Fallout: Equestria- Secrets of the Divide

Chapters

Awakening
Welcome to the Great Applewood Divide
A Haunting in the Divide
Prologue

Awakening

“This is Yankee Bravo to any remaining Rangers. We’re in serious need of some air cover here! We’ve got dragons bearing down on us. We’ve already lost Alpha Lima and Papa November to those winged bastards. Can you send any Shadowbolts over here!?” -Equestrian Armed Forces Radio Operator Corporal Telegraph.

~ooo000ooo~

I can hear the sounds of incoming artillery rounds overhead as they raced through the skies towards their targets, bringing death to those who dared to attack the frontlines in the early morning dawn. The earth shattering impacts of the artillery rounds could probably be felt even by those who were miles behind the frontlines as they sat and strategized with their fellow officers. In the skies above flew pegasai as they engaged against the dragons that were affiliated with the zebras amongst the winter clouds. The clouds were dropping snow down upon the land with driving winds and stinging cold. On the ground, the crude trenches previously owned by the Equestrian Army were filled with the corpses of both pony and zebra combatants, their bodies frozen solid and barely buried by the previous nights’ snowfall. Charging through the trenches were five ponies from the 81st Steel Rangers, otherwise known as the “Trench Reapers”. We pressed forward with lethal precision and expertise as our assault rifles and combat shotguns filled the snowy air with death. The zebras who had stayed behind to stall the us were cut down in droves as the armored equine death machines broke through any forms of resistance put before us.

And amongst the wave of unstoppable steel was me, a lowly Ranger Initiate, thrust into the assault as a temporary replacement for a Ranger who was killed a week before I arrived.

Oh, my name’s Initiate Silver Streak. I’ve only been in the Steel Rangers for two months before my commanding officer shipped me out here, saying it was the perfect chance to get some real combat experience in before I was put into the Ranger armor. For as long as I could remember, we’ve been fighting back for this portion of northern Equestria for what seemed like years. Every day was filled with horrendous combat with no end in sight.

Oh how I wished for the beautiful Summer evenings in the urban hills of Applewood.

As an Initiate, I’m only restricted to Level One Equipment, meaning I could only use small caliber sidearms and small caliber rifles. As far as my armor went, I was only given a lightly armored jumpsuit to wear that had some minor armor plating on my chest and shoulders, but the plating is tiny and barely covers any large regions, just my upper shoulders and where my heart and lungs are.

So basically, if a zebra somehow managed to get a lucky shot on me, that means no more Silver Streak.

But, the Trench Reapers always fought as a single unit, always moving and always firing. When I was tasked with assisting in clearing out the trenches, the Rangers had decided to put me smack-dab in the middle of the pack to keep me safe from enemy fire. But it is very claustrophobic in the middle of the pack, and keeping pace with them is difficult enough without having to worry about an Anti-Machine sniper picking me out of the crowd and painting my fellow Rangers’ armor red.

“Keep up rookie!” barked Star Paladin Bullseye as he blasted a zebra trooper with his dual-drum magazine combat shotgun. The zebra buck crumpled against the trench wall as flechette shrapnel tore his stripped face to shreds, some of it digging deep into his skull and shredding his brain.

“I-I’m trying sir!” I panted, my legs screaming in pain, begging for relief from the continuous running.

“Incoming!” cried Paladin Roses. Above us, I spotted the incoming artillery around. To my left, Technician Sparks’ armored horn flared up and casted a shield spell over us. The large caliber round slammed into the shield, fire washing over the curved surface before turning into ash and soot. The shield soon vanished, dropping the soot all over us. A cloud of it got into my mouth, forcing me to cough my lungs out. My lungs were already on fire from the running, and having to cough out soot wasn’t helping them any.

“You okay kid?” asked Medic Cardiac. I gritted my teeth and nodded with a pained smile on my face. “Whatever y-” but before she could finish, the armor on her neck exploded into gore and steel shrapnel, forcibly decapitating the medical mare. There was a booming report of a heavy rifle immediately after. The headless body staggered before falling and rolling over itself in the snow.

“SNIPER!” roared Roses.

“Get into cover!” ordered Bullseye as he searched for a piece of cover. Spotting a side entrance, he signalled the remaining four of us to dive into the little alcove, just as a second sniper bullet impacted into the ground near his hooves. Our sudden appearance surprised the zebra sitting at a radio inside the alcove. But before he could relay our coordinates, a single nine-millimeter round slammed into the side of his head, killing him instantly. The lifeless body slumped forward, his snout hitting the field radios’ power button and turning it off.

I blinked, looking at my armored comrades to see who made the shot, but they were all looking at me through their snow encrusted visors. Blinking again, I looked down at my holster to see that it was empty. I then realized that I was using my magic and looked a little above me to see my pistol floating in a field of my sapphire colored magic.

“His first kill.” said Bullseye simply.

“They grow up so fast!” said Sparks in a false, choked up voice, his armored hoof wiping an imaginary tear from his visor.

“I’m surprised that he didn’t hesitate. The noobs usually hesitate.” said Paladin Roses in a matter-of-factually tone. I floated the sidearm back into my holster and looked back to the dead zebra, giving a small shrug.

“We’re in a war. There’s no time for making moral choices within a split-second.” I said simply. The air seemed to get colder with that statement, and Sparks gave a hard shudder to confirm this.

“Should put that in a book, kid,” he said with a chuckle.

“Enough chit-chat, we need to keep moving. Roses, I want you to cover us. If that sniper pops up, you pop him.” Bullseye ordered. Roses nodded and kicked her built in battle saddle. The siding of her saddle popped open, and a small tube with a firing chamber extended from the compartment within, which then began to extend her .50 caliber rifle. Roses reached into an armored compartment and withdrew the barrels’ muzzle, screwing it onto the end of the tube. A small box on the side of her helmet opened up to allow a sniper scope to extend and secure itself over the right half of her visor. Trotting forward, Roses peaked around the wooden support beam, her scope and rifle barrel being the only parts of her armor looking out. Above us, the terrifying roar of a dragon could be heard, followed by the heavy striking of artillery.

But something seemed off about the sounds of the impacting rounds.

“It’s clear.” Roses announced. Bullseye nodded and began to trot forward with Sparks and myself in tow. Suddenly, a blinding light and a burning heat engulfed Roses, cooking her within her armor. The internal ammo storage for the sniper exploded, blowing apart the left side of her armored torso. Roses screamed in pain as her failing armor crumpled to the snow, turning the powder from a marginally dirty white to a deep red.

