scootaloo feels about the failures of the Stables.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Scootaloo suffered from an accidental version of this trope when she had a friend create memory orbs for her, which distorted her memories of her time with Rainbow Dash.
  • Legacy Character:
    • We've got a new DJ Pon3 in the form of Xiraia, who is ironically a Zebra.
    • The Element Bearers again like in the original fic.
    • The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well has had several incarnations and is a shoutout to Batman and Blue Beetle.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Said almost word for word by Scootaloo when she realizes just how badly the Stables failed.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • The brief encounter with an Enclave Alicorn references the possible early encounter with Frank Horrigan in Fallout 2.
    • Stable 13 appears, and references of course, Vault 13 from Fallout even if its different.
    • Crystal City is based in part on Diamond City from Fallout 4.
      • Scootaloo actually lampshades this by commenting that it might be based out of an old sports stadium.
    • When Scootaloo meets Silver Bell, she calls her the Mysterious Mare-do-Well.
    • Scootaloo at one point realizes that Silver Bell looks almost exactly like Dinky.
  • Non-Indicative Name: Serenity is a bit of a wild child instead of being anything resembling serene.
  • Operation: [Blank]: Project Legacy.
  • Oh, Crap!: Three so far:
    • At the end of chapter 6 where the President of the Grand Pegasus Enclave makes her presence known.
    • At the end of chapter 13 when they find out that the Enclave has taken over Tenpony Tower and Manehattan.
    • When Scootaloo reveals exactly what the Enclave is after in chapter 27.
    • At the end of chapter 31 when Celestia One hits Thunderhead.
    • At the end of chapter 32 when Winter Breeze is branded.
  • Official Couple: Scootaloo and Cherry Blossom.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Scootaloo's outfit that she wears has varying degrees of effectiveness to hide her identity.
  • Platonic Life-Partners: Scootaloo and Arc Light once Arc got over her dislike of her, it seems that any chance at them being shipped was sunk in chapter 6 where Arc admitted she was in love with her childhood friend.
  • Posthumous Character:
    • Rainbow Dash is confirmed to be dead, but still has an impact on the story.
    • Sweetie Belle likewise has an impact on the story because of her relationship with Scootaloo.
    • Scootaloo's husband and daughter Sky Walker and Cloudy.
  • Red Baron: Scootaloo's nickname is the Wanderer.
  • Running Gag: Played with but more poked fun at with the tendency of ponies to get punched in the face.
  • The Reveal:
    • That Rainbow Dash adopted Scootaloo before the war and that a botched Memory Orb spell distorted those memories.
    • That the President of the Enclave is making their move.
    • That the Enclave has taken over Tenpony Tower and Manehattan at the end of chapter 13.
    • That Winter Breeze is really Scootaloo's descendant in chapter 19.
    • That Tornado is actually Scootaloo's believed dead husband Sky Walker in chapter 33.
  • Self-Referential Humor:
    • In chapter 3 Scootaloo commented that she was going to be getting a lot of spoilers for the book written by Ruby Starlight, the main character of Wasteland Jewel.
    • The song the Wanderer appears a couple of times and Scootaloo wonders why it keeps showing up.
    • At one point Scootaloo comments on the number of lesbians in the Wasteland, a common trope in Fallout: Equestria stories.
  • Shout-Out:
    • When talking about Ghouls, Scootaloo comments that they look like something out of The Trotting Dead.
    • Nomad City in chapter 7 was named after a mining facility that appeared in the first book of The Thrawn Trilogy.
    • This dialogue in chapter 8 to Red vs. Blue:
    Scootaloo: Hey, do you ever wonder why we're here?
    Sweetie Belle: That's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it?
    • Sparky quotes Andrew Ryan from BioShock, which Scootaloo lampshades by saying that sounds like a quote.
    Sparky: We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us.
    • Winter Breeze sometimes uses Sofia Lamb's catchphrase "Ask yourself..." from Bioshock 2.
    • In chapter 19, Scootaloo references Metal Gear
    Scootaloo: Where's a cardboard box when you need one?

  • The Speechless: Ditzy Doo once more, though she got one speaking line in chapter 1 which was distorted because of her lack of a tongue.
  • Title Drop: Velvet Remedy diagnoses Scootaloo with survivor's guilt in chapter 1.
  • Transferable Memory: Memory Orbs are not only back, they actually become important in chapter 5 in restoring some of Scootaloo's memories.
  • Wham Episode:
    • Chapter 6's ending where the Enclave President makes their move.
    • Chapter 13's ending where the Enclave has taken over Tenpony Tower and Manehattan.
  • Wham Line:
    • "Hello Equestria, this is President Winter Breeze of the Grand Pegasus Enclave, and I'm here to give you a message."
    • "Hello Equestria, this is your President speaking to you from Tenpony Tower in the ruins of Manehattan. The Tower and the entire city of Manehattan is now under the control of the Grand Pegasus Enclave."
  • Will They or Won't They?: Scootaloo and Cherry Blossom after the latter's introduction in chapter 8, they are heavily implied to be attracted to each other, but its unknown if they will ever get together.
    • They finally do as of chapter 18.
  • World-Healing Wave: The Gardens of Equestria Megaspell had gone off years earlier.
  • You Are Not Alone: Scootaloo sometimes feels like she's alone, but comes to realize that she isn't because of her friends and family.

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