Fallout: Equestria - All Roads Lead Home

Chapter 4: The Forest

“Free at last! This should be fun. . .or dangerous, even better right?”

I took a deep breath of stale tasting air as Sea Mist and I began our long journey to the city of Stalliongrad. The gravel of the old road crunched under our hooves. I finally had enough of Mist’s questions and without losing pace asked, “So you want to know about Metro? My home?”

Her eyes beamed with life as she looked at me, anxiously waiting for an answer. Clearing my throat, I began to tell her of home.

“The Metro. It’s the final stronghold of all sentient life in Stalliongrad. There the species of many different nations survived the horrific effects of the megaspells. Seeing themselves trapped, they survived by farming mushrooms, which need little to no light, and by trying to keep order within the tunnel system. They formed makeshift cities from the stations. Everything from government to schools and housing can be found there. But like the world that preceded, it didn’t take long for war to break out. Like I said before, multiple species survived by retreating into the Metro’s safe underground walls. That included members of the Zebra Nation. Both blamed the other for the outcome of the war, and for years they killed each other over it. Some ponies signed a treaty and assimilated all stations of the middle line of the metro. These pony-only cities called themselves The Old Guard. Just across a short underground bridge stood a collective of Zebra-only stations who called themselves The Stripes. The government in each respective group rose out of the ideology and bureaucracy of the old world.

“Of course, there were those who didn’t pick a side and decided to either stay independent or join the Ring. The Ring is made up of traders that live in the transfer stations of the Metro. The Guard and the Stripes fought until the members of each group forgot what the war was about. They fought until a small collection of ponies, zebras and other races had enough of the pointless bloodshed. This faction brought a stop to the old war and took over the massive middle stations of the Metro. Together, this group formed The Order. The Order protects and polices as much of the Metro as possible with what troops they have. They’re true heroes back home.”

I paused to glance at Sea Mist, who was captivated by the story. Silently she hung on to every little detail as if trying to picture a world where every race lived in peace. I pulled out a canteen from my bags and threw back my head to take a swig. The semi-fresh water revived my dry throat. I offered Mist a drink before continuing.

“It may seem like a happy ending, but I left out the most important part out of the Metro and the frozen world above it. During the war, not only were megaspells dropped on the city, but biological weapons as well. This turned everything that didn’t die in the spells’ blast to mutate into horrific, otherworldly beasts. Everyday down there is a fight just to exist. Pony and Zebrakind lost their spot as the alpha predators. Now everyone down there is the prey just trying to prolong their existence.”

I let out a long sigh that depressed both my body and my soul. It was true that the mutated beasts were something to fear. But I didn’t know what was worse, the beasts or the inhabitants of the stations themselves. I decided that it was best to leave this fact out.

Sea Mist shifted on her hooves.

“What about the stables?” she asked. “I thought all Equestrian cities had some.”

“There are stables there, but only two. Stable 27, which hadn’t been opened last time I was there, and Stable 43.”

I paused. This caused Mist to raise a questioning brow at me.

“What happened to Stable 43?” she stepped closer to me..

“No one really knows,” I responded quietly. “All that is known is that nothing is known about that stable. But I had heard this from a trader a long time ago. . . Tell me, do you believe in ghosts?”

“You mean like the ones that roam around the wasteland?” she responded, barely managing to hold back a chuckle with her hoof.

“Are you serious? You stepped out into a world where ponies eat each other just to stop the constant pain in their stomachs. . . Or just for fun of it.”

Her eyes grew a little as she realized what I was hinting at. My nerves slightly burnt as Sea Mist punched my left side. I winced in pain.

“Don’t tell me that you’re only interested in things you can see and feel. Do you really believe that the world is only constructed around those things? Take a mole for example. You know what a mole is, right?”

Sea Mist nodded her head slowly.

“Good. Well they can’t see. They’re blind from birth, but that doesn’t mean that everything that a mole doesn’t see doesn't actually exist. If you. . .”