“Dragon!” screamed Bullseye. He began to stagger back just as a large talon crashed into the snowy ground before him. The talon freed itself, then pulled back and lunged for Bullseye, breaking through his armor and impaling him through the chest. The Star Paladin screamed in agony as he struggled to free himself from the serrated appendage. Sparks gawked in horror as he watched his commander be dragged away with a trail of blood following his wake. Sparks turned to me, fear in his eyes. He looked like he was about to say something, but his mouth suddenly became filled with the tip of a second dragons’ talon as it stuck the back of his head and broke out of his throat, dislocating his jaw entirely. The talon jerked out of him, sending his blood spraying all over me, his eyes rolling over in their sockets as shock and trauma overtook his body. I stood there in terror, instinctively drawing my pistol as Sparks’ lifeless body collapsed to the ground before me, landing in the red snow. I aimed the sidearm towards the entrance of the alcove, expecting death to come for me next.

And as if on cue, the dragons’ head dipped down into the trench, glaring at me with its’ emerald green eyes. Scars adorned its’ features, a large one coming down across its’ snout, revealing the dragons’ sword-like teeth. My aim began to shake as my mind began to panic, unsure of what to do. The dragon sneered and opened his mouth, getting ready to release his fire. I could see the flame beginning to spark deep within his belly, brewing itself to a flesh searing temperature. I tensed up and looked away, ready for the burning death. I could hear the fire surging forward, coming to meet me…

Then everything went silent.

Opening my eyes, I looked to the dragon again. The fire was frozen in mid-air before me, mere inches from my snout. The close proximity of the flame forced me to stagger back and rear up, pressing my back to the wooden trench wall. The dragons’ face was contorted in rage, his jaw hyper-extended to allow the flame to fly from his throat. However, his features seemed to glitch, like that of a terminal having issues with its’ hardware. Looking down, Sparks’ dead body was beginning to be engulfed by the flame when it froze in its’ advance, covering his lower half in the glitching fire. Stepping forward, I skirted past the dragon, watching it carefully in the case that he suddenly sprung back to life. But as I left the alcove, the dragon remained frozen in place, the body of Paladin Roses beneath him. I looked up and followed his long neck up and around the lip of the trench where his body was resting with the impaled corpse of Star Paladin Bullseye clutched in his grasp.

Nearby, I spotted a stack of crates, sharing the same glitching at the dragon. The headless body of Medic Cardiac looked like a distorted picture as the glitching stretched portions of the limp body. To my left was a set of stairs that led out of the trench. I climbed up them, watching as they glitched beneath my every step. When I emerged from the trench, I gasped in shock at the surrounding environment. Everything was frozen in place and glitching; artillery rounds were paused in their archs, troops from both sides were clashing in a small No Pony’s Land, and the air battles above looked like blurred paintings rather than living beings.

Suddenly, the winter gray skies turned a blood red, pulsating malevolently. The next thing to emerge was a line of computer text in a large, white font set before the pulsating red.

“O:SP- Trial #3556449392736: Error. Simulation paused. Purging Initiate from Simulation. Please consult a EQAF technician to reset the program and resume your training.”

“What is going on…?” I muttered beneath my breath. Suddenly, things began to dissipate and vanish from the land. Soon the snowy terrain had pixelated and turned into a flat paneled surface. The wintery sky had dissipated into a paneled dome that loomed above me, seeming to stretch on for miles. A blinding light began to grow from the horizon, approaching fast. I turned on the spot and began to run from the light, convinced that the light was coming to kill me. However, my run was short-lived because I had ran into a wall of sorts. I clambered against the wall, trying to find something to climb up on. I turned and saw the light was seconds away from me, and I pressed my frame against the wall and braced myself.

~ooo000ooo~

The light engulfed me without any pain or sound. But I couldn’t open my eyes due to how bright the light was. Soon, the sounds of beeping computers and humming machinery began to fill my hearing as the light dissipated from the world. Blinking, my new world was filled with the sight of a clear dome right in front of me and steel cradling me. Outside was dimly lit, the warehouse light right above me flickering ever so slightly.

“Where am I?” Is what I meant to say, but my throat felt tight and my jaw seemed to be locked up, making speech damn near impossible.

Looking around, I saw that wires were laid around my body, some of them covering my limbs like a blanket made of wires. A majority of the wires were hooked up to a device that was sitting on my head. I tried reaching up to remove the device, but my forelegs were as heavy as lead, not wanting to move as my muscles strained to lift them. I could hear the sound of hissing air as it escaped from somewhere within the pod. As the hissing air began to quiet down, I watched as the glass above me began to lift away. Silence filled the air as the glass came to an upright position. A couple minutes later, I could hear the sounds of roaring air quickly approaching my pod, and soon a robot painted in medical white with red secondary coloring loomed before me, staring at me with three metallic eyes.

“Good afternoon! I am Pinkerton, and I have been assigned to rehabilitate you!” said the robot in a cheerful, professional voice. I simply swallowed, unsure of what to say. I opened my mouth to ask a question, but my throat gave a weak croak. “Oh dear, it seems you’ve been in the simulation for far too long!” said the robot as he reached into the pod with three tendril like arms and began to disconnect the wires with a set of metallic pincers. The wires around me were removed with a series of electrical pops, filling the air with an acrid smoke. My snout scrunched up as the foul odors assaulted my sense of smell. Pinkerton reached up and removed the device on my head and set it outside the pod, then reached in and removed me from the pod. Once I was out, the pods’ lid began to close itself as the robot carried me away bridal style through row upon row of similar pods. As we passed by them, I tried to look inside the pods to see if there were any inhabitants within, but most were either empty or had a metallic shielding covering the pods’ glass.

Soon, the robot had carried me down a hallway. As we traveled, we passed by a wall mounted sign that said ‘Infirmary’ with a red arrow pointing in the direction of its’ location. We soon came upon the infirmary door and it automatically cycled open, allowing us to enter. The interior of the room had simple furnishings and some minor medical equipment, making it look like a small school nurses’ office rather than a high-grade infirmary. The robot gently laid me down on a padded bed and used some nearby controls to lean me up and forward. The robot flew away for a bit, then came back with a clipboard in one of its’ pincers. It looked down at the clipboard and scanned it before speaking to me.