“OK! Enough with the example. So what’s this story? What did the trader tell you about the stable?” she rudely interrupted, leaning an ear towards me.

“Well, the trader met this one stallion that lived in one of the northern stations of the Ring. They call it Sun station. Over there, they have a direct passage to Stable 43. But no one lives beyond that edge of the northern tunnel until Sparkle station. The only thing there is a Ring patrol. They take measures to protect it. They think since the space is uninhabited, you never know what will crawl out of it, and so they made it a buffer zone there. No one goes beyond that line. They say that there is nothing there. That it’s a complete dead zone: not an animal, not any kind of vermin, there’s not even rats there!”

I took the drink back from Sea Mist’s magic and placed it back into my bags. She leaned towards me, eager to hear more. I studied the clouds as I playfully said, “But I’m just some crazy stallion, and clearly you don’t want to hear this. Just an old pony’s tale.”

Her face reddened and ears perked up at the statement. “No! Tell me!”

“Ah, so you are interested!? Well let me continue then. This stranger told the trader that he actually went pretty far into the Stable. He said that you could walk forever there and never hear a soul. There’s nothing and no one. Only the sound of dripping water softly hitting the floor. Abandoned stations just sit there in darkness. They always make you feel like you’re in danger. Well, this stallion explored that stable for about a full day. I would love to visit Stable 43 and find its secrets, but alone? That’s insane. Tired from all the walking, the stallion decided to spend the ‘night’ there. Finding some old clothes in the Stable, he lit a fire so the night wouldn’t be too awful and crawled into his sleeping bag. He fell asleep next to the fire and all seemed well, but in the middle of the night he’s awoken by a strange sound. A completely sanity-challenging and impossible sound. Covered in a cold sweat, he jumped up. He heard fillies’ laughter coming from within the stable. He’s miles away from the nearest station! Rats don’t even live there! Could you imagine?”

Sea Mist’s mouth was agape. She asked, “What happened next?”

“Well the stallion, now all wild-eyed, tried to search for the source. In the room next to him was a family of ponies having a conversation in total silence! Not a single sound. The fillies he saw were playing with dolls on the floor. They were all smiling. The stallion sat down and stared at the merry scene in shock. One of the young fillies then looked at him. Looked directly at him, pointed and laughed. . . And the laughter was audible. He rubbed his eyes with his hooves and glanced at the room again. Nothing. The family was gone. He only heard the sound of his own heartbeat in the horrific silence.”

“Then he woke up?” the small mare asked with a hint of hope in her voice.

“If only! The stallion ran back to his extinguished fire, quickly gathered his things and then galloped back to Sun station. He never stopped until he saw the lights of his home.”

I finished my story and gazed at Sea Mist, who had gone quiet, completely frozen from what she heard. Then she asked as indifferently as she could, “You actually believe all that?”

“Well, it’s not the only story I heard about Stable 43, “ I replied. “I just haven’t told you the rest. It's just not easy to talk to somepony about this topic. Anyone who would listen would usually interrupt and leave. But that’s enough ghost stories for now.”

I pulled out my map and began to study its crude markers.

“We need to head to the Black Forest to recover my gear or we won’t be able to enter the border of the frozen city. Let’s just hope the locals are still nice.”

Sea Mist tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, “The locals?”

Still following the map, I replied curtly, “A group of zebras that survived the war. They farmed the land there and like to keep to themselves. In my opinion, they’re alright.”

Mist nodded slowly and followed me.

‘I hope they haven’t changed.’

*** *** ***

As we entered the Black Forest, the sky was snuffed out by the thick tree cover. Only a few dim beams of light broke through and hit the earth’s soft body. We walked quickly, looking out for any signs of life. After an hour of trotting in the forest, we came upon a very ornate sign written in what appeared to be some sort of tribal language. I spent a few minutes trying to decipher the message, but to no avail. Now slightly pissed about my recent failure, I continued down the path with Sea Mist close behind.

Ahead of us was a small village built into and around the thick oak trees of the forest. Bridges, made from old, rusty scrap metal, animal bones, and wood connected the tree huts that hung in the sky. Torches dimly illuminated the ring of darkness that surrounded the only direct natural light that had broken through the leaf cover overhead. In the light stood the makeshift statue of a zebra, adorned with multiple shades of blue and green that shone in the sun’s beams. The statue held a book in it’s left hoof and raised it’s right hoof towards the sky, as if it was trying to speak. A group of young colts and fillies were gathered underneath the colorful idol. A mare wearing the skull of a wolf on her head was speaking to the crowd as she read from a book.

“The Teacher has brought us many things, young ones. The gift of reading, writing, and more. Do not forget who guided us into safety. The Teacher was buried here where the most holy light touches. Never forget that.”

The children echoed in chorus, “Never forget!”

Sea Mist began to cower behind me. I didn't blame her. She had never seen a living zebra till that day. I looked at the faces of the young fillies, a sea of black and white.

‘They don’t know anything about the horrors of the world outside of these woods, and hopefully they never have to.’

I didn’t slow my pace when the mare noticed me. I gave her and the zebra crowd a small wave. The young fillies and colts stared in wonder at my party. I put on my best smile as I spoke.

“Haki, it’s been a long time old friend. Still teaching, eh?”

With a hearty laugh the zebra replied, “Ah, Wildcard. I just can’t seem to give it up, you know? So, are you finally going to take my offer and rejoin the Pioneers? We could use a great warrior like you again.”

“That’s not why I’m here.”

Haki’s grin turned sour. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” She turned to the children, “Young ones, you may return home. Today's lesson is over. Just remember that the Teacher is always watching.”

The group nodded their heads and ran off in different directions, laughing and screaming in joy. Haki returned her gaze to me. She gestured with her head for me to follow her to a large colorful hut behind the statue.

As we walked towards the door of the building, many zebras, covered in different colors of body paint and clothing, stared down at us from the sky bridges in both wonder and disgust. Some even spat down at us. Haki raised the leather belt door and let us inside.

The hut consisted of two floors, a huge open main floor and an upstairs where Haki lived. The main floor contained a desk covered in books and papers, a short distance away from a fire that was in the middle of the room. On top of it sat a black cauldron with a purple liquid boiling inside. To the right of the open fire was a short table with two vermilion cushions on either side of it. Censers hung from the roof, filling the room with sweet-smelling smoke. The zebra closed the curtains to the only window in the space.

“Your visit here will bring quite the unrest, friend. So tell me, why are you here?” Haki asked as she walked over to the table and sat down on one of the cushions. Sea Mist and I followed her, sitting on the opposite side of her.

I nervously looked down at the scratches on the dark wood table. “I need my gear back. I’ve decided to return home.”

“I see. Going back to embrace the cold of the Dead City? Well, you know that in order to break the deal with the tribe you must pass the trial of the stars. Are you prepared to take on such a task?”

The question dangled in the air. ‘Fuck.’ The trial was what I dreaded.

“Do you know where the Master is?” I asked quietly, breaking the silence.

“Yes.”

Sea Mist finally spoke, “What are you two talking about? The trial of the stars and the ‘Master’ what are they? Why can’t Wildcard just grab his things and go?”

“I made-”

“Let me explain,” Haki cut me off. “Wildcard, the spartan, he took an oath to our people to forget his old life and start anew under the Teacher. For eleven moons he helped defend us from bandits and beasts alike. There was peace until the twelfth. My brother, Kifo, was unhappy with the spartan’s presence, claiming that he brought the bandits to our lands. He wanted to end the battle before it started. So in the middle of the night, he and a few of his new followers, calling themselves the ‘Protectors’, the damn fools—” Haki stopped and bowed her head. “Sorry Teacher. They went and killed all of them. Kifo returned covered in blood and demanded to see the spartan. Against my wishes, Wildcard went to face him, but instead of bloodshed, they talked and you left.”