“Initiate Silver Streak, male unicorn pony, age nineteen. Born in Applewood and joined the Equestrian Army at the age of seventeen using false documents. Served for two years before volunteering for the Steel Rangers at the rank of Captain. Was an Initiate for two months before being assigned to virtual training on October eighth.” said Pinkerton before looking at me. “Did I get that all correct?” he asked. I simply stared at him, giving a slow nod, unsure how they found out about my false recruitment papers. “Well then, let’s get you back on your hooves, shall we?” he asked before floating away to a nearby box mounted on the wall. The box had a trio of pink butterflies set before a red medical cross. He opened it and retrieved a large needle from within it before closing the box and floating back to me. “This is a simple cocktail of vitamins, minerals, with a dose adrenaline to get your heart pumping. This should get you back in working order.” he said. Reaching me, he simply slammed the needle right into my chest, the needle striking my heart and injecting the cocktail. My world suddenly became clearer as my heart began to pound away, working my blood through my veins and around my body. But as soon as the effects started, they wore off almost as quickly as they started. “Hmm, interesting. Most patients go into shock and die when the cocktail is injected.” said Pinkerton simply as he disposed of the used needle. My lungs expanded and deflated rapidly and my heart raced as if I were a hummingbird. I could feel my blood being driven through my veins and arteries, saturating my muscles with fresh oxygen and vitamins. Eventually, my heart began to resume its’ normal pacing along with my breathing. When I was ready, Pinkerton helped me off the bed and onto the floor, steadying me as the lead like weight in my legs slowly ebbed away. My knees trembled harshly, threatening to give out from under me. After a series of small walking tests, I got to the point where I could trot at a steady pace, but not quite ready to completely run. I looked to Pinkerton, gesturing to my throat.

“Ah, your voice. Allow me to fix that.” he said, floating to the infirmary sink. He got a paper cup and filled it with water. After, he retrieved a canister labeled ‘Salt’ and poured a bit of it into the water. A quick mix later, and the robot gestured for me to approach. I did as ordered and he passed the cup of saltwater to me. “Gargle this for a bit and spit it out.” he said simply as I took the cup with my hooves and knocked the saltwater back. I gargled the salty mixture for about two minutes before spitting it out into the sink. Rubbing my throat a bit, I cleared it and spoke in a quiet voice.

“What happened…?” was the first question that came out of my mouth.

The robot simply stared at me, seeming confused.

“Whatever do you mean?” he asked in a confused tone.

“The simulation. It seemed so real. It seemed like I was in there for years…” I said, trailing off.

“Ah, there was a small malfunction within the program matrices. It seemed that some data was corrupted while being processed, resulting in an automatic shutdown of the simulation and purging you from the simulation to prevent any mental injuries.” explained Pinkerton.

“And where am I?” was the second question that came from my mouth.

“You are currently inside Fort Talon, just outside of Applewood. This is where any Steel Ranger Initiates come to receive their Power Armor training.” said Pinkerton.

“That’s right...I remember now. Elder Cork had assigned me to come here and to get my training finished up.” I said as memories of standing in the elder’s office flashed through my mind.

“If you have no more questions, please report to the Quartermaster to retrieve your belongings. Afterward, you may use the Officer’s Lounge to relax and recuperate, or you may simply go home.” said Pinkerton as he approached a charging station that was situated in the corner of the infirmary. Once there, his three eyes drooped down and his arms curled up as he simply dropped onto the charging pad, a small ping accompanying his shut down.

~ooo000ooo~

After leaving the infirmary, I trotted down the dull halls until in complete silence. The hallways seemed empty, almost as if nopony was here except for me. The only sounds that filled the air besides my clicking hooves was the humming of the air recyclers. Eventually I came upon the Quartermaster’s distribution window. I rang the small silver bell and waited for the Quartermaster. After about five minutes, I looked over the counter and saw that the robot was destroyed by a fallen chunk of ceiling. The fact that a maintenance pony hadn’t noticed the crushed robot took me by surprise. Looking up, I spotted a locker with the label ‘S.Streak’ on the door. Hopping the counter, I approached the locker and was amazed to see that it wasn’t locked. Opening the locker, I found my officers’ uniform hung up and clean, along with my officers’ cap on a small shelf above the uniform. Resting on the lockers’ bottom was my saddle bag, the silver lighting clasp glinting in the light. Beside it was a holster with a nine-millimeter pistol resting within it. I smirked at the iron forged sidearm and began to pull everything out of the locker.

Once dressed and rearmed, I opened my saddlebag and saw that everything was still inside; some bits, my identification papers, and my daily planner. After opening the planner, I smiled at the photo that was tapped to the inside of the cover. It showed a pretty magenta colored earth pony mare holding a smiling unicorn filly; my soon-to-be wife and filly. I had planned on asking her to marry me after the power armor training. Closing the planner, I returned everything to the saddlebag and threw it over my back. Hopping the counter again, I trotted to where the Officer’s Lounge was to pick up a Sparkle-Cola. As I made my way, I passed by a large observation window that opened to a large missile silo.

A large, empty missile silo.

The soldiers of Fort Talon all knew of the megaspell warhead that sat in the fort’s only silo. Hell, I even knew of the missile and had only been on the base for a day, mostly due to the fact that a technician kept bragging about it, saying it was the first practical megaspell delivery system ever installed on a megaspell. The residing soldiers had even come up with a nickname for the missile, naming it ‘Titan’. They even went as far as to sneak into the silo one night and paint the name in large lettering along the side of the missile.

But now Titan was gone, leaving its’ massive circular housing empty.

“Maybe they took it apart for repairs.” I muttered to myself as I continued my trot to the Lounge. I eventually reached the lounge and opened the door. To my left was a smaller room, and to my right was a single booth for sitting. Entering, I trotted to the Sparkle-Cola machine and fished out some bits from my saddlebag. After slotting the bits in and retrieving my drink, I turned around ready to leave when my eyes passed over the booth…

...and over the three skeletons that were sitting within the booth.

My soda fell from my telekinetic grip and shattered on the tiled floor. My blood ran cold as my eyes locked with the empty sockets of one of the skulls. I noticed they were all wearing officer’s uniforms, but they were heavily torn and tattered. There were two Colonels and one Three-Star General. One of them was a unicorn, while the other two were earth ponies. The unicorn skeleton was slouched and looked ready to fall out of the booth, a .357 revolver laying on the table before him. All three skeletons shared a common feature; there was a jagged hole somewhere in their skulls. The two earth ponies had holes right between their eyes, while the unicorn had a hole coming from the back of his skull, suggesting that he had shot his two subordinates and then ate his gun afterwards. Splattered black paint decorated the wall behind the two earth ponies, while the booths’ backing was stained black behind the unicorn, with a hole from where the bullet left his skull and entered the booth.