Her hoof was pointed at me shortly as if waiting for an answer. Then Haki turned to Sea Mist. “But that no longer matters. Little one, in order for the spartan to regain the burdens of his old life, he must pass the trial of the stars. He must kill the Master of the Forest and then never return to this place after he is done.”

“But what is the Master?” Mist asked, shaking a little as she leaned towards the zebra.

Haki stood up and walked to the boiling cauldron. She grabbed a dirty jar off a nearby shelf and sprinkled in its contents of what looked like dried yellow leaves. As the leaves hit the boiling liquid in the cauldron, a small explosion of transparent dark blue smoke rose from the pot, overpowering the light in the room. Slowly, a face with blood red eyes and equally as crimson teeth formed in the wavy mist. Small white dots appeared all over its dark blue outline like shiny nails hammered all over a dark dome. The beast gave out a roar as Haki finally continued.

“The Master of the Forest is a beast made from the stars above. Its strength is second to none. It was the Teacher’s belief that anyone who could stand up to the might of the Master could overcome whatever troubles their past contained. That is the trial, young one.”

The smoke from the pot dimmed as Haki grabbed a hoof-drawn map and a bottle of fizzing red liquid from the desk in the room. She handed me both, which I placed into my bags. She warned me, “The Master can be found wandering the cliffside down by the Rushing Falls. I marked it on that map for you. But be careful, Kifo’s ‘Protectors’ are also over there, and the Forest Court can’t control them. Please, spartan, they are nothing more than children whose minds are being twisted to a dark version of the Teacher’s lessons. They don’t deserve to die for it.”

“I’ll try,” I responded softly.

“Good. Now, go find the Master and complete your trial. That bottle will strengthen you, but only for five minutes. Use it wisely, spartan.”

I bowed my head to Haki and stood up. I walked over to the door and Sea Mist tried to follow me. I stopped her at the door.

“You can’t come with Mist. This is a trial for one, and it’s very dangerous out there.” I looked to Haki and pleaded with my eyes. “Could she stay here? The mare knows only the basics of survival, so could you teach her? Please? I know I’m aski-”

“After what you’ve done for us, I would be honored,” she stated boldly.

I looked down at Sea Mist again. She was visibly displeased, but walked over to Haki’s side. With that, I walked out of the hut and into the village.

Following the map given to me, I exited out the north of the village towards the Rushing Falls.

*** *** ***

Countless hours passed as I trotted, with my rifle in hoof, through an endless mirror of trees. Branches and dead leaves crunched under my hooves as I grew closer to my destination. I let my mind wander to prevent boredom from killing. I thought about the days spent patrolling these woods and how everything changed. Nothing was the same as before.

Suddenly, the sound of movement brought my senses back. Quickly I readied my weapon to the general location. I waited and listened to every sound in the forest. Only a small breeze and the rustle of tree branches were audible. I scanned the area cautiously as I kept my gun trained on where the noise came from.

Out of the trees bursted a small pack of three wolves. I took aim but couldn't fire off a shot before they ran past me deeper into the forest.

‘What the fuck?! What kind of crazy shrooms are they on?’

They vanished as fast as they came. I breathed a sigh of relief and continued to move down the dirt trail. After a few minutes I could hear the sound of running water, and then caught sight of it. A huge, sallow blue-green river laid before me. To the right of this clearing was a cliffside where the fluid jumped to the bottom. Rocks were placed randomly in the waterway, and almost made a makeshift bridge to the otherside of the channel. With nothing else around the area, I took out my water canteen and filled it with water. Before capping it, I took a small swig of the liquid. I felt it bit back, undoubtedly irradiated to tartarus. Like all water in the wasteland.