Panicking, I raced out of the lounge, wanting to get away from the dead ponies as quickly as possible, maybe to even try and alert someone to the bones resting in the lounge. My hooves were blurs as I ran, trying to find somepony in the empty hallways. My running eventually led me to a closed door with a terminal mounted to the wall next to it. Panting, I approached the terminal and powered it up. Text crawled across the screen and the option to open the door eventually appeared. Selecting that option, the door cycled open with a metallic squeal and I stepped out…

...which led to me suddenly falling towards a large fissure that split the earth. The maw seemed to grow wider as I fell, ready to slam shut once I was within.

Welcome to the Great Applewood Divide

“The Great Applewood Divide is by far the worst place to travel to. There are constant sandstorms, falling building remains, and creatures straight out of a Nightmare Night ghost story. If you are traveling anywhere near Applewood and have the urge to explore the Divide, here’s my word of advice: Don’t. Just turn around and go back from where you came. The Divide is the last place you want to be trapped in.” -The Wasteland Survival Guide, Section Three “Places to Visit”.

~ooo000ooo~

I screamed as I plummeted towards the cracked earth, my hooves scrambling in mid-air as I tried to find something to grab onto. I raced past the lips of the maw, falling into its darker interior. A broken i-beam came up from the dark, forcing me to crash into it. The air was knocked out of me as I felt a couple ribs break from the impact. Slowly, I began to slide off the i-beam, falling towards more darkness. Suddenly, I was reacquainted with the ground as my body landed with a hard thud. I could feel tears coming to my eyes as I laid there, curled up in the darkness.

Above me, the flickering light of an askew street lamp came to life, giving brief intervals light to the darkness. Over my whimpering and the buzzing of flickering light, I could hear the sounds of odd hissing and digging in the shadows. Opening my eyes, I blinked away the tears enough to spot small darting lights within the darkness, some popping up suddenly then vanishing. There were some that looked like glowing eyes that were staring directly at me. I struggled to sit up, trying not to invoke anymore pain. As I sat up, I spotted something coming out of the shadows towards me. I scrambled back weakly, leaving the safety of the flickering light.

What came to follow me from the shadows will forever haunt my dreams.

It was equine, but not quite. The hide was a thick, leathery black with no mane or tail. The things’ forehooves ended in lethal looking claws. Its’ eyes glowed a milky white, and the body had pockmarks filled by luminescent boils. The thing hissed at me, revealing rows upon rows of dagger like teeth. I began to shake as pain tried to overtake me again. My horn flared up and unclasped my holster, drawing my pistol forth and aiming it at the creature. The creature sniffed the air for about a minute before it reared up and gave a predatory hiss, followed by a cry that was soon responded by more of the things hidden in the darkness. I cringed again, awaiting death for what seemed like the third time.

Then, two flashbang grenades tumbled down from the air, landing in front of me. The canisters went off with a pop and a bright light. The creature cried in terror as it scrambled away from the white light. There was the sound of something landing in front of me, followed by the sounds of a flare gun being shot into the darkness. The red flare illuminated the shadows, revealing what must’ve been a hive of the creatures as they panicked and began digging their way underground. Darkness began to consume my vision as the pain returned once again, hellbent on making me pass out.

I barely caught a glimpse at the profile my savior before I succumbed to the embrace of the darkness.

~ooo000ooo~

My mind surged forward from the darkness, jerking my body awake as it began to wake itself up. My eyelids slowly opened, my vision heavily blurred. My limbs felt like lead, as if I were back in the simulation pod. But this time the feeling was coming back much quicker than last time. After a couple blinks to clear my vision, I turned my head to look at my surroundings. I was in a room of sorts, a very tiny room. There was just enough room to fit in a battered bed frame and mattress, and a small wardrobe with a cracked water basin on top of it. The walls seemed to be fashioned out of large random pieces of scrap sheeting, bolted together by rusting nuts and screws.

The doorway didn’t have a door, rather a ragged quilt of sorts filled the doorway, being hung from a rod. The mattress beneath me felt flat from excessive use, with an unpleasant stench that accompanied it. With a grunt, I sat up and rubbed my head with a hoof. The bed springs gave a squealing cry of protest as I swung my rear legs around to hang off the beds’ edge. The sounds of movement outside the room caught my attention as the shadow of four hooves appeared under the quilt.

“Hello?” asked the pony. The voice was that of a mare; sweet sounding, yet toughened and sarcastic. I simply gave a groan in response to the question as a shooting pain roared through my abdomen. A hoof lifted from the floor and drew back the quilt curtain, revealing a rust colored mare adorned in leather armor of sorts. A bandana covered her head, hiding her mane, with a set of dusty looking gunners’ goggles perched atop her head. But the most interesting feature on the mare had to be her right foreleg; it was a robotic prosthetic leg. The leg looked worn and seemed to have been fixed and modified countless times, due to the different coloring of some the components that made up the leg.

The mare cleared her throat, drawing my attention back to her.

“Well, good to see you’ve finally woken up. I was afraid that you had died in your sleep!” she said, entering the room and hitting a small light switch. The overhead light flickered to life, casting a dim light down on us as the humming of a nearby generator filled the air. The mare approached me and looked me over with an expert eye. This also gave me a better look at her features. Her eyes were a smooth cobalt, looking as if they could cut you when she got pissed off. A small scar adorned her cheek, curving along the right cheek bone. Looking down at her armor, I noticed two armored flaps on her back, the signs of wings being beneath these flaps ever present. The mare suddenly stepped back and gave me a smile. “You look alright to me. So you got a name stranger?” she asked cheerfully.

My jaw opened a bit, then closed. My foggy mind struggled to find the answer to her question. She watched me, expecting an answer. Finally, my mind kicked in and I gave a croaked response.

“It’s Silver Streak.” I said simply. Her eyes brows shot up and she gave a slightly impressed nod.

“Fancy name. Name’s Skav.” she said reaching her robotic hoof forward for a hoofshake. I slowly took her hoof and gave a single shake. “Pleased to meet ya’.” she added. “You’re lucky I saw you falling. Those tunnelers’ would’ve torn you apart in seconds!” she said in an exaggerated tone. I simply raised an eyebrow, suggesting I had no idea what she was talking about. “Those things down there? The things that look like ponies, but not?” she asked. Comprehension dawned on me as flashbacks of falling into the darkness raced through my mind. “It’s a damn good thing they’re afraid of anything bright. Sends them running for their lives.” she said sitting on the floor in front of me. “So tell me about yourself. I’ve never seen a set of clothing like that before.” she said, pointing a hoof at the officer’s jacket draped over the end bedpost. “Looks pre-war.”