I then gazed into the horizon and my eyes widened. ‘Wow…’ Looking over the cliff was a breathtaking carpet of dark green that stretched out below a bright twilight evening in all directions. From the way I came, Canterlot’s glory was still visible on the horizon. It’s pink glow shone brightly even from here. Directly in front of me was the huge city of Hoofington. I’ve never been, but it’s towering buildings and soft green glow made me very hesitant to visit.

Finally, I glanced to the left and saw home. A mass of dark grey clouds hovered over the dead city, dropping endless waves of snow and leaving the visible buildings covered with a thick layer of frost. Even the area surrounding the city was covered with frozen water. Small winged beasts were circling around the cities’ last standing skyscrapers.

‘Demons.’ I thought as my spine tingled, and I tightened my hold on my rifle. ‘I would rather be sent to the moon for a thousand years than try to fight those bitches again.’

As I placed my canteen back into my bags, an ear-deafening roar ripped throughout the air. Birds quickly flew away from the branches they were perched on. Turning around, I saw trees loudly being pushed out of the way by a mighty force. I swiftly took out the bottle of liquid Haki gave me and drank it down. The taste of raw rat combined with lemon hit my tastebuds. I hit myself in the chest to stop me from throwing up and took aim at the sound. I felt my blood start to move faster and my veins began to pop out. My mind cleared and vision was now hyper saturated.

The tree in front of me was ripped aside by a huge bear-like creature. Its body was covered with stars, as if the night sky itself was ripped out to the earth below. Its crimson eyes stared down at me, piercing my soul. Without hesitation, I unloaded bullets into the Master. Each round had no effect on the beast as he charged towards me, swiping wildly.

I barely dodged its claw as I rolled out of its way onto a rock and continued to shoot. This did nothing but annoy the creature as it lunged for me again. That time I wasn’t so lucky. Its left paw slashed me across my chest. The Master’s claw left a collection of sparks flying through the air as it left a huge mark across my armor. The force of the hit knocked me into the water, coming to a halt at the edge of the cliff, and I watched as my rifle flew off the cliff. I raced to catch my breath as the beast approached its prey, but before it could kill me, the current of the water pulled me over the edge and into the dark unknown below.

*** *** ***

‘Fuck!’

My body crashed against another rock under the water.

‘Come on!’

The overpowering current of the water pulled me wildly in the darkness as I tried and failed to escape its grasp over and over. After a painful few minutes, I got my head out of the surface and rapidly looked around for a way out of the water. A little bit down the rushing river were the roots of a big tree sticking out into the water. I prepared myself the best I could to grab the roots. Successfully, I grabbed the roots with my teeth and my right hoof, stopping my momentum and, with a great effort, I pulled myself out of the river and onto the dry ground. I coughed up water and searched around the area. Nothing but thick trees met my sight.

‘Where in Celestia’s name am I?’

Night had fallen while I was in the water, so I made a fire with the sticks and twigs around the impromptu campsite. I removed my armor and clothes and dried them next to the flame. I placed my soaked bag on the ground to check what the damage was. Using the flickering light, I began pulling items out.

The hoofmade maps were torn into nothing more than wet ink and shredded paper. I tossed the now useless directions behind me. Next, I felt around the soggy bag for my plastic medical case. Pulling it out with my hoof, I opened the cover and, to my relief, the contents were completely dry. I removed my journal. It's dark leather cover kept most of the water out of the page, but the paper would need to be dried. Other little bits and bobs were removed from my bag as I placed them around the fire to dry along with my clothes.

I laid on my back and looked to the sky for answers. Not to any particular question. The rapid movement of blood in my veins settled down as I studied the lines of the clouds. For years I wanted nothing more than to see the sun. To be wrapped in what the books in the Metro called its ‘warm hug’. That when I got out of the Dead City, that everything would be fine. I don’t really know why I thought that, because reality is often disappointing. My thoughts wandered for a while till I fell asleep.

*** *** ***

I raised my head from my desk and listened to the soft hums of a radio scanner. I began turning the small green gem on the device, searching for any radio chatter. The soft, dim red light made the numbers on the dial hard to see, so instead of looking for numbers I just listened. That was my job for the day. Wait for a response and respond by the Order’s protocol.

Time slipped away as I rocked from side to side, waiting for a call. My eyes began to search the tiny room for anything to do. All that was there were cracks on the wall, a small mirror on the desk, and a single picture that hung on the cork board to my right. I squinted to see the details on the drawing. In the frame were two figures, a young pony, beaming, standing next to a smiling zebra stallion. In the tan pony’s hooves was a badge he presented to the painter. A pair of wings surrounding an eclipse.

‘When they talked about the Order, it was always the battles they fought. No one ever said anything about the boring jobs!’

I stared at the dull grey void of the walls. My ears perked up at a gargled call that came through the headset. I pick up the headphones to listen to the message.

I pressed the unmute button and spoke, “This is Starswirl station. How copy?”

“H..I…..ghbrrrr..W…c...ghbrrrrr”

I turned the gem around to clean up the voice.

Laughter filled the speakers as the audio finally cleared up.

“I repeat, this is Starswirl station. How copy?”

“Hi Wildcard!” the female voice said cheerfully.

I sighed. “Dusk, these channels are meant for emergency calls only.”

“But I heard you were working the radio waves today, so I wanted to say hi! We haven’t talked for a while.”

“You’re right but why didn’t you just visit me when you had the day off?” I asked.

“My da- Sorry, ‘Captain Miller’ wanted me to work some overtime at the factory to help pay for my mom’s medical bill.” Her tone deepened at the end of her sentence.

“But the doctors say her condition is improving, so that's good news!” she added brightly.

“That’s great news!” A smile formed on my face. I looked in my room’s small desk mirror and saw someone standing at the door.

“Sorry Dusk, but I have someone here. Stand by.” I said formally into the mic before muting it.

I removed the headset and stood up, approaching the pony. My eyes widened as I took a step away from the thing. The creature was the same size as a pony but lacked a mouth. Off its pure black glossy skin hung a pair of light-blue wings and atop it’s head was a horn. Randomly across its body were holes. Its pair of unnaturally pale green eyes stared at me in silence.

“Stay back, Dark One!” I yelled.

“Wildcard,” it spoke. “It’s time to wake up.”

“What?!” I bumped into the desk while moving back and quickly armed myself with the mirror.

“It’s time to go home.”

*** *** ***

My eyes cracked open, and I was now covered in a cold sweat. The light of the sun had just pierced through the clouds.

‘A Dark One?! Here?’

Fear came over my body. The Dark Ones. Creatures that, by themselves, slaughtered stations of Metro dwellers. Everyone knew the myth of them. Just a tale that parents would tell their filly or colt to stop them from going off and adventuring the dark tunnels.

‘It was just a dream, right?’ I asked myself. ‘But it felt so…real.’

I shakily checked the dampness of my items next to the smoldering fire. Everything seemed to have dried off nicely while I slept. I packed my items into my bag, except for my knife. It would be my only weapon for a while. After I put on my clothes and armor vest, I began to survey the area for anything that would lead me back to the village. The waterfall I was thrown off of was to my right. That meant the village was somewhere in front of me.

I looked for a way to cross the water in front of me. After searching for a few minutes, I noticed a fallen tree just down the river made a nice little bridge across it. I made my way over and crossed the waterway with no problems.

I glanced deep into the thicket for a moment before venturing onward back to the village. After that dream, my hopes for a peaceful adventure to the Metro faded away with the light in the tree cover.

With a long sigh, I entered the forest.

Footnote: Level up!

New Perk: Stalker Instincts -- Your senses have become so keen that you can feel the slightest vibration in the ground. You gain +1 Perception and Agility attributes while outside.