“Uhm...it’s...kind of hard to explain…” I said, rubbing the back of my head with a hoof. “B-But I want answers.” I added. Skav raised an eyebrow before speaking.

“Okay, I’ll answer what I can.” she said. “What’cha got?”

“First off: what the hell happened out there?” I asked. “Applewood wasn’t like this when I entered Fort Talon!”

Skav’s eyebrow remained raised, but this time a look of slight confusion crawled across her face. “When did you enter Talon?” she asked.

“October twenty-third at eight-fifteen in the morning. I was due to report there for my final training before I entered the Steel Rangers.” I replied. The color in Skav’s face seemed to drain a bit before she continued.

“W-well it’s October twenty-third...” she said. She seemed to be holding something back. I rolled a hoof, gesturing for her to continue. A look of uncertainty replaced the look of confusion as she bit her lip. “It’s been...at least two-hundred years since the zebras fired their megaspells at us...they fired at eight twenty-five...two-hundred years to the day...” she said, trailing off.

I simply stared at her for a bit, then gave a small chuckle. “Yeah right. We’re winning the war. It must’ve been a catastrophic earthquake or something. It’s not uncommon for Applewood to have them.” I said, shaking my head as my chuckle continued. A look of concern came across her face before she got up and walked to the wardrobe. She opened the top drawer and retrieved a gauntlet looking item from within. “Hey, that’s a PipBuck, right?” I asked. She simply nodded before turning the PipBuck on and showing me the Data screen.

“Look at the date.” she said simply. I leaned forward and squinted my eyes, looking at the white colored screen. Indeed it was October twenty-third, but something seemed off…

The date read October 23, 2277, 9:56 AM.

October 23, 2277, 9:56 PM.

October 23, 2277.

2277.

I felt something in my mind snap as I leaned back from the screen. There was no way that two-hundred years passed during my training.

There was just no way…

“Heh...you probably just forwarded the time settings on it…” I said, trying to pass it off as a prank. But Skav’s face didn’t turn into a joking smile. It stayed in a concerned look.

“It’s impossible to change the time on this. Believe me, I’ve had a friend of mine try and hack into this thing for scavenging purposes, but the coding and security is just too high-grade. It really has been two-hundred years.” she said in a slightly pleading voice, trying her hardest to convince me that this was the truth. Conflicting thoughts slammed into each other within my mind as I took in this information. Then, I thought back to the moment the simulation froze, to the moment the computer text appeared in the skies above.

“O:SP- Trial #3556449392736: Error. Simulation paused. Purging Initiate from Simulation. Please consult a EQAF technician to reset the program and resume your training.”

According to the programming, I was on Trial #3,556,449,392,736.

I should’ve only been on Trial #1 after completing the training.

But data doesn’t lie.

I had run through Operation: Spearpoint close to four trillion times, my memory being wiped at the end of each trial, being forced to start all over again and forgetting that I had already completed the trial previously.

And if this was the case, and what Skav was telling me was the truth, then that almost meant...

“Bucket.” I said simply.

“What?” Skav asked confused.

“Bucket. Now.” I demanded. I could feel my stomach starting to twist and churn within. Skav seemed to get the hint and ran out of the room into the other room, running back in a split second later. Burning bile began to race up my throat at I snatched the bucket with my hooves. I forced my face into the bucket just in time as I violently vomited into the bucket. Skav sat down next to me on the bed and rubbed my back with a gentle hoof, whispering comforting sayings as my stomach tried to kill me.

~ooo000ooo~

After giving me a couple of minutes to regain my composure, and offering me a candy mint for my breath, Skav led me into the main part of the building. As it turned out, she brought me back to her home after rescuing me from the Tunnelers and patched me up.

"Honestly, do you have any idea how difficult it is to patch up an abdominal puncture with just some lousy healing bandages?" Skav asked me as she sat me down on her couch. I raised an eyebrow and gave a meager shrug. "Very difficult! Your damn rib was sticking out and refused to be put back in. I practically had to kick it back in there before I could use any healing potions." she said, trotting over to a small bookshelf that had some boxed food sitting on the shelves. She grabbed a few boxes of mac and cheese from the limited selection and began to open them.

"You've had medical training?" I asked curiously. Skav simply scoffed and shook her head.

"Oh no. I had to grab a copy of Physicians Today and take a quick skim through." she said as she grabbed a stained cook pot from a metallic locker next to the bookshelf. "The section on compound fractures was very brief though...I hope I did everything right..." she said, trailing off as she worked on the boxes. After removing the stale mac and cheese from their boxes, Skav filled the pot and opened the powdered cheese packs, sprinkling the noodles with it. After trotting over to a metal sink and filling the pot with a bit of water, she carried the pot over to a dinged up oven and turned on the heat, then set the pot on the flame and left it to cook. "You don't feel like anything's out of place, do you?" she asked, turning to me as she asked the question.

I looked down at my gut and saw that there was a slightly bloodied patch of gauze taped down to my body. I used a hoof to feel around the area and discovered, much to my relief, that my rib was still inside my body. With a sigh of relief, I spoke. "Nope. Everything feels in place." I said with a smile.

"Oh good! Now...you're gonna have a rib sized scar on your gut. Healing potions maybe works of magic, but they don't completely heal everything. Scars are always left behind. But hey; you have a wicked story to tell if anypony sees the scar!" she said with an eager grin.

I raised a hoof and gestured to the one on her cheek. "And how'd you get that scar then?" I asked.

"Hmm? Oh, this little thing? I was scavenging in an underground research facility when a chunk of ceiling fell down and smacked me. Knocked me out of a couple minutes and left me with a little scar." she said with a simply shrug. The smell of mac and cheese filled the air and Skav went to get us some. After we ate, Skav gestured for me to follow her into another section of her home. We entered a storage room of sorts and we walked between shelves full of armor, weapons, and miscellaneous items. We soon came to a window of sorts and Skav rolled up a cloth drape.

"I'd like to welcome you to Skav's Emporium!" she said as the drape came up. The view was both amazing, yet terrifying. In the distance were the mountains of which the remains of the Applewood sign sat. But sitting immediately before us was the Divide itself. Skav's shop was situated at the southern end of the Divide, and had to be at least a couple hundred feet down from the surface, having been built right into the cliff-like surface and supported on catapult rails that must've been used at some point in the war. At this height, I could see down into the sea of pre-war city rubble. Barrel fires were scattered here and there to illuminate random areas of the darkness. Every now and then, I could spot a random tunneler emerging from their little dig spots and wander about for something to eat. Running along the west cliff wall was a scrap metal walkway that was enclosed by a chain link fence.

"What's that for?" I asked, gesturing to the walk way.

"That? Just something me and a few friends of mine threw together a couple years back. Makes it easier for ponies traveling through here to just get what they need and scram before the Divide lures them in deeper. It starts up in the Prance Street metro station and ends just outside the runway at the Mi Amore Cadenza International Skyport. Before that, travelers used to have to start from either the north or south end and fight their way to where they were going. Three-fourths of the time, nopony ever made it. Either the Tunnelers or the Marked Bucks tore them apart." she said.

"The Marked Bucks?" I asked. "There's another threat besides Tunnelers?"

"It's just the second of the long list of threats here. The original Marked Bucks were soldiers during the war who got caught down here in the Divide after the events of The Last Day. The constant sandstorms stripped away their furs, manes and tails and wore them down to nothing but their muscles. Nowadays, the Marked Bucks are ponies captured by them and skinned alive. The Bucks put their prey on a shit ton of pain killers so that all they feel is a minor tickling sensation as they're skinned. If you see a pony wearing either an old army uniform or armor that's been cobbled together, steer clear. They are vicious fighters and expert shots. It doesn't help that they don't have any eyelids so you're always in their sight." Skav explained. I could feel shivers run down my spine as an image of what a Marked Buck probably looked like flashed through my mind.

He looked like the Red Skull from the old Captain Equestria comics of my foalhood.

Just then, an idea lodged itself into my mind.

"You said you're a scavenger." I said simply.

"I do believe I did say that." Skav countered. "Why?"

"Is it safe to assume you know your a way around here?" I asked, looking to her.

"Like the back of my hoof!" Skav said as she swung up her left forehoof and looked at it. "Hey, when did that mole get there?" she asked aloud, scrutinizing the offending skin growth.

"Stay with me here. I was wondering if you could get me to Valley Estates." I offered.

"Valley Estates? Are you crazy?" she asked, her jaw falling open. "That's deep into Marked Buck territory!" she countered.

"I thought they just roamed the Divide." I said, raising an eyebrow.

Skav shook her head. "Oh no. They rule the surface too. The parts of the city that didn't fall into the Divide are practically crawling with them. Valley Estates just happens to be where they're main camp is set up." she said. "If we wanted to get there, we'd need some serious firepower."

"Well, you have weapons here. Why not use those?" I asked, gesturing back at her stock of wares. Skav gave a snort and then a chuckle before speaking.

"Those rusted boomsticks? They can barely fire without breaking or getting jammed up from the rust in the chambers. My repair guy got ripped to shreds by a group of tunnelers the other week, so I can't exactly get them fixed up anymore." she said, kicking her robotic hoof a bit. Silence fell between us as I thought of a way to get some better firepower.

"What's on your mind? You have one of those thinking faces going on."

"Where would be the best place to get the firepower we needed?" I asked. Skav was silent for a bit as she thought. Then, she ducked under the store counter and withdrew a tattered scroll of paper. Unrolling it, it turned out to be a detailed drawing of the Divide. There were locations marked with military style stars, while other locations were marked with images of city ruins. Skav's robotic hoof pointed out to a star labeled 'EQAF Arms Factory'.

"Our best bet would be here. Friend of mine found some shipping manifests that were due to go there. They mentioned a crate of prototype Balefire Egg launchers being shipped there for mass production." Skav said.

"Celestia above, those were rare to see in an armory. I can't imagine seeing a whole bunch in one place." I said with a chuckle.

"The only one I've ever found turned out to be called an Experimental BEDS, or Balefire Egg Delivery System. I only got to use it once and let me tell you, it was the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. It shot at least eight of those eggs like a shotgun." Skav said, her eyes glazing over as she went into a flashback.

"Where did you even find eight of those eggs to use?" I asked. Skav's hoof moved from the EQAF Arms Factory label, east to another star labeled 'EQAF Experimental Warfare Labs'.

"They had managed to get a crate of them from a squad of covert spec-ops ponies who were sent into Zebra territory. It's also where I found the BEDS." Skav said. Moving her hoof from the Warfare Labs label, it traveled up north and out of the area of the Divide, into the remaining suburbs of Applewood. A house image was there, labeled Valley Estates. However, the house label was crossed out by a large red 'X'. "You want to get there." she said. Her hoof traces back to the Arms Factory label. "Then we gotta go there first and load up." she said simply. Skav looked to me with a smirk.

"So, what do ya' say, partner?"

A Haunting in the Divide

"If, by some reason, you ignored my advice in the previous chapter, then welcome to the Divide. I honestly hope you believe in ghosts, because there's a lot of them roaming the broken ruins of Applewood. And I can guarantee that they won't be too happy to see you." -The Wasteland Survival Guide, Section Four 'Location Details, Footnote.

"Silver! Get your ass down!" Skav yelled at me as she flew over head, a cluster of frag grenades in her hooves. Heeding her word, I jumped behind a pile of building rubble and covered my head. Behind the wall, I heard the frag grenades explode, followed by the dying cries of the Marked Bucks that had ambushed us only minutes before. I poked my head up, my rifle peaking up with me. One of the Bucks had gotten his rear legs torn apart to a bloody pulp, forcing him to crawl along his stomach with his fore hooves. A second later, he dropped to the ground face first, a .308 sized hole having punched through the side of his skull. I stood up and reloaded my rifle, then slung it on my back. Skav landed beside me and gave me an approving nod.

"Nice work." she said as she trotted over to the bodies and begin to pick through the remains. I walked up beside her, an uneasy feeling passing through my stomach.

"Uhm...what are you doing?" I asked with an uncertain tone.

"What does it look like? I'm looking for loot!" she said as she withdrew an incendiary grenade from the corpse. "I AM a scavenger after all." she added as she pocketed the grenade. "For Luna's sake, didn't they teach you to loot your enemies bodies for ammo in the military?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not necessarily; We were always well armed and supplied before we went out to the frontlines. Never had the issue of running out of ammo." I retorted, frowning a bit as she continued to pick over the corpses. "Will you just move on already?" I asked, stamping a hoof. Skav gave a sound of slight disappointment as she removed her hoof from the Marked Bucks' saddlebag. She got up and reloaded her 10mm SMG, then took the lead. "Nothing worth of value in there anyway." she said, brushing off my impatient attitude. "You gotta learn how to survive out here. If you don't have the balls to loot a body, then you're going to get eaten alive by the Divide." she said, casting a glance to me over her shoulder. I gave a small scowl as we passed by a bent street sign that read "Baker Avenue".

I stopped in tracks at the sign.

Skav noticed my sudden stop, then turned to face me. "Oh what now?" she asked.

"There's a pub on this street..." I mumbled as flashbacks of drinking with friends in a cozy pub flashed across my minds' eye.

"A pub? What in the hell is that?" Skav asked and she fell in beside me.

"It's basically a bars' more...friendly sibling. Pubs generally have better food and a more comfortable atmosphere." I explained, rolling a hoof as I spoke. "If you go into a bar, you might come out bloodied and bruised. Go into a pub, and you can have the time of your life. with friends."

"Sounds nice." Skav said as she eyed the bent street sign. She then gave a shrug and nudged me to follow. "Come on Silver. We're half way there." she said, taking the lead again. My eyes lingered on the sign a bit longer, then I turned to follow Skav as we approached a wall of building ruins. I notice that Skav had seemed to tense up, a wary look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking from her to the concrete wall, then to her again.

"If we want to get to the Arms Factory, we have to pass through..." she gulped them whispered her next words. "...Alabaster Plaza..."

Another memory sparked through my mind. "Alabaster Plaza? The condo place? Skav, it can't be that bad; For heavens' sake, little old mares and their husbands lived here. It was a retirement community; A very nice one at that." I said, giving her a skeptical raise of an eyebrow.

Skav shook her head so hard that her gunner goggles slid down her forehead and over her eyes. "No no no no...Alabaster Plaza is haunted Silver...the ghosts of the dead roam the empty halls...and if they see you, you have no chance of escaping." she said, looking to me. I returned the look, then noticed that she was practically shaking with fright. I placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder and gave a sympathetic smile.

"Skav. There are no such things as ghosts." I said simply. She shook her head slightly before raising a hoof to the dark windows.

"Then explain that..." she trailed off. I followed her hoof and jumped at what I saw. In the window stood a snow white figure, draped in a hood of sorts. The hoods' shadow covered the figures' features, but I could see a pair of light blue orbs staring from the shadows, seeming to trail with a faint smoke.

"It's the Will-o-Wisp..." Skav squeaked as she tried to shrink behind me to hide from the figure. I squared my jaw and called out to the figure.

"Hey! Friend or foe?" I yelled to the figure, hoping for an audible answer. Instead, it answered by turning away from the window and into the shadows of the buildings' interior. "Well that was...odd..." I said, looking to Skav. Her eyes were wide with fright still, pleading for us to find another way to the Arms Factory. "Let me guess; There isn't another way around." I simply asked.

"Ring-a-ding-ding buddy..." she mumbled.

"Well, let's not just stand around like a couple of tourists. Let's just get through there. We don't need to climb up to the roof, do we?" I asked. Skav tapped her chin with a hoof, then shook her head.

"No...if we can stay on the fifth floor, we can hop onto the roadway that leads to the factory. That...thing...was on the ninth floor." she said, seeming to have calmed down a bit.

I gave a nod as I checked over my gear before moving on. "Alright then; Let's go Skav." I said, taking a few steps forward, then stopping to look at her. "On second thought, you take the lead. I have no idea where I'm going." I said with a sheepish smile. Skav just snorted and rolled her eyes as she trotted ahead, her SMG out of its' holster and in her mouth. As we approached Alabaster Plaza, I looked up to the dark, looming windows, checking for hostiles.

The only thing to look back at me was the set of light blue orbs as they sat within the shadows.

~ooo000ooo~

The lobby for Alabaster Plaza was surprisingly tidy, despite the fact that the building was lurched over against its' neighbor. Despite the clean appearance though, the tell tail signs of dried blood decorated the floors and walls in large streaks and dark puddles.

"Somepony didn't have a good day..." Skav mumbled as she went to look behind the receptionists' counter. Nearby, a dark door way seemed to be calling for my attention, so I entered it and flicked on the lights. To my surprise, I had found myself in a janitorial closet. Tucked into the corner was a recharging pad for a small cleaning robot. The machine though, was totally destroyed; The clear dome that held its' processors and motors was shot to pieces. Above the recharging pad on the wall was a tattered piece of paper with scratchy looking writing on it.

"Whatever you do, do not activate the bots. They've gone nuts."

"Right then..." I mumbled as I folded the paper and placed it into my saddlebag. I gave the busted cleaning robot another glance before leaving the janitors' closet. Skav was trying her hardest to break into a rusted cash register as she sat on the tiled floor. She wielded a crowbar in her hooves, jamming the wedged end into the cash slot, trying to pry the drawer open. I just watched her with a bemused smile as she grunted and cursed the object.

"You. Piece of...shit! Open!" she yelled, throwing her crowbar at the cash register. I gave a small chuckle and approached the dented object, then pressed the 'Sale' button on the keyboard. The cash register gave a small ding! and the drawer popped open to reveal stacks of pre-war bits and bottle cap from a Sparkle-Cola bottle.

"Only one cap? What a waste." Skav grumbled as she grabbed the cap and put it into a small coin pouch.

"Guessing caps are the wasteland currency?" I asked, gesturing to the coin pouch.

"Yep. They've been used in the wasteland for as long as I can remember. Sometimes I get lucky and find a whole collection of them that some dead pony used to own." Skav said looking to the dark-screened terminal. "Can you crack that?" she asked, looking to me.

I gave her a blink before speaking. "Uh...I have no idea what the password is. That died with the pony who used to use it." I point out. Skav gave a small smirk of knowing.

"You can look into the data strands for recently used phrases. One of them is bound to be the password." she said, trotting over to the terminal and pushing the 'Power' switch on the face of the terminal. The terminal hummed to life, the black background filling with green text. After the introduction lines passed, strands of terminal data replaced the previous screen. Embedded within the random symbols and numbers were random four letter words.

"I'm telling you, it's easy." Skav said, stepping aside to let me sit before the terminal. I sat down and stared blankly at the screen. I moved the blinking cursor over the symbols and numbers before resting on the word 'Home'. I hit enter, and a beeping sounded, telling me it wasn't correct. I moved the cursor over to the word 'Love' and hit enter; Yet another incorrect submission.

"Be careful, four wrong answers and the terminal will lock you out." Skav pointed out, her hoof pointing to a phrase that said 'Attempts Left: Two'.

"Thanks." I mumbled as I moved the cursor to the word 'Lazy'. A third beeping signaled I was wrong. "Damn it..." I cursed, tapping my hoof impatiently now. The cursor moved over to the word 'Heal' and hit enter. A twin beep signaled I got the answer correct and the screen changed to a screen with a variety of options, one of them being 'Open Safe'.

"Open the safe Silver." Skav said, looking under the terminal desk to the floor safe. I hit the option and the safes' door popped up with a 'click'. Skav dived under the desk and opened the safe, digging into the contents within.

"Oh sweet! There's a beam pistol in here!" she said, pulling up a dusty boxy pistol. "No ammo though..." she said, taking a double glance into the safe. "Got some of these back at the shop I can use as spare parts for this." she said, tucking the beam pistol into her saddlebag. "Shall we continue on?" she asked, looking to me. I gave a nod of the head and stood up.

At that moment, a blood curdling scream tore through the dark hallways of Alabaster Plaza.

Skav gave a high-pitched scream and tackled me to the ground, curling against me for protection. My back hit the ground, the wind being knocked out of me from her sudden tackle.

"NEVER MIND! I DON'T WANT TO GO ON! I WANNA GO HOME!" Skav cried into my chest, her body shaking hard.

All I could do was lay there and try to regain the ability to breathe, my jaw hanging open from the shock. Skav looked up at me and gave a cry of fright.

"NO! The Will-o-Wisp got you! Oh Silver; You were so young! So young!" Skav wailed as she buried her face into my uniform again.

"I'm...not dead..." I gasped, my lungs filling with air again as my mind re-established my breathing pattern. I soon sat myself up and gently pushed Skav off me, wincing in pain as my diaphragm cried out in pain. "You just knocked the wind out of me..." I said, taking in deep breaths.

"Oh..." Skav gave a small giggle of embarrassment. "Sorry..." she added. I waved her off with a hoof as I got to my hooves and sighed.

"Well, something obviously was having a bad time..." I mumbled as I began to walk forward.

"What in Celestia's name are you doing!? Did you not hear that scream?" Skav asked, throwing her hoof in the direction of the hallway.

"Yeah, I heard it. It did give me a bit of a start, but I want to get to the Arms Factory. So we're moving on." I said, not stopping as I approached the gloomy hallway. Skav gave a whine of uncertainty as she watched me walk. Soon though, she gave a sigh and trotted along side me as we walked deeper into the building. However, it got to the point where we could not see our hooves in front of our faces.

"Hang on, I got a torch." Skav said as she began digging into her saddlebag. In a moment, she withdrew an object and I took it in my magical grip and turned it on. A beam of light emitting from a cylindrical body. "There! That's...much...oh shit..." Skav trailed off, looking straight ahead. Dangling from the ceiling were the remains of a unicorn pony with some wires wrapped around its' neck like a noose. The soul of that pony stared at us from beyond the grave through the empty eye sockets in the skull.

"Looks like somepony couldn't handle it..." I mumbled, moving ahead again. Skav gave a mumble of agreement as we skirted past the hanging skeleton. At some point, Skav realized that the rooms we were passing had the potential of having some loot inside them, so she made me trace back to the end of the hall and start going from room to room in the hunt for loot. I was under the impression that, seeing as how Alabaster Plaza was a retirement community, that there would be nothing of value in the rooms.

Boy was I wrong.

"And you said that these old farts wouldn't have anything interesting! Eat your words bucko!" Skav said as she pulled out the components for a modified minigun. She gave a cackle of pure happiness as she assembled the pieces and gave the barrel a spin. "Only three CZ57s were ever produced. One went to the Wonderbolts, another went to some buck on the frontlines, and the third ones' location wasn't disclosed. But now I found one!" Skav cheered as she plopped onto her rear and cuddled the barrel while kicking her rear hooves with glee.

"I'm guessing its' very good?" I asked as I watched her.

"Are you KIDDING me? The previous model was becoming obsolete very quickly, and the modifications produced for them did very little to improve them. The CZ57 was produced to replace the CZ53. The Fifty-Seven holds less ammo, but the improvements in the firing motor and reduced spread overshadowed that small fact. It's a shame that the Fifty-Seven barely got mass produced." Skav explained as she looked the weapon over, practically drooling over it.

"Well, clean yourself up there. We gotta keep moving." I said, patting her head a bit. She gave a small blush and stood up, strapping the minigun to her back. Once the gun was rigged up, Skav gave a nod for us to continue. After a while of walking into dead ends and looting more rooms, we eventually found a massive hole in the wall of one of the rooms. The hole looked outside over a cracked roadway that snaked its' way up and along to a large building with smokestacks.

"There's the factory." Skav said simply, gesturing a hoof forward.

"Looks simple enough; Hop on down to the road and take a nice stroll." I said with a smile, looking to Skav.

But she was gone.

"Skav? Where'd you go?" I called out, looking around the room. I looked outside to make sure she didn't start on without me, but she wasn't seen making her way down the crooked stairs. I looked back into the room, worry starting to rise as I peaked into the separate rooms, looking for her.

"SILVER!!" screamed Skav. Immediately I bolted out of the room and back into the hallway. I looked to my left and saw the mare bent around the corner wall, her hooves trying to pull her away from an unseen force. "SILVER! HELP ME!" she cried. I raced forward and grabbed her hooves, pulling with all my might. Suddenly, a pair of light blue orbs appeared over her shoulder in the darkness, staring right at me. An unholy roar emitted from an unseen mouth beneath the eyes, scaring me into releasing Skav's hooves. Skav screamed as she was ripped around the corner, my hooves scrambling to grab her again.

But it was too late.

She was being dragged away into the dark.

"SKAV!!"

Prologue

Once Upon a Time, in the Magical Land of Equestria…

War.

War never changes...

Or so they say.

As the fighting between ponies and zebras drew on, the need for more hooves on the front line became apparently clear as our armies were dwindled down to almost nothing. To remedy this solution, the Equestrian Army began to look into the scientific research of both the Ministry of Wartime Technology and the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. One of these investigations led to the usage of virtual reality pods built by the Ministry of Wartime Technology. These pods would train Army recruits in basic weapons usage while testing them on their combat prowess by using a virtual representation of a major victory from earlier in the war; Operation: Spearpoint. However, this new form of rapid training was short-lived, due to the scorching balefire that rained down upon the land on what was to become known as The Last Day.

On that day, when the balefire missiles struck, the power grid across Equestria was lost, due to the balefire that had washed across the land. Of the places that relied on the power grid the most was Fort Talon, the center for the Virtual Training Program, and home of the 81st Steel Rangers Battalion, just outside of Applewood. On that day, hundreds of Initiates undergoing their training were trapped within the pods, forced to live in the world of Operation: Spearpoint for years on end while life support talismans rigged to the pods kept them alive on the outside world.

That is until one day, one of the pods short circuited during the programming, releasing the soldier within from his false reality, birthing him into The Great Applewood Divide...